The right sorority recruitment goals will help you bring in the perfect new sisters. These sisters will make your chapter flourish for years to come.
Goal setting matters in every aspect of sorority life, of course. Goals are a way of envisioning the chapter’s future—the direction you want to take it.
Each goal matters, from deciding the dinner choices for the fall formal to choosing a charity partner for your philanthropy. Seemingly small decisions can have major impacts.
A Closer Look at Sorority Recruitment Goals:
- Use Recruitment to Make Greek Life Better on Campus
- Recruit Sisters Who Want to be Students First
- Avoid Common Recruitment Pitfalls
- Connect with Sorority Recruitment Software Tools
Recruitment can seem chaotic and overwhelming from the outside. However, with the right tools in place and proper planning, that chaos can be controlled and harnessed for success.
Not only the recruitment chair, but every sister can and must play a part in reaching important recruiting benchmarks.
Here are OmegaFi’s Top 4 Sorority Recruitment Goals for Every Sister.
1. Use Recruitment to Make Greek Life Better on Campus
As humans, we tend to compartmentalize stressful tasks. We like our lives to fit into boxes. This might give you and your sisters the idea that it’s better to treat recruitment like something that only affects your chapter.
However, that’s clearly not the case.
The decisions your chapter makes now affect your entire campus Greek community. The values you portray during recruitment—and the values your future members will hold—should reflect not only your chapter and sorority, but the broader values of campus Greeks.
To better understand these broader values and how to build them into your recruitment goals, talk to:
- your Fraternity/Sorority Life Advisors
- exec officers in other chapters
- recruitment officers for your Panhellenic or other Greek umbrella organization
- university and public safety officials
- your center for student involvement
Some broad values-based recruitment goals for any chapter include:
- eliminating hazing or potential hazing activities from recruitment
- acting in solidarity with your Greek community, rather than fighting over potential members or spreading gossip about other chapters
- eliminating risky behavior and alcohol/substance use
- treating Potential New Members and their recruitment decisions with respect and openness
- connecting Greek culture to campus culture
2. Recruit Sisters Who Want to Be Students First
It may seem that sisters totally focused on academics will be so busy with schoolwork that they’ll be less involved in the chapter.
Actually, the opposite is true. Those who excel in their classes often are well organized, self-driven, and hardworking. They have a mission, they know their values, and they aren’t messing around with their futures.
As a result, these sisters manage their time well and are better at balancing schoolwork and chapter objectives. They’re also natural leaders.
Part of the ongoing national mission of modern sororities is to build an academics-first culture. You should be familiar with your school’s mission and values. The chapter and university should both work to mold sisters for future success.
3. Avoid Common Recruitment Pitfalls
Along with positive goals, keep in mind the common negative outcomes of sorority recruitment. This will help you figure out how best to avoid these mistakes.
Here are a few examples.
Is This Considered Hazing?
If you have to ask, the answer is probably yes. Hazing can have harmful effects on both your chapter and those being hazed. It can also cast a negative light on the entire campus Greek community. Anything that could cause mental or physical harm, regardless of whether the person being targeted consents, is considered hazing.
Discuss expectations with alumnae advisors and Greek Life officials. Create a risk management strategy that includes hazing regulations. During recruitment, make it clear to Potential New Members that your chapter does not haze, and educate them on laws and campus rules.
Should We Be Talking about This to Potential New Members?
Conversations with PNMs should be values-based and geared toward finding out if you’re a good fit once the time comes to submit bids. However, sisters should be educated beyond that somewhat vague direction. There are some topics of discussion that can create unethical conversations that are best avoided.
Here are a few, according to the National Panhellenic Conference:
- promising a bid to a PNM prior to the bidding process
- lying about your chapter, giving a false impression, or trash-talking other chapters
- conversations about alcohol or drinking
Instead, instruct sisters to stick to topics such as:
- academic and personal goals
- reasons for seeking a bid
- shared values and interests
Should We Give Her a Bid or Not?
The outgoing, fun young women seeking a bid from your chapter will have you laughing, smiling, and striking up impromptu friendships during recruitment events. But are they right for your chapter? Being the life of the party is one thing, but, as you know, chapter life is about a lot more than that. You need sisters who aren’t just there to have a good time.
In fact, if PNMs mention partying, clubbing, alcohol, or living in your lavish chapter house as their main appeals to sorority life, those are major red flags. It shows they may be too immature or have the wrong idea about chapter life, and it sets both them and you up for failure from the start.
Seek members who care about school, campus involvement, and their communities; want to become successful leaders; seek deep and meaningful bonds with their future sisters; and will participate in bettering your chapter.
4. Connect with Sorority Recruitment Software Tools
Once you have your goals in place, sorority software can help streamline and optimize the recruitment process from start to finish. OmegaFi provides premium chapter software tools designed for you and your chapter.
OmegaRecruit – With OmegaRecruit software, you can store and manage PNM data, complete rounds of voting, and compile and submit bid lists directly from your phone or other mobile device.
OmegaOne – OmegaOne is our comprehensive communication tool made specifically for Greek chapters. Send custom communications from planning all the way through recruitment week. Manage a shared chapter calendar and member attendance at recruitment events.
Once you have your bids solidified, easily import the list into OmegaOne as “new members,” so you can connect instantly with them and share crucial new member education information.
OmegaFi offers software solutions for Greek chapters for recruitment, budgeting, communication, and more. Learn more about our services or call direct at 800.276.6342.
Leave other sorority recruitment goals you find important in the comments below!
