My sorority is about to be non-existant! Help!

[LPIDelta]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Yes, but once those women are chosen by the national, they still have to complete the new member program, take exams etc...they most certainly don't get a free pass into the sorority. That's why I think James' suggestion to waive the pledge program is absolutely terrible.

I think this depends on the organization and the situation. Of course you're going to educate them about the organization, but you may not do it in the same way as a new member class.

To the OP--flyers are not enough. You have to target the women you want to join your sorority and plan the steps to getting them to join (don't stalk, but motivate!) You have to talk to people on campus, anyone who will listen and ask for advice of faculty and staff. You have to "sell" that you're trying to keep this great campus tradition alive and you're looking for the right women who want to leave a legacy at your school.

It can be done. When I was a freshman, there was a sorority on my campus that had 4 members and by the time I graduated they had 20--which was a good size for my school. Good luck!

[skylark]

Originally Posted by LPIDelta

To the OP--flyers are not enough.

Can't agree with this statement more. Do them, but don't waste too much time anguishing about them. Very few women show up because they saw a flyer, so why bother? Ask yourself why you joined. Ask yourself why other members joined. Ask yourself where you see the type of women you want to recruit hanging out and ask yourself how being in a sorority might help those women.

I am in a less drastic situation with an NPC chapter (as an advisor) and I just read a book called I Heart Recruitment. It really changed my outlook on recruitment -- it would have changed so much of what I did as an active with recruitment. The book just came out this spring/summer and it is available on Amazon.com. You might want to check it out.

[AlethiaSi]

ok first of all, I've been in a similar but different situation. My local sorority had SERIOUS lack in numbers, a bad rep, our house was closed... it was bad, I/we revamped things by actually having parties and getting the word out. Now, since you dont' want to do that, some other things we did that might be helpful:
FACEBOOK! this is an invaluable resource, create a group, contact girls, get the word out
WEAR LETTERS! have each and every sister wear letters as many days as possible, we had a letter day, where everyone HAD to have letters on.
During recruitment or any event, we had each sister bring at least 1 girl to the house, or event. I would talk to girls in my classes, on campus, on line for food, anywhere, i met some of our best girls that way (I was an unabashed recruiter lol) we put up posters for events, throughout the semester invited girls to things, got to know them and then they would come through recruitment and then bring friends because they knew what we were all about.
Now, I know that there might be different rules for recruiting throughout the semester at other schools or in other orgs, this worked for us and we were allowed to do it, just a side note.
if you'd like to talk more about this, please don't hesitate to PM me

[AnatraAmore]

I completely agree with the above posters about human contact! Posters and flyers are great, but our chapter has always had great success with actually TALKING to people. We had a conference this year about recruitment techniques - one of the best things they talked about was talking to the people who you already know/meet. These are people you have something in common with already. (same class, same clubs, etc.) Try introducing them to your other sisters - over coffee, over a meal, movie, etc. THEN after they've had time to click with you and the other members, bring up your sorority. People are much more likely to listen when they know/like/trust several people who are part of something... just my thoughts.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by LPIDelta

I think this depends on the organization and the situation. Of course you're going to educate them about the organization, but you may not do it in the same way as a new member class.

I can understand that, but James seemed to be advocating just making them instant sisters, no education, no nothing. I'm hoping I misinterpreted this because it doesn't seem like something he would say. They don't have a national site they can go to, or national resources - it all has to come from the sisters there.

And flyers, chalking etc - often the amount of effort you put out just doesn't measure up in results. Inviting people that you know to join is much better.

I know that a lot of people are saying use Facebook etc, but if this is that strict of a college, Facebook or Myspace might not be good places to go.

I looked on the college's site. Of the four sororities, two have very detailed profiles, two have almost nothing. If your sorority is one of the latter, I suggest you update it ASAP and talk about your heritage, activities etc because those latter two look really bad!!

[texas*princess]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I can understand that, but James seemed to be advocating just making them instant sisters, no education, no nothing. I'm hoping I misinterpreted this because it doesn't seem like something he would say. They don't have a national site they can go to, or national resources - it all has to come from the sisters there.

And flyers, chalking etc - often the amount of effort you put out just doesn't measure up in results. Inviting people that you know to join is much better.

I know that a lot of people are saying use Facebook etc, but if this is that strict of a college, Facebook or Myspace might not be good places to go.

I looked on the college's site. Of the four sororities, two have very detailed profiles, two have almost nothing. If your sorority is one of the latter, I suggest you update it ASAP and talk about your heritage, activities etc because those latter two look really bad!!

I might have misinterpreted James' post. I took it as an expedited pledge period, not a non-existant one.

Like instead of an entire semester (4-5 months?), make it shorter like 4-6 weeks.