Little Chapter, Big Recruitment: Spring 2009

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

With the women still deciding/not accepting, if your chapter feels this way, I'd continue to invite them to appropriate events as it may just be an awkward time (finances, family, academics) and they would still make excellent members in the future. Still being friendly with women who are acceptable candidates for membership but things just aren't working out right now is a good way to increase PR and visibility, and they may turn around and join later.

I'm especially thinking of the last woman you mentioned about being pressured by friends. A little time and seeing that people still like her and all the awesomeness of your chapter may be what sways her.

Very good point...I think a lot of non-Greeks think that people in sororities only want to be your friend until you decide whether or not to join. This is your chapters opportunity to prove them wrong. Of course, her friends will have to realize that she didn't betray them by not joining since it's an awkward position to be in.

[silverpearls]

Just a quick update, since I've come down with the particularly nasty strain of swine flu that about half the chapter has and I'm curled up in bed. We welcomed 8 fantastic women to Venus last night! We're all thrilled with them and couldn't be happier. As of now, we're only 5 below chapter total, which is an amazing accomplishment for us. We've never been closer - last fall we we were at least 30 below. Of the PNMs I told you about, our pledge class includes Greta, Kerry, Sandy and Lee.

[TNX_GoldStar]

Congrats!!!!

[pearlbubbles]

Only five below total is great! Congratulations! You all have worked so hard!

[LucyKKG]

Congratulations! My chapter is still pretty far from total, but there is only one other NPC that's been there for almost 20 years. *shrug*

[silverpearls]

Now that most of the chapter (including me!) has recovered from the swine flu, I can give you a better update on how COB went! I’m really pleased with the New Member class and I think the girls are a great addition to the chapter. We ended up adding one more new member late, for a total of nine girls. They’re all quality women who seem excited to be Venuses. Seriously, I love every single new member we have!

We’ve had a bunch of events for them and they seem to be getting along really well with the sisters. Like the spring recruitment, though, I worry that we’re going to have trouble getting them to know everyone. It’s still early in the semester, but I wish sisters were taking more initiative to get to know all the New Members instead of just assimilating a few of them into their groups of friends within the group. I wouldn’t call us a cliquey group – we all get along with one another just fine, and know who the others are – but there are definite groups of friends and they don’t always make a big effort to hang out with girls outside of that group. I feel like this would happen in any group, but I know it’s possible for everybody to at least know everyone’s name and a little about them. I think we’ll get there by the end of the semester.

Another thing I realized today is that this may have been our last COB… ever. We’ve COBed every semester as long as I can remember! It will be really strange if we don’t COB, and I’ll miss it. It’s more work, time and money, but I think it’s recruitment more like our founders intended. Instead of fast-paced bumping, chanting, frills, etc. you just get to sit and just hang out with the girls and see how they mesh with the sisters. Oh, well.

[silverpearls]

I forgot - I also wanted to update you about some of the NMs!

I mentioned before that Sandy is a big legacy to another group (XYZ) on campus, which she pledged but never initiated into. She told us at one of the NM events how she had worn XYZ jerseys to sleep in as a kid, how their house was decorated in XYZ colors and the XYZ flower, and that her XYZ mom was a super-involved XYZ chapter advisor back home. When Sandy pledged XYZ, her mom bought her tons of gifts and clothing with XYZ letters all over them. Basically, she was raised to be an XYZ. I was worried that her family wouldn't be supportive of her joining a different group... I couldn't have been more wrong! They're really happy that she found a group she really meshes with, and her mom has already sent her a ton of Venus stuff. Nationally, Venus and "XYZ" are very similar and have some historical connections. I'm just happy that things worked out so well.

Greta has really come out of her shell. Everyone loves her! I'm glad she feels comfortable enough to let her personality show. Kerry and Lee are also doing great.

[silverpearls]

I'm glad to report that all of our COB New Members were recently Initiated and are now active, integrated, happy new sisters. The chapter is in really good shape. I'm so pleased with how things have done in the (almost) year since I began this thread, and I hope they will continue to improve.

With that, I will bow out. I think this thread has naturally come to an end. I wanted to document the chapter's journey, and I've done that. Hopefully this thread will serve as a good resource, or even just a bit of hope, for chapters who are struggling with their recruitment. I have received so many encouraging, helpful and congratulatory messages since the thread began, and I really appreciate what you have to say. If anyone has any more questions or comments, feel free to contact me via PM.

Thank you to my sisters, no matter your letters, for all your support!

[FSUZeta]

i just love a happy ending!!! thank YOU for sharing your experience with us and showing other groups that with hard work and dedication the sky's the limit! best wishes for continued success.

[ErinBee]

I just read this whole thread in one sitting and I actually teared up at little now that it's ending. This is such an inspiration to ANY chapter big or small. I will definitely make some of my sisters read this. I hope there is an update this winter? Pretty please?

[ilpwineg]

I just read this whole thing, and I wish I had read it earlier because my org just went through the same thing this past semester! We went from having 21 actives, to 38. I have never been so overwhelmed by sheer number of girls before, but I can now say I could not be happier, it is such a powerful and amazing experience to see your sorority grow and have all of your hard work pay off.

Your concerns about becoming a "big" sorority were exactly the same that my sisters and I shared this past semester. The 3 NPC orgs at my school total around 80. It was so nice and intimate to be so close with just 20 other girls and know them all like the back of your hand, but as the process went on I could easily see that it really wasn't going to be that bad at all, if anything it would allow us to get an even wider perspective of life from all these wonderful young women. One of the ways we are dealing with such a large intake is by taking off this spring(when we would normally recruit again) and just focusing and spending our time money and energy on sisterhood, im really looking forward to it!

Also another big similarity was the competition with Minerva, we experienced the same exact thing. We were constantly being pegged as the low-rate version of another org. But this semester we have seen such a come around. Not just because of our new members, but because of everything all of our sisters are doing individually. Someone mentioned having a presence just by going to things, and that is SO true. Our sorority makes a huge effort to really go to EVERYONES events, local, national, whatever, and really help out during big school events such as Greek Week(not very popular at my school) and also put on our own events such as sisterhood socials with other sororities on campus to strengthen bonds between ALL sisters. I have never in the 3 years of being in this org gotten so many compliments on how strong our sisterhood is, and how much people admire our dedication not just to ourselves but to the entire greek community. It is a truly rewarding experience. Oh, and after all that, Minerva brought in only 5 more nms more than us after their fr, and apparently are threatened by us, haha.

Congratulations to your chapter, it's always so nice to see the underdog make great strides to maximizing their full potential!

[blueroses1313]

Best.
Thread.
EVER.

I'm part of a teeeeeny tiiiiiiiny interest group for a new national multicultural sorority on my campus (the very first one my school will have) and we're really going to have to work to recruit more women for our founding class, so I was really excited to read this thread; it gives me a lot of hope that if someone else's group can go from small to (comparatively) ginormous, ours can too!

[ladybug12]

Calling silverpearls!!!

Please let us know how formal recruitment goes this year. Good luck to Venus!