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Do you belong to a club or organization on campus? Are you the advisor for a group? Ever have to tell people the name of the organization and then have to explain what it means? I know the feeling.
I used to be the District Administrator for the Georgia District of Circle K International. I was responsible for 28 chapters, including helping them to effectively recruit members. I went to campus after campus and watched our student leaders struggle with trying to explain what Circle K was—and what it was not! “No, we are not the Circle K that is the convenience stores.” “We are not a dude ranch with horses.” “We don’t dance in circles, although you can if you want to.” It really became a problem. That is until I came up with the idea of having a defining statement.
Tell people what you do, rather than using the name of the organization. For Circle K in Georgia, we went from asking students, “Would you like to join Circle K?” to “Are you interested in community service?” Our positive response rate went from “Huh?” to 85%!
Belong to a fraternity or sorority? I suggest using “Are you interested in leadership development? Or “Do you want to make lifelong friends?” If you spout out the name, it might all just be Greek to them. (Oh yes, I did just go there!)
Watch the accompanying video for more ideas and then share your defining statements.
Yours in service,
Dave “Gonzo” Kelly
Hear Dave discuss this topic on “The College Speaker Series” on CampusTalkRadio
Dave Kelly has written 34 articles on this blog.
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Rick, thanks for the question! Here are a few ideas:
1) International Students Club: “Do you want to meet people from around the world?”
2) SGA: “Are you interested in leadership?” is a good one for SGA, but how about “Do you want to make a difference on campus?”
3) Campus newspaper: “Do you like to write? How about take pictures?”
“Want to see your name in print?” “Do you like having behind the scenes access to things happening on campus?”
4) Digital Media Club: “Do you love getting in on the latest technology?” “Do you enjoy using technology in fun, new, and interesting ways?”
5) CBA: Not sure, but I think this stands for “Continental Basketball Association”. Here’s the question: “Are you interested in an inferior quality of professional basketball played in high school gyms?”
You can’t go wrong with any of these! OK, I do admit to “JK” on that one, but this gives you an idea of how to approach the defining statement and use it to recruit members into your organization.
What are your ideas?
Dave, This sounds like a great strategy to use. Other than the example you gave… “Are you interested in community service?” do you have any other examples that specific clubs or organizations might use? For example: the CBA?… the International Students Club?… the SGA?… how about the campus newspaper?… hmmm the Digital Media Club?