Recruitment

[troynines]

Hi, Im from Gamma Colony and Im interested in hearing how other chapters recruit new members.

[Toucan]

Hi, Im from Gamma Colony and Im interested in hearing how other chapters recruit new members.

Welcome Troy!

In my opinion, it is always about identifying and recruiting clusters. Sure you will get one at a time but if you can recruit a whole floor that is the berries.

BTW, if you chapter would like a private forum shoot me a message and we will set it up, pronto.

[gmwong]

Ahh the joys of recruitment.

Recruitment is all about meeting people. There is all sorts of formal rules, events, time lines, and what not that campuses require. However, recruitment is a full time job. 24/7. Knowing your campus (I've been there once) you've got lots of guys to meet and lots of competition. There is no magic to recruitment. Its about who you know, and the first impression you make on them.

Start here:
http://www.amazon.com/Good-Guys-Possibility-Fraternity-Recruitment/dp/1411671279/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223433574&sr=8-13

This book lays out some common sense to recruitment. You probably know all the lessons in this book, however it will give you insight on how to apply them.

Many members of my past chapter read this book and each left it with something different to say. I will leave current recruitment techniques to Active members.

Good Luck!

[jgoodwin]

As a former recruitment chair in our colony, I found that you have to get everyone to buy into the concept of recruitment. Its really easy to say that its the "Rush Chair's Job", which is not at all the case. Get organized as a recruitment chair. Make it so that they dont have an excuse to not help. Give them schedules...make them in charge of events. I had our brothers be "rush captains" where they were in charge of a specific night. I oversaw everything and made sure it ran smoothly. I then allowed them to work on the event...which gave them a sense of ownership. Next, have events before and beyond rush week. Immediately, make your impression felt...day one. It doesnt have to be a big event....make it informal. Invited people over to eat, chill, go bowling, whatever you want to do. Another good idea is the idea of a wish list. Create a list of people that you WANT in....dont wait on them to come to you. Make brothers bring a name and contact info each week. Have requirements to get updates on their interest. You dont jump into this process asking them to join immediately...ask them to hang out. By creating a wish list and following up, it gives you direction and ensures that you will reach out for the best and brightest on your campus. If you need any other advice, feel free to contact me.

[Nahum Cook]

Free food being given away in the main flow area of your campus at the busiest time of day while touting your name verbally and having signs to promote you will do wonders.

We did our ACE project this semester the Friday before rush week started and gave out free BBQ sandwiches with information about other campus orginizations (if they submitted a flyer to us) and about our own.

In about 2 hours we gave away over 168 dollars of meat, thats ignoring the cost of the buns and BBQ sauce and the grill rental, to the student population and faculty. No better way to make face with everybody.

Also making connections is more then just talking to everybody you meet thats a student and a potential founding father. Get talking to the right falculty and make nice with them so that you now all the policies of your school and how to work within them. You do that and the faculty will be willing to help you out more because you make there lives easier.

Going from colony to chartered chapter isn't easy. It took us 2 years practically. It's lots of time and effort and can be frustrating when its the same people doing all the work but stick with it.

[Nate]

Meeting people is key. The more people you know, the more people you can become friends with, the more that will be receptive about joining Sigma Pi.

Make sure your guys are involved with at least one other organization. Many people that are involved on campus do more than one thing. These are the types of leaders you need.

Goodwin mentioned a "wish list". Call it what you want but it's good to have a goal and be focused. Add people/update the list weekly, giving people "assignments". Make sure these people are invited out to events, planned or impromptu.

And make sure that your guys introduce themselves to new people, especially if it's a rush event. If you get people to the rush event but they don't meet anyone, it's a lost cause. If your guys are timid about introducing themselves, make them realize that they're in their element and it's a Sigma Pi's responsibility that guests enjoy themselves.

[PatrickPatterson]

Everyone has already mentioned some of the major points, but I have a few things to add from my expeirences. I am currently at St. Cloud State University as the Graduate Assistant for the Fraternity and Sorority Community and (among my many duties), I actually advise Men's Recruitment, so I've had a chance to do a lot of research into effective recruitment.

(1) Everyone has already said it, but I can't emphasize this enough: you have to make someone your friend before you can recruit him! I see so many fraternity men get into clusters, stand out in the quad, and hand out flyers to people hoping that they come out to their stuff. The fact is, I encourage people to go out and make new friends, but before you even mention the fraternity, you need to get to know at least a bit about them. (Someone already mentioned the "Good Guys" book, but they discuss 5 F'n Ways to Master Conversation by talking about the persons Family/Friends, Favorites, Firsts, Fun, and From.) Then, you GET THEIR PHONE NUMBER :-D Once you have their phone number, you can call them before your events and offer them a ride. THEN -- get their roommate to come, too :)

(2) Have events, but avoid too many huge events. And do not have too many events at your house -- this is not one of those "If you build it, they will come" situations. You must go to them! So, I recommend working with residence hall staff and your student union for your "bigger events." Smaller events, though, should be your focus. This includes eating (in your caf, where all the freshman are, even if it's terrible), game tournaments (poker, board, etc...), sports (intramurals, pick-up games)... really, anything you normally do, but with potential new members.

(3) Recruitment teams can be great if used effectively. There are three phases to recruitment: opening, closing, and all the stuff in the middle. Identify your good openers and closers and pair one with another. Then, find guys that are good at planning events, maybe need someone else around to open up, and put those with your opener/closer pairs and have them (a) execute your events (smaller and, if you still have them, bigger) and (b) handle a "group" of potentials from your Wish List (which has been previously discussed in this thread).

When you focus recruitment on smaller events where you emphasize making new friends and get all brothers involved in recruitment, you can have huge new member classes. Everyone else's ideas are great, of course: recruiting clusters of people, meeting new people, having rush captains, year-round recruitment, incorporating your ACE project (and pre-existing events), and having a wish list are all very effective. (And, I promise, this isn't just talk -- my chapter used these techniques (minus the teams, honestly) when I was a senior and we took in a class of 18 with a chapter of less than 40.