Getting people active

AUDeltaGam · #1 06-12-2003, 09:55 PM

Hi Everyone,

I'm from Gamma Omicron chapter, and I was wondering how you get brothers motivated to come to stuff. We have always had a not so good turnout to stuff, and I was wondering how to fix that!

bjl6d · #2 06-14-2003, 01:11 AM

How many brothers do you have? We've got around 65 now and we have great attendance at our events. We have requirements to fulfill - PR, Service, etc., and it's up to the Chairs to determine really what counts as fulfilling the requirement and what doesn't. I think it works really well.

Also our PSP chapter has really become a fraternity, not just an organization for people to join. Most people who are in our PSP do not commit themselves to any other Greek organization, and those who do find it really hard to dedicate time to both.

I think something that's important for a chapter is to make sure you have a LOT of events. You can't just get by with just one or two events every month - I think that's the secret to our success. We have so many events, whether they be social, service, scholarship, PR, or whatever else, that we've gotten really close to one another and hang out with each other even outside events. Another thing that we have going for us is that we actually have 2 houses. Do you guys have a PSP house? If not, you may want to gather some interest and look into getting one. It works great to host parties and other events, and just as a hangout spot whenever people want it.

That's all I can think of right now. . .my brain is getting tired (it's the summer. . .you can only expect me to think SO much)

AUDeltaGam · #3 06-14-2003, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bjl6d
How many brothers do you have? We've got around 65 now and we have great attendance at our events. We have requirements to fulfill - PR, Service, etc., and it's up to the Chairs to determine really what counts as fulfilling the requirement and what doesn't. I think it works really well.

Also our PSP chapter has really become a fraternity, not just an organization for people to join. Most people who are in our PSP do not commit themselves to any other Greek organization, and those who do find it really hard to dedicate time to both.

I think something that's important for a chapter is to make sure you have a LOT of events. You can't just get by with just one or two events every month - I think that's the secret to our success. We have so many events, whether they be social, service, scholarship, PR, or whatever else, that we've gotten really close to one another and hang out with each other even outside events. Another thing that we have going for us is that we actually have 2 houses. Do you guys have a PSP house? If not, you may want to gather some interest and look into getting one. It works great to host parties and other events, and just as a hangout spot whenever people want it.

That's all I can think of right now. . .my brain is getting tired (it's the summer. . .you can only expect me to think SO much)

I think we have around 30-40. Most of our members treat PSP as just another organization. There have been meetings where just 10 people have come, and it's like no one cares. We have had events where almost no one comes.

Many of our members are members of social fraternities and sororities, so that may have something to do with the lack of commitment to PSP.

bjl6d · #4 06-15-2003, 01:46 AM

Alright it's pretty late now we got back from a long day at Busch Gardens so I'm absolutely exhausted. . .that's my disclaimer in case any of this sounds like crap haha

Anyway, getting members more active might begin at the rush process. Perhaps for the next pledge class you should pick more people who are not already involved in a Greek Org. and who, while they are involved on campus, are not overly involved and are looking for a place where "they belong." I don't know how competitive your Rush process is, but during the Spring we have about 100-150 people rush and we choose about 15-17 of those to pledge.

I really think you should perhaps consider making requirements for events, like each brother must do 5 hours of PSP-sponsored community service, 2 hours of public relations (which could just be things like promoting rush, stuffing envelopes to mail to potentials, etc), X hours of scholarship, etc. That's going to weed out a lot of the "real members" and those who are just in it for resume boosting. At the end of each semester we also have Brotherhood Review, which, for the most part, involve mainly attendance issues. Each brother who has not met their requirement is brought under review and asked why they didn't do so, and if they still feel Phi Sigma Pi is right for them. For the most part, brothers don't get kicked out for this, but it really makes them reconsider.

If you implement this, and perhaps more, all at once, your chapter is going to suffer a little for a couple years. You may find that membership will decline, but at least you'll have all active members. After that you can really focus on pumping Rush up and getting your numbers back up again.

AUDeltaGam · #5 06-15-2003, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bjl6d
Alright it's pretty late now we got back from a long day at Busch Gardens so I'm absolutely exhausted. . .that's my disclaimer in case any of this sounds like crap haha

Anyway, getting members more active might begin at the rush process. Perhaps for the next pledge class you should pick more people who are not already involved in a Greek Org. and who, while they are involved on campus, are not overly involved and are looking for a place where "they belong." I don't know how competitive your Rush process is, but during the Spring we have about 100-150 people rush and we choose about 15-17 of those to pledge.

I really think you should perhaps consider making requirements for events, like each brother must do 5 hours of PSP-sponsored community service, 2 hours of public relations (which could just be things like promoting rush, stuffing envelopes to mail to potentials, etc), X hours of scholarship, etc. That's going to weed out a lot of the "real members" and those who are just in it for resume boosting. At the end of each semester we also have Brotherhood Review, which, for the most part, involve mainly attendance issues. Each brother who has not met their requirement is brought under review and asked why they didn't do so, and if they still feel Phi Sigma Pi is right for them. For the most part, brothers don't get kicked out for this, but it really makes them reconsider.

If you implement this, and perhaps more, all at once, your chapter is going to suffer a little for a couple years. You may find that membership will decline, but at least you'll have all active members. After that you can really focus on pumping Rush up and getting your numbers back up again.

First of all, thank you for your advice. I think one of our problems is that we take everyone that comes to rush. We were just reorganized by nationals this past year, and that was their advice to us.

I like your advice about having required hours of various activities. Our events are "required" but the required part is not really enforced. We have some brothers who are really active, and then we have some brothers who I have never seen. So who knows...

Thanks again!

bjl6d · #6 06-15-2003, 11:51 AM

No problem - if you have any more questions just email me or keep posting here. . . we need to get these forums more active as well.

AUDeltaGam · #7 06-15-2003, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bjl6d
No problem - if you have any more questions just email me or keep posting here. . . we need to get these forums more active as well.

I think this is the most activity I have ever seen here!

bjl6d · #8 06-15-2003, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PSPGirl
I think this is the most activity I have ever seen here!

I hear you on that one. . . I wish people would recognize this more.

TigerLilly · #9 06-17-2003, 12:50 AM

I agree, yay for activity on the PSP board!
As for involvement...PSPGirl, my chapter sounds like yours in size and rush -- we're only 5 years old, and so we're still trying to grow and get a better presence on campus. We pretty much take everyone who shows a decent amount of interest during rush -- comes to 2-3 events and such. When you say you take "everyone", does that mean, even people who come to just one event and don't seem too enthused about PSP to begin with? If they're not enthusiastic now, they won't be later...
As for the requirements like Brian mentioned, does your chapter have a merit system / points system, or is it just an informal requirement to come to things? With my chapter, it generally works out that the people who never come to things (in it just for the resume builder), go ahead and ask to be expelled b/c they know we'll do it anyway if they don't make their requirements.
We're still trying to perfect our system, too...we have some people who are gung-ho service, and some who are all about working with the initiates, some who only do social things, etc... these people are reasonably involved, but only in one section of what we do. My chapter is trying to figure out how to get everyone to have more well-rounded involvement. -- Any ideas? Thanks!

TigerLilly · #10 06-17-2003, 01:50 AM

Oooh! New idea! PSPGirl, your mention of brothers treating PSP as "just another organization" instead of the fraternity it should be got me thinking...I've seen this attitude in some of my brothers and then seen it drastically changed. Most of the time, this was because they went to an interchapter event or to convention, somewhere where there were a LOT of brothers and they got a chance to really feel connected to the fraternity. Maybe if you encourage some less active brothers to go to interchapter events, they would feel more connected to PSP as a whole? Then I bet attendance at chapter events would increase too! Or maybe not...but it's worth a try!
Brian -- you say you have 2 PSP houses -- do you have letters on them and everything, or are they just houses where everyone who lives in them is a brother? We have several of those, and right now we're investigating what it takes, city-ordinance-wise, to put big letters on one house.
Disclaimer: It's late (for me), and I've spent all day at my day-care job...the kiddies have eaten my brain so anything that sounds kooky, blame it on them!

AUDeltaGam · #11 06-17-2003, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TigerLilly
I agree, yay for activity on the PSP board!
As for involvement...PSPGirl, my chapter sounds like yours in size and rush -- we're only 5 years old, and so we're still trying to grow and get a better presence on campus. We pretty much take everyone who shows a decent amount of interest during rush -- comes to 2-3 events and such. When you say you take "everyone", does that mean, even people who come to just one event and don't seem too enthused about PSP to begin with? If they're not enthusiastic now, they won't be later...

For our rush, it is only one informal meeting. Then if you want to join, you come to the first new member meeting. So our rush is not formal at all, which is probably our problem.

bjl6d · #12 06-17-2003, 09:16 PM

Our main house does indeed have our letters on the front of it - we have a little wall on the outside that we used to paint PSP over. I'm not sure about housing ordinances, etc. Our annex does not have the letters on the outside, although there are composites on the inside.

As for rush, we have 2 infosessions and then go through a series of 2 open rushes, 2 closed rushes, and 1 semiformal rush, with cuts made between the open and closed, and again between the closed and semiformal. Then final cuts are made in a long 5-6 hour long meeting.

AUDeltaGam · #13 06-17-2003, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bjl6d
Our main house does indeed have our letters on the front of it - we have a little wall on the outside that we used to paint PSP over. I'm not sure about housing ordinances, etc. Our annex does not have the letters on the outside, although there are composites on the inside.

As for rush, we have 2 infosessions and then go through a series of 2 open rushes, 2 closed rushes, and 1 semiformal rush, with cuts made between the open and closed, and again between the closed and semiformal. Then final cuts are made in a long 5-6 hour long meeting.

Your way of doing rush sounds much more effective!

bjl6d · #14 06-17-2003, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PSPGirl
Your way of doing rush sounds much more effective!

Yeah our way of doing rush is a lot more fraternity-style. Like I may or may not have said, our fraternity is much closer to a social fraternity than an honor one. We like to have fun and really the only thing that separates us from other fraternities is the toned-down hazing (We have VERY VERY VERY little, if any at all) and that we have a minimum GPA requirement.