Quote:
Originally Posted by lambdachiguy11
I understand that. Our IFC gave us a list with all the guys interested in rush with phone numbers and emails, and all the brothers including me contacted everyone to invite them to all the events and we even sent out reminder emails to everyone. I have emailed all the guys who live near me, to see if they wanted to meet for lunch but still nothing. We are putting ourselves out there but no response. I know that the Greek system is obviously a lot more popular in the south than the north, but still.
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In the south, cold calling guys on the IFC list and inviting them to parties or asking them to lunch (especially asking them to lunch) makes a chapter look very desperate for members. I am not sure how that changes in other areas, but if other chapters at your campus are not calling people on the IFC lists as their primary source of rushees, then even though you are putting in some serious work- it still makes you look desperate.
If you are calling select people from select schools, that is one thing. But if you call everybody- it eventually gets around when rushees are chatting at various parties, and it suggests (rightly or wrongly) that the chapter does not have a steady source of guys eager to join. Cold calling is ok, but find a way to target your efforts.
Guys want social events and parties. The one-on-one recruitment concept is being promoted by more than one fraternity's nationals, but it is a terrible way to meet rushees for the first time. One-on-one should be reserved for guys you already know and who you think would take a bid. Most guys expect their first contact with a fraternity to be through friends or an invite to a party. Being asked out to lunch is just weird- and I know that applies everywhere.
As for dry events, there is a lot you can do in that arena that can help you in an overall rush effort. Get tickets to professional sporting events for the rushees and a few actives (and a few ladies.) Get tickets for concerts. There are plenty of things you can do to attract rushees to events where anyone under 21 would be unable to drink even if they wanted to.
Your best bet for finding good rushees is to start networking early. Get guys to find out who from their old high school is coming to your college. Ask the chapter to suggest people who are freshman now and would make good candidates this fall when they are sophomores. If your college tends to attract a lot of students from certain high schools who tend to go Greek, find out if you can get those lists- you often can- and that narrows down your initial list of target candidates.
Final thought- what are the other fraternities at your college doing? How do they rush? When do they rush? What chapters do you want to compete with and how are they handling rush? Answering those questions will help you out a lot- and it will be guidance specific to your school.
Hope this helps and that I have not been too blunt. You had some good ideas that took a lot of time to execute, and that is to be applauded. I just think if you refocus all that energy into some research you will be in good shape.
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