Guilt as a motivator

Imagine you're the president of a student organization, and you have a meeting tonight. You are tired, and you are in a bad mood. You have a paper due in less than 48 hours, and you haven't started. You're hungry, your boyfriend is griping at you because he never sees you. More than anything, you'd like to turn off your phone and fall asleep early.

But, you have this meeting. You are president. Do you go?

Of course you do. You're president, and you can't just blow it off. You might sit there forcing yourself to be pleasant, but you will be there. Your sense of guilt, duty or obligation will motivate you to grab your backpack, take a deep breath, and go.

Guilt is a powerful motivator. It works. Make someone feel obligated to do something, and it's hard for them to refuse. The problem is that it's inherently negative, and it does not build positive feelings toward the user or your organization. You can use it sometimes, but if it's the only tool in your motivational arsenal, you'll end up with a lot of angry, unmotivated members who resent you and your organization.

Some organizations and advisors depend on guilt, duty or obligation as our primary means for motivating their students? We say things like:

"You need to come so you can relay the information to your members" "You volunteered for this, so I expect you to step up and do the job" "You promised to uphold these values, didn't you?" "If you don't do this, who am I going to get to do it?"
Do a little evaluation. Do your members come to your meetings because the gatherings are meaningful and/or fun, or do they only come because they feel obligated? Do your students do the right thing because it's important to them, or simply to avoid the inevitable guilt trip they will get from you if they don't? Do you enjoy leading your organization, or do you have to psyche yourself up just to get the basics of the job done.

If the answers to these questions are yes, then it's time to start motivating your members or students in better, more positive ways.

Image by Mark Nickels. Check out his work here.

What Motivates, Part Two: MONEY

College students love free stuff. It's the reason that a perfectly smart young man with killer SAT scores will sign up for an 18% interest rate credit card to get a free t-shirt. Free food, free shirts, free beer, stadium cups, free paper clips. It doesn't seem to matter.

Give something away and they'll come ("He's having a party. I hate him. But there's free beer, so I'll go for a little while.").

Free stuff is a big motivator for many college students who never seem to have enough money to make ends meet. College marketers love giving free crap to college students and students always take it.

So, how can you use this to your advantage in motivating students on your campus?

Sadly, most organizations can't hand out $20 bills to people as they come in the door to an event. But, if you're running a large event or a well-funded campus organization (like a programming board or a Greek Council at a large school), you might be able to budget for cash prizes for a big event. "One lucky ticket holder will win $500!!!"

For smaller groups, focus on the free stuff you can give away. A couple of suggestions...

Students enjoy door prizes, gift certificates, and coupons. Contact a local business and see if they have any giveaway t-shirts, cups, keychains, or other "promo junk" and give those away to the first 100 people who arrive for your event. Think pizza places, cell phone companies, electronics stores, clothing stores, Spring Break trip promotion companies, etc.

What about free movie tickets at the Student Center for the rest of the semester?

Go to the mall and ask at stores for 20% off coupons. They usually have them for preferred customers. You'd be surprised how many will give you free coupons like that just for the asking.

Reward people who do things right with discounts on dues. Sorority members who earn a 3.5 GPA or better in the Fall come to the Spring formal for free.

Using money and free stuff as a motivator is easier for larger groups than for smaller ones. But, with a little creativity and a few phone calls to local businesses, giveaways can add some excitement to any activity.

What Motivates, Part One: FOOD

There are 10 things that I have identified that motivate college students. In this blog, I will hit each of the 10 over time. This is the first, and it's an obvious one: FOOD.

Anytime you're giving out food, even if it's the cheapest pizza available in your college community, most students will be happy about it. College marketers know that handing out free food brings in the students! It's especially effective on ever-hungry teenage men, but everyone loves a free pizza, burrito, burger, taco, sub, whatever.

Providing food can be a pricey way to motivate, but if you are creative, you can probably do it without breaking the bank.

If you can incorporate food into your event or your meeting, it will add to the motivation quotient. Here are some random ideas for how to do it. You can probably think of 100 more (and if you have a good idea, leave it in the comments section for this blog entry!).

• Have a group meal before your meeting. Even if everyone is paying for their own, it's hard to say no when you're friends are all gathering somewhere tasty before the meeting. You can also treat everyone to some food after a meeting. For Greeks with houses, have a really GOOD meal the nights of your meetings and save an awesome dessert for after the meeting.

• Go to Costco and buy a bulk of those little snack bags of Doritos or Fritos or (if you're healthy) trail mix. Hand one out to each person who arrives at the meeting on time.

• Have a committee or an exec meeting at a restaurant. Your group pays for the appetizers. (Make sure your advisor is cool with this first though)

• Rent a popcorn machine for your next meeting.

• Get local restaurants to donate coupons for free meals, then give these away as doorprizes for those who attend your event.

• Coffee works like food these days, so it's a more affordable freebie at meetings.

You get the idea. Find a way, large or small, to include FOOD in your event or meeting, and you'll see the satisfaction level going up.