I'm a brother!!

[EmorySarah]

Hi everyone!
Well, my pledge period finally ended, and I'm now an initiated member of Alpha Phi Omega! The ceremony was so touching, and I'm really looking forward to being a very, very active brother! Our chapter (Delta Kappa) of APO is pretty small...we have about 30-40 active brothers and quite a few inactives. Any ideas on ways to raise our numbers?

[Senusret I]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!

There are lots of ways to raise numbers.....but are you referring to:

1) Having a large potential pledge pool?
2) Retaining pledges?
3) Or retaining Brothers?

Let us know.

[emb021]

Originally posted by EmorySarah
Hi everyone!
Well, my pledge period finally ended, and I'm now an initiated member of Alpha Phi Omega! The ceremony was so touching, and I'm really looking forward to being a very, very active brother! Our chapter (Delta Kappa) of APO is pretty small...we have about 30-40 active brothers and quite a few inactives. Any ideas on ways to raise our numbers?

At 30-40 actives you're not considered small. Under 25 is considered small in APO.

The chapter I'm involved in just inducted 8 new members, with about 5 actives and another 5 inactives.

How to build up membership?

Recruit. Get the word out about APO, and what you do. Encourage your members to wear their pins and letter shirts, talk to their classmates, etc. Participate in campus activities, club fests, etc. Set up info tables at the being of the semester, get fliers out, door knob hangers on dorm rooms, etc.

Don't neglect your members, or you'll see more inactives. Have a program that keeps them involved.

APO has a lot of materials can help you. Be sure your delegates to the National Convention attend workshops on these topics.

Hope this helps

[naraht]

I beg to differ, the small chapter survival guide talks about a chapter of 15 or less being small...

Just Like Alpha when it started.

[wvapogirl]

30-40 active members?!? My chapter was lucky if we had a dozen! But good ol' Tau Alpha chapter is still hanging in there (last I heard, we had 8 actives and pledged 5!)

~Nicole

[Dionysus]

Congratulations!

[CorporateLady]

Congratulations on becoming a brother,
I wish you continued success in all of your endeavors may the spirit of brotherhood continually live in you. No matter what always remain true to yourself and treat your brothers the way that you want to be treated.
It's not the size of your active members it's the quality. Everyone has the capability to perform service but not everyone has the DESIRE!!!
Ways that you can get your numbers up are to lead by example make sure that you are portraying Alpha Phi Omega in a positive light, don't do it just to have the letters, because letters don't mean jack if you don't know what they stand for.
I'm not being mean but after serving as the Membership VP of my chapter for the past 2 years I know how hard it is to find people that are truly going to be dedicated.
Also be selective but not selective in the type of members that you are recruiting and extending the invitation of pledgeship to, my chapter always has at least 19-24 pledges a semester and only the dedicated will survive. Meaning the ones that are there for the wrong reasons will weed themselves out.

I hope that this helps you and once again welcome to the FAMILY!!!

Your's Always in Leadership, Friendship, and Service

~~~CorporateLady~~~

Representing the:
Alpha Epsilon Epsilon Chapter

[emrogers22]

Well I must say that the Alpha Beta Omega Chapter is still holding on with its 4 very active and 2 semi-active members! I was the only pledge in the fall...

I think the biggest issue (especially with our chapter) is that our University is a "commuter college". We have tons of students that are either in the military (and are rarely on campus), students that work full-time, and students that have tons of other obligations outside of the school (family, etc.) A lot of people want to be apart of the organization but they don't have the time to commit to it...

But, I am working strong to make sure that the word gets out and try and scope out potentials to boost our membership. As a pledge, there was no doubt in my mind that I had found the perfect family Congrats to you and good luck!!

In LFS,

Liz