Recruiting

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                           RECRUITING


Which is it?


          Targeting           -or-            Shotgun



What does a member look like? 


                  THE CRUCIAL JOB OF RECRUITING

Some principles:

     þ Know the kinds of members you're looking for
     þ Recruiting is not a mass enterprise, it must be highly
          specialized
     þ Every person is an individual
     þ Personal contact is best


A group should give a good deal of thought to the processes by
which it looks for members.  Its policies help determine what the
size of the membership is, what kind of people are to be
approached, what the organization requires of its members.  A
group's maturing, then, can be evaluated better by the quality than
by the quantity of its membership.

1. Know what kinds of members you are looking for and in what
approximate proportion they will be to the general membership.

2. Realize that recruiting can never be a mass enterprise.  It must
be highly specialized, and much attention must be given to detail. 
Each person is an individual and must be treated as someone having
important differences from every other person.

3. Recognize that recruiting should be as decentralized as
possible.  It is much easier to carry out your responsibilities to
the membership committee and to the organization as a whole by 
work in your own neighborhood, social circle, or business firm. 
There you have prestige, and your enthusiastic endorsement of the
organization carries weight.

Names of potential members should be parceled out to members of the
membership committee as well as to others in the organization, on
the basis of related interests.

4. Be aware that personal contact is the best approach.  No method
has ever been more effective than a face-to-face one.  Your
personal conviction about an organization is evident in the tone of
your voice, your facial expression, your choice of words.  You can
adapt your sales talk to the response of your prospect.  You can
move him/her to immediate action.  Therefore, if you can, telephone
a potential member and ask for a personal interview.

• Lois M. Frey, UVM Extension, RR #4, Box 2298, Montpelier, VT 05602, (802) 223-2389, email: lfrey@sover.net
• "Group Development: Creating Group Effectiveness" by Duane Dale, DFD Associates, 99 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138-3402 (moving to 764 South East Street, Amherst, MA 01022 after 8/1/98);
• Bob Biagi, 142 Cherry Lane, Amherst, MA 01002 (413) 549-1412;

Comments to: crs@uvm.edu
Reviewed as of 4/20/98