1. Creating a Connected culture (4 Steps to sustainable recruitment)
Scott Glysson
Director of Choral Activities
Cal Poly University

2. Warm Up Questions How many singers do you have in your program?
How many singers do you think you should have in your program?
What are some of the obstacles you face in the recruitment and retention of singers?

3. St. Average United Methodist Church
20-30 on roster
Drop = Add

4. Ms. Evoking Sound Warm and welcoming
Holds 1-2 recruitment events per year
Follow through
Scheduling issues

5. Dr. Perfect Blend Overworked and underpaid
5 classes, manages program, concerts, rehearsals, PAPERWORK
No time

7. Limiting expectations
“There is a cap on the size of my program for our school/church/organization”
“It isn’t the size, it’s the quality”
But…..education?
“I just don’t have time to recruit”
“Block scheduling has ruined everything”
“Students are pulled in too many directions”

8. no control - Scheduling issues - The personal lives of our singers
- Things in OUR personal lives
- Others?

9. Control 1. The perception of our program
perception = reality
2. The exposure of our program
3. The culture of our program
Students experience?
What does our program value?
4. Our response to scheduling challenges

10. sustainability Culture
1. The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization ;the characteristic features of everyday existence shared by people
Event
1. Something that happens

12. Fix up the house Gather facts (handout) What is your culture?
Do your students share these beliefs?
Are they involved in leadership and direction of the program?
Why are your students there?
What do they like about their choir?
What brought them in?
Why do they come back?
To what are they looking forward?
Do they feel important?
How do they sound?
Are you recording?
Are you asking for feedback?

13. Data What do you enjoy the most about being in a choir? Friendships
Singing, in general
Travel
Other
University Singers (non auditioned group with minimal extra-rehearsal activities)
32%
87% 8% 0%
Polyphonics (auditioned group with frequent extra-rehearsal activities)
51%
89%
29% 6%

14. Retention = Growth Term to term retention rate University Singers: 75%
Polyphonics: 96%

15. Practical ways to Connect students
Compliment hat
Retreats
Quartet/Octet groups
Musical and extra curricular
Student investment in concert process
Narration and research
Program order
Student’s choice
Cameo performances
Regular announcement of upcoming events
Trips, opportunities
Other ideas?

16. Find a real estate agent
Student to Student > Teacher to Student
Do your students know how to recruit?
Do your students understand the culture of recruitment?
What do you enjoy the most about being in a choir?
Friendships
Singing
Travel
University Singers
32%
87% 8%
Polyphonics
50%
89%
29%
If asked, would you be enthusiastic about recruiting for your choir?
Yes
Maybe No
University Singers
39%
52% 9%
Polyphonics
54%
41% 6%

17. Practical ways to empower students
Choral officers
Section leaders
Student conductors
Social media directors
Social coordinators
Trip managers
Participation in auditions
Periodic discussion of goals
Why keep it a secret?
Plan/consider something requiring larger numbers
Utilize future music educators

18. Advertise Student to student > teacher to student (chart)
SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) (see handout)
How can you play to your strengths?
Develop and choose opportunities that play to your strengths.
Know your target audience
What skills (if any) must they possess to be a part of your program?
Be a general not a dictator
Teacher recruitment
Student recruitment
Advertisement
How did you first get involved in choir? 7%
20%
How did you first get involved in choir at this institution? NA
19%
14%

19. Practical ways to market your choir
Embrace social media
Have your students play a role
Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat/others?
Bring a friend to choir day
Or anything you can do to get them in the door
Community/visible singing
Do as much as you can
Sports games
Create a relationship with your feeder program
Invite them to concerts
Invite them to perform on concerts
Student mentor system
Every choral director loves coffee (and…..)
Think beyond T-shirts
Bags/Car Stickers/Jackets
Starbucks Model
Don’t forget to announce you are hiring everywhere you go!

20. Seal the deal Once they walk away… Make the connection personal
student to student > teacher to student
Be prepared for reasons singers might not join
I can’t read music
Develop a quick exercise to teach them something on the fly
I can’t commit the time
Put them in contact with another student who has a challenging schedule
I can’t sing
Compliment them. “I overheard you singing…..”
Social anxiety
Peer follow up
Da Capo (right away!)

21. Benefits of a Culture of recruitment
Work less, get more
Increased retention
Valuable skills for students
Impress administration
Student centric programs lead to happy administrators
Happy administrators lead to valued programs
Valued programs lead to financial support, exposure, and growth!
Musical growth
It’s all tied together!

22. Some Additional resources (there are many,many more!)
Choral Journal Articles
Choral Music in the Junior High/Middle School: Choir Wants You! Recruitment: Cara Sedburry 
Mega-Church Mega-Choir: Tim Sharp 
Boychoirs: Recruitment for Boychoirs: Tom Sibley, Andrew Riffey and Randall Wolfe 
Show Choirs: Show Choir Competition and the Impact on Male Recruitment: Doran Johnson, Ken Thomas
Cute No Longer, Thanks Be to God: Building and Maintaining a Choir of Children: Richard Webster 
Retention Strategies for Two-Year College Choirs: Alice Cavanaugh
Other Articles
"It's Like a Whole Bunch of Me!": The Perceived Values and Benefits of the Seattle Girls' Choir Experience: Sarah J. Bartolome
Journal of Research in Music Education
Minority Recruitment: The Relationship between High School Students' Perceptions about Music Participation and Recruitment Strategies: Linda M. Walker and Donald L. Hamann
Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education