Struggling Chapter, we need HELP!

[33girl]

You do indeed need to COB like whoa.

My advice would be to look for women who want to be in KKG specifically - not who just want to be in a sorority. Avoid flyers and chalking - they attract the latter and make it very hard for you to be selective. That is, if the whole campus knows you're looking for members, the loons will come out demanding bids and it's very hard to say "we don't want to bid you because you're a loon." They have you over a barrel, as it were. COB parties should be invite only. Each sister should come up with at least one person to invite. Also, you don't have to expressly do "parties" - try inviting women to dinner if you have a house with a kitchen, or to events you're attending as a sisterhood, like campus speakers or theater productions.

Above all, don't get scared and bid people just to increase your numbers if you're not really crazy about them. It will bite you in the butt eventually.

[ΑΓΔSquirrelGirl]

Personally I don't think you have to be the "cool" chapter to have great girls. 33's advice about being selective is really important...it'll probably take a while to build it that way, but in the long run you'll have better quality girls and it'll be easier to build a reputation. I'd say just make sure you go out and have good fun...show people you love each other. Because that'll attract the kind of girls you want, and not the kind of girls that just want a four year party. The ones who want to be a KKG will be impressed with the sisterhood and the fact that y'all look happy. I think each sister inviting one person sounded like a good idea as well. Then someone can vouch for them, and you're more likely to get some quality sisters.

[KSUViolet06]

Some advice (it may not be the most popular advice but it's honest and these things have helped my chapter double its size to almost total this year):

*Girls need to wear their letters often. Make sure that when you all wear letters that you look nice. Go out in groups to the student for lunch in letters. Wear letters at school sporting events and anywhere where there might be large groups of students.

*I agree with 33girl about making COB invite only. It makes things a little more exclusive. There will be fewer girls there, but they will be girls who accepted your invites and are actually interested in checking your out.

*I'm sure some of your girls have are in other campus organizations outside of Kappa. Their other friends in campus groups are most likely people who like to get involved. Have girls invite their friends from their other orgs to COB events.

*The best way to recruit women is to make friends with them first. If there's a girl in your class that you think would make a good Kappa, invite her to study or out to coffee a few times. Then after you've hung out, mention that your sorority is having an event and that you would like her to come check out your sorority.

*Go out and have fun. I'm not saying go out to the fraternity parties and get wasted. But go and let other freshman and sophomore women see you out. They might meet you out, then see you on campus in letters, and become interested in Kappa.

*Once you have met and made friends with women whom you would like to join Kappa. Invite them out with small groups of 3-5 sisters for coffee, lunch, dinner or whatever. Once girls get to know you on a smaller scale, they'll be more likely to want to attend a recruitment event once you invite them.

[33girl]

I also want to throw this in because I know you'll hear about the "5 step model of recruitment" at some point when COBing...

1. Meet them
2. Make them your friend
3. Introduce them to your friends
4. Introduce them to your sorority
5. Ask them to join

Great course of action, but....IT TAKES TIME!!

I think too many people are told to use the 5 step model and given the impression that it takes 5 minutes or a week from meeting someone to bidding them successfully. It doesn't - some people might think about joining for a year or more before they actually do it. Be patient!! Don't pressure someone over and over to join...it's the surest way to make them feel as though you only want them as a "number" and not as a friend/sister. If you can't have a conversation without saying "so, when do you think you're going to be able to pledge?" you're going down the wrong road. Use your people skills and you'll be able to figure out the right and the wrong times to bring things up.

Ideally - they should be so comfortable with you and the sorority that THEY ask YOU how they can join.