Request Online Referrals

by Matt Mattson

This is just a quick Dynamic Recruitment tip to help you grow your Names List over the summer. Be sure you’re providing clear opportunities online (and making clear requests) for people you know to refer potential members your way.

Here’s what I mean.

Inter/National Fraternities and Sororities are pretty good at offering easy opportunities to capture recommendations. Here are some examples from Beta Theta Pi, Triangle, FIJI, Alpha Chi Omega, Pi Beta Phi, and Alpha Phi. Interestingly, I searched at least a dozen other organizations (including NPHC and other culturally-oriented groups) and didn’t find a recommendation option on most of the websites I found. This seems like an easy, no-brainer, front-page addition to me.

If you use the GoogleDocs Names List from our Free Resources you can easily build a form to embed on into your website to collect this information. You can also embed that form into E-mails or just send E-mail/Facebook requests with a link directly to the form. Just make it as easy as possible for people to refer potential members your way. This form is easy to build and easy to use. Leverage your network to build your Names List.

Here are five recommendations for requesting online referrals.

1. Add a form to your website (or utilize a form already on your inter/national org’s site). Make it easy for anyone (alumni, members, friends, lovers, pals, teachers, counselors, pen pals, parents, etc.) to refer people to your organization for consideration.
2. Send an E-mail (with the form or link embedded into it) to your high school teachers, counselors, administrators, janitors, and lunchladies requesting that they complete the form for at least three students who will be attending your school next year.
3. After a face-to-face lunch meeting (or at least a phone conversation) with your 5 favorite college professors, send a follow-up message with a link to the form requesting that they complete the form with information about their top 5 students from the past year.
4. Request referrals, submitted through your form/website, from anyone who joins any Facebook group or Fanpage you have. Ask members, potential members, girl/boyfriends, friends-of-the-fraternity/sorority, etc.
5. Request that your chapter’s “Horses” complete the referral form with all of their non-Greek friends over the summer. It is an easy task to complete no matter where they are this time of year.