To better serve your role as Chapter Recruitment Chairman, this document is to serve as a guide for you along the way. Look to this for any questions you may have; if there is not an answer to your question simply refer to the Phi Kappa Tau Executive Offices via your assigned Growth Consultant or Chapter Services Consultant for an answer.
The recruitment chairman will work to facilitate relationships between the membership and potential new members throughout his term with the goal of associating new brothers into the membership. The Recruitment Chairman will also plan and execute a system for recruitment/ events for the chapter throughout the semester. The recruitment chair is NOT responsible for recruiting the new class of associates but rather directing the chapter on how and when.
Learn About your Role. Take the time to review this manual. This will allow you to understand the role and what you will be working on during the year.
Plan Ahead. Failing to stay organized and not planning is the biggest cause for challenges and burnout. Take the time to review the “Semester To-Do List” items in your manual and map out what you need to accomplish your goals for the semester. This will allow you to be successful in your role while creating different levels of change within your chapter. The Recruitment Services Initiative is a
Set Budgets and Schedule Dates Early. The longer it takes to set these two items, the more stress will be put on the recruitment chair. Have your budgets set before you leave for summer, and ensure your members know when they are expected to return to campus for recruitment events. Failure to account for these two items often disrupts the actual process of recruiting, so it is critical to know when/how much as early as possible.
Ask for help. Reach out to your BOG, Chapter Services Consultant, and past officers if you are struggling. Being a chapter officer is hard work and you aren’t expected to do it alone. Utilize this manual as a resource but if you need additional support, don’t be afraid to reach out for help.
Form a Committee. Your role requires a lot of time, a committee can be a useful tool to help you manage your workload and complete tasks.
Model the Way. Holding a position in your chapter means you are a role model for your chapter brothers. You are expected to model the way for your brothers and they will mirror the behavior you model. At times, you have to make difficult decisions that might not be popular. Serving in this role means your brothers have trusted you to make those decisions for the chapter. Don’t be afraid to make the hard decisions and to challenge your brothers to be better.
Set Expectations. As a leader, make sure your chapter has very clear expectations for membership. This will allow your chapter to thrive and allow you to be able to better support your brothers who are not meeting these expectations.
Create a Growth System Relevant to your Chapter- Develop a plan that can be easily replicated and is organized and efficient. To effectively capitalize on opportunities, the system must include a database of potential new members, responsibilities of brothers to delegate the workload, a process to identify and associate new members, and a marketing plan to reach potential new members.
Branding your chapter- If a PNM asks you to tell you about the chapter, saying you have a close brotherhood is not the complete brand. Every chapter on your campus probably says something similar, if not identical! How can you separate your chapter from others? What does your chapter stand for?
“Recruitment started yesterday”- Planning ahead for recruitment is essential to success. Do not wait until “formal” recruitment to start recruiting.
365 Recruitment- 365 recruitment for some means that a chapter can extend a bid any day of the year, however, for others it does not. For those chapters that cannot, this does not mean that 365-recruitment does not apply to you; in fact, it means quite the opposite! 365-recruitment focuses on the idea that you could always meet a PNM even in the least likely of places. So, always be recruiting.
Resources
5-Step Recruitment Process
Names List Tabling
Cold Calls
Tips for Tabling
Club and Organization Presentations
Sorority Presentations
Chunking / Personal networking
One on One Meetings
99 Small Group Activities
Sample Individual Expectations
Pre-Close Response Guide
Pre-Closing
Standards Based Selection Criteria
The Golden Circle Bids
Additional Recruitment Resources
Recruitment SWOT
Recruitment Action Planning
Phired Up Certified Recruiter Program
Chapter Builder Recruitment Tool/ CRM
Recruitment Services Initiative
*All Available upon request
Recruitment events are a must. These events create an opportunity for potential members to meet the chapter and get a feel for Phi Tau. Your events should be well planned, organized, promoted, and executed.
· Participate in summer recruitment in nearby towns, if IFC rules allow.
· Assign a chapter alumnus to a prospective member (based on hometown, interests, etc.) and have that alumnus call the potential member.
· Find your legacies and go to their hometown to meet them.
· Develop a consistent PR campaign and theme.
· Create a professional, informative website or social media page that targets prospective members.
· Find “feeder schools” for your institution and contact them about making presentations toward the end of the school year.
· Send a letter to incoming students.
· Send a letter to the parents of incoming students.
· Create a diverse setlist for events that demonstrate the various aspects of your chapter.
· Identify Static (PNM’s approach our chapter) and Dynamic (We approach PNM’s) strategies that work on your campus. A mix of both works best.
· Work with campus professionals/faculty/community leaders to identify opportunities
Beginning of Officer Term
· Meet with Outgoing Officer.
· Discuss recruitment plan with chapter
· Connect with Growth Consult to assist with the transition
· Evaluate names list and add any potential new members to list
· Meet with recruitment committee prior to semester start
· Complete certified Recruiter Training through Phired Up
· Begin plugging names into Chapter Builder Tool
· Ensure the use of forms for potential new members to contact you
January -March
· Begin to execute your recruitment plan for the Spring semester.
· Identify Prospective New Members (PNMs).
· Create a names list using Chapter Builder.
· Manage chapter wide recruitment events that were planned for the beginning of the semester.
· Work with risk management chairman to ensure that recruitment events are following Phi Kappa Tau Risk Management policy when interacting with PNMs.
· Have bid cards ready to hand out to identified new members.
· Work with your recruitment advisor on the Board of Governors.
· Generate new leads for PNMs by reaching out to sororities and other clubs/organizations on campus to present to about your Fraternity experience.
· Reach out to faculty for referrals of PNMs.
· Use current chapter members to generate membership referrals.
· Follow up with PNMs that have not responded or been able to attend a recruitment event yet.
· Continue to look for different methods of ‘active’ recruitment. A new member will not just walk up to you and sign a bid.
· Work with the chapter to think of different ways to recruit through the semester - instead of just the ‘recruitment season.’
· Plan logistics of any new recruitment events developed throughout the semester (e.g. who is going to be there, how much it could cost, where is it going to be, etc.).
March -May
· Execute and manage new recruitment events.
· Maintain names list of PNMs that have been met with and attended chapter wide recruitment events.
· Continue to look for different methods of ‘active’ recruitment. A new member will not just walk up to you and sign a bid.
· Train new members on recruitment (I.e. Recruitment Training Module)
May-August
· Coordinate with your chapter as a whole and execute the recruitment action plan for the fall.
· Deliver a recruitment workshop for all chapter members to discuss goals and strategies on how you can get the best of the best.
· Update the chapter’s names list for all incoming PNMs.
· Look over and make sure that the logistical needs for the first recruitment events in the fall have been addressed.
· Work with your BOG recruitment advisor to ensure local alumni support for your recruitment events. Alumni can be a tremendous asset and advantage to have when recruiting potential new members.
· Ensure names list is up to date and new leads are being added and contacted
· Ensure there is a consistent marketing campaign for your chapter
· Develop a standard ‘sell/identity’ for the chapter to use in articulation during recruitment.
August/September
· Update the chapter’s names list for all incoming PNMs.
· Look over and make sure that the logistical needs for the first recruitment events in the fall have been addressed.
· Work with your BOG recruitment advisor to ensure local alumni support for your recruitment events. Alumni can be a tremendous asset and advantage to have when recruiting potential new members.
· Outreach to potential new members
· Conduct formal and informal events
· Ensure expectations are met between new members and active members post-bid
October - December
· Continue to generate names in unique ways: visiting classrooms, clubs, sororities, etc. to continually introduce new PNMs to the chapter membership.
· Begin developing a recruitment strategy for the upcoming semester.
· Start the transition process with the incoming recruitment chair.
· Work with the incoming recruitment chairman to brainstorm ideas.
· Train New Members on recruitment tactics and strategies
· Identify wins and sturggles from recruitment season, and note potential changes to the plan
· Clean up CRM tool and begin process of updating for Spring semester
The Borradaile Challenge is the fundamental way that chapters have their performance evaluated over the course of a calendar year. Encapsulating 10 categories, chapters can fall into one of three standings for each: Meets Expectations, Exceeds Expectations, or Outstanding.
You can access more information on the Borradaile Challenge here: àhttps://www.phikappatau.org/borradailechallenge
*Feel free to utilize this space to take notes for yourself or the next officer to share your ideas and experiences with them.