To better serve your role as Chapter Community Service Chairman, this document is to serve as a guide for you along the way. Look to this for any questions you may have, if there is not an answer to your question simply refer to your chapters Chapter Services Consultant for an answer.
Job Description
The Community Service Chairman’s position is many-fold but the two primary responsibilities are: setting up and promoting opportunities for chapter brothers to perform community service and collecting information from brothers after service is completed in a way that is easy to report to outside stakeholders (Executive Offices, Fraternity & Sorority Life Office, etc.).
Tips For Success
•Learn About your Role. Take the time to review this manual. This will allow you to have a clear understanding of the role and what you will be working on during the year.
•Plan Ahead. Failing to stay organized and not planning ahead is the biggest cause for challenges. Take the time to review the “Semester To-Do List” items in your manual and map out what you need to accomplish your goals for the semester. This will allow you to be successful in your role while creating different levels of change within your chapter.
•Ask for help. Reach out to your BOG, Chapter Services Consultant, and past officers if you are struggling. Being a chapter officer is hard work and you are not expected to do it alone. Utilize this manual as a resource but if you need additional support, do not be afraid to reach out for help.
•Form a Committee. Your role requires a lot of time, a committee can be a useful tool to help you manage your workload and complete tasks.
•Model the Way. Holding a position in your chapter means you are a role model for your chapter brothers. You are expected to model the way for your brothers, and they will mirror the behavior you model. At times, you must make difficult decisions that might not be popular. Serving in this role means your brothers have trusted you to make those decisions for the chapter. Do not be afraid to make the hard decisions and to challenge your brothers to be better.
•Set Expectations. As a leader, make sure your chapter has very clear expectations for membership. This will allow your chapter to thrive and allow you to be able to better support your brothers who are not meeting these expectations.
Officer Specific Information
Thank You: After the event, send out personalized “Thank Yous” to all individuals, chapters, companies etc. who attended the event and donated. Do not forget to thank your chapter brothers who helped with the event as well, saying “thank you” goes a long way and they will appreciate it.
CrowdChange: This tool allows your chapter the opportunity to establish online Fundraising campaigns. The chapter can raise money and have the profits go directly towards SeriousFun. This enables anybody to donate to the campaign through the link your chapter creates for a fundraiser. For additional information on CrowdChange and how you can get involved you can click here.
Make Service Social - There is nothing that says community service has to be done in isolation from others or other groups. Perform community service events with other Fraternities, Sororities, Campus Organizations, Community Organizations (churches, clubs, etc.). With this mindset, you will be able to get more people on board and serve more of the community.
Service Opportunities - Recruitment Opportunities - Similar to making service social, you should constantly be inviting potential new members to perform service projects with you. It is a great way to show your dedication to it, to get to know them in a way that is not pizza and football and gives you a way to spend multiple hours with them. Remember that quote, “Don’t talk the talk, walk the walk,” well here is that perfect example!
Recognition Goes A Long Way - More likely than not you will have some brothers that consistently outperform others in the number of community service hours performed each month/semester/year. You should recognize these individuals for helping the community. A simple, “Congratulations to Brother John Smith on getting the highest number of community service hours this month with 20!” tells people they need to get 21 hours and they can be recognized as well.
Resource List
Fundraising for the Camps
PKT and the SeriousFun Camps
Philanthropy Best Practices
Philanthropy Event Ideas
Philanthropy Planning Fundamentals
The SeriousFun Camps
The Community Service Committee
Community Service Ideas
Event Planning Guide
*All resources available upon request.
Term To-Do list
Prior to the Semester Starting
• Meet with Outgoing Officer.
• Ensure that all Philanthropy reports have been filed on Phi Kappa Tau Portal
January
Meet with University staff members (IFC Advisor, Director of Community Engagement (or similar), etc.), Community leaders (United Way, community engagement office at local government), Campus Service Organizations and other Fraternity & Sororities on campus to gather leads on places to contact regarding major Spring service event opportunities.
Review the previous year Borradaile Challenge scorecard for Community Service metric and set a goal for 25% more hours than the previous year! Share the total number of hours goal and how that translates into each member.
Review any expectations for members getting a certain number of hours for the semester/ year.
Share community service opportunities for the chapter during January and February.
Collect & record community service hours from the chapter from the month of January.
February
Plan out the all chapter community service event for the semester. Have all the details completed and ready to present to the chapter and Board of Governors before the end of February.
Share community service opportunities for the chapter during February and March.
Collect & record community service hours from the chapter from the month of February.
Converse with the new associates on the importance of community service and how to get involved with service.
March
Share community service opportunities for the chapter during March and April.
Collect & record community service hours from the chapter from the month of March.
Share the opportunities to be a camp counselor at a SeriousFun Children’s Network camp for the Summer!
April
Conduct the all chapter community service event for the semester. Afterward, send thank you letters to the people you worked who assisted to set up the event.
Review the number of hours you have for each brother to ensure accuracy. Also, review the expectations set at the beginning of the year/semester on the number of hours per man.
Share community service opportunities for the chapter during April and
May.
Collect & record community service hours from the chapter from the month of April.
May
Report your Spring Community Service Report on Phi Kappa Tau Portal for the community service hours performed between January 1 - May 15.
Present summer opportunities for chapter members to get involved in community service.
Summer
Begin planning your chapter strategy for fall service projects.
At the end of summer, collect all the community service hours your brothers did and record those. These hours will be submitted on the Fall Community Service Report on Phi Kappa Tau Portal.
August
Meet with University staff members (IFC Advisor, Director of Community Engagement, or similar), Community leaders (United Way, community engagement office at local government), Campus Service Organizations and other Fraternity & Sororities on campus to gather leads on places to contact regarding major Spring service event opportunities.
Review any expectations for members completing a certain number of hours for the semester/year.
Share community service opportunities for the chapter during August and September.
Collect and record community service hours from the chapter from the month of August.
September
Plan out the all chapter community service event for the semester. Have all the details completed and ready to present to the chapter and Board of Governors before the end of September.
Invite potential new members to perform a community service project with the chapter.
Share community service opportunities for the chapter during September and October.
Collect and record community service hours from the chapter from the month of September.
October
Conduct the all chapter community service event for the semester. Afterward, send thank you letters to the people you worked with who assisted to set up the event.
Share community service opportunities for the chapter during October and November.
Collect & record community service hours from the chapter from the month of October.
November
Review the number of hours you have for each brother to ensure accuracy. Also, review the expectations set at the beginning of the year/semester the number of hours per man.
Share community service opportunities for the chapter during November and December.
Collect & record community service hours from the chapter from the month of November.
December
Report your Fall Community Service Report on Phi Kappa Tau Portal for the community service hours performed between May 15 - December 15.
Note: This includes any Summer community service hours performed by brothers.
Help transition the new Community Service Chairman. Make introductions to any contacts you established during your term.
The Borradaile Challenge is the fundamental way that chapters have their performance evaluated over the course of a calendar year. Encapsulating 10 categories, chapters can fall into one of three standings for each: Meets Expectations, Exceeds Expectations, or Outstanding.
You can access more information on the Borradaile Challenge here: https://www.phikappatau.org/borradailechallenge