Electing A Fraternity Recruitment Leader

by Woody Woodcock

By now you know It is almost election season…no, not the Presidential one, but your new exec board is certainly right around the corner. Many people think the President is the most important position to elect in a fraternity chapter, and while that may be true I think potentially the most important role is who you elect to organize and attract people to your organization through recruitment

I often say, “Recruitment is not an event, or a time of year, it is a relationship we build through intentional and meaningful connection. The relationship you build with another human (also known as a friend) has no time limits and no restrictions on what you talk about, or how often you get to hang out. True recruitment is just you being you making more friends each day. Finding the right leader in the fraternity to be in charge of recruitment is key to how the rest of the chapter will see recruitment every day for the next year.”

If you have been around fraternity/sorority long you know what typically happens during election time. I bet you could share story after story of heartbreak as the wrong people get selected time and time again.

Here is what some of you have shared about past election time looks like:

• There are usually 2-3 guys who get nominated the week before, or the day of the election.
• Normally it’s a really personable guy who lacks discipline and another guy who is a hard worker but is sometimes hard on other brothers.
• They’re probably sophomores.
• They all make a speech that is not based on any real results or knowledge of a true recruitment process.
• Their plans are full of good intentions, but light on any previous research or future strategy.
• The chapter is divided because you have two guys from the same pledge class.
• A vote is held and the destiny of recruitment now rests on someone probably ill-qualified to be your next recruitment chairman.

At Phired Up we always want to help our advisors, alumni supporters, and student leaders stay ahead of the curve with important themes and trends. This month we think helping educate people on how to elect the best fraternity recruitment chairman is important. Better people in the right spots could equal better people being attracted to your fraternity or sorority.

So…

What should we be listening for in their speech or campaign?

Who should you nominate/encourage to run this November?

What qualifies them to be nominated?

We want to make your role as an advisor, alumnus, or high caliber chapter leader simple not harder. We want to equip you with deeper questions on the right things to look for.

Top 15 Questions you may want to ask to go a bit deeper:

1. How likely is it you could put your mom or dad on the phone with the your next recruitment chair and you would feel comfortable about that?
2. How likely is it that your next recruitment chairman could meet with the Dean, or any high ranking campus official to explain what you look for in a new member?
3. How could they prove not just in a speech, but with action that this recruitment will be different?
4. Do they understand what your chapters top Key Performance Indicators are from last year? In other words where did most of your referrals come from, how much time did it take to close on someone……
5. What is their Laziness factor?
6. What is their GRIT factor?
7. Would you trust them to plan a date night for you and someone special?
8. How do they do in school?
9. What are their plans for summer time right now?
10. How likely is it they would make a phone call versus a text message to someone they don’t know?
11. Do they show up to stuff on time? Think about the last time you had a chapter meeting where did they sit?
12. Are they organized in their day to day meetings with you and others?
13. What does their dorm room or house look like?
14. Are they easy to talk with in small groups and large ones?
15. What does their class load look like next semester?

There aren’t necessarily right or wrong answers, but these are some of the questions we’d ask when considering who to put in the role of recruitment chair — the person we’re trusting the future of our organization with for the next 12 months.

Let’s put the right people in the right roles to help them attract the right amount of the right new members to our organizations this year.