This spring, I visited 13 chapters in 20 days and learned a lot about what makes SigEp chapters successful at recruiting. As I reflected on that trip, it has become abundantly clear that there are five things every chapter needs for sustained recruiting success.

You can’t add a marble staircase to a house built on stilts — a solid foundation is critical to the strength of the rest of the house. Similarly, many chapters’ recruitment struggles can be traced back to a poor foundation. In order to be successful, every chapter should have five core components.

I’ve outlined those foundational points and supplemental resources below, as well as how frequently these should be revisited:

1. Minimum membership standards

What type of person are you searching for to join your chapter? If voting discussions are centered around whether someone is a “good guy,” you probably don’t have clearly defined standards. These standards should include, at minimum, GPA and a commitment to SigEp’s philosophy of continuous development. Share your recruitment standards with the entire chapter.

See resource: Recruitment Standards Template

2. Goals related to your chapter’s optimal size

How many men should be in your chapter? Are you growing strategically, adding high-quality members throughout the year? How are you going to get there in the next 2-3 years? Recruitment goals should be more than just how many new members the chapter should recruit. Goals should also include your target new member GPA, how many guys the chapter should add to the pipeline each month, how many interactions do you want to have with students in the honors college, etc.

See resource: Optimal Size Planning Sheet

3. Active potential new member list

Your pipeline is the best way to track the status of potential new members (PNM). Share this living document with the entire chapter, assign ownership of each PNM, and ensure notes are taken after each interaction. Top companies are aggressive about pursuing the candidates they want to join their team, and SigEp chapters should be too. Use this pipeline regularly to ensure that your chapter gets the top new members each year.

See resource: Potential New Member List Template

4. Recruitment committees that meet on a regular basis throughout the entire year

Recruitment should be a chapter-wide activity, and the committee is the nucleus of the chapter’s recruitment operations, ensuring that new leads are continuously generated and followed up with, and potential new members are being pushed through the pipeline you’ve created.

See resource: Recruitment Committees Guide (coming soon)

5. An engaged recruitment mentor

Each chapter should have a volunteer or alumnus who is dedicated to mentoring the vice president of recruitment. The mentor/mentee pair should set mutual goals, check in with each other on a regular basis, and ensure that recruitment is a priority throughout the entire year, not only when formal recruitment ends. If your chapter doesn’t have a recruitment mentor, reach out to zac.gillman@sigep.net to find one.

See resource: Recruitment Mentor Role Description

Every chapter must have these basic structure and core components established before starting the semester. Once the recruitment committee is organized, you can move into higher-level topics, like developing a pitch for your chapter, overcoming common objections and selling the benefits of SigEp.

As the summer comes to a close, you can expect your regional director to ask about these five core components and provide service to help your chapter succeed in each of these areas.