As summer recruitment begins, chapters and councils have a window of opportunity to strengthen their systems. Whether that is name list clean-up, summer event planning, or recruitment onboarding, this month is all about using tech intentionally to make growth smoother, smarter, and more scalable. Think of this timeframe as the preseason, and you all are the general managers who are actively trying to improve your organization in every facet possible.

Every successful sports organization and Fortune 500 company has some form of a structured system that they have utilized and built upon year to year. These are the same ideals we want to share with our chapter and council members, considering we are on the verge of another Fall Recruitment cycle for all universities that participate. Within this blog, we will share tools, training, and templates to help leaders build systems that do more heavy lifting. 

Names List 

Every university, hopefully, has provided you all with a list of names or an area that is centrally located that tracks all of your councils and potential new members. Some of you all may be using ChapterBuilder or CampusDirector, which are both exceptional ways of tracking your names and PNMs. 

● Within this list, it is pivotal that you develop a system that your chapter takes in this information and immediately follows up with these potential members as soon as possible. 

● Additionally, if your school is willing to send out a summer orientation list, that could be an amazing area to begin texting and calling, which is a part of ChapterBuilder Plus, if you have that already. 

● Also, once you have these names ready and have begun talking to them, it is essential to write notes about them to utilize when you can meet them in person, which will generate a natural, easy-flowing conversation. 

● The bulk of recruitment happens on the front-end during the preseason, which is where you are at right now; the more you can reach out to PNMs, track them, consistently follow up, and close them early if possible, the more you will scale your chapter growth. 

Do not rely on your name list from the school; we implore you to practice dynamic recruitment and get out of your comfort zone by being personable, outgoing, and willing to walk up to new people. This does not mean we don’t want to utilize those name lists; rather, we want you to implement dynamic recruitment to create another pocket of name generation that other chapters may not have figured out yet. 

Communication Flow

The way that your chapter decides to communicate with PNMs and the general chapter body will play a huge role in how your new member class may turn out. Without proper communication, planning, training, and knowledge of what you all are trying to achieve, the chapter could be scaling growth in a way they have no clue about. 

● Establishing expectations for recruitment events, the upcoming new member class, regional recruitment events, and knowing who your chapter is trying to recruit before summer rush is integral. 

● I would recommend doing this before leaving school and utilizing some of those chapter meetings before school lets out, to communicate how/when events will work during the summer, including important events like summer orientation.

● Communicate to your executive board and recruitment team what goals you all are setting and how you would like to attain them; be aggressive during this, but also reasonable considering where your chapter’s growth is at the moment. 

● Ensure that everyone on the recruitment team, chapter, and executive board knows their roles throughout the recruitment process to make your system flow efficiently. 

● The more that your chapter members know about your organization’s goals and aspirations, the easier it is for your chapter to fit into the roles that have been created by the rush chair to ensure successful recruitment. 

Oftentimes, our students and council members set lofty goals without a map to get there, hence the importance of taking this time in the “preseason” before fall recruitment to discuss, communicate, and make clear, attainable goals to scale your chapter’s growth this upcoming year.

Onboarding Plans

This is an area where chapters tend to lack until they get closer to the actual new member experience that occurs during the fall semester. Some of these potential new members may not have any knowledge of Greek life, how things work, the timeline of this process, or how they fit into these newfound expectations. It is essential to be honest, open, and transparent about what these PNMs are going to experience within this first semester and to spark a genuine connection. 

● Make them feel comfortable by being vulnerable about yourself and the experiences that you’ve had so far in school. 

○ This can and will open the door for a genuine conversation that isn’t on the surface level and becomes a perfect chance to tie in your chapter’s experience with your own growth through this shared experience. 

● First impressions matter; oftentimes, you will be this potential new member’s first introduction into a fraternity or sorority. 

○ The way that you approach this has to be intentional but also as genuine as possible to create that initial spark with a stranger that could eventually turn into one of your chapter members. 

● Be transparent about the timeline of when and how long they will be going through the new member experience so that they know what to expect from the experience. 

○ Many of the potential new members will be students who may be first-generation college students or who have no prior knowledge of Greek life. 

● Ensure that the conversation is intentional and that, in the end, there is an actionable outcome for both the potential new members and your chapter or council. 

○ Exit the conversation with an action such as “let’s meet for coffee tomorrow morning, or we’re going to play basketball tomorrow at the rec at 1 or 2, we can pick you up if you’d like?” 

All of these suggestions are meant to open and prolong a conversation with a potential new member and are easy ways to be transparent about your chapter or council experiences. Without being clear about onboarding plans, the chapter experience, and creating a genuine connection, how could you stand out from the crowd? The way to do this is to utilize this time in the preseason, before on-campus recruitment in August. 

This is rooted in dynamic recruitment and, more importantly, in our technology and systems that can be used through ChapterBuilder and CampusDirector to streamline the recruitment process before, during, and post-recruitment for your chapter or council by specifically generating and reaching out to people on the names list early and communicating with them in an intentional way that creates a genuine connection and ensures they feel comfortable talking to you about more than the normal surface-level conversation.

Written by Darrian Stringer, Growth Consultant