Struggling Chapter

[tunatartare]

Originally posted by APhi Diva
I would not recommend this! Numbers are not the be all, end all, and you don't want to give out bids to women who might not meet your chapter's standards just to raise your total! It's great to focus on the positive aspects that your chapter brings to the table and market like crazy, but you don't want to be known as the house that gives a bid to every woman with a pulse!

I agree with this. The other chapters on our campus all looked down on them when they did that. Getting high numbers worked out well for them though, none of the girls dropped, and a couple of them got their friends to pledge this semester. This chapter had some problems with their nationals, and so they may have just done that in order to prove to nationals that they could attract a lot of girls.

[WVU alpha phi]

Originally posted by APhi Diva
It's great to focus on the positive aspects that your chapter brings to the table and market like crazy, but you don't want to be known as the house that gives a bid to every woman with a pulse!

Definitely agree. I know I felt special and like I had achieved something when I got a bid from my chapter, and I'm sure many other girls felt the same way about other sororities. After a hectic, stressful week of rush (or a few visits during COB), a lot of girls like to feel a sense of achievement that they got the sorority they wanted. If they were to find out that every single girl recevied a bid from one sorority, it might be a blow to the ego. Not to mention, like APhi Diva said, you don't want the reputation as the house that takes anyone and everyone! Remember, it's quality, not quanity. And chances are, if you've got the quality, PNMs are going to realize that and want to be a part of your sisterhood.

[SigmaNuPhi4Life]

This is what I would suggest...when I was pledging for Phi Sigma Sigma at Ferris this is what they did. They did not feel that they had enough girls yet, and technically we didn't cause we had like half of our quota. So they decided to have a BBQ at their house. What they did was made up some awesome flyers for sisters to pass out. They printed up maybe like a hundred of them and handed them out. They then provided food and beverages and asked girls to come that were interested. Well obviously...when it comes to free food, people will come. So I would say about 30 girls showed up that day. Now of course we could not take all of the girls...but we had a chance to talk to them, and get to know them, and I would say out of the 30 girls, we took 20 of them and made quota. It was nice. Maybe that is an idea. I know you can't really do that now since Winter is coming. But it is an idea I guess

[KSUViolet06]

Originally posted by APhi Diva
I would not recommend this! Numbers are not the be all, end all, and you don't want to give out bids to women who might not meet your chapter's standards just to raise your total! It's great to focus on the positive aspects that your chapter brings to the table and market like crazy, but you don't want to be known as the house that gives a bid to every woman with a pulse!

CO SIGN! Do not do this! If you do, you WILL get to be known as THAT house. The idea may work on different campuses. If you do this, you will get LARGE numbers, but those women may just be there b/c they knew they could get a bid and some greek letters. These women will be the RUIN of your chapter.

[Little E]

Originally posted by JocelynC
CO SIGN! Do not do this! If you do, you WILL get to be known as THAT house. The idea may work on different campuses. If you do this, you will get LARGE numbers, but those women may just be there b/c they knew they could get a bid and some greek letters. These women will be the RUIN of your chapter.

Ok that might be a little harsh to say, that the women would RUIN the chapter.

I think you need to tone it down a tiny bit and be honest, you get a hit or miss situation. They could be your star siters, or they could all deactivate.

No matter which way it goes, it will be in the long term, harmful to your chapter's reputation. (Let's be honest, it matters) It takes away from the signifigance of the bid, but also creates that idea of "they'll take anyone" Yep, you might end up with all the rotten apples, but, to me, ruin is a little dramatic.

We've given a lot of good advice. Your chapter needs to be highly motivated and work their butts off. But never forget to let the sorority become ALL business, keep the fun, find ways for women to connect and encourage them to bring in their non-greek friends. That CampuSpeak guy told us that we need to replace ourselves twice over. So set the goal for each woman to bring in two more by their junior year. Plan ahead, replace your juniors, not your seniors so you don't scramble to replace the most amazing 15 women ever in a sorority, use the older ones to help show what DPhiE really is about.
Good luck!

[KSUViolet06]

Originally posted by Little E
Ok that might be a little harsh to say, that the women would RUIN the chapter.

I think you need to tone it down a tiny bit and be honest, you get a hit or miss situation. They could be your star siters, or they could all deactivate.

No matter which way it goes, it will be in the long term, harmful to your chapter's reputation. (Let's be honest, it matters) It takes away from the signifigance of the bid, but also creates that idea of "they'll take anyone" Yep, you might end up with all the rotten apples, but, to me, ruin is a little dramatic.

That's more along the lines of what I meant to say. Sorry for the harshness. It could potentially be a disaster, but not in all cases. Oh- and the Campus Speak speaker was the SAVIOR of my chapter-that's a little dramatic, but it totally changed the way we go about Informal recruitment.

[adpiucf]

Maybe a better solution, too, is getting lots and lots of women to your events, so you have more to choose from. There's something to be said for having a larger pool of prospective talent from which to choose your membership.

[aephi alum]

Originally posted by KLPDaisy
I don't know if you'd be allowed to do this by your campus Panhel, or if you'd want to, but last year, during informal recruitment, a chapter on my campus was struggling with numbers so what they did was invite EVERY SINGLE PNM to their pref, even the ones who didn't attend any of their events, anbd they just automatically gave bids to all of the girls who came to their pref.

I have to agree with what others have said... this is a very dangerous idea. With this approach, you may get a lot of warm dues-paying bodies, but they could be anyone... people who can't make grades, people who get drunk every Thursday and stay that way until Monday, the campus ho, or a group of people who don't fit in well with the sisters and don't uphold the sorority's ideals. Plus, you come across as desperate and willing to take anybody. In the case that KLPDaisy described, it looks like that didn't happen... if so, that chapter is very lucky.

I also agree that holding rush events with fraternities is a bad idea. You might find your PNMs (and your sisters!) treating it more like a mixer rather than a rush event. Plus I think there may be NPC unanimous agreements about that... certainly no men are allowed at formal recruitment, I'm not sure about informal. Plan some sisterhood-like events, like Must See TV, cookie baking, going out to a movie (chat on the way over to the theatre), etc.

As for getting women to come out, get your sisters out in the community and into various activities where they can meet unaffiliated women. Make sure your sisters are wearing letters. If there are women you want to encourage to rush, personally invite them - don't wait for them to see a flyer.

Good luck!

[33girl]

hijack

I know what they mean when they say "replacing yourself" in the chapter, but I wish there was a more delicate way to say it. I mean, I or the rushees am not a spark plug. If I would have been told that during rush or read it, I would have been totally turned off - I mean, I thought they wanted me because they liked me, not because I would fill an emptying hole.

/hijack

And I'm going to be harsh and say yes, in many cases where you take anything that moves, the women DO ruin the chapter. Get as many women as you possibly can to events, then the wheat will stand out from the chaff.

[adpiucf]

How about calling it a "chapter needs assessment"-- yes, you're still looking for people, but in these cases you are looking for specific skill sets and personality attributes that range widely... similiar to an employer recruiting a new project team that will work well together, and with individual's talents contributing to the group's success.

[winneythepooh7]

I agree with going the non-traditional route, and looking for "different" types of women. I've heard of chapters that got lotsa girls from mixers with fraternities, but then some of those girls turned out to be not too great for the chapter. I was a Junior when I joined and I met some of the girls because they were just hanging around the dining hall and came up and talked to me and my roommate. ALL of the girls in our class who ended up dropping said they wanted to join because they met some of the sisters at mixers with the frat boys, and they were big into the "party scene". Obviously partying is not what DPhiE is all about and if that is where you are looking all the time, it will reflect in the women you get. Also diversity is very important too. Some of the best and most dedicated girls are people that you probably never thought about hanging out with before.

[AGDee]

A strategy I have seen work is this:

Each member/new member is encouraged to meet 2 women who they think would be an asset to the chapter and invite them to COB events. (perhaps this is the same concept as "replacing yourself" twice, but put in a more subtle manner). I think I would have been flattered if a sorority woman had said to me "Since I've met you, I've really thought that you would be a great asset to my sorority and I'd really like you to meet my sisters. Would you come to _____ to meet them and we'll see if my hunch is right?"

Dee

[Diamond Delta]

Originally posted by JocelynC
All the ideas suggested are awesome! As someone who's been in your shoes, let me offer you some advice. Yes, it's important to have numbers, BUT don't let COB/COR become the focus of the chapter. We went through a period where we had COR twice a week, every week. It paid off, but it really took a toll on our morale and made us all kinda grumpy and tired. So I guess my point is to do recruitment events, but don't totally forget about the little fun things like sisterhoods and socials that help take the stress off of the chapter a little.

Also- while freshmen are great, don't overlook upperclassmen. Some of our best sisters joined the chapter as juniors.

I agree. Maybe set the first two weeks of the semester as COR. Go ahead and put pledging on the calendar. After that-just have fun! I agree-COR every week for a whole semester is going to kill you. This is supposed to be fun! I also agree with wearing letters constantly-but make sure you are wearing them so you look nice. Do not overlook women because YOU think they wouldn't be interested. You can never tell someone else what they would be interested in. Some people are just shy and would never approach you (I was one of those people). But if you approach them, they are so gung-ho!

[winneythepooh7]

Originally posted by Diamond Delta
Do not overlook women because YOU think they wouldn't be interested. You can never tell someone else what they would be interested in. Some people are just shy and would never approach you (I was one of those people). But if you approach them, they are so gung-ho! [/B]

I TOTALLY agree with this. I remember in my rush workshops in undergrad we always talked about how some women are intimadated for whatever reason by women in a sorority. Also I remember that there were girls who joined who were tomboyish or not the Barbie-doll sorority girl stereotype but after they became sisters, had a huge boost to their confidence, and their true beauty began to shine through. A lot of them appearance-wise did a complete 180. Also always remember not to ever talk about negativity and pettiness of the chapter around your friends that are not in the sorority. I had a lot of really good girlfriends in undergrad that said they would have loved to join but knew about some drama and just didn't want to get involved because of that.

[PsychTau]

Originally posted by aephi alum
I have to agree with what others have said... this is a very dangerous idea. With this approach, you may get a lot of warm dues-paying bodies, but they could be anyone... people who can't make grades, people who get drunk every Thursday and stay that way until Monday, the campus ho, or a group of people who don't fit in well with the sisters and don't uphold the sorority's ideals. Plus, you come across as desperate and willing to take anybody. In the case that KLPDaisy described, it looks like that didn't happen... if so, that chapter is very lucky.

This can work if you know the pool of women that you're working with (meaning they aren't heinous) and if your chapter needs a revitalization (new ideas, new energy, etc.). There are times where you can get 10-20 women in a group that can help make some decisions for the group and turn it around...but you have to know who you're throwing those bids out to (don't do it blindly). It really depends on the campus as well...while this isn't always a stellar idea and isn't an idea that should be repeated (meaning do it once and don't do it again for many years so that you don't become THAT sorority), if planned and calculated right, it could work. DON'T do it without some thought (and the cajones to live with the consequences!). Be very cautious with this one, and discuss it with your National Staff...they may not like it too well.

I also agree that holding rush events with fraternities is a bad idea. You might find your PNMs (and your sisters!) treating it more like a mixer rather than a rush event. Plus I think there may be NPC unanimous agreements about that... certainly no men are allowed at formal recruitment,

Men are not allowed to participate in any sort of recruitment event....however, who says that you have to have a "recruitment event" in order to recruit? If you're doing a philanthropy with a fraternity, invite some unafilliated women along so they can see that side of sorority life. (Invite women that some members know, don't just put out an open invitation on campus...that makes it look more like a recruitment event). If you're having a TAME mixer (don't get wild with it!), invite a few girls that you are just about ready to give bids to, as long as the fraternity is OK with it. Are you having a paper (informal) meeting one night with an educational presentation afterwards? Bring a couple of PNMs (once again, ones that several people know so they don't feel so out of place) to show them the personal development style of sorority. Just make sure that they aren't going to hear things non-members shouldn't hear...planning ahead is key.

My chapter used to kill two birds with one stone...they would do a philanthropy event with a fraternity in the afternoon/early evening, then have a mixer to celebrate that night. It cut down on overprogramming, gave a better image than "we just party with fraternities", and allowed the members to build deeper friendships with the guys (instead of just the "party" type of relationships). PNMs could attend those as well.

The thing to do here is think outside the box. Look at what other groups are doing, what's working, what's not, and try some new ideas. Sometimes if you quit advertising on campus and get a little bit "mysterious" about your "selection process", it piques some interest...a little buzz on campus if you will. Once again, it depends on the campus culture you're dealing with, so brainstorm some ideas.

Good Luck and keep us updated!
PsychTau