Let's talk about membership!

"Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success." ~Dale Carnegie

Hey PACURH!

It's a new year and a new and exciting beginning for your NRHH chapter! Hopefully you are all ready to start the year strong and get lots of valuable new NRHH members, along with keeping up the interest of the old!

Most of you are probably familiar with the fact that catching and keeping members can be a daunting task at the very least. The good thing is, you aren't alone! Not only are other NRHH chapters going through similar things, but other organizations as a whole go through this! Clubs, Greek communities, workplaces, etc.! During the past year, I went to a program at my school, put on by one of the community centers for diversity clubs, all about membership recruitment and retention.

(Image courtesy of Sonoma State's housing home page)

This program was valuable because, although not catered towards NRHH itself, it talked about ways to get members and to keep up their interest. Here are some of the main points from the event (keep in mind these are meant to just give you some ideas, and you are encouraged to try new things and be creative!):

1) Make sure your current membership knows what you are all about. Perhaps create a tag line or slogan (elevator speech?) that sums up your organization as it runs on campus. Basically, if your members can't explain what NRHH is, how do you expect anyone to be interested in joining? *eg: "NRHH is the residence hall organization made up of the top 1% of on-campus leaders, and is devoted to creating community in the residence halls and providing opportunities for service, leadership development, academic enrichment, and recognition."


2) Create a handout that explains your purpose. So, when you go to club fairs, etc., you can hand it out to people to let them know what you are. This might be more effective with your RHA, but it never hurts to have a few pamphlets made out to send to prospective members!

3) Think about ways your chapter can provide things that no other organization can provide. Perhaps NRHH can link up with alumni members for networking nights or etiquette dinner programs. Maybe you're the only service-oriented organization on campus. Maybe OTMs can become something your Associated Students organization gets to learn more about!

4) Create a membership benefit program. Everyone loves coupons and study snacks... even more, everyone loves getting mail! Consider membership gifts or benefits.

5) Be creative about getting your name out there! Even if it's just all your members go to programs on campus to give recognition to the organizers! Passive programming works well too!

So, with that, I'm going to open up the comments for everyone to mention something about how they recruit members or retain them! Please give a little paragraph about anything in particular your chapter does!

Besides that, I wish you all the best of luck as your reach out to new and returning members!

(NRHH logo image credit: University of Arizona's NRHH chapter. Due to formatting issues, the credit for it is going down here...)

NRHH Buddy Schools

"No my friend, darkness is not everywhere, for here and there I find faces illuminated from within; paper lanterns among the dark trees." ~Carole Borges

(Photo courtesy of: http://www.esnathens.gr/?q=news/buddy_system_spring_semester_2010_new)

Hey NRHH!

Does your chapter feel like it's all alone in the challenges of establishing an awesome NRHH experience for students on campus? Do you feel like you have all this experience just waiting to be shared with other chapters? Well, you don't have to be lonely anymore! I'm putting together an NRHH Buddy School system to pair up schools based on how they can help one another with strengths and weaknesses.

Thing is, I don't know every chapter's strengths or weaknesses, so I need your help to do so! Please fill out this survey to give me more information on pairing up schools in the best way possible!

https://catalysttools.washington.edu/webq/survey/bgawne/109916

Let me know if you have any issues with this, and I can't wait to see what everyone has got going on!

Lots of diamond love,

Beth

Start the year off strong!!

"To bend a bamboo, start when it is a shoot." ~Malaysian Proverb

Hey PACURH!

So, this next blog post is all about starting the year off strong. Some of you might recognize that quote from the pamphlet I handed out during NACURH at UCSD, and hopefully it's given you some food for thought during the past month and a half since we last saw one another. It's a quote that energized me for the start of the year last year, and I hope it can energize you all as well!

I used it as an RA to build my floor community, and witnessed as countless friendships were made utilizing the energy that everyone has at the start of the year. I wish I had done this as the NRHH director, since our chapter would have been so much stronger... So to make up for it, I'm passing on this tidbit of wisdom to all of you.

First impressions mean a lot... and I mean a lot! When it comes to an NRHH chapter, this is possibly one of the most important things. Every one has more of an open mind at the start of the year. They're willing to do new things. Start going to the rec center again, maybe join that freeze tag club they've been thinking about, finish the first week of reading before the first class... Eventually it fizzles out, but you must admit it does happen, and it does have an effect! Even if they've been around for a while, your chapter's members will probably be a lot more open-minded, and if you impress them (and the rest of the school) within the first few weeks, chances are you'll keep their attention for longer.

(Photo from Florida State University's NRHH http://fsunrhh.com/)

There's no doubt that your members are the busiest in the world (including yourself). However, at the start of the year, everyone's not only less busy, but they have tons more energy. So, capitalize on that energy. Do lots of programming--and lots of bold programming. Try something new! Work with your executive boards to take some risks and have some fun. Lost on ideas? Talk to other chapters about cool events they do at the start of the year to build that NRHH pride.

"I would rather regret the things I have done than the things I have not." ~Lucille Ball

Below is a document all about starting strong that the PACURH Regional Technology Coordinator, Steven Crader, helped me create, and it gives a little more specifics. Thanks to Steven for his hard work and patience! %S%T%E%V%E%N%!

NRHH Start Early Guide

(Also, you'll probably notice this about me, but I absolutely adore inspirational quotes... Just fyi :-D )

July Updates!

Hey PACURH!

Here are some updates for the end of July 2010!

June OTM regional winners are in! We had some great submissions and there was some great recognizing going on! Here they are:

Advisor: Kevin Kinney, Nominated by Angela Galipeau (San Francisco State University)
Resident Assistant: Mikaela Falwell, Nominated by Angela Galipeau (San Francisco State University)
Spotlight: NACURH 2010 Pre-Conference Committee, Nominated by J.R. Guzmán (University of California, San Diego)
Student: Briana Elliot, Nominated by Rachel Tran (University of California, San Diego)
First Year Student: Christopher Walinski, Nominated by Victoria Banuelos (University of California, San Diego)
Community: UCSD NACURH 2010 Delegation, Nominated by Amul Shah (University of California, San Diego)

Photo courtesy of SFSU's NRHH Chapter: NRHH Cupcakes

Affiliate your chapters! Go to www.nacurh.org and click on the login. Your RHAs should have the login information for the school (and they're the same for both RHA and NRHH). You'll need to upload your chapter constitution, current membership list, and contact information. There is a fee that is per-school, and your NRHH/RHAs can decide to split it all up accordingly.
Email Beth at pa_adnrhh@nacurh.org if you have any issues!

Enjoy the rest of your summer! Get some well-deserved rest so you can be pumped up to start the year strong for 2010-2011!

That's it for now. Stay tuned for August's "Start the year strong" special blog!

With utmost diamond love,
Beth