Every Member Count - COB Success

Chances are your chapter finished formal recruitment this fall and you are just initiating your new members. That is definitely reason for celebration, but a good Vice President of Membership’s work is never done! Now is the perfect time to evaluate your chapter’s membership and plan for the future. Once the chapter’s recruitment leadership team has answered the following questions, the planning can begin.

• Is your chapter currently at campus Panhellenic total?
• How many members will your chapter lose at the end of the current term/ semester?
• How many members will your chapter need to COB (continuous open bid) in order to reach or remain at campus Panhellenic total next term/semester?

Now that you know where the chapter stands, you need to get organized. How will you keep track of the Potential New Members (PNMs) that your chapter meets? We hope that you’ve already started using the Recruitment Toolkit which you can find over on the Delta Zeta Members page on www.deltazeta.org. It is a complete system that your team can use keep track of all the tasks related to recruitment and of the PNMs so that none gets lost in the shuffle. Being as organized as possible helps ensure that your recruitment efforts are successful.

The next step is to think of what kind of events will be most effective for the number of women that you need to recruit. If your chapter only needs 3 women, then you would not need to plan a big event. If your chapter needs to recruit 15 women, then a big kick off event may develop interest in Delta Zeta with PNMs. Some of the most effective recruitment happens through normal, sisterly activities. If several of your sisters eat lunch on campus, then invite PNMs to join you. Maybe there is a coffee shop on campus that would provide an excellent place to meet in a small group setting for coffee. Assess the needs of your chapter and decide how you should plan in order to meet those needs.

Remember is that every member matters. If you are not at total, you are missing out on new members who will bring their time, talents and treasures to your chapter. Work hard, plan ahead, and do your best to keep your chapter at or above total every term.