Small club's growing again?

[Mevara]

Originally Posted by BeeVee

How do I go about talking to someone without being that awkward shy girl at first?

You can't get better unless you try, practice makes perfect.The best way to remain confident in a conversation is to control the conversation by asking open ended questions.

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by BeeVee

ree-Xi: I think something that's really popular among the big clubs is having the group lunches, like was mentioned by ADPiTigergirl. I would love to try that, but it never seems to work out. We do have a lunch anyone is free to go to on Fridays where we usually try to invite freshmen to go to, but I never go because I have a lame boyfriend who's not in club and I am broke ALL. THE. TIME. I have heard a lot about that book on this site and may have to look into purchasing it for our formal Fall rushes, but since these are so soon I don't really have much time to get it and put it into practice for these rushes. Thanks though! What do you mean by celebrating the alumnae? I don't exactly know what to do with that idea, any advice would be great! :] About wearing letters/colors/etc., our club is so small that we can't really afford to buy t-shirts and such because to get them at a good price you have to buy in bulk and we can't do that, so I only have like 4 t-shirts I'm allowed to wear every day with my club's letters/colors on them... The shirt that is our jersey, that looks really nice and is really cute, we can only wear every once in a while and if we wear it any other time we get fined... We're getting new intramural shirts this week though, so maybe that'll help. :] Can I get some tips on how to promote the club without being able to have a bunch of shirts/jackets/etc? Thanks!

ADPiTigergirl: We have been trying out the lunch thing, but I'm not sure how it's going so far. Read my comment back to ree-Xi for more info. :] Also, our entire campus knows we're small. It's nothing new and it's something that has all the other clubs starting rumors and stupid stuff like that. So while we could in a way conceal that we have a very low member count, it's highly unlikely that someone interested in pledging next semester doesn't already know about it. The rumors being spread by the other clubs are a WHOLE other story on its own, but it is something that is making people turn away from us... Once rushes start up, these rumors will fall apart, but until then the only thing we can do is defend ourselves, which can be hard when there's so few of us.

goldsilverbronz: I would really love to do this, but I'm really shy when I first meet people. How do I go about talking to someone without being that awkward shy girl at first? It's really hard for me to tell who's a freshman and to tell who's interested in pledging, so I never seem to do well with the personalized, one-on-one conversations with girls. I completely agree with you though and that's why I ended up falling in love with my club, the girls remembered who I was after the rush and I knew they would genuinely miss me if I didn't end up ranking them first and got a bid from another club, none of the other clubs were that way with me. Anymore tips you may have are wholeheartedly accepted. Thanks!

If there are alumnae working on campus, bring them a flower in your color or some cupcakes. Make a small sign for their office door.

As for wearing colors, your color is red, right? Designate a day each week for you all to wear red to class. It can be a shirt, an accessory, or even a headband. Maybe wear something red every day during rush. People might notice and ask why.

You can get screenprinted shirts or totebags in small orders from a local t-shirt shop. There are web sites that will makes shirts for orders on as few as 10. Put your logo or write out your club's name. Ask alumnae if they'd like to order shirts and you get get a bigger order and save money.

Why can't you get together to eat lunch at the school cafeteria? What about going to school events together?

As for being shy, once you stop worrying about what people think of you (that is, show interest in others; ask questions), you will be more approachable. If most of the girls in your group are shy (and I am wondering if this might be part of why you are smaller right now), you might want to do some icebreakers before rush events to loosen up. Dance the hokey pokey, do some cheers, play music, get psyched. Energy is contagious. If you all are self-conscious and scared to talk to people, they aren't going to want to talk to you. It's about confidence. You don't have to be big to be confident.

As for having to "defend" yourself against what people might be saying - you are feeding into whatever "rumors" there are. Don't be defensive. Defense is a reaction. Be proactive. I know it sounds easy, but in a way, it is. It's a change in your mindset.

I don't know if there is anything else we can tell you. If you don't believe in yourself, no one else will. Good luck.

[BeeVee]

Thanks so much for all of the advice. It's really helpful! And we had our first RUSH event yesterday, which is kind of hectic and crazy since it's all club RUSH (so all guys and girls clubs are there). But we talked to a lot of girls and are very pumped about our individual RUSH on Thursday. On Facebook we have 103 girls confirmed to come and over 60 maybes. This of course is no definitive number; there could be less, there could be more. We are stoked and have done very well at talking to girls.

Also, I think our presence at the all club RUSH yesterday just squashed all the rumors. So, no one will have to even question our activity on campus anymore.

Another thing I actually heard from members from big clubs on campus are that they don't care about Spring RUSHES and they aren't a big deal because they aren't actually going to remember any of these girls' names come time for Fall RUSHES. All I thought when I heard that was, "Thank you for allowing my club a way to influence the potentials' opinions of us." I understand, especially with a huge club that attracts a lot of PNM's, that it can be crazy and you meet so many girls at once, but that can't be an excuse. My club has a lot of methods we're going to be using to remember girls' names and information about them for when the Fall RUSHES come around.

And as for the lunch in the cafeteria thing, I actually don't eat at the cafeteria, I think the food there isn't very good. BUT we have been trying to get small groups together to meet in the food court. We're slowly, but surely doing what we can to get to know girls outside of RUSH season.

I'll keep you updated as we have our RUSHES this week and next. :]

[33girl]

Originally Posted by BeeVee

And as for the lunch in the cafeteria thing, I actually don't eat at the cafeteria, I think the food there isn't very good. BUT we have been trying to get small groups together to meet in the food court. We're slowly, but surely doing what we can to get to know girls outside of RUSH season.

Of course it's not. It's lunch in the cafeteria. But go there and get a Coke and a piece of pie (I'm assuming you do have a meal plan) and hang out for a while, just to be seen. One of the sororities at my school used to enforce "caf time" and while we thought it was ridiculous - in retrospect, it did work for them as they never had any problem with people knowing who they were or getting members.

[BeeVee]

Haha! I guess I'll have to see what we can do about that then.

[BeeVee]

So, we had our first Spring RUSH tonight and it surpassed expectations! It was so amazing. We had almost 100 girls come. We had our RUSH after the two big clubs on campus had their RUSHES and the girls that had gone to those RUSHES could tell the difference between the clubs for sure. They told me that at the first two RUSHES they were just passed around from person to person and it wasn't very enjoyable, but at our RUSH they were having a really good time because even though there were only about 20 members/alums of our club there, we held our own and actually had real conversations with the girls. I think I only talked to three girls about majors, which is something that we were making sure not to ask upfront because EVERYONE asks that and it gets old. Our President gave an amazing speech and got a lot of the girls pumped for next semester. We were all having conversations with the girls that came and I don't think there were many times where there were girls that weren't talking to members/alums. It was such a good night and we already have a lot of excitement stirred for our next RUSH that's next Thursday. I'll keep you posted on what happens as it all unfolds. Thanks so much for the help and support again.

[CougarGrad]

That's great news, BeeVee. I'm excited for you and your sisters.

[AOII Angel]

That is wonderful! I hope this event pays off. Arrogance can turn people off. I applaud you and your sisters for doing your best to show the PNMs that you care to know the individual (which btw is very difficult to do when the PNMs outnumber the sisters!)

[ree-Xi]

When is bid day/night?

[BeeVee]

Well, since we only do pledging in the Fall, it'll be about a month after school starts in the Fall. But before that we have 2 weeks of recruitment, which is when each club does their 4 individual RUSHES and girls come meet the clubs, etc. Then we have a week where the clubs vote who they want and then the following Thursday is Bid Day and Friday is Bid Night.

Thank you so much! Our second RUSH happened last Thursday and we didn't get as many people as we expected (based off of who signed up on the Facebook page) due to the fact that the school's Rodeo was that night and we didn't check the calendar before scheduling our RUSH. The 20+ girls who did come though were a great group of girls and it was very exciting getting to spend a little more personal conversation time with the girls that came to this RUSH. Now we're almost done for the school year and I'll have to report back in the Fall when we start up the process for pledging.

Real quick, what's a good idea for keeping girls who are interested over the summer? We have the idea to write letters to the girls that came to the RUSHES, but most of the clubs do this so are there any things that could make this a little more original? Something that might make us stick out a little more in their minds when everyone returns to school on the Fall?

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by BeeVee

Well, since we only do pledging in the Fall, it'll be about a month after school starts in the Fall. But before that we have 2 weeks of recruitment, which is when each club does their 4 individual RUSHES and girls come meet the clubs, etc. Then we have a week where the clubs vote who they want and then the following Thursday is Bid Day and Friday is Bid Night.

Thank you so much! Our second RUSH happened last Thursday and we didn't get as many people as we expected (based off of who signed up on the Facebook page) due to the fact that the school's Rodeo was that night and we didn't check the calendar before scheduling our RUSH. The 20+ girls who did come though were a great group of girls and it was very exciting getting to spend a little more personal conversation time with the girls that came to this RUSH. Now we're almost done for the school year and I'll have to report back in the Fall when we start up the process for pledging.

Real quick, what's a good idea for keeping girls who are interested over the summer? We have the idea to write letters to the girls that came to the RUSHES, but most of the clubs do this so are there any things that could make this a little more original? Something that might make us stick out a little more in their minds when everyone returns to school on the Fall?

Are you allowed to do anything with the girls that stay in town over the summer? Are there any rules regarding this? Can you friend them on FB? I guess make yourselves seen so they don't forget you. Let them see that you guys keep up with each other when you aren't at school. If you can do things with girls who stay in town, have any members who are in town organize some social outings, ie. movies, dinner, etc. Be seen around campus during summer school. Do some brainstorming. I'm sure y'all can some up with some more ideas.

[BeeVee]

It's very rare that people stay in town during the summer after freshman year. I'll talk around with more of my club members and see how that idea could go over though. I'm sure there are some girls who are staying over the summer. We can be friends with them on Facebook and once we get all the information sent out to all the members from the girls who signed in at the RUSHES then we'll be able to move forward and get a better idea about how to communicate with girls over the summer. Thanks for those ideas though, I'll see what we can find out.

[JMNew83]

Hi BeeVee,

I have been reading your post, and I too am a member of a smaller Greek Letter Organization. I have started several chapters of my sorority, and I wanted to comment to help you out.

When I pledged my sorority, Gamma Phi Delta (A business & professional sorority), back in 2003, my pledge process started April when our semester ended in May. We had to take a break, because of school and our sorority takes a break during the summer as well. What my Big Sisters told me to do was work on the bigger group projects and to save up our money to pay our joining fee. I would suggest doing the same, and one of your new pledge class requirements could be to recruit additional new members into the class so that they understand the value of recruitment.

What we did when I was online was have Sisterhood days during the summer for the women who were still on-campus. I didn't get to participate as I went back home, but this is a great way to keep the sisterhood going among the current members and the prospective members. Once September came and school started, we were welcomed back with a big BBQ. This marked the beginning of our in-take process.

I don't want to discourage you, but be prepared in September that some girls may drop or not come back once school starts again. Also, you should really visit the Phired Up blog at http://www.phiredup.com/. It's run by the same people who do the "I Heart Recruitment" book. You never want to just stop recruiting.

One of the I Heart Recruitment guys ideas is to start a student Freshman group something simple like Class of 2014 at xyz or transfer students at your school, and encourage fellow freshman to join. You'd have to put a disclaimer that you any promotional postings will be deleted. (I'm not able to do this, because I'm in a graduate chapter now), however, the group will connect you with people you never met before and you can connect with on other levels and then get them to come to your events.

The main thing to keep in mind when your small and/or starting out is that you want to constantly recruit. Always have your colors or letters. Have a flyer with general information about your organization on it (history, how to join, etc). Have lunch dates or Meet and Greets with the women you met. Invite people to come sit with you (especially new freshman) and have other members pass out the flyers while you eat.

The key is not to do "defend" how small you are as someone else said. The key is to let your prospective new members know you are small, have them put their mark on your chapter / organization and then get them to bring a friend or two to every event. And before you know it, your recruitment efforts will take on a life of itself.

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Gamma Phi Delta Sorority, Inc.

[BeeVee]

Wow, it's been so long since I came on here! But I've got an update for everyone who's still interested, haha.

So, this year we changed up the way rushing works. We do it a lot more like big universities do it, where the first rush for every club is open and then it's invitation only for the last 3. This was done 1) so that girls who don't get their first choice club have time to get over that shock and meet girls in other clubs that they get invited back to and 2) so that the smaller clubs on campus have a chance to win girls over at rushes instead of hoping they'll accept our bids when they probably haven't even met us before since they were rushing the other clubs instead.

So, our first rush was yesterday and it was at 5 on a Wednesday (remember, I go to a Christian school so most people go to church at 7 on Wednesdays). For the time and the day, the turn out was better than expected. We only had about 30 girls there, but since there were only 30 we really had a chance to talk to all of the girls and actually get to know them really well. The theme for the rush was GATA's Next Top Model, so everyone was supposed to dress up like a diva or something reminiscent of the real ANTM show. We had a runway challenge and we had an area where girls could dress up and use dispoable cameras we provided to take pictures. It was also in one of the auditoriums at our university so it was on stage and just had a really cool vibe because of that. We also had a table with "model snacks" on it, we had fruits and veggies and then some delicious punch. It was a blast!

Not only was it a blast, but we also learned about more girls who are committed to GATA for pledging. :] Such great news. And since the first round of invitations went out today, LOTS of girls already know they didn't get their first choice club so we're hoping our next 3 rushes will sell GATA to them.

Our next rush is a black light paint party! If you've ever seen Miss Congeniality, it's gonna be like that scene where they're at the club. It's gonna be so much fun and a lot of girls are really excited about it.

The rush after that one is a Sprinkles cupcake theme. We're having a cupcake decorating party, per say. We are going to have a contest to see who makes the best cupcake design and the top three people will get real Sprinkles cupcakes, so that's exciting. And all the club memebrs are going to wear white aprons with club-themed decorations on them and then white chefs hats. :]

The last rush's theme is Pajamas and Pearls. And girls will wear either really cute (but appropriate, of course) or really funny pajamas and we're just gonna have a tea party in pajamas. We booked this really nice house that was built back in 1910 for the rush and it has a grand staircase and chandeleirs and then an arbor in the back, it's amazing!

I'll post more updates as our rushes happen and then I'll let you all know the magic number on Bid Night! If you're still reading, thank you for all the support and wish us luck as we are in crunch time now. <3

-Bee-

[OPhiAGinger]

Your rush events sound like lots of fun. Great job planning them!

Just wondering, though.... If you've only got about 10 members returning this fall, will you be able to handle a large (as many as 30) pledge class? Have you set an upper limit for the number of pledges you could realistically absorb into your club?