34 Some Chapters have created a survey that is distributed every semester asking for suggestions or schedules or information on member families. This allows Chapter Leaders to create programming that meets the needs of their members and engages members on their terms to suit their needs. After events or at the end of each semester, some Chapters survey their membership regarding meetings, events, or engagement opportunities to get a feel for how they might be improved in the future. The programming section of this guide discusses those opportunities in further detail. Chapter Leaders generally only serve in their positions for one term, and so member engagement and the encouragement of members to become Chapter Leaders are both crucial in the sustainability of your Chapter. From the beginning of their time on campus, student veterans should be exposed to leadership opportunities, from participation on committees to executive leadership positions within the Chapter. It may be appropriate for more robust Chapters to create a Chapter Leadership guide that describes each leadership position, including desired qualifications. This way, each candidate can complete necessary tasks and is ready to discuss their platforms with members when elections occur. Member engagement does not end on campus. Your National Headquarters staff are available to work with, engage with, and support student veterans on every campus Chapter. While the most common avenue for engagement with National Headquarters are Chapter Consultations, members as well as leaders should be encouraged to participate in SVA’s Leadership Continuum Programming, described above. This makes for a more empowered, engaged membership and a successful and sustainable organization overall. Member Recruitment Without the continuous recruitment, a Chapter will fizzle and die. There are several ways to build a Chapter recruitment plan, and a solid start is to know and understand the enrollment path of student veterans to build relationships with those in the position of managing the steps involved. Many veterans are transfer students, having earned at least some college credit before or during their time in service. It may be simple, then, to leverage the relationship built with the transfer admissions office to have sent a welcome email or letter to every new student who has marked the “veteran” box on their admissions application. Many Chapters have worked with their admission office, registrar, or student veterans center to establish a veteran-specific orientation. Whether a breakout session for veterans from a main orientation or a week-long, involved program that brings new student veterans together with current student veterans as well as allies and offices on campus, orientations are a great way to recruit student veterans. They also contribute significantly to the success of student veterans on campus. Tabling or recruitment events are a great place to meet new student veterans and even those who had not engaged with the Chapter yet. To reiterate, though, recruitment plans should be live documents and are as different as each campus; they should be revised often and tailored to the campus culture. Creating a recruitment pitch. Just like the value proposition, also known as an “elevator pitch,” given to potential Chapter stakeholders, supporters, and donors, a recruitment pitch gives a compelling snapshot of the Chapter that draws interest in a short amount of time. It should be brief, candid, and authentic. Its focus should be on the benefits of belonging—perhaps there are career opportunities with Chapter alumni or social events only open to Chapter Members—and the highlights of what membership means. This should create a personal connection between the one presenting and receiving the pitch. Still, Chapter Leaders should align this pitch with their brand, discussed later, so that Chapter Leaders and members alike are all giving the same sense of an organization to which everyone would want to belong, regardless of personal touch.
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