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When I started advising (and I was the only one), the Chapter was in dire straits with a lot of internal and external (campus and Inatl) problems. Two things I learned: 1 person can't "fix" everything and many things can't be "fixed" immediately.
I suggest you and the Exec officers do a thorough and honest self evaluation identifying exactly what the problems are. A Chapter survey can also be very helpful because sometimes advisors and Exec members aren't as in-tune with the members as they think they are. Remember though, it's entirely possible that problems have been identified by your I/natl and the members don't think they are a big deal (for example Standards issues).
Then prioritize the problems and develop a game plan. The key here is that everyone needs to actually see what the difficulties are and understand the real consequences if things don't change. The majority of the time the most pressing problems should go at the top of the list, but if there are some easily fixable ones put those up there too. This way you can show some positive results quickly. Plus, a small fix/change that doesn't cause any real pain can be used as a motivational tool when you tackle bigger, more drastic changes. "See, that change wasn't that bad was it? Now let's try this."
It's not easy to successfully turn around a Chapter that has problems on numerous fronts, but it is doable. It takes a lot of time (in my case years), hard work,
patience, and above all a long term commitment -- which is why it is critical to have an advisor leading the charge. Officer terms are only 1 year, but an advisor stays around.
If you want to talk tactics and/or hear some of the specific problems and solutions I dealt with, feel free to pm me.
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