Recruitment Help!!!!

[LadyLion4Life]

We do Formal Recruitment in the Fall and then COBs after that. We do COBs every month in the Spring with a couple more in the beginning. I am just afraid we won't get many girls this Spring. We had COBs all Fall and had hardly any girls come out to them and I think this is why I am afraid for Spring.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by LadyLion4Life

We do Formal Recruitment in the Fall and then COBs after that. We do COBs every month in the Spring with a couple more in the beginning. I am just afraid we won't get many girls this Spring. We had COBs all Fall and had hardly any girls come out to them and I think this is why I am afraid for Spring.

Here comes the commercial! Get "I Heart Recruitment". Maybe throwing a COB party isn't enough for your chapter. Going out and finding members means more than just advertising that you have spots open. The people at your campus who know that they want to join a sorority also know that there are spots open in your group and know that they don't want to join. That means that your sisters need to focus on finding the people who might not know that sorority membership is for them. Recruitment sometimes involves a little more footwork than people expect, but the results can be dramatic and very rewarding!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by LadyLion4Life

We do Formal Recruitment in the Fall and then COBs after that. We do COBs every month in the Spring with a couple more in the beginning. I am just afraid we won't get many girls this Spring. We had COBs all Fall and had hardly any girls come out to them and I think this is why I am afraid for Spring.

Do you actually have a spring pledge class, or do you just bid and hold over the girls you get until they can pledge with the next fall's class? Or do you (eek) wait till the next fall to bid them?

For the COB events, do you have parties that are pretty much exactly like your formal rush parties, or do you have non-events - like inviting girls over to watch Grey's Anatomy, inviting them to come to a campus theater production, having lunch with them? You should be doing the latter, not the former. If you are essentially "formal rushing" all year it's going to drain you and the PNMs will wonder why on earth they should join a bunch of girls who look stressed out all the time.

Don't open your COB parties to completely random women via chalking, flyering, facebook/myspace. Everyone at these parties should be someone a sister personally knows and has personally invited. This may be the complete opposite of what you've been told - but the truth is - women join because of the one to one connections they make. If a sister has personally invited them, you've already got one of those connections taken care of. You need to get more "bang for your buck" where COBing is concerned.

[LadyLion4Life]

We do take a pledge class in the Spring and for the most part we have been our COBs exactly like formal recruitment nights; just picking a theme and getting a room in our student union building. I am trying to get away from that because obviously it hasn't been working for us so far

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by LadyLion4Life

We do take a pledge class in the Spring and for the most part we have been our COBs exactly like formal recruitment nights; just picking a theme and getting a room in our student union building. I am trying to get away from that because obviously it hasn't been working for us so far

In addition to what all of these knowledgeable ladies have said, I would also suggest that your sisters GET INVOLVED ON CAMPUS. Recruiting through other activities/organizations/sports teams can be very easy, as you've already made connections with other members, and you share similar interests. This cuts out on the one part of recruitment that can sometimes prove to be the most difficult... meeting new people.

Since I joined my GLO (almost 6 years ago), my chapter has always had a few active sisters who were involved with Lion Ambassadors (http://www.clubs.psu.edu/up/lionambassadors/). The sisters continue to consistently recruit at least a few people each year through this organization alone.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by LadyLion4Life

We do take a pledge class in the Spring and for the most part we have been our COBs exactly like formal recruitment nights; just picking a theme and getting a room in our student union building. I am trying to get away from that because obviously it hasn't been working for us so far

Nope. Bag this.

Try to take the parties out of the student union - have them at the house or at a sister's house or apartment if you don't have a house. There aren't regulations like there are in formal rush (except for no men/no alcohol) so you can do whatever you want. Girls right away feel more positive toward you if you're welcoming them into your home.

You can have a slight theme - like St Patrick's or Valentine's day - but just as a conversation starter. Skip the skits and elaborate decorations and go easy on the games, maybe just something as an icebreaker. I was going to say make it so the rushees don't know they're being rushed, but that's a little over the top - make it so they don't FEEL they are being rushed, more like they're just at a friendly evening.