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In my last post, I proposed that many of the social benefits that our system once provided are now easily had without membership in a fraternity.  Furthermore, our organizational overhead (all that reporting and accountability and service and ritual and etc. etc. etc.) make us a bad deal if the object of membership is just to have a place to pal around with your buds or bros.

I believe that chapters that are remaining large or experiencing growth today are taking one of two paths:

The first is to emphasize the party aspects of membership while trying to minimize the organizational obligations.  This is the natural evolution of our de facto strategy for the last few decades–providing that social network.  Only now, what is left that must be provided face to face when we can do so many things electronically?  Well, parties and similar, usually alcohol centered, social activities.  Alcohol is an essential part of the mix because it’s prohibited for most undergrads and, therefore, desirable and, it’s no fun sitting at home alone doing shots.  Alcohol consumption is a social activity for most people and you have to be where the drug is.  Furthermore, if you can get enough friends together, you can economize on its purchase.  A fraternity can provide a ready pool of manpower and money for organizing alcohol events and an invite list for reaching a critical mass of participation that makes it social and economical.  And, if the event is going well, you get to look around and feel that you are part of something successful because you have pulled off the event.  There’s a little sense of belonging payoff there.

Starting the next day or at the next meeting, you can bond by telling stories about your conduct, and that of others, that would normally be embarrassing.  But, in this context, these shared embarrassments and the trust implicit in being able to share them, are what create the brotherhood.  The more embarrassing the revelations–throwing up on yourself, hitting on the ugliest girl at the party, wetting the bed (with your date in it is even better), kicking in the door, waking up in the yard–the greater the trust and the stronger the bond becomes.

In such an organization, all the other things a fraternity should do, the things that make us a special organization rather than a group of guys that organize for social occasions, are unwanted add-ons that members do only so they can continue to operate with some kind of recognition on campus or in their national organization.

What’s strange is that they’d really be better off giving up the franchise and all the obligations that come with that.  But they don’t because those letters are associated in their minds with those good times they are having and those friendships they are creating.  It’s an attachment that can frequently bring forth sincere tears when they talk about their “love of the fraternity”.  It’s not the fraternity they are loving though.  It’s the emotional outcome of their experiences.  That’s the fraternity to them.

This was the value added by the Greek system for decades and, that we are here today to think about what to do next, indicates that IT WAS SUCCESSFUL for most of that time.  But that success depended on our society’s turning a blind eye to some things:  alcohol and drug abuse, property damage, trashy yards, unsafe housing, lackluster academic performance, being a nuisance to the neighbors, etc.

Because our operating environment has changed, the old model now comes with a lot of liability.  Sooner rather than later, such an organization will create a situation that it cannot handle and will require adult intervention to keep operating.  And, these days, that intervention is getting harder to find because, frankly, most adults have better things to do with their time and most national operations can do without the bad publicity and the exposure.

Nevertheless, many organizations that follow the old model do manage to hang on because they do enough of the “good stuff” to demonstrate some value to the community or they have a set of alumni powerful and willing enough to shepherd the organization through periodic crises.  These organizations tend either to be small and living in substandard, or no common, housing because they really are just circles of friends.  Or they are older organizations that own properties suitable for hosting large social events.  These chapters can maintain membership by attracting a lot of candidates who are interested in the kind of social experience those facilities can support.

Unfortunately, in both cases, getting the members to do the things that make the organization more than a drinking club for a group of friends is always an uphill battle.  Left to their own devices, the undergrads would gladly give all that up and start planning the next beer pong tournament or band party–as long as they can keep those letters.   And, as I mentioned earlier, they really don’t need to be a fraternity to do that and there aren’t many adults who are interested in “riding herd” on such a group.   (Just look around.)

In the next post, I’ll write about the other path–changing the operational model and the recruiting pool.

In my last post, I wrote about the old model of fraternity as a ready-made social network that was in high demand when transportation and communication were more difficult and expensive than they are today.  Today’s ease of communication provided by technology has jerked the rug right out from under that old model. 

What social benefits can we offer that are desirable to a potential member when he can easily and cheaply drag his whole high school entourage with him to college?  What desires can we (legally) satisfy that cannot be addressed using texting, e-mail and Facebook? 

Well, parties—obviously.  It’s fun to party with your friends.  However that’s a dangerous benefit upon which to rest an organization’s appeal since, for fraternities, parties are risk management issue generators, mostly because of the alcohol.  If parties are the big benefit, then people are better off not organizing or joining a fraternity and, therefore, saving themselves the procedural requirements and limitations and the scrutiny of the administration and the headquarters. 

Anyway, why pay dues and do all the other things Greeks must do just to party with your friends?  And, if you invite all your friends to your parties, which would probably make them more fun for you, why should they pay dues and take on all the obligations of being a member if you will provide what they want without their doing these things?

Okay, let’s all get together for the joy of philanthropy and community service!  If that’s the big benefit, then just found or join a chapter of Alpha Phi Omega instead of a social fraternity.  APO excels at community service.  In any case, there is no shortage of cause-based organizations on campus that would be more than happy to have you and your friends join and, if they charge dues at all, their dues will be low. 

Living together?  In the past, Greek housing was an essential part of college housing stock.  Today, that’s no longer the case.  Besides, the principle value of living together was that it strengthened the social network—that network that is not as big a draw as it was in the past.   And, while we might like the convenicence of a place to socialize, are we as eager to maintain it so that it remains safe and secure? 

Athletic teams?  Participation in homecoming and other campus events?  All the things we used to do together as part of our social network—the things that provided the experiences that supported the growth of lifelong friendships—none of these things appeals as much if the freshmen males arriving today don’t see the need to form a new social network where they are.

This is not a rejection of fraternities per se but simply an acknowledgement that students can secure plenty of “our” benefits easily for themselves without the bothers that come from belonging to an organization. 

I believe that chapters that are experiencing growth today are either emphasizing the party aspects of membership while trying to minimize the organizational obligations (bad strategy in the long run) or they are changing their operating model and their recruiting pool. 

In the next post, I’ll write about those possible changes.

One reason for low membership and participation in a chapter is that the organization does not provide anything that potential and current members are looking for that they cannot get more easily and for free elsewhere.  This was not the case in the past, when the model of fraternity that we still insist on implementing was created.

Until a few years ago, going to college often meant going *away* to college.  Fewer students had cars and air fare was relatively  more expensive.  Mobile phones were rare and expensive and long distance phone calls cost a lot, even direct dial.  Even when mobile phones became common, standard calling plans made texting impractical in the US until just a few years ago.  The Internet did not really take off on college campuses until after 2000 and today’s social networking tools such as Facebook did not exist.  As a result, it was prohibitively difficult to stay in close contact with old hometown and high school friends.  Therefore…

Boomers and gen-Xers at college tended to make their friends where they were, gradually drifting away from their old social networks and forming new ones.

That’s where the Greek system fit into their lives–a ready made social network in the strange new world of college.  In an age when it was not possible or practical to maintain a personal network using information and communications technology, relationships had to be face-to-face.  Fraternities provided them.  We made a home away from home at college for our members, wrapping them up in their new communities, helping them get their bearings, find footing, get involved and become emotionally connected to their environment.  We were an important part of college life because we helped students adapt to their new surroundings, which increased involvement and retention for the college.

There was great demand for our product.  Our potential members were most of the incoming freshman males.  We had only to demonstrate how desirable our network was (Big party/mixer schedules and being generally fun to hang out with were key.) and then select the prospects that fit in best with our particular group.

The ease of communication provided by technology has jerked the rug right out from under that old model.

In the next post, I will discuss the implications for fraternities of the changed social environment that current technology supports.

The brand is important because it is the single biggest influence on our ability to recruit.  It also colors every other interaction we have with the wider world. Unfortunately, when most people think of a brand, they think of names and logos and slogans.

A brand is better thought of as the entire set of thoughts and emotions that emerge when a person thinks of your product.

Names, logos and slogans are just easy pointers to the brand.

Brands can be strong or weak depending on the strength of the thoughts and emotions they evoke.

Brands can be positive (good) or negative (bad) depending on the nature of those thoughts and emotions.

Strong or weak, positive or negative, the value of a brand will be different in the minds of different people. 

We want our brand to be strong and positive in the minds of the people we
want as members and others who are in a position to influence them
as well as the fortunes of our organizations.

Names and logos and slogans don’t establish your brand.

The public perception of the qualities and behaviors of your members
and of your chapter as a whole establish your brand.

“What you do as individuals and as an organization speak so loudly that I cannot hear what you say about yourselves, especially not during recruiting.”

It’s the public perception of what your members and your chapter are and do that establishes the brand.

Good or bad, strong or weak, if you want to know the the source of your brand, just gather the entire chapter in front of a large mirror and take a good look.  Before you waste too much time planning rush events, do a little soul-searching…

Are you, as an individual, anything more than a good guy to hang out with?  Do you have any skills, abilities or qualities worth admiring besides that you are loyal to your buddies?  How would people know?  Is there anything about you that would lead someone who didn’t know you already to want to get to know you?   Is there anything about you that would lead someone who knew you to point you out to others as “someone who’d be good to know?”

Are you, as a group, anything more than a group of guys that like hanging out with each other and, occasionally, organize something?  Is there anything about your group that would lead someone who didn’t know any of you personally to want to get to know you as a group?   How would they know?  Is there anything about your group that would lead others who knew about you to point your group out to others and say, “You need to get to know those guys.”

If you are having a problem with recruiting, the solution starts with your members and your organization, not with a rush coach or theme party or the greatest t-shirt ever designed (since it was last seen in 1984.)

I have been struck recently by the revelation that some organizations neither hold meetings regularly nor conduct them as meetings.   Instead, the meeting night changes depending on what else is happening on campus that members might prefer to attend.   Some weeks there might not even be a meeting if “there’s really nothing to discuss”.  The meeting place changes throughout the term.  The get-together proceeds on a “what do we need to talk about next” basis which can easily degenerate into a stream-of-consciousness exercise that gets way off track and wastes a lot of time.

This kind of arrangement is indicative of an organization that is not functioning as a fraternity but simply as a group of guys that like hanging out with each other and occasionally plan something together.   As I’ve written before, there’s no need to organize as a fraternity to do that.

For a fraternity, regular meetings are critical organizational and social events.

It is important that meetings be held at the same time and place each week so that everyone knows to plan around that time and everyone knows where they need to be.   When I was an undergrad, meetings were always on Wednesday nights and started about 700pm.  For years after graduation, I habitually avoided scheduling anything on Wednesday nights because the habit of attending chapter was so strong!

Meeting time should be made special with a dress code and appropriate opening and closing procedures/rituals and a calling of the roll.  These things indicate clearly to the attendees that it’s not a casual gathering.  Dress code doesn’t have to be extreme–a collared shirt, no jeans or cutoffs, and wear shoes would do.  Calling the roll is a reminder to each attendee that he is a member of an organization and that his participation matters.   Rituals also remind us that we’re an organization that has purposes and not some random group of people.

An order of events or agenda enables people to orient themselves in the meeting and helps keep discussion on track.  Every officer/committee chair knows when he’ll be called on.  Attendees know when they’ll have the opportunity to ask questions on a given topic.  And everyone knows that, when the agenda is run through, the meeting will be over.  If officers are prepared and things are kept orderly, the business part of a meeting can almost always be done in less than 45 minutes.  There is no excuse for a 3-hour meeting; either move some business into committees or have an informal get-together instead to hash some things out.

Items for general discussion should be pre-approved by the executive committee–not to keep things from being brought up but simply to get them on the agenda so people know what’s going to happen during the meeting.

Every meeting should end with a gavel pass, even if each member says only the minimum.   Having each member hold the gavel is another thing we do that shows that we’re part of something that’s greater than we are.

For a fraternity, regular meetings are the one time each week when we all know that we’ll see each other no matter where we live or what our course or work schedule is.  As such they are a critical element in establishing and maintaining our sense of ourselves as an organization.

In previous posts, I described the desired outcomes of a rush retreat:

• Knowledge of our product and how it compares to those of competitors
• Knowledge of our prospects and what they care about
• Belief in the value of what we have to offer

In this post, I will write about wrapping up a retreat.

Conclude the retreat with a brief recap of our features, strengths, and weaknesses and a reminder to each member to be able to express these in his own worlds and encouragement to be able to express his love for the fraternity.   Some people may find role-playing useful but practicing speaking aloud in front of a mirror is probably just as effective. 

There is no substitute for actually speaking the words.  Make sure that everyone knows this and that it might take them several practice rounds to become comfortable.   If they stumble at first, that’s okay.  Just practice until the words come easily.

If the Chapter has a list of tactical dos and don’ts, such as “don’t’ rush girls”, and “no more than three brothers or rushees in a group”, it would be good to go over them briefly so that people aren’t clueless during events.

Make sure that everybody understands how bids are granted, folders prepared, and the procedure for giving bids, the warning signs, and what we do when a bid is accepted.  Have the recruiting chairman and the president primed to answer any questions you can imagine being asked.

Don’t let your first presentation of material about the Chapter be to a prospect.  Go in with the confidence that comes with preparation and experience!

In a previous post, I described the desired outcomes of a rush retreat:

• Knowledge of our product and how it compares to those of competitors
• Knowledge of our prospects and what they care about
• Belief in the value of what we have to offer

In this post, I will write more about belief in the value of what we have to offer.

Why do we do this fraternity thing despite all the pain and bother it can be at times?

Good training must include knowledge of our product, the wants of our prospective members and how these things may come together.  This is the base level of competence.  Facing the sometimes ugly truth about the product and how it matches up to what prospects value, confronting and addressing the organization’s shortcomings, and making changes to better align its qualities with what will thrive in the environment—this can be a sobering experience, especially if the organization is basically just a group of friends that like themselves well enough as they are.  But, once you are past this, you have something you can offer in good faith and making sure that everyone can do that is the next step of the process.

What remains now is to add the element of heart, of sincerity.  If members are recruiting, not just to get the numbers up, but because they know in their hearts that they are offering a Good Thing in terms of the welfare of their prospects, that sincerity will come across during recruitment.  Then you are not merely selling, you are sharing something you believe in.

During the retreat, have a discussion on the following topic:

Remaining active can involve a lot of work and a lot of risk but we have stayed anyway.  What would our lives in college have been like without membership?  What would we hate most to give up by quitting?  What keeps us around?

The primary purpose of this exercise is to make sure that each member knows exactly why he is a member and has not drifted off.  A person who is sure of the value of what he is presenting will be a more effective presenter.  The sincerity will come through and he will be more confident.

Have some members, especially some older ones or recent alumni, relate some stories that illustrate the value of the Chapter beyond just a place to hang out with your friends.  Probably, only the old members have been around enough to have reflected on this but some young ones might have something to offer as well.  It is important that older members do this because it demonstrates the importance to the younger members and sets the standard for participation.

Ask for a balance of light and heavy stories.  During recruitment, a member might bring up some incidents, mentioned in the retreat, that illustrate the value he places on membership – if the experiences were positive one.  Although we all know that the Chapter can sometimes prove its value during “bad” times, recruitment is not generally the time for heavy stories.

Have each member be able to express his love for the fraternity in 30 seconds or less.  He may not use the words during rush but they will come through in other things he says and does.  Say the words!  Say them to the group.  Thinking about what one will say is no substitute.  Everyone must put himself out there.  Don’t let anyone off the hook with a “ditto” even if it takes all afternoon.

In a previous post, I described the desired outcomes of a rush retreat:

• Knowledge of our product and how it compares to those of competitors
• Knowledge of our prospects and what they care about
• Belief in the value of what we have to offer

In this post, I will put forth an argument for focusing on knowing what your prospective members are interested in and care about.

Products and organizations have features.  Whether they are plusses or minuses, strengths or weaknesses, benefits or costs—these things are all in the eye of the beholder.  So, if you are trying to persuade someone to join the organization, it’s their perception of your organization, not your own, that is most important.

When you meet a potential member, don’t just jump right in to talking about the chapter.  You cannot take for granted that what you think is important will be important to him.  Instead, take the time to get to know him first.  Then, talk about the features of your organization in terms that he’ll be able to see as a benefit to him.  Things that he sees as being no benefit to him will go in one ear and out the other anyway so don’t waste your time (and his.)

It is also possible, however, that you will discover that what the fellow values and what he’s looking for in an organization is not what you are able and willing to offer.

That’s okay.

Resist the temptation to crowbar your chapter’s features into his box of desires.  That you’re not the organization he’s looking for does not mean necessarily that something is wrong with your chapter.  People are different and so are chapters.  You don’t have to appeal to everyone.  Given the tremendous variety of unhealthy habits and desires out there, if you managed to do that, I would question whether you could manage your members’ behaviors well enough to stay out of trouble for long.

Keep your ears and mind open for clues that indicate that your chapter really is what he’s looking for and then make sure he knows why you think that’s the case—in terms of his interests.

A rush retreat can be a great time to reflect on any data that comes from HQ or the dean’s office regarding the desires and fears of the incoming class.  And you can practice putting your organization’s features into terms that appeal to prospects.  A little role playing can help members learn to listen and then frame what your organization has to offer.

In a previous post, I described the desired outcomes of a rush retreat:

• Knowledge of our product and how it compares to those of competitors
• Knowledge of our prospects and what they care about
• Belief in the value of what we have to offer

Now let us consider how to bring these about in a rush retreat. First, some general things:

• A good mix of old and young members should attend – the whole Chapter would be great.   Especially the retreat should not be just young guys.  If the old members skip out, it lowers the importance of the event in the eyes of the young ones and reduces the quality of the discussion.
• Consider having a young alumnus who understands marketing and sales facilitate.   He should be young enough to understand the mind of the undergrads but old enough to be removed enough to command the respect he needs to conduct the retreat.
• Be prepared to write down the information the chapter provides during inquiries.  A flip chart that has pages with post-it adhesive on the back would be good.  On can find these at office supply stores.

With these things in mind, conduct a serious inquiry, beginning with…

Knowledge of our product and how it compares to those of competitors

Prospects should hear a presentation of our strengths and weaknesses that is consistent in content but personal in delivery.   We must all be singing from the same page.

• Identify the attributes of the chapter. Products have attributes or qualities; whether they are strengths of weaknesses depends on the point of view of the person considering them.   For example, most professional basketball players are tall because, in that particular game, the attribute of tallness is a strength.  Jockeys, on the other hand, tend to be short and light.  Tallness and shortness are attributes of these athletes–simply the facts.  Whether they are strengths or weaknesses depends on what the athlete wants to do.    List the features of the chapter in a way that everyone can see them–just the facts without judgment:  housing status, social benefits, academics, athletics, development, reputation, etc.    In any way that another campus organization stands out to you, list how you would rate yourself on that attribute.  However, you are not allowed to list “the quality of our brotherhood” or any variation of it because all groups claim this attribute and it is not a useful differentiator.
• If you have time before the retreat, ask girls trusted by the Chapter about what members of other fraternities and sororities say about the Chapter –good and bad and throw this into the mix as well.  “Oh, would some power the gift give us to see ourselves as others see us!
  

The output of this process should be a list of the Chapter’s essential attributes.

Now, regarding each attribute that a member considers a benefit to him, have him write down how it personally benefits him and share this with all the other members.    For example, a chapter that has a rigorous academic tutoring program might have helped a member stay in school.  Or the fact that you have an ultimate frisbee team might have helped a member learn to play a sport that he didn’t even realize that he would enjoy so much.

Each member should be able to phrase, in his own words, each of our characteristics and qualities and how they have benefited him.   Members should be able to express these things quickly and vividly with personal examples.  This can be a lot of fun for the attendees at the retreat. These are the chapter’s strengths.

Now comes the harder part.

Some of the Chapter’s attributes will not be benefits.  In some areas, you simply may not compare well to the competition.  These are the chapter’s weaknesses.

You need to face these things head on because, even if you don’t acknowledge them, the competition will not hesitate to point them out.

For each of attribute that you have decided is a weakness, you must agree upon a standard general response and each member should be able to explain his take on these in his own words.

If the weakness is an area in which the Chapter must improve to survive, this would be a good time to lay some plans in a general way for addressing that weakness.  Material for a serious chapter retreat may come out of this exercise, especially if the Chapter concludes that it has little to offer anyone other than the privilege of paying dues and insurance to hang out with friends.

In the next post, I will share some ideas about knowledge of our prospects and what they care about.

Three things we must instill in each member before rush:

Knowledge of our product and how it compares to those of competitors.

Let’s ask ourselves some questions and be brutally honest with our responses. 

• In what areas do we excel? What makes us unique on campus in good ways? What things are important to us in ways that are obviously by how we use our time and money? We need to know these things because they are what differentiate us from our competitors in ways that might appeal to prospects.
• In what areas are we deficient? We need to know this because our competitors will probably point these things out during rush. We need to able to address these issues if a prospect brings them up.

Knowledge of our prospects and what they care about

• What are freshmen looking for? What are upperclassmen that are rushing looking for?

Belief in the value of what we have to offer

• Why are we still here? What is it about our Chapter and ourselves that keeps us together despite its being a pain sometimes.
• Why do we pay the dues and the insurance in order to hang out with each other? All things considered, what are we asking people to pay for that they could not get outside the Greek system or simply as a friend of a member?

In the next post, I will propose some specific programming.