Recruit more girls

lDoCvOe · #1 06-21-2008, 02:01 PM

Ok so I posted a thread in greek but i guess it was the wrong place.
Im gunna try to explain my sorority a little more so that the answers i get can apply more to my sorority.

Ok so I just pledge Spring of 2008 and My pledge class was me and one other girl.
four seniors graduated and now we are left with 2 brand new sisters (including myself ) and 2 sisters that pledged in Fall of 2007.
So were pretty much all new at this.
I said before that my school is a suitcase college, this may mean different things to different people but to me and at my school it means that on the weekends no one stays the weekends.

There are 4 fraternities and 4 sororities at my school. and recently everyone is trying to get their recognition from the school back because my school has has previous problems with the greeks.

Most of the greek at my school is just local and my sorority doesnt have another chapter.
We used to but they died out.

Im really scared that My sorority is going to die out soon enough because our numbers are so low.

We cant pledge first semester freshman or people under a 2.ogpa and right now we dont know many upperclassmen interested in pledging.

What can we do to interest these sophmores , juniors, or seniors, to pledge for a sorority that isnt well known and doesnt have a house

oh and none of the sororities at my school have houses and as next semesters president(yea i know its weird being a new sister) I want a few tips on how to start and get a house also...

Thanks
<3 Sister of Delta CHi Omega

breathesgelatin · #2 06-21-2008, 02:45 PM

Aw. My cousin did both his BA and MFA at Alfred University (not Alfred State, though they're in the same town I believe).

I would bet that lack of school recognition is really hurting you. One thing you definitely need to do is make sure you follow everything to get that recognition back and present your best possible faces.

I have a few other ideas. You imply that you switch Presidents every semester. In general, I don't think that's a very good idea. It would obviously be awkward for you as next semester's president to suggest that you extend your term to an entire year, but maybe you could suggest doing it for the NEXT person's term. Having a year-long President is going to make the office more effective.

So really your goal for the fall is to attract as many upperclass women as you can. I think you'll get better ideas on that from some other members of GC than me, because I didn't go to a school where we ever recruited upperclassmen... I would say, though, that if you already know that people haven't heard of your sorority, maybe the best thing is to get your name out there in a positive way. Get some lettered t-shirts and pick a day of the week and have all the sisters wear them around campus and to class. Do a fundraiser and recruit and advertise at the student union or a central area on campus and try to get non-Greeks to participate.

I guess my point is, don't just focus on recruitment if people don't know about your org, but also getting your name out there.

Whatever you do, don't do anything that would be considered hazing. Not only would this jeopardize your sorority getting recognized, it also seems like upperclassmen might be even less interested in getting hazed than freshmen would be.

What kind of recruitment do you have? It looks like you have all local fraternities/sororities at your school, do you have a formal recruitment with the other sororities on campus at any point or is it up to you to hold recruitment parties and events?

Finally, this may not be what you really want to hear, but if you chapter is seriously struggling with numbers, this may not be the best time for you to pursue getting a house. That's a major financial commitment, that to be frank, could break your sorority. Unless you have a very active alumnae organization that will support you, or a big endowment or something, I would strong advise you to hold off on the house. If you really think that's where your chapter needs to go, maybe you could consider just starting a savings fund for a down payment and putting a portion of every semester's dues in there.

lDoCvOe · #3 06-21-2008, 03:05 PM

Yes i agree its not the time to get a house, but im coming in as a sophomore next year and have 3 years and my goal is to get a house in those 3 years.

But the main thing right now is recruitment.
The school is getting a little more well known and its part of the NYS Suny program.
Also all the greek in my school is mostly local, some have chapters in buffalo and stuff but not alot.
Our name is out there i mean people know about us, and its not bad.
We dont have a bad name and we are on probationary status on campus with 3 other greek houses out of the 6 greek houses.
We never had a problem with hazing, and we hopefully never will.

I mainly want to come up with events around campus to get people interested in the greek life.

We dont really have a rush plan, we usually throw a rush party or 2 before pledging starts and just get to know the girls, but the hard part is to get girls to come to these rush partys

AlphaXi_Husky · #4 06-21-2008, 03:17 PM

I would strongly recommend you read the book "I Heart Recruitment". It has a lot of tips and recommendations for getting your name out there for recruiting members, which seems to be the main problem you're having. If you just do a google search you should be able to find it - I ordered an e-copy of it (for instant access) at lulu.com. Good luck!

RaggedyAnn · #5 06-21-2008, 04:24 PM

I would also recommend reaching out to all of your alumnae-including the sisters from the other 2 schools. Let them know how desperate you are and don't hold back. If they know that there are only 4 collegians left, perhaps they can/will help you. I saw on Wiki that you folks have an Omega alumnae group. Is it still active? I have found that often sisters are willing to help if someone asks them. This might be just the opportunity that some of your alum are looking for.

lDoCvOe · #6 06-21-2008, 04:32 PM

Our Omega chapter is active, but the thing is Its not that we are unstable , Im just kind of looking for some ideas to get more girls. Because I know that if i have a problem my alumni will always be there to help. Im just kinda looking for ways to attract more girls so that our sorority becomes non existent at the school eventually. At my school we really dont have the bidding process either we like you and you pledge or we think they are doing it for the wrong reasons and we dont want them. The problem is were not getting any girls that are interested in pledging anymore, none of the sororities on campus are.

texas*princess · #7 06-21-2008, 04:57 PM

I think it's a little ambitious to try getting a house in the next 3 years... if you care about your sorority dying out, you should really stabilize your numbers before you even think about a house because a house will come with all KINDS of bills & expenses that 4 people will not be able to handle.

I'm not saying it's impossible, just that maybe your priorities are a bit mixed up.

lDoCvOe · #8 06-21-2008, 05:31 PM

I know its not practical, but its a goal and my priorities are straight, I know that right now my priorities are set on getting quality and quantity of girls and i already said that. If you don't have goals you have nothing to strive for.

violetpretty · #9 06-21-2008, 06:09 PM

How large would you like your chapter to grow?

I wouldn't focus so much on recruitment parties per se, but recruiting on the individual level. Meet women from your campus in class, other activities, community events, women that you knew from high school. Hang out with them. Later, have them meet your sisters. Invite them to sorority events that are appropriate for non-members to show what your sorority is about. Ask them to join. If each of the women in your chapter can "individually" recruit just one girl to join, you've doubled your size!

If you try to have recruitment "parties", I don't see how that would be logistically possible with only 4 women to meet potential new members.

ETA: re: the house issue, I think you'd be better off having a house/apt/dorm area where sisters live together until a house is financially feasible.

lDoCvOe · #10 06-21-2008, 07:51 PM

Well this upcoming semester it would be nice to have a pledge class of 4 at least so we could double in size.
When i say parties its just getting to know each other with soda and snack foods but last semester 4 people showed to this party and only 2 ended up pledging.
The town my school is in, the nearest community is like 30 min away.
So there is no community events really and its a small school and no one really has friends from high school there.

The school is small like i said and the problem mainly is to find girls that are even interested. Some people have suggested like an ice cream social to bring in girls and although we only have 4 actives many of our alumni would be willing to come to things such as that

honeychile · #11 06-21-2008, 10:21 PM

For starters, definitely read I heart Recruitment! Then, sit down with the women from the other sororities and see what they think, how they plan to go about this situation. If there are four sororities with the same problem, then you can share the burdens and the costs of turning the situation around. If there are no community events available, create them! Find someone who can give an interesting (read: fun) lecture on anything that would be of interest to the others at your school. You can open these up to men and women at first, then start inviting just the women.

In the meantime, work on your own social skills as a group. Make sure you all know how to talk to the proverbial brick wall if you need to do so. Learn how to recruit (the book!). Figure out why joining a sorority enhances your college experience, and use it.

Most of all, get comfortable with this situation! Know that you're going to be taking on a 24/7 project, not just a meeting night problem. Once it's second nature, you're going to be recruiting even when you don't realize it.

Good luck!

violetpretty · #12 06-22-2008, 09:45 AM

Like I said, I don't think you should necessarily have "parties" or "events", even the low-key ones you describe. You're missing my point of the individual level of recruitment. Befriend women by doing "normal friend things" together for a week or two before you introduce them to your sisters (as individuals/friends) and then to your sorority. In your situation, it appears that fliers, and publicizing events are not working, so stop beating a dead horse.

lDoCvOe · #13 06-22-2008, 11:36 AM

well see since we werent recognized by the school till this year we couldnt really put out fliers and publicizing events. and since now were allowed to throught the school im looking for ideas for publicizing events and such

texas*princess · #14 06-22-2008, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lDoCvOe

well see since we werent recognized by the school till this year we couldnt really put out fliers and publicizing events. and since now were allowed to throught the school im looking for ideas for publicizing events and such

I don't really think that matters. The ROI of putting up fliers is not that great. Instead of doing that, use your time productively doing some of the things violetpretty or honeychile has suggested.

By putting up fliers you are not giving anyone a compelling reason to even check out your group no matter how many people actually stop to read them. (which by the way, not many people actually stop to read fliers on their way to Accounting class)

If you take a girl individually, get to know her, become friends with her, and then introduce her to the other 3 members you already have that connection with her and she may think "hey, lDoCvOe is a pretty cool girl! Maybe I should consider joining her sorority because the other girls here may be just as fun to hang out with"

33girl · #15 06-22-2008, 11:05 PM

Are other groups at the school besides Greeks having a problem recruiting members?

If the school is accepting a lot of people who don't want to get anything out of college but a degree, there's really nothing you can do about that. Some people are like that - if they don't get 2X as much as they give they want nothing to do with a group.

Don't bother with "traditional" rush things like parties and ice cream socials, like violetpretty said. You get yourselves hyped up and it doesn't have a great return. Just bring women who are your friends into the circle of your sisters. If you like them, give them a bid.