What if associations started looking at what college admissions offices are doing to recruit students these days, using some of these techniques as models for recruiting young members?

Can I please take a moment to explain how psyched I am about Acronym’s “What if” concept they’ve got going on right now? Well, I am. The comments on the original post were great, and I love the compiled list so much I’m using it as inspiration for today’s post.

My youngest sister will be applying to college next year, and even though I applied years ago, I have a sneaking suspicion the process has changed immensely.

True, my own process was centered on the Internet – I never experienced the thrill of running to the mailbox after school, excited to find a fat envelope or dismayed to see a thin one. I found about my acceptance to UGA online, and it included animated fireworks and a big “Congratulations!” banner.

Facebook certainly wasn’t around when I applied to college, but the majority of the process did take place via the Internet. Hard copies of my transcript and recommendation letters were mailed, but everything else was digital.

Now, students are presented with links to universities’ Facebook and Twitter pages before they apply. High schoolers are even “friending” college admissions officers on Facebook! (I’m sure there are tons of ethical implications there, but associations likely wouldn’t have that problem.) Many admissions offices created Facebook pages in recent years because the economy made it difficult for prospective students and their families to visit schools.

According to the First Longitudinal Study of Social Media and College Admissions (conducted by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research), 41 percent of admissions offices at four-year colleges and universities have blogs, which is ahead of every other industry. Additionally, the study found that colleges and universities are using social media to recruit and research potential students.

College admissions offices deal with young people every day, and as young people are consistently plugged in (one billion text messages are sent per day in the U.S.), admissions officers have had to step up their game when it comes to recruitment.

As 2009 comes to a close, I strongly urge association professionals to take a look at this survey (available here as a PDF). In order to continue recruiting members in the future, associations must be able to relate to younger generations. Many young people think direct mail is a waste of paper and harmful to the environment, and will often respond better to a follow on Twitter. Future members are growing up with these new technologies. Associations would be wise to take a look at their recruiting processes and decide whether young people will respond or not.

(Photo by Glen Cooper/Getty Images)