This article is Day 31 of the series: 31 Days to Better Fraternity Recruitment.
Thank God it is over. You have your new members, and it is time to finally get the semester started. However, before you shift your focus from rush to developing these new members, remember to take care of these housekeeping items:
- Keep good records of who did not join this semester but will potentially join the next one. Be sure you keep in touch with these guys over the semester and keep them included in the fraternity functions.
- Have a post-rush discussion at your next chapter meeting about what worked and what didn’t work. Be sure to ask the new members their opinion as well. They have better insight into it than you do.
- Be sure all paperwork is completed in a timely manner. This includes paperwork to your IFC and to your National HQ. On some campuses, the fraternities rush period isn’t over until the new member paperwork is submitted to the IFC. I know of a fraternity that was put on social probation because they had a party to celebrate their new member class. However, they had not submitted their paperwork officially ending their rush and thus they broke dry recruitment rules.
- Bull Rush for a week. Get your new members involved and see if they can recruit and guys. Give them a huge incentive to do so (like free new member dues). And remember there is no better way to teach new members how to recruit then by actually doing it.
- Have the Recruitment Committee review the rush budget and opportunities to cut costs next semester. Be sure to identify waste early so it isn’t repeated.
- Be sure to thank your guys who make rush a success. Obviously, your recruitment chair put a ton of work into these past few weeks. Be sure he is recognized for his efforts. Also, there are sure to be few brothers who went above and beyond to make sure rush was successful. Be sure they are recognized and feel appreciated.
And that is about it.
During this series, 31 Days to Better Fraternity Recruitment, The Fraternity Advisor published 31 articles and nearly 60 pages of recruitment advice.
This advice came from a bunch of different perspectives, to include David Stollman, Laurel Peffer, Dennis Nall, Joe Russo, Jon Sutton, Shelly Brown Dobek (Go State!), Dan Faill, Angie Carr Robinett, Tom Healy. I sincerely appreciate them taking the time to share their insight during this series.
It is my hope that fraternities find this advice useful and it helps them achieve their recruitment goals.
One last point – which probably should have been the first point of this entire series – Have Fun! If you aren’t having fun, then it really isn’t worth it. You should be having the time of your life in all aspects of your fraternity experience. Have great times and make great friends and memories. This is what being in a fraternity is all about.
To learn more, check out our most in-depth article on fraternity recruitment: The Complete Guide to Fraternity Recruitment.