Informal Recruitment

[jlp531]

Hey All,

I'm the membership recruitment chair of my chapter, and in the fall, we'll be hosting informal recruitment as we do every year. Our campus is Panhellenic fully structured recruitment in the Spring; however, our chapter is under total and will be recruiting unaffiliated sophomore and junior women in the fall. I believe next year we will be the only chapter on our campus conducting informal recruitment in the fall.

In the past, we have held a week or two of themed open parties; however, we've had problems with encouraging girls to come out to our events (most unaffiliated women who are interested in joining a sorority prefer to wait and go through formal recruitment; I think girls are also wary of the process because we're the only chapter recruiting at this time) and also problems with retention between events (encouraging them to come back once they come to one).

I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has experience with informal/continuous recruitment and can share what your chapter has done that might help these issues. I'm also interested in hearing themes for informal recruitment events as ours are getting a little old!

Thanks so much!

Jo

[33girl]

If you're the only chapter that does this and you do it as a weeklong effort, it WILL make you stand out, and not in a good way. A better way might be to have several events after formal and every month or so after, and then choose a pledge class in the fall.

Are you open bidding to quota/total after formal rush?

Are you receiving a list of women who went through formal the semester before and either were cut from the other chapters or dropped out?

Are the parties open to anyone who is eligible? If so - and you are the only chapter having to COB - I would discontinue this practice and make the parties invitation only. You need to find girls who want to be in YOUR sorority, not A sorority.

Oh, and you can have a slight theme (like XYZ Picnic or something) but don't go overboard with skits and costumes - informal rush is supposed to be just that - INFORMAL. Take advantage of the openness to get to know the girls better and talk with them more.

Not to tread into membership selection stuff, but do you want them to come back because they need to go to x number of events before getting a bid, or just because you want to get to know them better? Try asking different groups of girls to different events. That way you can spend more time with each of them.

The whole idea is to make the rushees feel that they are special and chosen - not that you just want them there to get your numbers up.

[jlp531]

Last semester after formal recruitment, I divided up rush drop-outs and girls who did not receive bids and had the girls in the chapter who had spoken to them during formal recruitment contact them and invite them to events. This didn't work well at all, partly because a lot of the girls simply weren't interested after their various rush experiences, and partly because our sisters felt very awkward about contacting girls they had only met during rush. I planned events but they were simply not attended.

I agree that doing invitations for fall recruitment events is a great idea, my problem is getting names of girls to invite. Our chapter keeps a running wish list of girls we are interested in; however, getting our current members to contribute to it is difficult. Maybe what I need are suggestions on how to improve upon that. Off the top of my head, I can think of 5 girls who I would LOVE to invite to events next semester and see join our chapter, but for some reason, other girls in our chapter seem to have trouble doing the same. When I set requirements that people must provide x number of names, I still don't get a response. When I just ask at a chapter meeting, I really don't get a response there either.

Thanks for the help. I'm open to any ideas you might have!

[AlphaFrog]

Incentives - people like incentives.

If you invite X number of people to the next COB, you get a candle with letters/paddle/snickers bar, etc.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by jlp531

Last semester after formal recruitment, I divided up rush drop-outs and girls who did not receive bids and had the girls in the chapter who had spoken to them during formal recruitment contact them and invite them to events. This didn't work well at all, partly because a lot of the girls simply weren't interested after their various rush experiences, and partly because our sisters felt very awkward about contacting girls they had only met during rush. I planned events but they were simply not attended.

I agree that doing invitations for fall recruitment events is a great idea, my problem is getting names of girls to invite. Our chapter keeps a running wish list of girls we are interested in; however, getting our current members to contribute to it is difficult. Maybe what I need are suggestions on how to improve upon that. Off the top of my head, I can think of 5 girls who I would LOVE to invite to events next semester and see join our chapter, but for some reason, other girls in our chapter seem to have trouble doing the same. When I set requirements that people must provide x number of names, I still don't get a response. When I just ask at a chapter meeting, I really don't get a response there either.

Thanks for the help. I'm open to any ideas you might have!

I'm extrapolating a lot here, but it sounds like a lot of your members do sorority, and nothing else. All their friends are sorority friends. You might want to encourage them to get involved in extracurricular activities where they can meet more people. Lots of sororities have a bylaw or national policy that every member has to be involved in at least one activity outside the sorority and I think that's a great idea.

With the girls who went through rush - I don't know that I would have individual girls contact them if they only knew them through rush. A form invite from the rush chair might be better. This is kind of a crap shoot, but sometimes it works out. At least you know the women are interested in being Greek. Although, if there are women you cut or that you knew at your formal rush parties couldn't wait to get out of there, skip them.

[MaggieXi]

You might want to consider a welcome back to school event -- like a BBQ or something. Explain to your sisters that the goal is that they have to bring at least one non-greek woman to the event to hang out and get to know. Just because a person didn't go through recruitment, they may still be interested just shy or socially anxious, but still be a great potential new member.

[valmypal]

I was recruitment chair for my chapter a few years ago and now i'm a graduate advisor for a panhellenic community. Many of the groups have to do COBs in the fall and most of them struggle with this. I just bought the new book I Heart Recruitment, and honestly the information in it really seemed like it would help. I downloaded it to my computer so i had it right away but you can order a hardcopy too. The PhiredUp.com website has a link. It was mostly common sense but it gave a lot of activities to do with your chapter to help you actually do the right things to bring women in. It talked a lot about small activities with a few sisters and really getting to know girl before asking them to join. It did mention getting out there and being involved in other groups on campus as a way to meet new women. Just thought this might help. Our Panhellenic is going to do a workshop on it in the fall to help them with COBing.

[devilyangel728]

I am the recruitment head for a chapter that is basically in the same situation. We are at about half total, and generally draw a larger number from informal than formal, much to our detriment. Personal invites seem to really be the way to go with pnms, and offering free food on my campus is guaranteed to draw attention. As far as invitation quality something nicer is going to spark more interest, I'm lucky to have very crafty sisters who volunteer to hand-make personal invites. I think it might even do better than a stock invitation from a store, or a printout. I also found that when you deliver bids, brings snacks. We give bids in the morning before class (too early for my liking but some sacrifices must be made), and its easy to be grumpy at someone who just woke you up, but no one can be upset with a donut. Another one of my chapters strategies is an overall PR boost, our formal recruitment occurs in the fall, so getting to know freshman early through PR activities and my "bring a freshman" games (invite freshman to our open activities and win points toward some prize). And don't forget freshman boys, they know freshman girls.
I've found sister morale is my main concern, since recruitment is an ongoing problem and the sense of campus-wide competition leaves us a little demoralized. I agree with what was said above about using incentives and keeping on top of your chapter, but keep the incentives appropriate to your chapter, candy bars wouldn't get me anywhere, but I'm going to try laundry doing, room cleaning and meal cooking which hopefully will get me somewhere. Try reaching out to local alumns and your national for ideas , locations for parties, and donations for any sort of recruitment supplies.

I'd love to hear how things work out for you. Best of luck!