The Ten Commandments of Membership Recruitment

  1. Think like a guest and you'll be a good host. Remember, a prospective member has probably just graduated high school and is most likely leaving home for the first time. Make him feel at home.
     
  2. A prospective member probably knows very little about Fraternities, because he doesn't know any more than he's read in the papers and been told by "somebody who knows." He doesn't know the terms we use and doesn't even know the Greek alphabet yet. Explain everything.
     
  3. Sell the Fraternity system first. A prospective member has to be sold on the idea of a Fraternity before you can sell him on your chapter.
     
  4. Spectacle is cheap, meaning that it's cheap in effect. Personal contact is paramount; spectacle can supplement it, but it cannot replace it.
     
  5. Keep in mind what you are selling. You're selling a group of friends who share the same values. That's what he's buying.
     
  6. Make friends. Most men join a Fraternity where they have the most friends and believe the other brothers to be the best group they can find. Be yourself and put your best foot forward and try to present yourself as a good example of your chapter. Be honest, straightforward, and friendly.
     
  7. You get what you recruit. The trouble with most recruitment techniques is they attract the more casual, insincere types, and worse, they frighten away or disgust the highly motivated men who will do something for the chapter and in return improve themselves.
     
  8. What's the competition? Is it the other Fraternities or the new residence hall on campus? In either case, do not knock the competition. You show and explain why your chapter is better than the competition.
     
  9. Keep good records. If you talk to a great guy, it is to your advantage to be sure he doesn't get lost in the shuffle. If you find a successful technique, give it to the Membership Recruitment Chairman. Don't trust your own memory, write it down. Use a small pocket notebook.
     
  10. Plan ahead, think, try. Be positive in your approach and don't pass the buck. Everybody has a job to do and they must all do it in order to be successful.