[phisig4eva]

phisigsmurf - have you guys had Vision yet?? it's REALLY helpful. my best advice is to just keep recruiting, recruiting, recruiting... even if it's just you! *you CAN make a huge difference*.

don't just bring PNMs over to the house - take them places where they can see the sisters having fun (ie house parties (NOT FRAT PARTIES), or bars, whatever... they aren't pinned yet, so they can still drink!) i know it sounds bad, but in my chapter when we tried to bring potentials to sisterhood activities, they always ended up kind of being bored/uncomfortable and never got really interested. despite our best efforts to break the ice and make it be a good time, it's just kind of an intimidating and awkward atmosphere. plus, they KNOW all the girls are looking at them as potential sisters.

whereas ones we invited to birthday parties or to happy hour or something like that got a chance to see us having a good time, plus sometimes potentials feel more comfortable when there are more people involved than just the sisters. anyway, the ones we took out with us almost always went phi sig.

also, be AGGRESSIVE. some girls may be if-fy, but don't give up on them! pick your best recruiter or someone who has a lot in common with the girl and DON'T LET HER GET AWAY. talk to them on a personal level about phi sig, and be straight with them. they'll appreciate your honesty and you'll feel better about the whole thing.

and don't be afraid to use your new members. they obviously are more in touch with PNMs than most of the older girls, so use them! have a dinner or something, and have each of the NMs invite two or three friends. just an idea.

finally, this is kind of tough to say cause i know you're far from quota... but QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. sometimes desperation can drive you to bid girls that will end up hurting the chapter much more than it will help it. don't let nationals pressure you into bidding poor quality women just to get your numbers up.

YOU CAN DO IT!!! we're all pulling for you. PM me if you need any more ideas, a lot of chapters on our campus do COB activities, and we've done some in the past too. good luck!!!

also, another thing i just remembered - go CRAZY with the publicity. campus newspaper ads, fliers everywhere, the whole nine yards. don't stop having informal rush parties and don't be embarrassed to publicly recruit. if you can't get your sisters excited enough to recruit on their own, use the media to do it for you. there are a lot of girls who may have missed rush or didnt think a sorority was for them, who might give it a second thought once they see other girls having so much fun with it - and it's the chapter's job to let them know they haven't totally missed out! just keep at it, dont give up!