Service

Tool Kit
Creating better service and
volunteering through purpose,
intentionality, and education

Service Tool Kit

Introduction
Over the last year, the Greek Community has made great
strides in the way we approach service. As a community, we
decided that we wanted to focus on quality service that enriches the invidual and the community, leading to the creation
of the Service Tool Kit. The Tool Kit is designed to guide chairs
and their chapters to creating more meaningful, engaging service through education, reflection, and intentional planning.
Each chapter is expected to pick one of the following tools
to use for their chapter. This should be chosen based on your
chapter's dedication to service. For example, if your chapter
finishes their service hours every year, pick one of the more difficult to implement tools to challenge your chapter.
Throughout the semester, we would love to hear your feedback. As this is an introductory program, we are open to all
kinds of change.
We look forward to hearing how this toolkit works in practice
and we cannot wait for your feedback!

Types of Organizations Impacted by

CWRU Greek Students
9.7

2.9

18.9

61.1
7.4

Community Highlights
Million Minutes Goal
1,416,303 minutes, which is
over 983 days of service.
Million Minutes Goal
17 chapters completed 100%
of their million minutes goal
Increase in Service Hours
A 22% increase in service hours
from 2013-2014
Alternative Spring Break
Centered around Homelessness
and Hunger, CWRU completed
leadership workshop about
servant leadership.
New Goal
The service goal was raised
from 1 million minutes to 2
million minutes for the 20152016 year.

During the 2013-2014 Academic Year,

Greek Members volunteered at multiple
organizational levels:
Community: 232 organizations, 61.1%
National: 37 organizations, 9.7%
Global: 11 organizations, 2.9%
Health: 28 organizations, 7.4%
Student/Schools: 72 organizations, 18.9%

Service Tool Kit

Definitions
What is Service?
What counts:

- Volunteering with a non-profit group or organization

- Service-learning activities (volunteering at a senior
center or with youth)

- A philanthopy event/initiative by a student group whose
sole purpose is to benefit an organization outside of CWRU
(SpartanTHON, Relay for Life, Habitat for Humanity, etc.)

- Blood donations (one hour per person)

- Internships with non-profit groups that benefit the
community

- Time spent raising funds for a non-profit organization
(not for chapter philanthropy events)
What doesn't count:

- Raising funds for or volunteering as part of a chapter
philanthropy event

- Paid employment (or any position with anticipated
compensation)

- Advocating any specific political issue, political candidate, or religion.

- Internships or positions for companies that do not directly benefit the greater community

- Student/campus groups unless otherwise mentioned
(EMS, large-group musical performances, etc.)

- Protests or public marches

Service Hour Requirement

Each chapter must complete
their portion of the 2 million
minute goal.
Service hours must be
submitted within 30 days of the
event.
50% of the chapter must
contribute to the service hour
goal.
Each chapter must submit
evidence that one of the five
parts of the toolkit has been met.
Any questions on if service
counts can be directed to either
the Panhel or IFC Vice President
of Service and Philanthropy
Katie Rose: kar100@case.edu
Matt Holdren: mch82@case.edu

Service is... the giving of your time: Spending

time with an organization that directly impacts the
community outside of CWRU excluding those that
prioritize personal gains or self-interests.
Service Tool Kit, Page 2

Service Tool Kit

Pre-Event Education
As a service chair, how many times have you sent out an
email to the chapter about a service opportunity and then had
no one sign up? An easy solution may be to talk about the
events before you go to them. Some members have a difficult time grasping why the service is meaningful to the organization, i.e. why pulling weeds in front of the organizations building is helping fight childhood poverty in Cleveland.
Spend five minutes going to the website of the organization
that youre going to volunteer with and find out some of the
key information. If possible, find out exactly what youre going to be doing from your contact at the organization. Share
this information with your chapter prior to the event so they
understand that your time means more than just pulling a
few weeds or cooking a few meals. Show your chapter why
the volunteering of their time is valuable to the organization.
Maybe this isnt your place as a service chair. Find someone
whos already interested in going to the site and have them brief
the chapter on what youll be doing. Fresh voices can really help to
emphasize the importance of what youre going to be doing. The
best place to have these presentations is for five minutes during
chapter, where you can actively engage the entire membership
of your chapter and hopefully encourage others to go as well.

Who is this for?

The most invested:
Have these members give the
presentations! Chances are they
are the most invested in the site
and would love to talk about it
for five minutes.
Sometimes invested:
The enthusiasm of their brothers/sisters may give them the
push they need to sign up for
that one event.
Those not invested at all:
Since this doesnt take any effort
on their part, it is a good way to
involve those who are not invested in service. Make sure they are
a part of the conversation, and
this could be a good opportunity
for them to feel more connected

Requirements

Overall Requirement:

Create pre-education for service events.
Submission Requirements:

Show pre-education for at least two service events a semester. This can be done
through a submission showing evidence of a presentation. This can be a PowerPoint shown
in chapter, a copy of the notes you used etc.
Other Requirements:

The presentation must be given to over half of your chapter.

Be aware of the following questions while talking to your chapter: How do your chapters
values tie into the organizations values? How do you see the individual values of your chapter tie in with your organizations values through this service?

Service Tool Kit

Post-Event Reflection
Debriefing the Experience
Maybe briefing sessions arent your thing, or your chapter doesnt respond to them. You dont have a hard time getting people to the events, but you have a hard time keeping
them interested in the service and wanting them to go back.
The best way to understand how your chapter is feeling is to
talk to them after the event. While this can be fairly informal, it
should be a well-organized discussion so that you as a service
chair get information that is useful for planning future events.
Try these to start:
Whatd you guys think about that event? (simple, yet elegant)
Did you meet anyone interesting at the event?
What sort of effect do you think your time had on the employees?
How else might the organization need support?
Would you be willing to go back? If no, what are you looking
for in an organization?
If your members are submitting post-reflection questions already through a Google Form or some other medium, randomize the questions they submit each time. This will keep your
members actively thinking about the service they do, even if it
is with the same organization every week.

Who is this for?

The most invested:
Make these members the question leaders. This will give them
a chance to develop their leadership skills
Sometimes invested:
Your members may have not
found the place they feel the
most comfortable dedicating
their time to. Use these questions to probe them about what
they do and dont like about service.
Those not invested at all:
Since this doesnt take any effort on their part, it is a good way
to involve those who are not invested in service.

Requirements

Overall Requirement:

- Create post-education for service events.
Submission Requirements:

- Show post-education for at least five service events a semester. Submit the questions
you asked, along with some notes and overall take away from the experience. Try to move
away from Google Forms and have the conversation in person.
Other Requirements:

- The post-education must involve 50% of your chapter throughout the semester.

- Be aware of the following questions while talking to your chapter: How do your chapters values tie into the organizations values? How do you see the individual values of your
chapter tie in with your organizations values through this service?

Service Tool Kit, Page 4

Building Relationships
Multiple Events at the Same Site
A complaint that VPSPs have heard pretty regularly is that it is
hard to feel connected to an organization when members are
volunteering for two hours and then leave. Fortunately there is a
fairly simple fix to that keep going back! Look for other ways
to help the organization if you think that your chapter has finally
found something that they enjoy.
When youre at an event, ask the organizers when they might
need help again. This doesnt mean that you have to help with
the same service event over and over again. You could also
ask them what sort of other help they may need whether its
extra hands around the shop or even toys, books, clothes, etc.
This is where understanding what services the organization
provides is extremely beneficial, since it allows you to think of
ideas and ways to aid the organization.
Most importantly, this doesnt have to be your responsibility as
service chair. It can be anyone in your chapter. It only takes one
person to start something. Especially if one of your members
is incredibly passionate about an event, that can encourage
the rest of your members to be involved as well. Take a look at
your past service records and see where your members have
been volunteering the most, and make a chapter event out it.

Who is this for?

The most invested:
Use these members to identify
locations and organizations to
volunteer with and ask for their
advice on contacting said
organization. Chances are you
have a few members who love
to work with a particular
organization. Work with those
members to establish events
and encourage others to be
involved.
Sometimes invested:
Use this as an opportunity for
those who do service but dont
feel connected to service to get
to know an organization a little
better.

Requirements

Overall Requirement:

- Create a chapter event to volunteer at least once a month for a semester.
Submission Requirements:

- Submit the date, number of members, and a brief description of what you did for each
event.
Other Requirements:

- 25% of your chapter must attend one event with this organization during the semester.

- Check in with your members after each event and see if they feel more connected to
an organization after being there a few times. Have they made relationships with other volunteers? Have they gone back with the same group of brothers/sisters each time? Do they feel
closer to those members?

Service Tool Kit, Page 5

Group Service
Creating the position of Service Leaders
Maybe your chapter has diverse interests and it is difficult to
get your chapter to one service site. Some members may be
interested in healthcare, while others are more concerned with
education. Additionally, some of your members have been volunteering with the same organization for the past two years and
youd have no idea exactly what they are doing. Get them some
company! Have your brother/sisters do service together and
theyll have a better time doing it.
This is ideal for those chapters who have members who love
to do service. This gives the members who are already actively
engaged in service more opportunities to educate their fellow
brothers/sisters on the work they are doing and gives them
more opportunities to be leaders in your chapter. Use these
members as Service Leaders.
Here are things that a Service Leader may be in charge of (but
doesnt necessarily need to):
-
Finding volunteering events with that organization
-
Filling up the minimum volunteering spots
-
Finding transportation (RTA, carpooling etc)
-
Giving a presentation in chapter about why the organization is important to them

Who is this for?

The most invested:
This gives them the opportunity
to further engage with the
organization they are most
passionate about and develop
their leadership skills A service
leader can be someone who has
a personal connection to an
organization, or it can be the first
person to sign up for an event.
Since they want to go, have
them be in charge of getting
others to sign up as well!
Sometimes invested:
Utilize the friendships within your
chapter to encourage members
to do service with those they
are closest to (their bigs, littles,
roommates etc)

Requirements

Overall Requirement:

- Appoint Service Leaders within your chapter
Submission Requirements:

- Have two service leaders in your chapter for two seperate organizations. Show evidence of two events planned for each organization with dates and number of members attending each event.
Other Requirements:

- 10% of your chapter must attend each event.

- Check in with your service leaders: How are they handling planning events? How did
their brothers/sisters experience differ from theirs? What difficulties are they running into?
How has this helped them grow as a leader?

Service Tool Kit, Page 6

Active Citzens
And Social Justice
This is two-fold: a discussion on the Active Citizen Continuum
and a presentation on social justice. The discussion on the
Active Citizen Continuum should be to identify where the chapter believes they are at, and how civic engagement persists
beyond an individual activity or event. The goal of these presentations is to bring to light the social issues are a part of society
and what is the root cause behind them, and how the
organizations that your members volunteer at are intertwined in
that system.
Some guidelines for the Active Citizen Continuum Discussion:

- What do you believe is the role of each tier on the Active Citizen Continuum Discussion?

- Where do believe you stand as an individual member,
and as a chapter?

- How can one move forward on the Continuum? As
brothers and sisters, how can we assist others on moving forward on their own Continuum?
Some guidelines for the Social Justice Presentation

- What is the social injustice and what perpetuates it?

- Who should take action? If not you, then who?

- What are more resources to become informed?

Who is this for?

The most invested:
If your chapter is comprised of
members that always get their
service hours in on time and are
regularly engaged with different
projects across the community,
then this is a great next step
for your chapter. This will allow
your members to further
understand what social structures cause and contribute to
the needs that local organizations attend to. For members
that are continual volunteers for
an organization, or are interested in social justice, this could
be a great opportunity for them
to create a presentation and
engage the rest of the chapter
in what interests them.

Requirements

Overall Requirement:

- Discuss the Active Citizen Continuum and create social justice presentations to be
shown in chapter.
Submission Requirements:

- Show evidence of a discussion on the Active Citizen Continuum and a social justice
presentation for at least one topic a semester. If the discussion on the Active Citizen Continuum has already occurred for that year, a social justice presentation should take place for
at least two topics a semester. Submissions will contain the presentation itself, or the notes
used to give the presentation if the presentation is not media based.

Service Tool Kit, Page 7

Helpful Hints
Questions to Ask and other Helpful Tips
Post Event Questions

- What was a highlight from your experience today?

- What was challenging about the experience today and why?
- What do you wish would have been different about the experience today and why?
- What surprised you about the service experience today?
- What broader issues do you think the organizations work is addressing?
- How do you think our service work contributed to the organization?
- What did you learn about Cleveland and its assets today?
- How does the organizations work contribute to a more just society?
- What are other ways to address the community issue on which the organization is working?
- What will you take away from the experience today?
- What do you want to learn more about as a result of your service experience today?
- Why is service important to you?

Service Tool Kit, Page 8