Holding Rush Events and Getting worried

[rush chair 01]

Hey GC'ers!
So I'm the Recruitment Chairman for my local sorority. We're halfway through our Spring Rush Week and our numbers are dwindling, which has me concerned. My sorority normally bids 4-7 girls in the Spring semester, but at our event last night we only had three pnms. If we do not get more than four new members, it is an option that we may hold additional events to try to get some extra new members, but my sorority has never done this before. I'm concerned that the issue we are having revolves primarily around some of my sisters and their not-so-tactful way of talking to pnms. I've held a workshop to try to work through these problems, tried talking to these girls individually, and even worked stuff out so that they would be around the pnms less, but I feel they are having a negative effect either way. Is there any advice anyone has that I may be able to try next?

Also, does anyone have any advice as to what I could plan on doing for additional events on a limited budget if I have to plan additional events to get more girls out to check us out? I've come on here before to look for ideas, used the search engine, and actually have a different user name on here, but didn't want to use it and potentially give away my sorority. I just need some fresh ideas and tactics for finding new sisters. Having a good Rush this semester is VITAL for my sorority, and I'm really trying to do anything and everything within my power to make that happen and I would greatly appreciate any advice anyone has.
Thanks!

[FSUZeta]

does your campus have local, npc and nphc sororities? if so do you hold recruitment events in the same time frame? for instance, are you all holding events during the same week or does your sorority hold events after the others recruit?

[33girl]

Stop relying on "parties" and "events" and just go out to dinner or something with girls you're interested in.

Require sisters to bring women to events, dinner etc - women they KNOW not just a random off the street.

[KSUViolet06]

People don't join sororities because of the events themselves, they join because of the people IN the sorority that they know.

Focus on getting women in your chapter to invite women they know to do things like informal dinner, lunch, coffee, etc.

[rush chair 01]

fsu: normally we hold events after the NPC sororities on campus, but this was the first semester when we held them at the same time. we had been advised that we should step aside and let the NPCs take all of the recruits and have us just get the left-overs.

33girl: I personally think this is a good idea as well, but as far as going out to dinner, would say that all sisters have to go? Or just a small group? Because my sisters are all very "We need to all meet this girl before we decide to give her a Bid" and I feel like they wouldn't be comfortable with such a relaxed setting. What's your opinion on that?

KSU: I tried to REALLY encourage bringing people they already know this semester, and a few of us did, but not all of these girls necessarily stuck around. As I said in my OP, I tried to help girls in finding new ways to talk to pnms and making connections, but do you have any other tips that you feel are especially effective for getting pnms to see right away that our sorority is full of girls who are real and have AMAZING personalities? I realize that this should just shine through on its own, but I think my girls get a little intimidated by the fact that we need both quantity and quality and then kind of choke.

Thanks for your help and any advice you have; I truly appreciate it. I am happy to tell you that we did extend bids to a small group of girls, but we are still looking for more... So I hope I get to pass some good info on to my sisters about some new... not events... activities (?)... that we can continue to hold to try to find more girls.

[KSUViolet06]

If you're going out to dinner, it needs to be a small group, not the whole chapter. Preferably 2-3 women with someone in the mix whom the PNM is already friends with (hence getting your sisters to make friends with people first, then invite them to do things).

Another piece of advice: Relax. I don't know if this is the case for you guys or not, but sometimes, girls can get so caught up in "selling the sorority" to the PNMs from Day 1that it creeps them out. Example: When at events or hanging out with PNMs, sisters talk about "XYZ events, philanthropy, etc" constantly instead of getting to know the women.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by rush chair 01

fsu: normally we hold events after the NPC sororities on campus, but this was the first semester when we held them at the same time. we had been advised that we should step aside and let the NPCs take all of the recruits and have us just get the left-overs.

In that case I would tell NPC to f.o. and rush BEFORE them. That kind of attitude from the nationals is unacceptable.

How many sisters do you have total? I guess I was thinking you had under 10. The main thing I was trying to say is don't make all your recruitment events "parties." Girls can come over to the house where all the sisters are to watch The Bachelor or whatever, go along to a play that a sister's in, etc etc. Once they've been to a few of these events, you can have a more structured open bid party (where all the sisters can meet the girls) and give bids out. The main thing is to get the rushees & sisters feeling comfortable with each other.

Are the sisters who are being (nice euphemism) "opinionated" at rush seniors? They're probably burnt out. They're only there 3 more months, so try & deal with it. I got to the same point - fortunately I was self aware enough to just kind of hang back.

If that's not the case - you should have some kind of standards board that can address these issues and what to do about these sisters - if you have concrete evidence that their behavior is having a negative impact on your rush. It should not be a decision you and you alone make.

[rush chair 01]

Oh man, I need to correct something I said. When I wrote "we had been advised that we should step aside and let the NPCs take all of the recruits and have us just get the left-overs" I meant to type "SHOULDN'T step aside..." my fault. But yeah, normally we wait until the NPC's formal recruitment is finished and then hold our events or our number of sisters. If you want more details regarding our process, feel free to pm me; I don't want to give away my sorority.

And that sounds good as far as going out to dinner with just a few girls. My sorority generally does fall into the "selling the sorority" category, so I will try to discourage that when we discuss having more opportunities for women to join this semester. And those negative girls are older in our house, but I don't think it's related to being burnt out. Haha, they just aren't the most tactful people. That is why I am having issues dealing with them, and I am DEFINITELY not the only one who has noticed.

[ASTalumna06]

Small activities are definitely good! In an informal recruitment setting, you want to truly get to know PNMs (and you can't do that at an event with a ton of sisters and a few PNMs. A few sisters and a few PNMs works best). As a local who doesn't participate in any kind of formal recruitment, you have the luxury of doing whatever you'd like for "recruitment events." And you have all the time in the world! There's none of the "Ok, 30 minutes is up.. next house"-type restrictions. You can invite them to dinner, go to a play, have them join an intramural team with you, ask for their help with a philanthropy... anything! Use that to your advantage.

And don't feel as though every sister has to know all of the PNMs like the back of their hand. This is where "trusting your sisters" comes into play. While I don't want you to reveal any of your membership selection procedures to us, just make sure that you're choosing girls in such a way that allows the entire chapter to know her without actually "knowing her." I mean, think about sorority chapters with 100+ members. Clearly every single member can't truly get to know all of the hundreds upon hundreds of PNMs who walk through their door in a matter of 2 weeks (and sometimes less).

If I'm a sister who doesn't really know a PNM, but she looks AMAZING on paper, and the majority of the chapter thinks she'd make an outstanding sister, then I probably won't bitch and complain when they want to give her a bid.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by rush chair 01

Oh man, I need to correct something I said. When I wrote "we had been advised that we should step aside and let the NPCs take all of the recruits and have us just get the left-overs" I meant to type "SHOULDN'T step aside..." my fault. But yeah, normally we wait until the NPC's formal recruitment is finished and then hold our events or our number of sisters. If you want more details regarding our process, feel free to pm me; I don't want to give away my sorority.

Oh that's good, I didn't want to have to come smack the NPC at your school upside the head.

I don't think it's a question of "leftovers" - the girls who choose your group are most likely looking for something different than they would get from the national groups. It's just a question of making them aware that you're there - girls might be going to the NPC groups thinking they're the only option. Maybe you could have an open house event before NPC rush starts and then have your regular rush events afterward? If you do this, make sure you make it clear that you're local, not NPC, etc etc etc.

[rush chair 01]

Thanks for the advice AST. It sounds like everyone is on the same page as far as small "events" with smaller groups. Good to know. Would you recommend having them come to one "event" with the whole sorority there though, so that girls have at least seen these girls in person, or do you think meeting a limited amount of sisters before giving a Bid is ok? I should tell you that my sorority is pretty diverse as far as personalities go, but generally we have similar goals. For example, there are definitely girls who LOVE to party and socialize and have REALLY outgoing personalities, while there are others who are more the kind of girl to stay in on a Saturday and watch movies with a few other girls and are more on the "shy until I know you well" side. We have sisters everywhere in between those ends of the spectrum.

[rush chair 01]

Haha, yeah 33girl, the NPC at my campus is pretty good with us, so no worries, we don't have to fight. And yeah, we definitely let it be known that we are there and are an option, and emphasize that we are local, don't participate in formal recruitment, and try to play up the benefits of it all. And I should also clarify- we DO NOT think of girls as "left-overs." The way we see it is that they didn't fit with an NPC because they belonged in my sorority all along without knowing it. :-)

[33girl]

Originally Posted by rush chair 01

Would you recommend having them come to one "event" with the whole sorority there though, so that girls have at least seen these girls in person, or do you think meeting a limited amount of sisters before giving a Bid is ok?

They should definitely come to an event with the whole sorority before being offered a bid. Your group is (I'm guessing) not so large that meeting all the sisters (or at least being at an event so they all know her by sight) is impossible. Unlike ASTalumna06, I would bitch and complain.

[rush chair 01]

Haha, yeah, I think my sisters would be more on the same page as you 33girl. But since this is all new territory for us, I think we just need to feel it out. I'm just nervous to try to make this happen, since my sisters can be kind of stubborn and stuck in tradition (which isn't completely bad). Let's hope we can pull something of a success off!

[FSUZeta]

yes-after the small meetings take place, there should be an event-could be something as simple as popcorn, cokes and a chick flick that everyone attends, so everyone has the opportunity to meet the pnms, therefore noone can complain about not getting to meet them.

you may want to divide your chapter into the small groups, and they should report to you who they are inviting and what they are doing. you should set a time frame for the groups to complete their event. and remember, those new members may know girls who would make wonderful members, so be sure to ask them and be prepared to hold another event. good luck!