From the Exec. Director

Quality vs. Quantity...Revisited

By Raymond D. Galbreth, Executive Director

I think all too many members are doing damage to their chapters out of what is meant to be a good intent. But a good intent, when it is misdirected, can still do harm.

I continue to hear or read members saying or writing, “We need ’quality’ not ’quantity’.” And I truly believe that they think that saying this is a good thing. That, somehow, this will “inspire” their chapter to pledge only “good guys” and never to pledge a “bad guy.” That the chapter will be more selective and, by taking fewer guys, will be sure to pledge only the best.

Well, I believe that the actual effect is, at best, to help the chapter rationalize once again that the small size of its next AM class is justifi ed as “quality”, as the chapter once again fails to pledge enough men to improve itself or, all too often, to simply maintain itself.

When I engage in a conversation about “Quality vs. Quantity”, I like to ask those with whom I am talking to list the top 2-3-4 (depending on the number of men’s groups on the campus) chapters. After they name their choices, I ask how many of those have fewer than 20 men? It has never failed; the ones •they• name are always above average in size. Lest anyone think that I am espousing “the bigger the better,” I am not. My personal favorite chapter size is in the 55-65 range. Of course, on a campus where everyone else is between 20 and 30, a chapter with 60 men would look out of place. On a campus where everyone else is over 100, it may be diffi cult to compete. But all that is beside the point. The real point is the amount of effort (the number of men we actually go out and meet during recruitment) we make and then how many we choose not to bid!

The way I like to say it is that “Quality Recruitment” is measured not by how few you take but by how many you turn down. And, as ironic as it may sound, I don’t think that we are turning away enough!! Because we aren’t talking to enough to turn very many down!!! Picture two AM classes: one of 10 men and one of 15. Which is the higher “quality” class? The answer is, you can’t tell! Now, if I tell you that the 10 was derived from talking to 40 guys and that the 15-man class was derived from talking to 16, then I would expect that you might agree that the 10-man class is a higher quality class because it is restricted to only 25% of those the chapter pursued, while the 15 represents 94% and was clearly less selective. If you really believe in “Quality Recruitment,” you need to actively recruit 60 men and pledge only 12 of them! That is only 20%!!

To make my point another way, I believe that the choice is not between pledging a few good men as opposed to a bunch of losers but, rather, between accepting the few guys who we end up settling for vs. going out, making a full-force, pounding the pavement, pumping the fl esh effort and, in the end, pledging the •quantity• of quality men we deserve.

What is “the quantity we deserve?” Well, I think we need to clear up a couple of misunderstandings there as well. First, the chapter needs to decide on its target size. For the sake of illustration, let’s assume that is 40 men. Now, the question is, “How many men does the chapter need to •initiate• (not just pledge) each and every year in order to maintain that size? While some may think 10, it is actually 40% of the target size, or 16! Depending on the chapter’s associate member retention rate, you can calculate how many it will need to get from its recruitment efforts. The second issue to clear up is the relationship between the chapter’s size and the size of its house, if it has one or wants one. The rule of thumb there is 40% as well. The house needs to sleep roughly 40% of the chapter’s average size over the past fi ve years. Too often, a chapter looks for a house when it has reached the highest membership in its history and then expects everyone to move in. This is a sure recipe for failure. Empty beds are very expensive and can easily bankrupt a chapter. If the target size of the chapter is 40 and it has been maintaining that size for some time, then it will be able to support a 16-bed house. Seniors will want to move into luxury apartments, some members will need to live at home, some members will co-op, freshmen have residence hall contracts, etc., etc., etc.

Finally, there is an old saying in business that the best salesman in every company hears the word, “No” more than anyone else. I don’t think we are hearing it enough. By far. By the way, that salesman seems to often have one more “Yes” than the potential customer has “No”s.

If you think that there are only so many guys interested in fraternity, then try the following. Go to your next chapter meeting, and ask for a show of hands of those who, as high school seniors, intended to “Go Greek.” It is usually a decisive minority. Someone had to go and talk to the others! Do that more!!!

Fraternally,

“The way

I like to say it is that ’Quality recruitment’ is measured not by how few you take but by how many you turn down.” Fraternally,

Raymond D. Galbreth Raymond D. Galbreth

Executive Director