Chorus Connection is more than a place to store member data for community choruses; it's a tool that empowers choruses to build their community.
Getting to know and engaging your community can be particularly helpful when trying to recruit new singers for your chorus.
So, how can Chorus Connection help? This article will give Singer Recruitment Committees a framework for using Chorus Connection to help recruit new singers.
1. Use Member Data to target new singers
The first step in any singer recruitment strategy is defining your target audience. But, how do you do this? Start with your existing membership.
Analyze your existing members
When analyzing your membership, you'll want to answer these key questions:
- What are the demographics of your members?
- What are some common traits they share?
- What type of musical experience do they have?
Chorus Connection's member management tools, such as the member directory and custom fields, can help you gather this data. When you're ready for analysis, simply run an export and search for common trends in the data.
Look for trends such as whether a majority of your singers or alumni reside in a certain geographic area and the general age distribution of your members.
Using this information, you can start to define your target audience.
Want to keep a similar demographic makeup to your existing members? Then use these data points to help you target and segment similar people in your community.
Want to diversify? Consider which areas you'd like to grow and target and segment accordingly. For example, if you have a goal to recruit younger singers, target your content, programming, and advertisements toward a younger audience.
Once you've determined your current audience and who you want your target audience to be, write it down!
Monitor your choral balance
By using sections in Chorus Connection, you'll be able to see a quick snapshot of your ensemble's balance. From this data, it will be easy to identify which sections are lacking in numbers. This information may help you better target your marketing towards recruiting members for those sections specifically!
Review the social media channels your members use
In Chorus Connection's Member Directory, there is a place for your members to put links to their social channels. In your member export, you'll be able to analyze which social channels your current membership uses. This can be helpful in determining which channels to use to market to potential new singers!
For example, you may find that most of your chorus is on Facebook but not Twitter. If you want to focus on recruiting similar singers to your existing members, then this is a good indicator that you should try using Facebook as a channel to recruit new singers.
2. Use Your Member Directory to develop recruitment content
When recruiting singers, you'll likely want to create marketing content that is interesting to potential members. Highlighting your members on your marketing channels is one great way to show the faces of your chorus to potential new singers.
In Chorus Connection's Member Directory, you can see fun facts and information about each of your members. All of which can be used to help you create this type of member-related content. Remember to get permission from your members first!
3. Organize and manage Your singer recruitment committee
Chorus Connection offers a variety of tools to help you manage your recruitment committee within the platform.
Use Files to store committee materials
House all of your recruitment materials straight in Chorus Connection's Files.
Sample file organizational structure:
- Singer Recruitment
- Strategic Planning (recruitment strategy, etc.)
- Promotional Materials (flyers, web graphics, etc.)
- Auditions (operational processes, materials, etc.)
- Potential New Member Contact Information
Create an email group
Using Chorus Connection's Groups, you can create an email list for your recruitment team and use this to communicate with them.
Once you have sent emails out to your team, all emails related to that distribution list are then archived in Chorus Connection's "recent emails" area. Easily monitor your committee's activity and keep up with action items from the most recent communications without having to sift through your personal inbox!
Schedule Singer Recruitment Committee meetings
Keep track of your committee meetings in the Chorus Connection Calendar and make it visible to only your recruitment committee. Enable RSVPs to track which of your committee members can make it!
4. Engage members and alumni in recruitment activities
Members are truly the key to growing your chorus.
Use Chorus Connection's Bulletin Board and Groups features to engage your singers in your public recruitment activities. Send out requests to your members to join the recruitment committee, invite friends to recruitment events, or bring a friend to rehearsal.
You can also add your singer recruitment events to the Calendar and enable RSVPs so you can get a solid member count for any recruitment event you host.
Your alumni may also be a fantastic recruitment source for you. Some of them may wish to return to the chorus, or others may want to help you spread the word. Be sure to email your alumni lists, which can be stored in Chorus Connection, and invite them to recruiting events as well!
Want to learn more about how Chorus Connection can help your chorus grow and thrive? Book a demo today!
Tori Cook is the former Director of Sales & Marketing at Chorus Connection, an active board member of the Greater Boston Choral Consortium, and a soprano with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. In a past life, she was the Music Director of the Harborlight Show Chorus and President of Chorus pro-Musica. When not making music, she daydreams about adopting a golden retriever puppy and scuba diving to exotic locations around the world.