Reward system for brothers
 

We are having a hard time with retention and the idea for a rewards system has come up since I have been in the chapter, but now that I am VP of Member Development, I am trying to actually put something in place. What are some ideas or things that other chapters do?

Horrible idea.

Membership itself should be the only reward -- that and the privilege of being able to contribute to the chapter. If members aren't contributing and do not value membership, kick them to the curb.

Agreed. They should not need a rewards system. Earning my letters was a reward enough and always will be.

agree

It's not a horrible idea if it's approached properly.

Incentives are a good way to reward people who are "caught doing the right thing."

A point system will not go over well.

"Brother of the week" awards, like your chapter at Georgetown does, could work, as well as more formal awards at the end of the semester of the year.

If you do a lot of community service or philanthropy, you might be able to use that as leverage with local companies who can give out coupons or free passes to stuff that you can give to brothers of the week.

While I don't think rewards in themselves are necessary for retention, calling out good deeds is something that can bring up a Chapter's morale.

Brother Of The Week --> Basically, candidates are nominated for going above and beyond what is expected from a Brother, nominees are voted upon by E-Board.

Nerd Of The Week --> Just gives the Brother working the hardest on Academics a shout out. We determine this by library hours.

End of the Year awards --> They range from something as simple as Most Athletic to Mr. SigEp [given to the Brother who best lives our Cardinal Values].

Even talk to the Chaplin to make sure that they're calling people to Standards for acceptable [good] behaviors as well as insuring that bylaws aren't being violated.

My chapter also has Brother of the Week and some awards at our annual Formal, but they're not there to assure that members do not leave. They're just kind of extra bonuses.

NV Alpha has a similar program to Brother of the Week, but we split it into three awards:
- Virtue Award
- Diligence Award
- Brotherly Love Award

We also do end of the year awards, i.e. Athlete of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Scholar of the Year, etc. But we also do gag awards, which is always hilarious. Things like Tool of the Year and Embarrassing Moment of the Year are included in the gag awards.

In Brotherly Love,
Brother Janning