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Cohort recruiting

Started by ChiefCubsFan, September 23, 2021, 03:01:28 PM

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ChiefCubsFan

Any small (20-30 members) squadrons have experience with cohort recruiting? Was your squadron successful using cohort recruiting? Just curious does anyone know the retention rate of members who were recruited using cohort recruiting? Trying to work on a recruiting plan for next year and wondering if we should implement cohort recruiting. Thanks!!!

Spaceman3750

I implemented it in 2016. I don't have numbers but for a long time we had decent retention and put forward a good onboarding experience. We went from always having one or two stragglers as cadet airman basics to everyone getting through Curry and jump-starting their progress in the cadet program. I am a big fan of the concept.

baronet68

I don't have specific numbers to show the retention of cohort members vs non-cohort members but, generally speaking, squadrons that use a cohort style of recruiting have a tendency to grow.  In the example below, this squadron had 20-30 members for several years before adopting a cohort recruiting program:





One benefit of cohort recruiting is that everyone's membership expires at the same time, making it easier to manage onboarding new members as well as setting recruiting targets to maintain membership levels. 

The key, regardless of cohort or trickle-in, is that your squadron MUST have an active and engaging program that will retain members.  Without an actual program, you're just chasing your own tail trying to recruit new members.  With an active program, your existing members stick around and they go on to recruit their friends and neighbors... and they tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and so on, and so on...
Michael Moore, Lt Col, CAP
National Recruiting & Retention Manager

NIN

Quote from: ChiefCubsFan on September 23, 2021, 03:01:28 PMAny small (20-30 members) squadrons have experience with cohort recruiting? Was your squadron successful using cohort recruiting? Just curious does anyone know the retention rate of members who were recruited using cohort recruiting? Trying to work on a recruiting plan for next year and wondering if we should implement cohort recruiting. Thanks!!!

Did someone play the "May I Help You?" riff? 

My squadron started cohort recruiting (before we really had a name for it) in January 2001. At that time we had around 24 seniors and 46 cadets (a year prior we had only 3 active seniors out of 20 and about 12 active cadets out of about 30 or so), probably still less than half active.

I'm having a tough time attaching things at the moment, but I can tell you with some degree of empirical evidence that units that have implemented cohort recruiting and tracked their cohorts thru their first year of membership, report first-year retention rates greater than 60%. By way of comparison, the national first-term retention rate for cadets hovers between 34% and 40% depending on the month (and has been in the mid-to-low 20s as recently as 7 years ago).

Subsequent year retention also sees improvements, where units that use the corhort model see those cadets renew at closer to 80%.



 
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JohhnyD

We have had de facto cohort recruiting for the last few years, spiced up with the China Virus to complicate life. But what we discovered is that beyond a certain point, the CP becomes its own attraction and we get new cadets practically every week.

TheSkyHornet

Quote from: JohhnyD on September 27, 2021, 01:23:29 AMWe have had de facto cohort recruiting for the last few years, spiced up with the China Virus to complicate life. But what we discovered is that beyond a certain point, the CP becomes its own attraction and ee get new cadets practically every week.

So then you aren't using the cohort model, but the trickle-in model?
Or you're conducting a cohort class weekly/monthly?

Capt Thompson

In fall 2019 we had 10 Cadets, only half of which were active. We ran a fall open house and brought in 8 new Cadets, and then a Spring and Fall open house in 2020, Spring 2021 and we just had our Fall. We now have more than 40 Cadets, most of which are active.

I've lost several due to either military service, or moving away for College, but only maybe 2 or 3 in the past year who just didn't like the program. Of the 3 Cadets I just lost to College, all 3 are in AFROTC or at an Academy and still communicate with their flights and take part virtually when they can.
Capt Matt Thompson
Deputy Commander for Cadets, Historian, Public Affairs Officer

Mitchell - 31 OCT 98 (#44670) Earhart - 1 OCT 00 (#11401)

JohhnyD

Quote from: TheSkyHornet on September 27, 2021, 02:36:08 PM
Quote from: JohhnyD on September 27, 2021, 01:23:29 AMWe have had de facto cohort recruiting for the last few years, spiced up with the China Virus to complicate life. But what we discovered is that beyond a certain point, the CP becomes its own attraction and ee get new cadets practically every week.

So then you aren't using the cohort model, but the trickle-in model?
Or you're conducting a cohort class weekly/monthly?
We have/had 2X a year major recruiting events (the County Fair in the Fall and an Open House in the Spring), which led us to the creation of a Tango flight. Once we reached critical mass we continued the 2X annual events (working around the China Virus) and then we just sort of "took off" and haven't stopped.

We had to split our SM night to a different day and we are getting ready to "spawn" a detached flight.

Stonewall

Cohort recruiting and pipelining has worked for decades. I was brought into the program this way in 1987 and here I am almost 35 years later.

As Senior in DCWG around 1996, I transferred to a struggling squadron with about 4 remaining cadets. I became the DCC and immediately launched into a cohort recruiting mode. I wouldn't let anyone join for about three or four months, we just spread the good word and set up an open house night.

Open House: Had about 15 prospective cadets, gave the brief and said, "If you think this is for you, be back here next Thursday in blue jeans, sneakers, and a plain black shirt.

Following Week: We had 10 brand new cadets who pipelined through our very first "T-Flight" (training flight, also referred to as Tango Flight), or what is now called Great Start. Nine weeks later, we graduated 10 cadets, in uniform, and made it a big deal with parents and everything.  We went from four cadets to 14 in about two months.

Every one of those cadets remained until they graduated high school. In fact, to this day, I am still in contact with some of those cadets who went through that very first T-Flight. I even have some pics somewhere.

Does it work? Yes! Do people argue against it? Absolutely.  The biggest argument is, "I just can't tell someone to go away and come back in four to six weeks."  You'll find those that do return after waiting, are exactly the ones who stick around and the ones you want.

I don't recruit, I explain our program and make it appear as though we may or may not want you in our program, so if you think you're good enough, come back in a few weeks, we'll see.

I can't argue this enough, but it often falls on deaf ears.

Perhaps the biggest failure isn't with cohort/pipelining, but the fact that when these members graduate Great Start and integrate into the rest of the squadron, the squadron itself is what fails the member. You talked a big game, but then you merely hold weekly meetings and nothing keeps the members around. 

Book them and they will come.
Serving since 1987.

JohhnyD

Quote from: Stonewall on September 28, 2021, 07:11:02 PMPerhaps the biggest failure isn't with cohort/pipelining, but the fact that when these members graduate Great Start and integrate into the rest of the squadron, the squadron itself is what fails the member. You talked a big game, but then you merely hold weekly meetings and nothing keeps the members around.
Bingo. Deliver and they will stay. We deliver. O-flights, cyberpatriot, comms, activities, we deliver and they stay and they bring their friends.

baronet68

Quote from: Stonewall on September 28, 2021, 07:11:02 PMPerhaps the biggest failure isn't with cohort/pipelining, but the fact that when these members graduate Great Start and integrate into the rest of the squadron, the squadron itself is what fails the member. You talked a big game, but then you merely hold weekly meetings and nothing keeps the members around. 

This... all day long.

MANY years ago as DCC of a tiny squadron with just 8 cadets, we spent a couple of months building a training plan for new members.  We then held a massive open house at a nearby school that was attended by more than 100 people.  The following week, we started training cadets and everything was going great.  When the initial training program ended, we had 10-times more cadets than we started with.  However, we had put all our planning and effort into simply getting people in the door under the idea that, "...if we just had more cadets, we would have an awesome program".

We were doomed. 

Our only "plan" was to get new members and zero effort had been made toward planning anything beyond that, thinking that things would "just work themselves out."  Things did not work out as expected and less than 3 months later, while we had 80 cadets listed on the membership rolls, it was only those original 8 cadets that were still attending regularly. 

People think that the first thing you need to do is recruit members, and then you'll have a program.  In fact, it's the opposite that's true.  Like the movie Field of Dreams, you FIRST need to build a program, and THEN new members will come.  Without having an active and engaging program, something that actually does more with cadets than boilerplate weekly meetings, all of your recruiting efforts (no matter how Herculean they may be) will have disappointing results.
Michael Moore, Lt Col, CAP
National Recruiting & Retention Manager

JohhnyD

Quote from: baronet68 on September 29, 2021, 10:13:19 PMWithout having an active and engaging program, something that actually does more with cadets than boilerplate weekly meetings, all of your recruiting efforts (no matter how Herculean they may be) will have disappointing results.
Bingo.

Contrariwise, build a great cadet program and it will attract new members. Eventually, it also becomes a source of new Senior Members as cadets insist on aging out.

DakRadz

Quote from: baronet68 on September 29, 2021, 10:13:19 PM
Quote from: Stonewall on September 28, 2021, 07:11:02 PMPerhaps the biggest failure isn't with cohort/pipelining, but the fact that when these members graduate Great Start and integrate into the rest of the squadron, the squadron itself is what fails the member. You talked a big game, but then you merely hold weekly meetings and nothing keeps the members around. 

This... all day long.

MANY years ago as DCC of a tiny squadron with just 8 cadets, we spent a couple of months building a training plan for new members.  We then held a massive open house at a nearby school that was attended by more than 100 people.  The following week, we started training cadets and everything was going great.  When the initial training program ended, we had 10-times more cadets than we started with.  However, we had put all our planning and effort into simply getting people in the door under the idea that, "...if we just had more cadets, we would have an awesome program".

We were doomed. 

Our only "plan" was to get new members and zero effort had been made toward planning anything beyond that, thinking that things would "just work themselves out."  Things did not work out as expected and less than 3 months later, while we had 80 cadets listed on the membership rolls, it was only those original 8 cadets that were still attending regularly. 

People think that the first thing you need to do is recruit members, and then you'll have a program.  In fact, it's the opposite that's true.  Like the movie Field of Dreams, you FIRST need to build a program, and THEN new members will come.  Without having an active and engaging program, something that actually does more with cadets than boilerplate weekly meetings, all of your recruiting efforts (no matter how Herculean they may be) will have disappointing results.

I know this is old, but seeing it written down is fantastic.
Great Start/cohort were amazing and the initial system went great, and then....
(Having been a cadet then, and not having looked at the materials for a few years, this may well be addressed in one of the NHQ materials, not saying it isn't). But I watched this train wreck about 2-3 times towards the end of my time as a cadet. Good lessons learned from it all though, in the end.

RiverAux

You can have the best CAP program out there but there is a limit to how much word of mouth recruiting will help you.  It probably does have a better chance to work with cadets as they're around hundreds of people a day.  However, even then if your cadet membership is skewed towards a particular school you may be missing out on potential recruits at other schools unless you go looking for them.  The larger the population within 25 miles the more you have to work to get the word out beyond your existing cadets to maximize membership of those that would have an interest if they knew about it.