Continuous Open Bidding (COB) and What Does it Really Mean???

Guest Blogger - Ashley Anderson, National Recruitment Chairman


The goal of every Delta Zeta chapter is to maintain maximum membership by recruiting new members into your chapter until you reach campus total. Each year Delta Zeta chapters across the country participate in formal structured recruitment events. But did you know there is another process of recruiting members into your chapter? It is called Continuous Open Bidding (COB).

The COB process is different than Panhellenic structured recruitment styles in that a chapter continues to recruit until it reaches campus total. COB depends primarily on woman-to-woman contacts. This one-on-one contact reduces the need for parties, activities, and/or other events related to usual formal structured recruitment activities. The contact with potential new members is often more casual, and invitations to membership usually occur in a short period of time. Unlike the structured recruitment styles, COB means each chapter manages its own schedule, invitations and issuing of bids rather than Panhellenic. The first step in the COB process is to assess your membership. Know at all times how many new members you need to reach maximum membership.

COB typically occurs at the end of Panhellenic structured recruitment until the beginning of another. Chapters recruit and pledge new members to fill open spaces. Open spaces may be the result of not having met total, or having quota places to fill or recent increase in the current total on your campus.

Recruitment is about building relationships. The potential members that you seek will come from many different sources. Not all women may have known about structured recruitment or were able to participate in the process or were even sure that the sorority life was for them. These potential new members won’t just attend an event because they received an unsolicited invitation – many of them are not even aware of a sorority as an option. The mindset of all Delta Zeta chapters should be to maintain positive public relations on campus and a strong marketing plan so that in the event your chapter has membership vacancies to fill you can quickly reach out to potential new members and let them know about this opportunity to join our sisterhood.

If your chapter has the opportunity to COB, work as a team to fill those available membership vacancies in your chapter.

Remember…COB can happen anytime and anywhere! Be creative and get excited! Some of the best members are as a result of joining through COB.

For more ideas and to read further about Continuous Open Bidding, please log on to DZ Metro and read the newly published COB manual.