Five Tips for Implementing Year-Round Recruitment
By Chris Buck | Associate Director of Expansion
Lambda Chi Alpha should be excelling at year-round recruitment. Our Associate Member program allows men to join and have a say in their experience (by voting, holding office, etc.). If they don’t get initiated right away, they still get to have an active role in the chapter/colony; they just haven’t seen ritual yet. It’s okay to give bids up until the end of the semester as long as it does not violate university policy. We shouldn’t be limiting ourselves to recruiting one or two weeks a term. Here are five ways to, actually, do year-round recruitment.
Plan for Recruiting Year Round
The first step of having a successful year-round recruitment is planning for it. Year-round recruitment shouldn’t be a large burden on the chapter. You shouldn’t be planning events week after week solely for recruitment. Instead, you should be using the various activities and events that the chapter has already planned. These can include inviting potential members to weekly brotherhood activities, service events, and informal group study sessions. These activities show potential members what it is really like to be a member of Lambda Chi Alpha. Review your chapter/colony’s calendar to determine what events/activities you will plan on bringing potential members to.
Talk about Recruitment at Each Business Meeting
If recruitment is truly a priority it should be discussed weekly. This means reviewing the men who are on your names list, determining what we are inviting them to, and who is responsible for getting them to the activity. It is important that we don’t lose sight of the men we want to join because we are getting into the busier part of the semester.
Utilize Already Planned Activities
As you get further into the semester, your chapter/colony’s calendar gets more and more busy. Use already planned events are small recruitment activities. A philanthropy, service project, study tables, or brotherhood event can be great ways for potential members to see what being a Lambda Chi Alpha member is all about. They basically get to sample what the Lambda Chi Alpha experience is all about and see what they be joining and why they are missing out. Plus, these events won’t cost the chapter or colony more money, because you should have already budgeted for them.
Keep Looking for Leads
In order to keep recruiting, you need leads. This means you need to challenge each of your members to keep identifying men to introduce Lambda Chi Alpha to. These leads can come from the newest members of your favorite sororities, freshmen lectures, other organizations you are in, or from just walking up to strangers in your campus dining hall. The point is, you need to keep looking for new potential members so you have a fresh pool to pull from.
Keep Members Excited about Recruitment
What truly makes year-round recruitment work is the mentality that our members approach it with. If you don’t believe that year-round recruitment will work or that you don’t need to keep recruiting after the formal period, think again. By adopting a year-round process, you allow the membership to grow, which in turn strengthens the chapter both financially and in terms of manpower. Ultimately, you change more lives. That is what recruitment is all about. Giving men an opportunity to grow and excel through a Lambda Chi Alpha experience. Don’t limit yourself or the chapter by only recruiting for a short period of time. Make year-round recruitment part of your chapter/colony’s culture.
[vc_text_separator title=”C&C” color=”black”]
