Best Practices Library
Service and Philanthropy
Event Management
SP1 - Sample Philanthropy and Community Service Handbook
SP2 - Sample Solicitation Letter
Service and Philanthropy Ideas
SP3 - The chapter partners with a local animal shelter to take pictures of orphaned animals and post these pictures on a website to assist the agency in securing homes for them. The chapter volunteers every Wednesday, rotating members who attend.
SP4 - The chapter hosts a philanthropy called The Taste of DePauw in which every Greek-letter organization is invited to contribute various food dishes. Students pay a small entrance fee to come sample the food and vote on a favorite dish. All the money raised through entrance fees and the fee to submit a food item is then donated to charity.
SP6 - The chapter annually hosts both domesticated and wild animals from the local zoo on the chapter property and organizes a petting zoo for local underprivileged youth in greater Los Angeles. The chapter also hosts a Christmas tree sale for the underprivileged during the holiday season. Lastly, the chapter hosts an annual casino night with Delta Delta Delta Sorority to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in which parents and families are invited to a casino at a third-party venue in which professional dealers help facilitate the event.
SP7 - The chapter every October hosts a haunted house at a local abandoned hospital. The Haunted Hospital was ranked one of the best haunted houses in the state and draws huge crowds every year. The chapter also hosts a philanthropic Easter egg hunt in the spring each year. The chapter usually hides over 20,000 eggs for children to come out and find.
SP8 - The chapter hosts a beach volleyball tournament called Slater Ball that benefits the Gerald Slater Foundation, a brother who died of cancer.
SP9 - The chapter each semester raises money for Dollars for Diplomas which sponsors students in East Africa. The proceeds pay for four years of high school education for a recipient. Money is raised primarily by selling donuts on/around campus and delivering them to people in the morning for breakfast.
SP10 - Chapter members Trick-or-Treat for canned goods where they go door to door around Halloween asking for canned goods and money donations that benefit a local philanthropy.
SP11 - Chapter has a great philanthropy event called the "Glow-K". The chapter sponsors a 5K that takes place at night, complete with numerous neon and black lights as well as encouraging runners to bring glow sticks. In its 1st year the 28-man chapter raised $11,000 for charity.
SP12 - The chapter hosts a philanthropy event called "Campout for Cancer." During the event, brothers orchestrate a campout on campus to raise money for charity.
SP13 - The chapter has organized a committee of university administrators to assist with the planning of the chapter's upcoming philanthropy event. Administrators were selected from key areas within the university for their strategic areas of expertise to help make the philanthropy a large campus event and a success.
SP14 - The chapter host and annual flag football tournament called the "Sigma Nu Bowl." For the event, chapters from the Southern California area are invited to participate and raise money for charity.
SP15 - The chapter hosts philanthropy event called "Duck Derby." The chapter races rubber ducks down a creek and put together a tournament style bracket. Anyone can use any duck. The city and university love the event and the money that it raises for charity.
SP16 - Chapter hosts "Jessie's gift"- a basketball tournament in their local community. The chapter creates fliers, sells ad space, and charges entrance to the event. This event raises upwards of $8,000 dollars each year through this event.
SP17 - Chapter turns fraternity house into a haunted house for 2 nights in October. Chapter charges $5 per person and donates all profits to the charity.
SP18 - The Community Service Chairman requires all member to write a brief reflection for each community service event. This then gives each member an opportunity to express their experience and gives better personal debriefing. In the Bylaws, it is stated that if a member does not create a reflection and deliver it to the Community Service Chairman, then the hours are not credited to the member.
SP19 - The chapter worked with their local Habitat for Humanity ReStore to host a furniture donation drive. The chapter offered free curbside pick up and $5.00 room pick-up with the donations and proceeds going to support the Habitat Chapter and ReStore. Event Flyer
SP20 - The chapter has divided the Philanthropy Chairman position into two positions - internal and external. The internal chairman deals with the chapter's own community service and philanthropic efforts, while the external officer focuses on members' participation in other organizations' events.
General Fraternity Resources
GFSP1 - Service and Philanthropy Tracking Sheet
GFSP2 - Reflections on Service Guide
GFSP3 - Helping Hand Initiative Information
GFSP4 - Service and Philanthropy Action Plan
Call for Practices
If you have a great example or resource that you think should be included in the Best Practices Library, we want to know about it. Send your examples and resources to Austin Lloyd, Director of Chapter Services at austin.lloyd@sigmanu.org.
Additional Officer Resources
The perfect complement to the Best Practices Library is the specific chapter officer resources page. Here you can access additional resources and the chapter officer manual for each officer. Also be sure to check out the following pages on the Fraternity's service and philanthropy related resources: