Motivation
 

Does anyone have any tips on how to keep your chapter motivated? (i.e. make sure that everyone contributes)

Thanks

A lot of places have fine systems in place, but having a "negative" focus isn't always what works. Try rewarding people for their hard work. For instance, the sister with the highest GPA in the sorority gets to go to formal for free. The sister who does the most service hours gets a gift certificate to the Greek store. The sister who raises the most money in fundraising gets a sweatshirt with letters. By having positive reinforcement of participating, you make it worth their while.

Some people won't give a shit one way or the other. You could offer them $100 and they won't care. But this does work to an extent, and sometimes to a big extent if formal is expensive or if the Greek Store is somewhere they buy a lot of stuff.

Good luck!

Now, do you mean to keep people motivated, increase everyone's motivation, or try to encourage certain people to get more involved? Because they're three different things, I find. The best way to keep people motivated or get people more motivated is to keep things rolling, to always be succeeding. Make the expectation that things are going to rock- don't say, 'We need your help, or this isn't gonna work out', say, 'This is gonna be so much fun, you have to come.' Total difference in tone. NEVER act like you need them, even if you desperately do- keep it light, and fun, and generally people will respond better.

For people who aren't motivated at all, it's a tougher thing. We had that problem last year- a lot of older brothers didn't want to contribute anymore, or were getting bogged down about past things, and it became a real problem. I immediately went for help to the woman I turn to for everything- Amy, the Panhel advisor. (And it may be weird that a fraternity president would go to the sorority advisor for help, but I don't care. She's smart, out-spoken, and knows more about Greek life than I sometimes think is really healthy.) Her advice- take them aside, and gently but firmly suggest that if they can't give it there all, maybe they should become inactive for a while. Better to have 30 committed guys working as a team than 40 guys with big holes in the group.