By: Josh Morris

Now that school has started its time to start (or jumpstart) recruiting members to your student groups. After working with many different groups across the country, I have discovered these three tactics to recruit members to your groups. The crucial three are: BRAND, HYPE,and GET PERSONAL.

BRAND:

The first recruitment tool is to get students to understand what you doand who you are as a group. If you aren’t sure of your goals, prospective students won’t be either. Clarify your mission. Is your group’s goal to lobby? Encourage Aliyah? Support Israel politically? All of the above? Great! Just make sure you make it clear to your members and recruits.

HYPE:

Hype on campus is crucial. Once the buzz is generated, people will want to see what you are doing. Make sure you advertise well and sponsor events with all types of groups – Democrats, Republicans, GSA, Environmental groups, Future Skateboarders of America - it doesn’tmatter. The only important thing is that you reach out beyond your dedicated core!

Members of these “outreach” groups typically want to collaborate with other student groups. Once you make the effort, the payout can be tremendous. They bring a crowd of people that you might not normally be able to reach. Make sure to bring sign-in sheets to these events! You just hyped your group up and they want to know how they can help you fulfill your mission - now follow-up and get them committed to making a difference!

GET PERSONAL:

People like feeling important. Reach out and follow up with potential recruits by sending personal emails, Facebook chats, and hand-written notes. When they see you are investing in them, they will want to invest in you and your group. If you can excite them, their enthusiasm will spread and soon your recruits will be recruiting. That is the mark of a highly successful group.

Use these three tools and you should have a very successful recruiting campaign. You have a message and people want in - now the goal is to share that message and bring people into your tent. Spread the word!