Power of Proximity
by Josh Orendi
Those that are familiar with the Dynamic Recruitment message know that Member Positioning is one of the “cylinders” for powering your “names list” with leads from your “prospect pool.” Too much lingo? No problem. Let me try again.
Fact: People do not join fraternities or sororities. People join people! Relationships drive results.
Fact: You can’t recruit who you don’t know.
Fact: Most of the high quality men and women on your campus don’t realize the value of belonging to a fraternity or sorority.
Fact: Those high quality men and women are not typically signing up for formal recruitment.
Fact: Most of your current chapter leaders were not looking for a Greek experience when they came to campus.
Fact: Most of your current chapter leaders can name one person (literally one person) that is primarily responsible for them making the decision to join.
Repeat Fact: People do not join fraternities or sororities. People join people! Relationships drive results.
In these critical first few weeks of the semester, you have a powerful opportunity to impact your recruitment throughout the year. THE POWER OF PROXIMITY. While other chapters are asking, “how do we get more prospects to the house,” try a different mindset. Ask: “How can we get our members out of the house?” Begin thinking of creative ways to avoid letting your members get comfortable at home and fall into bad habits. Consider ways to get members engaged on campus in locations that are ripe with top prospects. Here are a few creative ideas:
- $100 of the Rush budget in quarters. Offer to pay the laundry bill of any member that will do their laundry in the freshmen dorms. Bonus tip: Sunday is usually the most popular day in the laundry room. This is a great icebreaker that almost always leads to conversation. Proximity matters.
- Offer to host a reception or bbq on campus for transfer students.
- Choose 5 large student organizations that tend to attract top non-Greek members. Contact the organization president to ask how your members can sign up. At chapter, ask every member to choose one of those 5 to attend the group’s next meeting on campus.
- Take the 5 organizations above and make it a mandatory part of your new member education program to actively participate in one of those groups.
- Choose a small or dying student organization on campus that you’d be excited about reviving. Rally several of your members to take over the club. Encourage non-Greek freshmen and sophomores to join the club. By proximity, you’ll build relationships that often turn into membership. Bonus tip: Clubs get money from student activities/government. If the club is mostly your members your next chapter retreat was just funded by the student body.
- Partner with a freshmen club or non-Greek student group for Saturday’s tailgate.
- Watch Sunday/Monday football in the freshmen dorm lobby. Buy pizza and you’ll attract a crowd. Bonus tip: Run a fantasy league or bracket and you’ll be able to collect contact info.
- RA’s are gatekeepers. Ask for an opportunity to present for 5 minutes followed by 5 minutes of Q&A at the next hall meeting. You’ll be seen as the “expert” on Greek life by those freshmen.
- Got smart members? Group tutoring session for freshmen seminars and general education classes is a great way to meet a lot of freshmen committed to improving their grades. Proximity matters.
- Got athletes? Hosting tournaments on campus or in freshmen dorm works great for building relationships. Even semi-sports like throwing bags, horse shoes, or foosball can work.
- Got wanna-be athletes? Pick an obscure sport and begin playing it on the quad or a central part of campus with a lot of traffic. Pull in people that walk by. Bonus tip: Being confident and having fun while making an ass of yourself can draw lots of attention and tons of new friends.
You get the idea. It’s time to build the expectation that our “social” fraternity/sorority expects our members to be “socially excellent.”
Remember: Quantity of Relationships Drives Quality of Membership.