The Journey
A newsletter for chapter advisors, chapter officers, and regional officers.

Revitalize Your Membership Recruitment Campaign & Reap the Rewards!
By West Williamson

Is your chapter looking for new and unique ideas to revitalize your membership recruitment campaign? Follow these basic strategies to make your next induction your largest ever!

Lack of awareness is one of the biggest obstacles to increasing your chapter’s membership. To ensure maximum visibility for your chapter, begin your recruitment effort early by having chapter members volunteer to assist with new student orientation and registration. Continue to focus on visibility by displaying Society publications, chapter photos and application materials at a Phi Theta Kappa table near your college’s entrance. Finally, publicize the benefits and opportunities of membership by placing the Member Recruitment Brochure at strategic locations around campus. The Member Recruitment Brochure is designed to function as a poster informing students of the benefits of membership while increasing the visibility of your chapter. These are great ways to raise awareness of Phi Theta Kappa to new students and potential members.

Don’t forget to focus on diversity when recruiting!

Be sure to reach out to...

• Ethnic/Cultural Student Clubs - Ask if you can make a presentation about Phi Theta Kappa at one of their meetings.
  
  
• Older Students - To reach out to these students, consider offering childcare and the opportunity for spouses or children to participate in chapter events.
  
  
• Part-Time Students - Make your orientation part-time friendly. Schedule multiple meetings for part-time and nighttime students, as well as full-time students.

Create an impressive letter of invitation by including the Phi Theta Kappa Member Recruitment Brochure with each invitation letter to eligible students. Be sure your invitation letter is appealing, highlighting the Society’s mission and focusing on the numerous benefits of membership, particularly scholarships, rather than participation. A letter signed by your college president or campus CEO has been proven to be the most effective, adding prestige to chapter membership.

Personally follow up with potential members once they’ve received their invitations. In order to personally contact each eligible student, hold a “phone-a-thon,” assigning each chapter member a few potential members to call. Phone trees give you the perfect opportunity to encourage students to attend your new member orientation - because most students who attend the orientation accept membership. Phone calls also give you one more opportunity to explain membership benefits and answer questions from potential members.

Finally, reap the rewards of a successful campaign. Building upon these strategies and tailoring your campaign to fit the particular needs of your chapter and college, you’re destined for success. And remember, if you increase your chapter’s membership by 10 percent or more, your chapter will be eligible to receive a Pinnacle Scholarship Award of $100 in recognition of your efforts.

Phi Theta Kappa’s website at www.ptk.org/chapters/resources/ and the Chapter Resource Manual offer a multitude of other ideas for developing a successful membership recruitment campaign. And eMembers, the Society’s online membership management software, provides you with all of the technology tools to implement your plan, including the ability to import a file of eligible students, create merge files for mailing invitations or creating phone trees, and the ability to report new inductees to Headquarters with no paperwork involved.

Copyright 1996-2002 by Phi Theta Kappa, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The name, logo and various titles have been registered with the U.S. Patent Office.

This page last modified -- Friday, 14-Nov-2003 11:00:24 CST (cwe)