We need help growing our chapter!

a.m.williams · #1 12-31-2011, 01:09 PM

I go to a small school with only two sororites and a fraturnity that just got up and running this past semester. I am VP of Membership so I will be incharge of Spring Recruitment. Every Spring we do informal recruitment. We just need some fresh new ideas that will attrack girls since the same old tired ideas just aren't working. We have done events such as game night, movie night, great pretenders karakee. Keep in mind that we are from the Mid West so there will be lots of snow on the ground and we may not be able to do all of your ideas. (All ieas are welcome ofcourse as I can save them for Fall semester.)

a.m.williams · #2 12-31-2011, 01:13 PM

Also how do we keep girls interested? In the past we have had girl go through recruitment and then deactivate before we even get back from winter break. Also have had girls who will go through New Member Education and flake out at the last minute. Our chapter is hurting right now and recently loosing our house does not help the situation.

DubaiSis · #3 12-31-2011, 06:11 PM

think about why a girl would actually want to join a sorority and STAY a sorority woman for the next 40 or 50 years. The reasons you're using now aren't right so you need to re-think. What is it that's turning these girls off? I saw a great video on youtube of a guy talking to an NIC/Panhel group about eliminating the stuff that was necessary 20 years ago but really isn't now. Sorry I can't be more specific (I'm reading this post NYE revelry before going to bed) but if you do a search through here and on you tube, I bet you'll find it. The nub of his jist is if having meetings is turning everyone off, stop having them. Facebook, emails, texts etc. work perfectly well to disseminate information. Your problem may not be meetings, but there may be some other thing that just because it's been done that way for 100 years doesn't mean you have to keep doing it that way. All you HAVE to do is maintain the requirements your sorority headquarters sets forth, which you may find are a lot more loose than you think.

Start asking questions and think of ways to work with what they're saying and not just shut them down. Good luck!

AOII Angel · #4 12-31-2011, 06:27 PM

Another suggestion- figure out what is the common factor behind why girls have dropped out. Maybe they were not good picks in the beginning. Be a little more selective. Were there issues with integration into the chapter? Make sure you are providing your NMs with opportunities to get to know each other and the initiated sisters.

It's hard to know what is going on without a little more information. How big is your chapter? How big is the other sorority? How big is your school? How long has your chapter been functioning? Does the other chapter have these problems? Does your chapter have a reputation that you have to try to overcome? Is the other sorority having these same issues to the best of your knowledge?

AGDee · #5 12-31-2011, 07:16 PM

Sometimes it takes some deep thought about:
What are you offering to women that they can't get anywhere else?
What do women on your campus want?

Once you have an idea about the answers to those two questions, then figure out how to sell those things. Sororities can be about sisterhood/camaraderie, leadership opportunities, social opportunities or community service. What is most important on your campus and how can you offer those things to women? What is the advantage to being in a sorority on your campus? What is the advantage of being in YOUR sorority on your campus? Tough questions... but key to recruiting members.

DubaiSis · #6 01-01-2012, 10:41 AM

And not to turn this into a life lesson, but turning this into a marketing project might help change the way you're thinking about it.

An additional problem you may be having is you don't have a long-range plan. Where do you want to be after this rush? In a year? In 5 years? The way you are handling your current rush and your long-term member retention may change if you get together as a group and set some goals. I attended a goal-setting seminar once and they talked about the crazy goal (there was some cutesy term for it). In your case, let's say you have 10 members on a campus with 1000 students. You want an active membership of 100 within 5 years. Probable? Probably not. But possible? Absolutely. But to do that, you have to have a very clear plan in mind. "Let's get more girls to rush this year" isn't a plan, by the way.