HELP! No girls through formal
 

Today was obviously a very disappointing bid day. This is the first year that our university has done bid matching (has anyone had success with this?) and we ended up with no girls (we extended 13 bids).

We are already the smallest chapter on campus (12 in comparison to some that are 35) and this was a crushing blow.

We had a rough semester last year and lost a few sisters and found that we were overwhelmed this semester despite our preparations.

We have scheduled a rec. workshop for this Tuesday and are having a COB this Thursday.

What can we do to make this COB a success. We desperately need to get recruitment together.

Any help would be appreciated.

I feel for you. I really do. I've been in your position as an active, and I'm currently advising a chapter that is under 20 members and only got 1 new initiate through fall's formal recruitment.

One of the key things to keep in mind is that very few people will COB based on flyers or mass emails or other non-personal publicity. Invite women you know already, if you can, but whoever you invite, make it an in-person invitation and if they sound interested, offer to swing by their dorm room to pick them up (if this applies). Consider arranging a casual hang-out (a pre-COB event) with one or two other sisters max. Get together for pizza and a movie -- something really normal -- that way once the PNM has met several of your sisters, she is more likely to accept an invitation to a formal COB event. If you have the time (depending on when your HQs requires initiation to be) I'd postpone any formal COB events for at least a couple weeks to get your members' motivation back on track and do lots of pre-COB hang outs.

You are going to feel more pressure and weight on your shoulders now than you can imagine, but know that you are doing all of this as a service to the sisters that came before you and the future sisters that will benefit by having joined your chapter.

Know that it isn't impossible to bring your chapter into a more stable chapter size -- but it is always hard when there is only a small group to start the momentum. Think about it this way, if every member tries to really bond with two PNMs in the coming weeks, and half of those PNMs come out to your COB events in a couple weeks, and then at least half of those women accept bids... well that gives you a new member class of at least 6 women! That is a respectable number for a small chapter and doable if you think in terms of "in order to get at least 6 women, I personally have to have two women I'm recruiting and trying to get to come to a COB event."

It's hard, but so far this is the only strategy I've seen work for chapters that get really low like this.

Right now morale is pretty low, but we are all really motivated right now. We want to do the COB now, mostly to prove to ourselves that we can.

Thank you for the advice, the pre- COB is a great idea.

What are some typical COB's that your chapter does?

Right now we are planning a Disney Movie Night where everyone brings their favorite disney film and we all vote on which one we want to watch.

We had a similar cob last year and it was really successful. We all dressed in pajamas and had typical slumber party food and games.

I cannot stress this enough-HAVE AN AWESOME WEBSITE! In a day and age where we live on the web-it's such a downer to see a great organization and see they have a horrible website. I truly believe that is sometimes the backbone of recruitment!

When I was in Iraq-on my time off-I was allowed to go check my email. Because I was already a student at my university when I got called up..every chance I got I would check out a sorority website from my school. It's sad but, true that the better the website-the better an impression I got from the organizations. It said that they actually CARED about their sisterhood enough to post great things on the web. Also, there is nothing worse than a website with NO pictures-that makes people think you want to give them info. to join but, that you all think you are ugly or something. It sounds superficial-but, alot of girls going through and not knowing much about all the great things each NPC has to offer are a bit superficial in their ideas (sometimes) to rush.

Even if you aren't the top chapter on campus-WHO CARES? Wear your letters with pride and go places in groups. If you don't wear your letters alot people will think you are ashamed of your organization (especially if you fall at the bottom of the totem pole in social status on your campus). Do community service and show up at other Greek Orgs. events!

One COB night that was pretty successful was a "Dessert Night" with all sorts of desserts that each of the members made. I could see a variation of "Fondue Night" being fun, also... with all sorts of things like fruit, marshmallows and cheesecake to dip.

An event with lots of food is always a good idea -- chili or pasta is economical.

Mainly, think about everything through a PNMs eyes. Ask yourself if someone who didn't know you all that well would think doing X with a group was weird? Fun? A little scary?

I personally think that the least intimidating events are the best -- the kind of "events" that would be pretty normal for non-greek women to do with their friends anyway. Watching movies, a popular TV show, going bowling, having dinner... these are all things people like to do with their friends anyway, so half of the battle that PNMs go through in trying to decide to come has already been won!

Good luck! Please come back with updates!

this one might be harder due to the writer's strike..but,
 

if a group of your sisters enjoy a specific show, like Grey's Anatomy or something, have a small gathering to watch the show, have some popcorn.

It's easy, fun, and inexpensive way to get to know some possible members.

A 'movie night' could also be fun since it's hard to catch non-rerun episodes of anything right now.

I know you are totally demoralized. I know, I know - but you CAN turn the corner. Don't become so concerned about numbers that you lose sight of the fact that you are picking your future sisters - the women who will represent your sorority and help in formal recruitment next year. You've been given some excellent advice here - browse other threads for more examples of what to do. Good luck - and y'all don't forget to love each other in the midst of all the work!

I think that you should get out of the mind frame of racking your brains for fancy themes and events. Women don't join sororities for having a cute theme, matching outfits, good food, etc. I'd hate to sound like a spammer, but has anyone in your chapter read I Heart Recruitment by Coffey and Gendron? It really might help.

I can't stress the above enough. DO NOT chalk - DO NOT flyer - DO NOT put a notice on facebook/myspace/your website. This might bring in women who would be good additions, but you also run the risk of attracting women who only want to wear letters and they don't care what letters they are. And they KNOW that since you are having open COB parties that you're under total - making it very hard to get out of offering them a bid. IMO the risk of the latter far outweighs that of the former.

The Disney night is low key & a great idea - keep it along those lines, nothing too fancy. You want to do something where you can get to know the girls and know that they want YOUR sorority, not A sorority.

If you didn't already, get a list from the Greek Life office of women who dropped out of rush or didn't match. If you have interest in any of them, be sure to invite them.

Going from 12 to 35 can be done - not all at once maybe, but it's hella easier than 50 to 200. :) GOOD LUCK!!

Oh-it can be done...I PMd you to give you some ideas....let me know what you think....

Also, if you put flyers everywhere...it gives off the impression that you are looking for just ANYONE who will help out your numbers. Not to be mean-but, NPCs are generally exclusive. You don't have to be a size 0-I got that..but, you at least have to make the grade and be willing to also make the commitment. If they weren't that exclusive....we wouldn't have rush and everyone would join a chapter the FIRST time they went through....

You have a lot of strong points....You want girls who have the same strong points. Some people are for-and others against the idea of handing out cards to the PNMs coming through recruitment saying things like.."I think you're awesome..I hope you choose to join XYZ because I would love to call you a sister" and making them hand them back before they leave the Pref ceremony but, for me...it made me put a chapter as number 1 on my list that I didn't think much of before because the sister made me feel like she really liked me-and she really wanted me around....Of course, I didn't realize they did that to EVERYONE but, the girl who showed me around the sorority dorm floor (which is another great recruitment tool to use if the rooms are filled with your members) knew my name...knew about me..and gave me that card....

I know now that it was a recruitment tool she used and not because I was anything special..but,she did a great job in making me see myself there and wanting to be apart of HER sisterhood-I mean, I had already made a friend...right? She did a great job at selling the chapter and they were by no means a top tier chapter but, I felt great! Do the same type of stuff...make it personal. As soon as you hand out fliers saying you need new girls-it's like putting up a poster for people to try out for the school play. It's not the best tool...so, do what the above women noted and you'll be fine...as it was stated earlier..going from 12-35 should be no problem at all....Good Luck!!!

Update:
 

We are still doing the COB on Thursday and chapter morale is so much more improved. I've been sharing your kindness and advice with my chapter and we can't thank you enough.

We are discussing doing a "do-over" recruitment drive: a theme night, philanthropy, and then a pref.

Do any of your chapter's do more than one structured week of recruitment?

Any suggestions about your pref nights or philanthropy nights?

We were hoping to get this off the ground in the next few weeks (hopefully 2-3). It seems quick, but instead of giving up we are fiercely determined.

Thanks again,

Greek Love,

Jessica

The chapter I advise is in a similar situation. Formal recruitment was disappointing -- only numbers-wise, because we adore the two girls we did get! -- and we're hoping for some additions during COB.

The first thing we did was have every girl make a list of at least 10 girls they think could be awesome additions to our chapter -- girls they knew from class, sports, their dorm, wherever. From there, we did a dorm storm and handed out special invitations to those girls for our COB events (the first one was just having dinner with us in the caf). We also invited girls who started formal recruitment but did not affiliate anywhere.

There were some great girls at our first event, so we are very hopeful! I wish you lots of luck!