Fraternity recruitment has been going on for a very long time.
It all began two and a half centuries ago, when the Phi Kappa Beta Society founded the first fraternity at College of William and Mary.
Since then, fraternities have grown exponentially with thousands of new chapters, colonies and brothers.
So you might say that most chapters have had a lot of practice recruiting new men. While it’s always challenging to bring in the right brothers, the concept itself isn’t exactly rocket science any more.
Your aerospace engineering homework—that’s rocket science.
While members have adapted to the modern era with new technology and methods of recruiting, there are some truths about rush that simply hold timeless.
The most important truth is this: Brothers rush fraternities to create bonds that will never break.
Any software or other tools must be used to that end if your recruitment is to be a success.
Software is a fact of life in our technological age. We use a web-based program or app for pretty much everything.
There’s an app to help you translate languages, one to show you how to get to the supermarket, and another to tell you the morning news. There’s a calculator app to help you with your college algebra homework. There’s one to wake you in the morning to make sure you get to class on time.
There’s even an app . . . wait for it . . . that tells you when it’s dark outside. We’re not kidding.
It’s no surprise that brothers use apps for chapter communication, budget management, tracking studying hours and more.
Perhaps most important of all are fraternity recruitment apps. But do you really need them? How much do they help?
It depends on how you use them.
And how you use apps during rush is an art. Well, Picasso, OmegaFi wants to help you with your brush strokes. Let’s talk Fraternity Recruitment: To App or Not to App?
First, How Not to Use Fraternity Recruitment Apps
Recruitment apps aren’t meant to replace the human side of rush.
The bulk of your recruiting work should be focused on planning and executing fraternity recruitment events, where you meet potential new members in person and gauge whether you should extend them a bid.
Relying too much on apps to tell you who should join your chapter—rather than relying on your intuition during in-person meetings—is a huge mistake.
Another mistake is making early recruitment decisions based on social media.
It’s true that Facebook and Instagram can give you some hints about potential new members. For instance, if Jim’s every picture and post portrays him drinking alcohol, taking unnecessary risks or struggling in school, there’s probably no surer sign to avoid him as a future brother at all costs.
However, short of those types of red flag, it’s hard to get a true sense of someone from his online presence.
Many people (Jim aside) will use social media to project a “perfect” version of themselves, so you can’t just go off that flawless Instagram post.
While in-person rush events aren’t the be-all, end-all of recruitment, they form a crucial foundation. Give them the attention they deserve, apps or no apps.
What Recruitment Apps Can Do
Once you’ve gone through rush week, met potential new members and gotten a better idea of your chapter’s recruitment for the semester, it’s time to extend bids.
That’s the point at which fraternity recruitment apps like OmegaRecruit really benefit your chapter.
It’s a matter of streamlining the process.
Brothers constantly find themselves on the go. They’re rushing to class, the library, the gym, out to eat, et cetera. Recruitment apps let you centralize all your recruitment data in one place and keep the conversation going without having to gather brothers in one place.
They do this by allowing you and your brothers to vote on potential new members in real time, as well as to view and update PNM data.
You can tag potential brothers who are an academic risk, or simply for informative reasons, such as that they’re a legacy.
These apps also make it easier to coordinate between brothers about meeting with PNMs.
You’ll have access to updated recruitment data that can help you guide your decision making and adjust your initial intuitions when necessary.
So long as you remember to connect, one-on-one, with PNMs and form intuitions from in-person meetings, brothers can make rush decisions more quickly and effectively with fraternity recruitment apps.
What Other Apps Can Help?
Recruitment voting and management apps like those discussed above are your main go-to, but other apps can help as well.
Communication apps help fraternities discuss potential brothers throughout the semester, and to coordinate calendar events related to rush. They also help you keep in touch with PNMs directly.
Event planning apps can help you plan, organize and pull off a killer rush week.
Finally, fraternity budget management software, like OmegaFi’s Vault, allows your treasurer to set and manage the recruitment budget.
This ensures that you won’t go over budget and end up having to drop important budget items like food catering. It also means you can focus more resources on executing a successful rush without worrying about breaking the bank.
Fraternity recruitment relies, first and foremost, on you and your instincts about who will help build future chapter success. You know your fraternity, your values and your brotherhood better than anyone.
Once you learn to trust your own recruitment process, apps can help perfect your results.
Each chapter has its own take on how to recruit. Apps optimize certain shared goals, but how you achieve those goals is different for everyone.
How do you achieve that balance between going with your gut and relying on technology? How do you mix forging connections with connecting over 5G? Tell us your thoughts on recruitment apps and how to get the most out of them in the comments below.
