Small Chapter
 

Hi everyone. I am a sister of the eta chi chapter at URI and we are sooo small. We have five members and we are having trouble getting more. I don't really know why because we are all cool people but our KKPsi chapter is so big that it is hard to make people see how great we are. Any suggestions on how to boost membership would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!!!

Lynn
Eta Chi!:cool:

Hey! Dont worry, the Delta Omicron chapter had 4 members once and we are at 9, after being at 15 for a while. Our Brothers have 23 right now. Next sem we will have 5 plus any new members we get... theres hope for small chapters!

Howdy,

Just a few questions about your chapter. Are both chapters co-ed? Do you recruit jointly or separately? How does your current recruitment process work?

I will be able to help once i know what direction you're headed in. :)

Adrienne Meng
TBS MWD VPM

Both chapters are co-ed adn we recruit seperately. We consult eachother so that we don't step on eachother's toes but other than that it is seperate. We do our recruiting by holding small social events where interested people can get to know us a little better before they decide if they want to join. Our problem is that about 3 years ago we graduated a ton of people but we didn't take in nearly as many and several of our sisters went inactive. People here have the misconception that we are not as much fun as KKY or that we do more work but that is not true. It just seems that way because there are fewer of us therefore we must work harder. We need to find a way to slighly change our immage to make us seem less like the workaholics of the department and more like a good thing for it.

Lynn

What kind of small social is it? How long is your rush process?

Socials are a great way to boost interest in joining. So maybe you just need to redefine your social. I know of chapters that have an 8 week recruitment process, and each week either kky or tbs have a rush social. The socials are almost always formatted the same way, with an activity or two (tie dye, improv, yard games, scavenger hunts) and food. The food is usually brought by chapter members or paid for in part by the chapter. And then the only rule is to have fun and don't say anything about kappa you wouldn't want said about you. It's a chance for the chapter members to show their true colors and act like fools. :D

Try putting together a brochure about Tau Beta Sigma. distribute it to the prospective freshman or whomever is your recruitment audience.

Other ideas include a rush service event. In the past, High School Band-Aid, cleaning out instruments and other similar music related service projects have been used for recruitment. Be creative.

You could also try a joint social with your Kappas showing that your chapters can work together.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need anything else. You can e-mail me at mwdvpm@tbs.org.

I don't know if this will help, but what got me interested was sisters coming to me individually. It made me feel wanted and as a freshman I really liked making new friends. I think that is a great advantage for your group to be small, it gives you an oppertunity to become really close with you brothers/sisters. As a social event to get your name out there I would do a mixer.

What also helps is in the National Constitution it says that any member can propose a name at any meeting under New Business. I broght up an name tonite and we extended a bid to her tonite, as well as another girl whos name was brought up.

I am going to do a recruitment workshop with my chapter this Sunday before our hazing workshop and our FIRST DEGREE!!! We havent had any bids accepted yet, but I know we will aleast have two sign!!!