In part 1 of this blog post, I discussed five of my reasons why you should want to get students involved in community service. But how do you get students to be involved in service to others? Here are five ways that have worked for me:

Five Hows

1) Install a community service requirement for all campus organizations, Emerging Leaders and Honors program participants, scholarship recipients, and SGA officers and senators, etc. This is pretty straight forward, but be prepared for push-back. Students will tell you they don’t have enough time to do community service, and that they are too busy with their leadership roles and other involvements. They may even use going to class as an excuse! Don’t buy it!

I was fortunate to work with a student in Circle K from Georgia Tech who showed me that academic success, leadership involvement, and community service did fit together. She was an honor student, involved in Circle K leadership (two years as chapter president, one year as District Governor) AND she worked for an engineering firm. During her last two years of school, she performed over 700 hours of community service while excelling in all other areas of her life. She was named as the Outstanding Chapter President in Georgia one year, and then Circle K International recognized her the next year as a Distinguished District Governor and the district won a Distinguished District Award for her year. She also received the Circle K International Service Recognition Award (for 250+ hours of service) each of those years. She was an exceptional student, a top student leader, and a true community servant. Come on, if she could do all of that, then your students can perform 5-10 hours of service per semester.

2) Provide an incentive and reward system. Some schools that I have spoken at have provided funding to organizations that are involved in community service. Others provide certificates, gift cards, and other “carrots” to encourage students to be involved. My Building Leaders Through Service® program recognizes students who participate in and plan community service projects. I have found that the participants have grown as a result of their involvement and while they did not do it for recognition, they did appreciate that someone noticed.

3) List community service involvement on their co-curricular transcript. Employers are always looking for an edge, something that sets one candidate apart from another. Give your students a leg up by showing their community service involvements on a co-curricular transcript. It is better than a resume’ because it has the gravitas of your institution. Also, the transcript may get more students involved because they know that they will get credit for the volunteer work they do.

4) Make community service easy! There are a lot of great ways for students to be involved. Some projects take a lot of time and planning. These are valuable to the service learning process. But some students may need to be eased into community service through some simple involvements. One of my favorite things to suggest is for students to read to elementary school children—because I have done this for more than 15 years! You can go read a couple of story books to Kindergarten, first, or second graders and they love it! The teachers are grateful because they get a break and the college students are treated like rock stars because the children really look up to them.

Don’t make community service tough. Let your students get involved with already functioning projects or simple involvements. Another easy project is Pet Therapy. Students go to an animal shelter and play with dogs and cats there. It is great for the animals as they get exercise and love. This can be taken to another level by getting the students to take the animals to a nursing home or assisted living center. The residents love it because they get personal interaction from your students and at the same time they get to play with the animals!

5) Create a student leadership position to oversee community service. Don’t take this all on yourself. Create an executive board position for community service and have a student oversee this. Can’t fund it? That’s OK! Lots of student will take on leadership roles for the experience regardless of getting a stipend or compensation. I spent thousands of hours working on behalf of Circle K, SGA, the Theatre Department, and more, and never got a dime. But, what I got in return has been invaluable. I spoke for the Oakland University (Michigan) “Make A Difference Day” and the whole event had a volunteer student leadership committee. They did projects in the morning and I presented a leadership program in the afternoon. Everyone who was involved got a t-shirt and the campus was plastered with posters. Student leaders signed up all of the participants.

I have personally performed over 50,000 hours of community service. I tell you this not so you will be impressed with me, but understand how important I feel this is. I am a product of others who have served and I have a debt that I know I can never fully repay.

“We can change the world…

By serving…

One life at a time.”

Dave Kelly, America’s Student Leadership Trainer(sm)

What student service success stories do you have? Share them in the comments section below.

SEE ALSO: “Building Leaders Through Service” – a workshop by Dave Gonzo Kelly, America’s Student Leadership Trainer(sm).

About Dave "Gonzo" Kelly  (37 Posts)

Dave "Gonzo" Kelly, America's Student Leadership Trainer™, has been working with students on leadership development since he was a student himself. As an experienced college speaker and trainer his programs maximize student retention by linking student success through extra-curricular activities.

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