To Build a Successful Chapter, Just Add Members
A Phi Theta Kappa chapter president recently echoed the challenge many chapter officers face: "We're a small chapter, so we can't do as much as chapters with more members. When we do host an activity, it's the same four or five people who do everything, and we are burned out. How can we get more members involved?"
While Enhanced Membership Programs have been very successful in involving more existing members in chapter activities, the answer to the actual problem may be even more basic: increase membership acceptance!
If chapter leaders could step up member recruitment efforts and induct a higher percentage of those eligible, their situation would drastically improve. A goal like this one is very possible, as 625 chapters have proven through the 2004 Pinnacle Awards Program. The Pinnacle Scholarship Award Program recognizes and awards scholarship funds to Phi Theta Kappa chapters and regions for successfully enhancing their recruitment and orientation strategies, as measured by the number of new members reported to Headquarters in a given year.
During 2004, 105 chapters earned Pinnacle Gold recognition; 414 chapters were Pinnacle Silver Chapters; and 106 chapters were Pinnacle Bronze Chapters. These chapters used a variety of strategies to improve their membership acceptance rates.
The Good as Gold visibility campaign has been a valuable tool for many chapters, including Dunwoody Technical College in Minnesota. Chapter advisors credit the chapter's success to the Good as Gold posters displayed prominently on campus, and the Chapter Resource DVD, which is played often on a plasma screen in a high-traffic area. The Chapter Resource DVD is ideal for helping chapters conduct orientations for prospective members. The DVD features the New Member Recruitment Video, which includes personal testimonials from students who explain how Phi Theta Kappa can make a difference in members' lives.
The video, now also available to play from the Society website at www.ptk.org, is a proven tool for increasing membership acceptance. The web address should be included in letters of invitation to prospective inductees, with the recommendation that they view the video online if they are unable to attend the orientation. Chapters can also provide links to the online video in emails and on their webpages, in addition to displaying the Good as Gold posters, which list the Society's web address, at strategic points on campus. Other successful strategies employed by chapters include:- Having the college president sign membership invitation letters
- Providing eligibility information to students at campus-wide events
- Utilizing personalized emails linking to the www.ptk.org website
- Offering multiple orientation sessions to accommodate diverse schedules
- Increasing campus and community visibility through public relations and presence at campus events
- Creating a campus ambassadors program
Chapters may enroll in the 2005 Pinnacle Program, check progress online, and read about best practices for recruiting new members at www.ptk.org/pinnacle.
December 31, 2005, is the reporting deadline for this year's Pinnacle Scholarship Award Program.
