Cohort recruiting, open houses and more

[OldGuy]

Any tips, best practices, frequency ideas (1Xyear, 2X, 3X, 4X, more?) etc?

[dwb]

Uhhh... https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/members/cap-national-hq/recruiting-and-retention

Lots of great articles and advice on there.

[Holtz]

Any tips, best practices, frequency ideas (1Xyear, 2X, 3X, 4X, more?) etc?

Our squadron went to Cohort Recr you ring a year ago. We are a larger squadron and the trickle in was a huge disruption for Cadet leadership and seniors spoke to other commanded who were doingCohoet and went with 2 a year. My original thoughts were for 3, as was their's.  Glad I listened. Have a plan and be prepared to adjust as needed. Another great piece of advice is to have a plan to "interview" cadets and family, we make parents attend all three early meetings, so that they understand the commitment of time and money. If involved in a seasonal sport we have recommended that they come the next open recruiting period. Some do. Have your next Open house/Cohort date scheduled so that it can be shared for underage etc.  Lots more involved but by the time we hit our second we were in a better place as a squadron. Our third is scheduled for March and we will tweak some more. Great way to bring in members and retain members.


Holtz

[OldGuy]

Any tips, best practices, frequency ideas (1Xyear, 2X, 3X, 4X, more?) etc?

Our squadron went to Cohort Recr you ring a year ago. We are a larger squadron and the trickle in was a huge disruption for Cadet leadership and seniors spoke to other commanded who were doingCohoet and went with 2 a year. My original thoughts were for 3, as was their's.  Glad I listened. Have a plan and be prepared to adjust as needed. Another great piece of advice is to have a plan to "interview" cadets and family, we make parents attend all three early meetings, so that they understand the commitment of time and money. If involved in a seasonal sport we have recommended that they come the next open recruiting period. Some do. Have your next Open house/Cohort date scheduled so that it can be shared for underage etc.  Lots more involved but by the time we hit our second we were in a better place as a squadron. Our third is scheduled for March and we will tweak some more. Great way to bring in members and retain members.


Holtz

That is the kind of advice I am looking for, thanks!

[baronet68]

Some of my thoughts on cohort recruiting:

• Before you begin, it is essential that your unit has an active and engaging program for your membership.  If your program is fundamentally broken then recruiting more members won't help.  If a unit can fix their retention problems (by having an active and engaging program), then recruiting problems tend to solve themselves.
• I recommend not having more than 3 cycles per year.  The unit I work with most often, generally times their open house and cohort cycles to match up with "5th meetings". 
• Keep the cohort class as separate as possible from the mainstream groups until cohort graduation.  However, if an awesome opportunity presents itself (like a short-notice guest speaker, special tour, etc.) don't exclude them. 
• Make a big deal about the cohort graduation and promotions (friends/family, snacks, social time, etc.)
• Cadets will tend to stay within their cohort groups if left to their own devices so, after graduation, make sure new members are totally integrated into the mainstream group.
• Remember that cohort training isn't just for the newly recruited members. The cohort cycle is a great opportunity to train existing members so that the same person isn't always doing the same task(s) because they're the only one that knows how to do it.
• After the cohort cycle is completed, solicit feedback from both the new members and their parents/family to identify any experiences that can be improved for future groups.

I'm sure others have more to contribute.

[NIN]

^ this

[Stonewall]

So much of this you should read it again...

Some of my thoughts on cohort recruiting:

• Before you begin, it is essential that your unit has an active and engaging program for your membership.  If your program is fundamentally broken then recruiting more members won't help.  If a unit can fix their retention problems (by having an active and engaging program), then recruiting problems tend to solve themselves.
• I recommend not having more than 3 cycles per year.  The unit I work with most often, generally times their open house and cohort cycles to match up with "5th meetings". 
• Keep the cohort class as separate as possible from the mainstream groups until cohort graduation.  However, if an awesome opportunity presents itself (like a short-notice guest speaker, special tour, etc.) don't exclude them. 
• Make a big deal about the cohort graduation and promotions (friends/family, snacks, social time, etc.)
• Cadets will tend to stay within their cohort groups if left to their own devices so, after graduation, make sure new members are totally integrated into the mainstream group.
• Remember that cohort training isn't just for the newly recruited members. The cohort cycle is a great opportunity to train existing members so that the same person isn't always doing the same task(s) because they're the only one that knows how to do it.
• After the cohort cycle is completed, solicit feedback from both the new members and their parents/family to identify any experiences that can be improved for future groups.

I'm sure others have more to contribute.

Good. Now go back up and read it again.

In 3 decades I've done cohort recruiting at 4 of my 5 squadrons. At the 1 squadron where they couldn't bite off on it, they struggled. Currently, one squadron in my group is almost too big for its building after a solid year of cohort recruiting.

[JohhnyD]

So much of this you should read it again...

Some of my thoughts on cohort recruiting:

• Before you begin, it is essential that your unit has an active and engaging program for your membership.  If your program is fundamentally broken then recruiting more members won't help.  If a unit can fix their retention problems (by having an active and engaging program), then recruiting problems tend to solve themselves.
• I recommend not having more than 3 cycles per year.  The unit I work with most often, generally times their open house and cohort cycles to match up with "5th meetings". 
• Keep the cohort class as separate as possible from the mainstream groups until cohort graduation.  However, if an awesome opportunity presents itself (like a short-notice guest speaker, special tour, etc.) don't exclude them. 
• Make a big deal about the cohort graduation and promotions (friends/family, snacks, social time, etc.)
• Cadets will tend to stay within their cohort groups if left to their own devices so, after graduation, make sure new members are totally integrated into the mainstream group.
• Remember that cohort training isn't just for the newly recruited members. The cohort cycle is a great opportunity to train existing members so that the same person isn't always doing the same task(s) because they're the only one that knows how to do it.
• After the cohort cycle is completed, solicit feedback from both the new members and their parents/family to identify any experiences that can be improved for future groups.

I'm sure others have more to contribute.

Good. Now go back up and read it again.

In 3 decades I've done cohort recruiting at 4 of my 5 squadrons. At the 1 squadron where they couldn't bite off on it, they struggled. Currently, one squadron in my group is almost too big for its building after a solid year of cohort recruiting.

Every stat I have seen supports every point made, probably the best summation ever of cohort recruiting.