Pipelines to Names List: Creating a Process & Putting it into Action

School is out, Summer is in, and Fall Recruitment is just a few months away. You have decompressed, you have reflected, and most importantly, you have ENERGIZED. Now it is time to turn our attention to CRUSHING Fall Recruitment and leveling up our Chapter.

With systems in place and a marketing strategy putting leads into your pipeline – you may be asking, so what, now what?! It’s June and now’s the time to put the process into action!

You can’t recruit just a name – you need to recruit the people behind the name. So, how do we do that? How do we connect and get to know the leads in our pipelines so that they become Names on our list and then members of our organizations?

This month is about creating your process so that you can put it into action. We start by developing a strategy that combines training our members, educating the names on our list about who we are and what our process is, and ultimately finding the right members to onboard into our organizations. We use systems to develop a tried-and-true process—one that is holistic and turns a name into a member. So let’s do it—let’s move from pipelines to names to members!

Pull out the calendar, fire up the Chapter Builder, and let’s dive into some strategies to turn our pipelines into names on our names list!

What are Pipelines? 

Pipelines are structured processes used by organizations to identify, engage, and ultimately invite potential new members (PNMs) to join their organizations. Our pipelines involve multiple stages that are designed to assess how compatible a PNM is for our organization or how compatible our organization is for a PNM.

So how do we translate the pipeline process into the fraternity & sorority recruitment process? It’s simple…

DCBA! DCBA! DCBA! DCBA! If you haven’t heard this yet, it is time to do some research! Our DCBA process is designed to assess compatibility while also providing opportunities for the PNM to learn about the fraternity’s values, activities, and brotherhood.

How to Turn Our Pipelines into Names! 

My Favorite Pipelines: 

• Creating and Sharing Chapter Builder Forms

• Offering a Scholarship to New Members

• Utilizing your Alumni Network

• Mind Joggers

• Professor/Key Administrator Referrals

Once we utilize our pipelines to collect names, the game is on. It is time to build relationships and do what we do best: CONNECT & GROW! 

Reach out to potential new members and introduce yourself. Ask them how their semester wrapped up, and if they’re an incoming freshman, welcome them to campus! If a potential new member is close by or in your college town, make an effort to connect with them over the summer (NOTE: Lead with friendship, not organization). Utilize your recruitment committee, or street team to help you build relationships going into the fall semester.

Remember! Don’t limit yourself to interacting with first-year students. Transfer students, and upperclassmen on your campus are still looking for a place to call home.

Once we build a relationship and find future leaders, it is time to introduce them to our organization and the many benefits fraternity and sorority affiliation has to offer. Use your relationship to truly understand the individual’s wants and needs. Listen before speaking, urge and encourage, support and provide, but most of all be there for them as a human. People join people, and if you have built the relationship correctly, you’ll have another new member in your organization.

This summer, let’s focus on creating pipelines, funneling those pipelines to names on a list, building relationships with potential new members, and bringing those potential new members into life-changing organizations!

 Written by Carter Whaley, Growth Consultant