Recruiting for a Clash of Clans clan without wasting your evenings
Where clan recruits actually come from, the recruitment message that gets replies, how to vet an applicant in under a minute, and the trial period rule that stops your roster churning.
Recruiting is the job nobody signs up for. You wanted to run wars; instead you spend Sunday evening reading "can I join" in global chat, accepting eight people, and watching six of them leave before the next war search. The churn is not bad luck. It is what happens when the only filter is whoever knocked.
There are three parts to fixing it, and they matter in this order: say what you are, make applying cost something, and check before you accept. Most clans do none of them, which is why the same twelve people cycle through half the game.
Where recruits actually come from
In rough order of how well they work, and they are not close:
| Source | Volume | Quality | Worth it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Someone already in your clan bringing a friend | Low | Highest by a distance | Yes, this is the whole game. Ask, explicitly and regularly. |
| The in-game clan search | Steady | Mixed, but self-selected | Yes. Your description is the ad, and almost nobody writes it properly. |
| Recruitment subreddits and Discords | High | Low to medium | Yes, if you can vet quickly. Otherwise it is a firehose of churn. |
| Global-style chat and random invites | Very high | Lowest | Rarely. This is where the six-out-of-eight number comes from. |
| People who three-starred you in war | Very low | Very high | Yes, and almost nobody does it. A polite message after a good war lands more often than you would think. |
It is the only thing a player browsing clan search actually reads, and most clans spend it on "active clan, donate and receive, be friendly", which describes every clan in the game and therefore describes nothing. Spend it on what makes yours different, in specifics: war frequency, whether attacks are mandatory, CWL league, whether you use Discord.
The recruitment message that gets replies
Every recruitment post looks the same, which means yours is being skimmed, not read. The ones that work are short, specific and honest about requirements, including the unattractive ones, because the requirement you hide is the reason they leave in three weeks.
Five lines, in this order:
- 1Who you are: clan name, tag, level, war league. One line.
- 2What you do every week: "wars back-to-back, CWL in Crystal, capital every weekend". Rhythm, not adjectives.
- 3What you require: town hall floor, whether both war attacks are mandatory, donation expectations. Say the strict part out loud.
- 4What you offer: what a member actually gets. Fast donations, a real CWL roster, no Discord requirement, whatever is true.
- 5How to apply: one action. Not "DM me on three platforms".
Ashes of War #ABC123 · Level 14, Crystal II CWL. Back-to-back wars, capital weekends, no Discord needed. TH13+, both attacks used every war, no exceptions, and we run a strike system and it is not decorative. In return: instant donations, a real CWL roster with rotation, and nobody chasing you in DMs. Apply with your player tag at the link.
That post repels more people than a generic one. That is the point. Every person it repels is one you would have accepted and lost.
Make applying cost something
The single highest-leverage change available to a recruiting clan is adding one step between "I want in" and "I am in". It does not need to be a hard step. It needs to be a step, because the people who will not spend thirty seconds on an application are exactly the people who will not spend two attacks on a war.
That is what the clan manager's recruiting link is for. You turn it on once and get a public page you can paste into a recruitment post or your clan description. The applicant sees your clan's ad, with badge, level, war record and your blurb, then pastes their player tag, and submits. You state your requirements once as a minimum town hall, a maximum rush score and whether war opt-in is mandatory, and applicants that miss them arrive flagged rather than accepted.
- No Discord server required, on either side. It is a link.
- Nothing to install: the applicant does not need an account, only their tag.
- The application is pre-judged when it lands. Rush Score, town hall, war stars and war preference are read from the official API before you look at it.
- It remembers. If they were in your clan before, or are on your do-not-accept list, the application says so, and never shows the applicant either fact.
Vetting in under a minute
You do not need a background check. You need four numbers, and all four are public. Given a player tag, this takes about forty seconds:
| Check | What good looks like | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Rush score against their town hall | Healthy or better for your war standard | Whether they can take the base they will be matched against. See what rushed means. |
| War stars vs. attacks | A ratio that suggests they attack, and land | Total war stars alone means nothing without knowing how long they took to get them. |
| Clan war preference | Opted in | The single most predictive field on the profile, and the one leaders forget to look at. |
| Donations given vs. received | Roughly balanced, or better | Not a character test, but a 200:9000 ratio tells you what kind of member you are getting. |
How long they stay. Nothing in the API records clan history, so a serial clan-hopper looks identical to a five-year loyalist on the day they apply. This is the one thing you cannot check up front, which is why the trial period below is not optional.
The trial period, and why it has to be written down
Every clan says it has a trial period. Almost none of them actually run one, because a trial with no defined end and no defined test is just a member you feel slightly unsure about.
Make it concrete and say it on day one: two wars. Use all your attacks in both, and you are in. Miss one without saying anything, and you are not. That is a rule a new member can hear without offence, because it applies to everyone and it is over in a week.
The reason this works is that it moves the awkward conversation to the front. Removing someone on day five of a stated trial is a formality. Removing someone on day ninety is a fight, and it is the reason so many clans carry three members everyone quietly resents.
Tracking two wars per new member by hand is exactly the sort of thing that gets forgotten, which is why ClanWarden keeps war attendance per member automatically. New joiners show up as provisional until they have enough wars for the number to mean anything.
Recruiting mistakes that cost the most
- Accepting to fill the war roster. A body in a war slot that misses two attacks is worse than an empty slot, because the empty slot does not get matched.
- Recruiting when you are already full of quiet members. The problem is not headcount. Clear the dead weight first, then recruit into the space.
- Hiding the strict rules until they are already in. Everything you soften to get someone in is something they will be surprised and annoyed by later.
- Promoting fast to make someone feel welcome. Elder is not a welcome gift; see when to promote.
- Recruiting alone. If you are the only person who ever brings anyone in, the clan is one burnout away from empty. Ask your elders, out loud, this week.
Get a recruiting link for your clan
A public apply page with your clan's ad and requirements, applications pre-judged on arrival, and a yes/no queue instead of an inbox. Free, and no bot in your clan.
See the clan managerFrequently asked
How do I recruit good members for my Clash of Clans clan?
Write a clan description that says specifically what your clan does each week and what it requires, put one step between wanting to join and joining, and check the applicant's rush score, war preference and war stars before accepting. Referrals from existing members are still the highest-quality source by a distance.
What should a Clash of Clans recruitment message say?
Five lines: who you are with the clan tag, what you do weekly, what you require, what a member gets, and one way to apply. Include the strict requirements rather than hiding them. The requirement you leave out is the reason the recruit leaves a month later.
How do I check if a clan applicant is any good?
Look at four public things: their rush score graded against their own town hall, war stars relative to how long they have played, whether their clan war preference is opted in, and their donation ratio. All four come from their player tag and take under a minute.
Should new clan members get a trial period?
Yes, and it should be stated as a specific test rather than a vague probation. Two wars with all attacks used is the usual bar, short enough that nobody resents it and concrete enough that removing someone who fails is a formality rather than an argument.
Can I take clan applications without a Discord server?
Yes. A recruiting link gives you a public application page carrying your clan's ad and requirements. The applicant pastes their player tag and submits, and you get a decision queue. Nothing to install, no server to run and no bot in the clan.
What this covers
- clash of clans clan recruitment
- how to recruit clan members coc
- coc recruitment message
- how to find good clan members clash of clans
- clash of clans clan application
- vetting clan applicants coc