Financial transparency is critical in every student organization

Embezzling from a student organization is remarkably easy. It's a shame, too, because when a dishonest officer steals from his/her organization – or uses funds in an inappropriate way – it takes away from the mission of the group and violates a very special trust.

When I traveled for my fraternity many years ago, I found stolen or misused funds in almost 20-percent of the chapters I visited. Sometimes, it was something as simple as a treasurer giving himself an unapproved loan or buying himself a new printer for his computer. In any case, the members of the chapter had no idea. If I hadn't come through and demanded a look at the books, the members would have been no wiser.

The best answer to this potential threat is transparency. Your members need to see the group's financial account, even if they don't care and aren't asking for it. At least once a month, the treasurer of your organization should give your members a printout of all financial activity for the month: what checks were written, how many people paid their dues, what money was raised or spent from that last event, etc. Most of all, your members should see the balance in their account. It's their money, right?

Ideally, your executive committee will review the statement for errors before it is presented to the members. This is also a great way to make sure your treasurer is doing his or her job properly. When more eyes are examining the books, mistakes are avoided, and the possibility of misappropriation goes down.

When you make financial stewardship everyone's business, your organization grows stronger, people pay their dues on time, and better choices are made about the use of your group's resources.

Here's my challenge... Can your members guess your group's checking account balance within $500? If not, you have a problem. Make them pay attention. Even if they roll their eyes and feign sleep when you talk about numbers, it's an important lesson to learn now when the stakes are lower. Someday when they catch an employee stealing, or prevent embezzlement from their homeowners association, they'll thank you.

Who are your ideal members?

The beginning of the new school year is a big time for bringing in new members. Whether you're a sorority chapter, the marching band, a campus religious group, or a group of competitive table tennis enthusiasts, the months of August and September are prime time for picking up some new faces. You have hundreds (or thousands!) of new folks coming to campus, all looking for a place to belong.

Some of them belong in your organization.

If you've struggled with finding new members, the first thing you need to do is ask yourself this simple question: "Who are our ideal members?"

It is basic target marketing. You don't put yourself out to the entire campus if you're looking for a specific type of person. If you're recruiting for the band, you need musicians. If you're recruiting for a sorority, you might be looking at women with high GPA's and a commitment to service. If you're searching for a new player for your Tuesday night poker group, you want a terrible player with lots of cash and a drinking problem.

That's a joke... I think...

"Who is our ideal member?" It's a basic, critical discussion to have with your existing members RIGHT NOW. Start the discussion before everyone gets back to campus.

If you ask the question and no one has an answer, you've found a fundamental problem. If there's wide disagreement, that's another. Talk it out until your members can clearly describe your ideal member.

Because here's a recruitment basic: It's easier to spot a potential member if you know what you're looking for.

In the classic leadership book, Good to Great, author Jim Collins talks about "getting the right people on the bus." Once you know who the right people are, then you can begin to figure out how to find them, introduce yourself and your organization to them, and ask them to join.

How often should you meet with your advisor?

Got a question today from a student. "How often, ideally, should I meet with my advisor?" This particular young man is an IFC president, and his advisor is a busy Assistant Dean of Students.

First and foremost, I strongly recommend a standing appointment. If you're trying to catch each other on a hit-and-miss basis, whenever both of you happen to have spare time, it's not going to work very well. If you only meet when there's a crisis or problem, then you're not making the most of the potential relationship.

Some students reject the idea of a standing appointment "because I'm in the student activities office all the time and see my advisor almost every day anyway." Sorry... not the same as a set time where you both focus on your mutual needs and the needs of your organization.

I recommend a standing appointment at least twice a month. If you are the leader of a particularly busy organization, then once a week is a reasonable expectation. For many student leaders and advisors, a half-hour standing appointment once a week can yield a lot of good.

Communicate with your advisor and tell him/her that you'd like to establish a standing appointment. If your advisor is an on-campus professional, ask if there's a certain time of the week that tends to be slow. Shoot for that time. It's not great if your advisor is squeezing you in between the end of a staff meeting and lunch. You won't get his/her full attention. Find a time when he/she has a clear mind and a quiet phone.

Back when I was a student, I had a standing appointment with my dean on Friday mornings at 7:30 a.m. We both happened to be morning people, and I had no competition for his attention at that time. It was also two days before my weekly meeting, and I liked being able to run ideas by him prior to our meetings and other social events planned for the weekend. It worked great for both of us.

I've seen student leaders and their advisors who worked out together, discussing group dynamics over squats at the gym. Whatever works for you.

I recommend getting away from his/her office, even if that just means the coffee shop on the corner. Expect to pay for your own coffee, and every now and then, pay for his/hers, just to say "thanks for the time." Don't expect your advisor to travel all the way across the campus to meet you. Find a convenient location near his/her home or work place.

Busy advisors will want to do the standing appointments in their office, because that's easy and convenient. If that's the case, start with that, and then try to convince him/her to get out of the office after a few appointments. Most people are happy for an excuse to escape their offices anyway.

If you need to cancel a standing appointment for any reason, be sure you're professional about it. Give your advisor notice, and don't make cancelling a habit. Advisors hate it when student leaders cancel on them constantly. It throws off their whole day, and you never know what else they cancelled to respect your appointment. You need to show the same level of respect.

It's a good idea to come with a few issues to discuss. They don't have to be huge and Earth shattering. Just some discussion starters. Your sessions with your advisor should have some unstructured time so he/she can ask you a few questions, dig a little, and suggest things you didn't even come asking for.

These appointments can also be phone appointments, if your advisor lives further away. There's nothing wrong with phone or IM appointments, if that's what works best for the two of you.

Bottom line: force yourself to commit to that advising time. By asking for a higher level of engagement, you solidify that important resource that a strong advisor provides. If your advisor rebuffs your request for a standing appointment, you need to find a better advisor. 30 minutes once a week – or twice a month – is a very reasonable request.

The 70-percent budget

The new school year is about to start, and for many fraternity and sorority chapters, that means a new round of begging. Begging your members to pay their dues. At least 30-percent of your members will likely be unable to pay, unable to pay in a timely way, or just won't want to pay. No one likes to write that big check.

Assuming that you don't use one of the third-party financial providers like GreekBill or Omega Financial, this is an annual ritual that makes leaders crazy.

So, try this. Begin the year with two budgets: the 100-percent budget and the 70-percent budget. The 100% budget is the one that you will begin using when everyone has paid their dues. The 70% budget is the one you'll use until then. You can guess which budget will have more of the fun stuff in it. When people complain, let them know that they should be complaining to the brothers or sisters who haven't paid their dues.

What if only 80% of the members pay their dues? Well, then, you've got a nice savings from that extra 10% to cushion your chapter when you toss out all the losers who wouldn't support their organization the way they promised when they were initiated. Use that extra tiny bit of cash to help you recruit better, more responsible members.

Whatever you do, don't make the amateur mistake of giving your members the benefits of a 100% budget until they've earned it. That includes you, as officers. No retreats or conference registration fees until everyone has paid. Role model to your brothers and sisters the frugality that is necessary until everyone carries their weight.

The first year (or semester) of trying this usually brings some growing pains. But, the benefits down the line are tremendous. Less stress and begging on the part of future treasurers is chief among them.

Fishing for Men

If your student group is one that – theoretically – has both male and female members, you might find it a continuous struggle to recruit an equal balance of men and women to your group. For years, I worked with peer education organizations that were dominated by women. They always complained that they were completely unable to recruit men despite their best efforts.

There are several reasons why a gender balance can benefit an organization. When your club or group has both men and women creating events, you're more likely to draw both men and women to participate in those events. There are obvious social benefits for the heterosexuals in the group, and that makes participating in your group more fun for those people. Your group's outreach and impact on campus can be broader when both men and women are talking it up.

When the female peer educators complained to me about the lack of men, I usually gave them this advice:

CO-SPONSOR
Partner with an organization that has a lot of men. If you struggle to draw men into your organization, then sponsor events with a male-dominated group like a fraternity, an engineering club, a sports team, etc. Maybe after you co-sponsor something with them, you'll establish some relationships and identify some men who might want to stay involved with your group.

SOCIALIZE
Have a social event where every member brings a friend of the opposite sex. Make it purely social, and then capture those names and numbers. Call them a week later and ask if they'd be willing to help out in some small way with your next event.

OPEN UP OPPORTUNITIES
People support what they create, so invite some guys to join and start some new endeavor within your group. If you have a sexual assault awareness and prevention group, for example, invite some men to start a program within your organization targeting men's groups on campus.

QUICK PROMOTIONS
Get men in leadership positions, quickly. Men might have a hard time with organizations whose leadership is entirely women. As soon as possible, elevate men into key positions. This will encourage other men who are looking at your group. Men are visual, and when they see all women in your group, they assume they aren't welcome. When you get some men to join, make sure they are visible ambassadors of your group. Give them t-shirts with your group's name on it. Better yet, invite a new male member to design a new shirt.

DO MORE BOY-FRIENDLY EVENTS
Evaluate your events. Do they lack appeal to men? Then add some new events (maybe headed by new male leaders) or ask some men to join you in reworking some old ones to have more male appeal.

INVITE MEN CLEARLY
Most guys don't want to join something that is perceived to be a women's group. Go visit groups on campus and frankly state that you are looking to increase your male leadership and involvement. Young men, in particular, are ripe targets. Get a first-year male involved in a meaningful way and perhaps he will stay involved and bring other men with him.

LEAN ON YOUR ADVISOR
Ask your advisor to help you recruit men. Have your advisor contact the campus professional in charge of orientation so your group can sponsor an event or get involved. Snag the boys as they arrive on campus.

If yours is a group with too many men and no women, the same advice applies. Go out and ask women to join, give them leadership positions, ask them how they would change events to appeal more to women.

The best way to get penguins to a party is to serve fish. So goes the saying. If you're struggling to achieve gender equity in your organization, it might be time to go fishing.

Need and Should

There were two twin brothers, Need and Should, who went to the same school and shared the same classroom Teacher. The boys looked very similar, and people frequently got confused which was whom. But, the boys had strikingly different personalities.

Need was a very passionate boy. When he entered a room, people became energized. Whatever Need needed, whatever game Need wanted to play, whatever idea Need vocalized became everyone's priority. Need was a fun boy, a natural leader. The children in the class found their validation and importance according to Need's favor.

Teacher admired Need. Need was always surrounded by laughing children. When he answered a question, Teacher lavished him with praise. When Need struggled, Teacher spent time with him to the exclusion of others. When a child got out of line, Teacher would pair him with Need on a class project, hoping Need would positively direct the other child. Teacher went home most nights and slept soundly, knowing that Need and the other children were happy.

Should craved attention, too, but he simply couldn't compete with Need's charisma. Whenever another child started playing with Should, Need would do something loud and attention-grabbing, drawing the child back. Should would end up sitting alone.

Teacher felt sorry for Should, and worried about the other children ignoring him. She kept her eye on him, but Should seemed happy enough. Teacher sometimes worried that she wasn't doing enough for Should, but it was very exhausting keeping up with Need and the other children.

So the school year began. Need commanded the playground activities and dominated the classroom discussions. Need's mood determined the mood of the classroom, and Teacher encouraged the children to follow Need's lead. Children gave the best parts of their lunch to Need, and those closest to Need felt very important. Keeping Need happy made Teacher's life easier, and the classroom felt like a busy, happy place.

Should learned and grew like the other children. He never competed for attention with his demanding brother and mostly played alone. His notebook filled with drawings that became increasingly complex.

Halfway through the year, something began to change. The children in the class grew tired of Need. It happened slowly, almost imperceptibly. Children started playing in small groups in the corners of the playground to avoid Need's bossy demands. Some stayed home, missing school, resentful of Teacher's deference to Need. Some children became disruptive and argumentative looking for opportunities to undermine Need.

Need became louder and more demanding, in response, but there were fewer children now following his lead. Those children closest to Need began teasing the children who had moved away. Need would scream and have tantrums. His ideas became more radical. Some of the children who had grown tired of Need would appease him, just to quiet him down. Others began hating Need, and hating school generally.

By the time Teacher noticed the change, the classroom was in chaos. Need was unhappy and took it out on her, distracting from lessons and encouraging bad behavior from other children. Teacher had to work much harder to keep him happy and therefore keep the peace. The more she tried, the more the other children rebelled against her. She spent nights lying awake wondering why the children in her class had lost interest in Need, wishing they could simply go back to the fun days at the start of the school year.

One day, the classroom chaos peaked. Several fights erupted during the day, most encouraged by Need. It made him feel important and powerful. Many children were listless and disengaged. When Teacher tried to teach a lesson, almost no one paid attention. Those who did made noises to disrupt her. Teacher felt disrespected, and was at her wits end.

She suddenly put down her book, and cleared her throat. "What would you like to talk about?" Teacher asked the class.

The class went suddenly quiet. Children who had zoned out suddenly looked at Teacher. The children had no idea what to say.

Need's hand went up. He urgently shook it in the air. He had several discussion ideas. The children looked at Need, then at Teacher. Certainly, she would simply allow Need to answer the question.

But, Teacher ignored his hand, even as Need's face grew red. "Does anyone other than Need have any ideas?"

The children just looked around in bewilderment. They had never suggested ideas of their own. They weren't even sure they knew how. It had been so much easier to simply follow Need. As the moments passed, the children became more fearful and uncomfortable. Need was getting increasingly angry, yet Teacher still ignored him. No one knew what to do.

From the back of the room, Should slowly raised his hand.

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