Mission

RISE challenges fraternity and sorority members to step up, take action and use their values to change the world. We provide training and tools to build leadership, boost involvement, and create a more relevant fraternal experience.

Vision

We envision a world where every member is actively contributing to the success of their fraternity/sorority, and where fraternities and sororities are recognized as a necessary and irreplaceable part of the collegiate experience.

Principles

When it was created, RISE's founders wrote down four central principles that would guide the decisions and operations of the organization on a daily basis. Like the fraternities and sororities we serve, these principles came to define our name and continue to direct our decisions.

Philosophy

On my first day as an associate member, the new member educator asked everyone to draw two arrows in a circle, and then taught the following lesson: "What you get out of it is what you put into it."  I believe this to be more true than he ever knew.  Just as 'student engagement' is an important measure of the impact of higher education, membership engagement is a critical factor in the health, success and viability of the fraternity/sorority community.  A few basic beliefs underly our philosophy about how and why we focus on this issue.

• We believe distant, missing, or uninvolved members exist primarily because of how a chapter or community operates. They are not horrible people; these members do care, and they want to contribute at some level in some way.
• We believe that leaders have the power to significantly impact the attitudes and contributions of every member. The answer lies in their leadership practices, in the new member program, in the decisions leaders make, and in the involvement of alumni.
• We believe that reaching out in an attempt to engage every member it is critical to the overall health of the chapter.  Complaining about the problem won't solve it, but working to get individuals more active, involved and energized about their contributions makes for a better experience for everyone.
• We believe that focusing on membership engagement now will pay dividends for years to come. Leaders are learning real-life leadership skills. Active members get better grades, pay their dues, show up more often, and help out more with philanthropy and service activities.  In the long run, because of this positive experience, alumni will show greater affinity, involvement and donation rates.

Learn more about how we are acting on these beliefs to address membership involvement and membership development issues with four specific audiences.