[ASTalumna06]

Wow, that was a lot. But here goes…

It sounds as if your number one problem right now is recruitment. You’re not bringing in the number of guys that you want. Also, you hurriedly tried to get as many members as possible, some of which are leaving, as standards probably went out the window in this desperate state. Don’t do this. You’re better off being a chapter of 20 guys who work hard than a chapter of 80 guys who don’t care, want to quit, or only want to party.

As I say to anyone else who needs recruitment advice, visit PhiredUp.com. This company specializes in fraternity and sorority recruitment, and the information on this website alone is extremely helpful.

And as they say on that website… you have Eventitis. You’re under the impression that in order to help your chapter grow, you need to throw large events or parties. This isn’t the case. Make friends first! You say that you’re embarrassed to wear your letters, and while this should never be the case… don’t wear your letters. Wearing your letters is great, but it’s probably not going to bring in more guys. Just make friends with people!

Another idea… you say that your relations with sororities are strained right now. Do they know the problems you’re having? They must. But do they truly understand what it is you’re going through? Why not make a presentation to a few sororities on campus? You used to be close with Gamma Phi Beta. Ask them if you can make a small presentation at the beginning of one of their meetings. Have a few of your best members dress up, and talk to the girls about how you’re struggling within the Greek community. You don’t have to talk about specifics, but appear genuine. Rather than ask them if they’d like to party with you at your house, inquire about possible philanthropy projects the two organizations could do together. Do this with a few more sororities and see what comes out of it. Remember… girls know guys. Maybe one of those sisters has a boyfriend that isn’t involved in Greek life yet. Get her to introduce him to you.

You say that the thought of holding leadership positions excited you when you first joined. Is that what excites other members? You said that 45% of the chapter might leave because the chapter isn’t doing anything. What exactly do they want to do? Social events? Philanthropies? Figure out what they need to stay active and do it!

Nationals is putting pressure on you to recruit and grow. I understand that this happens, but nationals are not the people to avoid. If you are struggling, and you make your concerns known to them, I’m sure they would be more than happy to help you. National organizations don’t want to see any of their chapters close. Have you had members of national staff come to your chapter to help? If not, plan a weekend for an educational consultant (or whatever you call them) to come and assist the chapter.

Ask alumni for help! Have letters or emails gone out to those who have graduated? I’m sure that the thought of their own chapter going under is something that would cause them to spring into action, especially for those founding members who were so excited to start the chapter. And don’t be afraid to ask for help from TKE alumni members who attended different schools. All of these alumni could come and talk to your members about what the fraternity means to them in order to show those thinking about leaving that this is something that they need in their lives. And if nothing else, even if none of these alumni members are able to physically be there to help you, they might send a few dollars your way to aid in the financial end of things.

And if individual members are having legitimate problems paying dues, do you have payment plans set up for them? My chapter implements a system that allows girls to pay a small amount per week, or per month, until their dues are paid off by the end of the semester.

Also, are you fundraising? There are a lot of really great fundraisers out there that will help you rake in a lot of money. Do you live near a larger city with a major league baseball team, or professional football team? Sometimes, these organizations will allow you to come in and work for them for a day, and I’ve heard of chapters earning close to $2000. Same goes for amusement parks. At the beginning and ends of the summer season, these parks struggle to keep their employment rates up, as students are still in school in May when they open, or they’re leaving to go back to school in mid-August. The parks generally hire temps, but if you have enough people (most of the time it’s between 20-30), they’ll allow you to work for them for a day or weekend. 20 people, 10 hour shifts, at $7.00 an hour, for 2 days… you do the math.

Also.. you have a lot of guys dropping. I understand the chapter is having problems, and many of them could be leaving for that reason. But… are you hazing? You obviously don’t have to answer that question, but if you’re losing a lot of high-quality guys because of ridiculous hazing practices, then it might be time to reevaluate your new member program.

If they’re leaving because of time management issues, what do you do to help them? Do you have study groups set up? Do you have weekly or bi-weekly meetings with your new members to see how they’re progressing?

And I’ll let you in on a little secret.. in every chapter there are members who are apathetic. Unfortunately, 99% of the time, there’s nothing you can do about it. There are people who just do the bare minimum, don’t want to put in any extra effort, and cringe at the idea of having to go to extra brotherhood activities. It happens. Don’t attempt to motivate them, because I promise you, it won’t work. You’ll only be wasting your time on the people that don’t care enough to try on their own. Get the guys together who really want to save the chapter, and change things.

At the same time, members have to be held accountable. What penalties are in place for not attending meetings? For not paying dues? If there are no consequences for these indifferent actions, then there will be no solution. Paying dues and attending meetings are things that these guys knew they’d have to do coming in, so for them to just “not feel like it” is not a legitimate excuse. And if they really don’t want to do any of these things, honestly, they’re useless to your chapter. Get rid of them. They don’t pay dues, they don’t attend meetings, I’m sure they don’t contribute in other ways, so what are they besides a name on your roster?

Again, this comes back to throwing large events. You look bad when half of your chapter doesn’t show up. So don’t hold events where the entire chapter is expected to be there. Each of you must have some girl friends that are in sororities. Why not just invite a couple of them out to dinner? Same goes for recruitment… just have three of your members invite two or three potential members to the school’s football game… or whatever. Another idea… play a game of pick-up football on campus, and ask guys to join you! It’s so simple and it costs you nothing. One of the fraternities on my campus did this, and they gained 5 new members this way, which is good for the small chapters we have here.

I could probably ramble on forever about this (kind of like I already have), so if you have any more questions, PM me.