"The Leadership Solutions Network is an online magazine focusing on interesting and relevant topics for the student, career-seeker, and leader."
Recruitment and Retention
By James "Skip" Lemoine
Four years ago at a certain Institute For Leaders, I led a group of local chapter officers in a case-study-based activity directed toward generating new ideas for two of the most important duties of an organization officer: recruitment (getting new members) and retention (keeping old members). We did this by treating the organization as a business entity instead of a student organization; i.e. this is what a business would do if faced with this challenge, and this is how that course of action can be translated to the world of student organizations. Using this model, we were able to invent a lot of great ideas for chapter membership recruitment and retention… all of which have been pretty much out of circulation for about four years.
So now that we have this prompt and fashionable online magazine called the Leadership Solutions Network, I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to dig out the old ideas, dust them off, and present them to the next generation of student leaders!
Please note: for consistency's sake, I assume that the name of your student organization is FPA - the Future People of America. Whenever you see FPA below, just substitute DECA, or HOSA, or FBLA, or FCCLA, or PBL, or FFA, or whatever your organization du jour is.
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| Show Me The Money | The key to recruitment is value... or "Show Me The Money." You'll never recruit a quality FPA chapter by saying to your friends, "Join FPA, it's fun, I'm in it, we're going to have pizza at our next meeting...." You will recruit a quality chapter by offering potential members value, something they take away from the experience. It's up to you as a chapter or state officer to create and/or provide this value. In essence, that's your job: Making it worthwhile. |
| Advertise throughout your campus with flyers. Don't stop with bulletin boards; put flyers on desks, tables, instructor's mailboxes (it helps if they're accompanied by a letter from the chapter president here), etc. Often related-subject-matter instructors and other teachers will be happy to spread the word about your meetings or recruitment drives, but nobody bothers to ask them. | Deluge The School With Flyers |
| Screening your prospects | One tactic that has worked well for some student organization chapters is to bill themselves as the "cream-of-the-crop", making it an honor to join, say, FPA. They don't just let anyone join; they screen potential members, demanding anything from a simple resume to a full interview process. By making it more difficult to join, you create a perception of quality and value for your chapter, and that can provide an edge. Note that this isn't a good thing for all chapters (chapters are different), but some might benefit from it. Some have tried it, and in the right school and setting it's an outstanding recruitment technique. |
| Many secondary and postsecondary schools keep records of students' e-mail addresses. If a chapter could get a list of e-mail addresses for relevant students (students in ag classes for FFA, or students in health careers for HOSA, for instance) and send an invitation to join or announcement of an event (but no more than one, you don't want to spam), your chapter could reach a very large number of potential members. | Schoolwide e-mail |
| Partner With Instructors | Work with instructors to try to find a mutually beneficial partnership. As mentioned earlier, most teachers will be more than happy to read an announcement of an FPA event or meeting to their classes, but if you've got the time, take it one step further. Maybe your chapter's having a local marketing manager in to speak to the group. Maybe the marketing teachers would be willing to offer bonus points or some other reward to their students who attend. If a local dignitary speaks, perhaps an essay on the speech would bring bonus points from a writing teacher. This is providing great value not only to your potential members, but also to your current ones. |
| Why do we go to school? Probably for a good job. The most common step for the secondary or postsecondary student on the way there is an internship. Your FPA chapter, state or local, can set up an internship program by partnering with local businesses. I know, I know, it sounds like a lot of work. Still, have you ever tried? As a member of the corporate workforce, I can tell you that quality interns are hard to find, and businesses are looking. Many companies would jump at the chance to partner with an organization that will find great interns for them. In turn, you can market this service to potential members... again, bringing them value. | Internship Programs |
| Find Some Free Ads | Free advertising is everywhere. Try marketing your chapter in local events listings, local radio, campus media (radio, TV, newspaper, magazine, whatever). There are many media outlets who will give away free advertising to nonprofit organizations, like us. |
| So you've got partnerships with local businesses? Whether you do or not, one great publicity event is to hold a job fair. It's hard to do this alone, so it's often best to partner with another organization. Again, this sounds like a whole lot of work, but you'd be surprised at the power of a single phone call to a local business or Chamber of Commerce. Trust me. | Organize a Job Fair |
| It's like you're my brother or something | Here's another one that won't work for everybody, but it's awesome for the rest of you: ditch the formal atmosphere and go for a more of a close family environment. Make your members feel like they're part of a circle of friends. Go out for a pizza after the meeting. Have a party at the Vice-President's house (he's got a big-screen TV). Really get to know your members, what they like and don't like. Have a Christmas party. Exchange gifts. Stuff like that goes a long way toward retention, and the word-of-mouth can bring in new members. |
| Anybody who's taken a management class knows that one of the secrets to keeping happy and productive employees is job enrichment. Apply these principles of empowerment and choice to FPA. The more a member is involved in the decision-making processes, the more ownership in the chapter they have. The more ownership they have, the more they'll enjoy their stay. They'll also be more productive and less likely to leave the chapter. Forming membership committees is only the first step. Lots of chapters form committees... it's the second step that most states and chapters don't accomplish... and that's giving the committees tasks to perform, basically forcing them to work together. Pick members to help in the areas they are best at and enjoy most... students in design would be great for putting together recruitment flyers and the like, management students can coordinate events, speech students can organize entertainment... the possibilities are endless. | Enrich their Jobs, and They'll Work Better |
| It's not a bribe; it's called an incentive | One major way businesses keep their best employees is by offering incentives. FPA can do this as well, through existing scholarship programs, internships, partnerships with instructors, food at meetings, helping pay the way to conferences in exotic and fun locations... the list goes on and on. Your student organization has a lot of benefits, but the average member doesn't know about them. Do you research and push these incentives, these benefits. This is what's going to get your chapter new members. |
| Many businesses hold employee appreciation days regularly with picnics, volleyball games, and competitions in company-related topics. FPA can easily accomplish this with regular social events. Invite your instructors, or maybe potential local partners (like health-care folks for HOSA, or businesspeople for DECA, etc.), to a quiz competition on relevant topics, or just a baseball game. Be creative... don't always fall back on "pizza and a movie." | Creative Social Planning |
| Meetings should accommodate members, not vice versa. | Keep in mind that different members have different schedules and different responsibilities. Because of the demands of family, school, and work, be flexible with your meetings. My college chapter started having two meetings instead of just one, to accommodate the people who couldn't make it on Wednesday night. Some members have spouses, children, night job, or just don't have transportation at the right times... it can be very difficult for them to attend meetings, even if they do want to be an active member. Another good way to accommodate them is to have online meetings, or posting minutes and volunteer forms on your chapter or state's website. |
| One way to get chapter members motivated is to institute a chapter point-system. Keep a record of members and the points they earn for completing various activities, like participating in chapter decision-making, helping with the fundraiser, or recruiting new members. Give awards to members with the most points, and if possible, arrange for special awards for your top members such as travel discounts to big conferences, or lunch with a local organization partner. | Keep score on what your members do |
There are tons of great ideas out there for getting and keeping the best members, and many are exclusive to each student organization. Play up your group's strengths and think outside the box to discover the best techniques!
James "Skip" Lemoine, a former Regional Manager for Cingular Wireless, is a Leadership Fellow with TRI and the Editor of the Leadership Solutions Network. Click here to learn more about Skip and how to contact him!
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