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Here are some ideas on retaining the new students who show up at NSO activities.

Follow up promptly. During the first weeks of school, I-V staff, student leaders and other members should divvy up names of freshmen, so that those new students can interact with a variety of people from InterVarsity. Don't assign just one or two people to do all the contacting. If you rely on only one or two people to follow up, some newcomers who don't click with them may never have a chance to meet others in I-V whom they can relate to.

Take a special fall retreat. At Illinois we hold a chapter retreat especially for newcomers after the first month of school. Held Friday night and Saturday, it helps us identify and get to know key freshmen who show by their attendance that they are looking for a committed group of Christians. Host a frosh banquet or frosh nights. These ideas bring freshmen together and meet some of their needs in the process. By eating together at banquets and taking time to share about themselves, freshmen get to know one another and feel a part of the larger I-V group.

Similarly, a chapter can organize "frosh nights"--a series of dinners (held on Sunday nights or whenever meals are not served in the cafeteria) centered around different discussion topics of special interest to freshmen. At such events, be careful to avoid talking down to people. Even freshmen who are looking for help don't want to be treated like children.

Recontact people. At the end of the first term or the beginning of the second, recontact people who showed initial interest in InterVarsity but did not join. Some students are simply not ready to get involved until after their first semester. (Some of my best leaders did not attend I-V during their first semester at school.) Send out an updated "welcome letter" with current information about the chapter's activities drop them an e-mail message, and divide up names and phone numbers to set up appointments to get reacquainted with new students and ask how the year is going.

Prepare small groups well.Plan now to get enough small-group leaders in place next spring. Your ability to retain new students is tied to the number and the quality of your small-group leaders--the shepherds who will have the most impact on freshmen lives. At Illinois we can nearly always estimate the total number of students who will become involved in I-V by multiplying the number of small groups we have set up by 7. If we plan for 50 small groups, we will involve around 350 students. Getting these small-group leaders in place requires action not only in the spring, but also now, in the fall. Although recruitment (identifying, searching and assessing potential leaders' abilities, then training them at camp) should happen in the spring, you should now be considering how you can increase the number of small-group leaders who will become available next fall.

One of the best ways you can do this is not to burn out the leaders you already have. The best small-group leaders are those returning with experience; if they feel a lot of frustration and little support this year, they may not want to try it again. We support each small-group leader with a co-leader as well as a "support" I-V member.

Make strategic housing decisions. Toward the end of the fall term, your chapter members should discuss housing decisions for next year. Will leaders and influencers be located strategically so that they can maximize their ministry with freshmen and newcomers? If you discover that the core of the I-V chapter is moving into apartments even though most new people live in the residence halls, you will be diminishing your ability to reach and to retain new people. Visitors stick around when the Christian community around them is full of love, full of truth and easily accessible.