Recruitment at a private university
 

Hi,
This is my first time posting so here goes! I am a Sigma Sigma Sigma sister from a private university up in the northeast and well.... Our chapter is pretty small because we chose quality over quantity when it comes to PNMs (which we pride ourselves on). However, the problem is that we have approximately 10-13 girls graduating this spring or next fall and with those sisters gone, the numbers of active sisters will be cut in half and we will be left with about 15 ladies. So recruitment is a BIG must for us and our University is now enforcing partial recruitment structure which will have a negative effect on our chapter due on the requirements it imposes on the PNMs. We need to come up with some themes/ideas to make ourselves stand out from all the other sororities on campus in order to recruit a large number of quality women who deserve to be a part of our organization. Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated!!

Check out "I Heart Recruitment." That is a really great book that is geared mostly towards groups that do NOT rely completely on formal recruitment.

Would any of those strategies apply to a hearing impaired chapter? :)

Trust me... I live by "I Heart Recruitment". We also had speakers come from Phired Up Productions (the company that wrote the book) and their presentations were amazing. Go to phiredup.com, and you will find tons of good ideas.

As the book and website say, "Quantity DRIVES quality." Meet as many girls as possible and you'll have more to choose from when deciding who will receive bids. Choosing 10 new members from 100 potentials as opposed to 10 new members from 20 potentials is definitely a good way to find all of the high quality new members you're looking for.

Are you from a hearing impaired chapter? That's interesting! I think this book is applicable to all human relationships...it actually is a lot of common sense that people overlook when discussing recruitment.

After reading I Heart Recruitment, you'll cringe every time someone says that.

VERY true.

Exactly.

The three main things I've learned from Phired Up (that seem so incredibly obvious):

1.) You can't recruit who you don't know.
2.) Quantity drives quality.
1.) People don't join organizations. People join people.

Explain please? What requirements?

I know where you go to school. :) Is your chapter trying to move away from being mostly hearing impaired? I mean, you have what they call a Unique Selling Proposition right off the bat. Sorry if this is treading on issues/politics in the hearing impaired community etc....I don't mean to offend in any way.

Yes, drives it into the ground. :p Seriously, this statement sounds like the rush equivalent of "throw shit to the wall and see what sticks."

I think you misunderstood (or I didn't pick up on your sarcasm this time?). "Quantity drives quantity" does NOT mean have a little recruitment party and bid as many women who show up so long as your chapter has space and inevitably you'll have a little bit of quality in your chapter.

Quite the opposite. It means getting off your butts and reaching out to MEET, not bid, a large quantity of women in natural settings (not recruitment parties), befriend them, introduce them to sisters in a non-sorority context, and then introduce them to the chapter. The idea is to have as large of a pool as possible from which to choose members. A chapter isn't going to increase the size of their pool by having the cutest skit or most expensive food at their recruitment parties. A chapter increases the size of their pool by meeting women. It sounds so simple, meet people, but the general philosophy of recruitment has been "let PNMs come to you".

Say a chapter of 30 has 10 slots to fill to reach total. If they have a little recruitment party and 25 PNMs show up, they might think they're doing well, until grades, credits (either too few or jr/sr status), competition with other chapters, PNMs not serious about joining, PNMs who can't afford it, plus PNMs that your chapter just doesn't want, you name it, take its toll. No way that chapter is getting 10 members who are truly outstanding from a pool of 25.

However, if each member of this chapter of 30 gets 5 women interested in joining, that's a much bigger pool, and the chapter is much more likely to have higher quantity of high quality new members from a 150-PNM pool than a 25-PNM pool. Quantity drives quality.

So in other words -

"Quantity OF POTENTIAL MEMBERS drives quality."

That's true.

"Quantity OF INITIATED MEMBERS drives quality" = not true. When women say "quality not quantity" THIS is what they mean. I don't think anyone is against having scads of women interested in their group or showing up at open bid parties.

I know, it's simple stuff, but it's not how recruitment has been ingrained into NPC culture. And of course, what chapter wouldn't want scads of interested women, but the book gives good techniques for goal setting, motivation, and implementation to make it a reality.