ACADEMICS

ALL BRONZE REQUIREMENTS + ALL BRONZE REQUIREMENTS + ALL BRONZE REQUIREMENTS +

ALL BRONZE & SILVER REQUIREMENTS +

ALL BRONZE & SILVER REQUIREMENTS +

ALL BRONZE & SILVER REQUIREMENTS +

ALL BRONZE REQUIREMENTS +

ALL BRONZE & SILVERREQUIREMENTS +

LEADERSHIP SERVICE CHAPTEROPERATIONS

NMRE or other member recognition event

Honorary member or Alumni engagement at NMRE

Host a service project at NMRE

Primary Advisor, Co-Advisor & a minimum of 4 officers

Minimum of 5 officers

Minimum of 7 officers

Host honorary member or alumni event

Regional OR International Summit attendance

Attend a leadership conference or event

Induct 1 honorary member

Collaborate with another student organization

Host one activity in SPARK a Change month (October)

Induct 2 honorary members

Submit budget, annual plan & honorary member update

Maintain GK Chapter Facebook page

Determine and/or conduct officer transitions

Maintain chapter website

Chapter professional development activity

Host membership drive

North American Chapter Standards Program

Golden Key

bronze

silver

gold

Participate in an additional two service activities towards SPARK a Change (throughout the school year)

Participate in an additional activity towards SPARK a Change

Participate in a general service initiative

Fundraise a minimum of $50 towards SPARK a Change(Can be done cumulatively through multiple events and must be submitted to Headquarters in the form of a check, money order or Billhighway transfer along with a completed “Fundraising Submission” form

Participate in one additional service activity towards SPARK a Change(Literacy, Education or Real World Preparedness)

ACADEMICS

SERVICE

LEADERSHIP

HOST A NEW MEMBER RECOGNITION EVENT (NMRE):The chapter will host a recognition event for new members and Honorary Members

of Golden Key. Refer to the Chapter Toolkit for more guidelines.

• Honorary Member Engagement: All chapters are encouraged to invite up

to five honorary members per academic year. Chapters must induct at least one

honorary member to achieve Bronze Standing and two honorary members to achieve

Silver Standing. Honorary membership may be granted to faculty, staff,

administrators, community leaders, or other individuals whose work supports the

mission, pillars, and values of GK. Chapters are encouraged to invite previously

inducted honorary members to the ceremony; honorary members should be utilized

or recognized during the program. Please report how they were utilized or recognized.

• Alumni Engagement: Chapters are encouraged to invite GK alumni to the

ceremony; alumni should be utilized or recognized during the program. Please include

a description in your activity report of how they were utilized or recognized.

• Service Engagement: Chapters are encouraged to perform a service initiative

during the NMRE that engages new inductees. Please include a description in your

activity report of what kind of service was performed. Some successful service

initiatives have been book drives, canned food drives and letter writing campaigns.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY:Professional development activities provide members with the necessary skills to be

successful in future endeavors. Activities may include career panels, etiquette dinners,

and resume tutorials. Consider utilizing your chapter’s honorary members and alumni

for these events. The career development office or similar departments on campus may

be great resources in planning these types of activities.

RECRUIT ADDITIONAL OFFICER(S) OR SOMEONE TO CHAIR A MAJOR CHAPTER EVENT:Please find the suggested officer titles below to assist in a successful chapter. Additionally,

many chapters have members who do not have the time to complete a full officer term

but want to coordinate a single event. This “General Committee Member” would count

towards credit of recruiting someone to chair an event. Please ask for the member to

complete an Officer Profile Form as an “General Committee Member” for the time that

he/she will be coordinating the event.

CHAPTER OFFICER REQUIREMENTS:(Please note: these are suggested officer titles)

REGIONAL & INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT ATTENDANCE:A minimum of one student or advisor from the chapter must attend at least one

Summit annually to achieve Gold standing. The International Summit occurs

biennially in the summer. Regional Summits are hosted by chapters and they are

usually held between the months of February – April.

ATTEND A LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE OR EVENT:A minimum of one student or advisor from the chapter must attend at least one

leadership conference or event to achieve Bronze Standing. This event may be a student

In July 2014, Golden Key adopted a new initiative “impacting and improving the lives of

at-risk you (ages 0-17) through literacy, education and real-world preparedness”. By 2017,

Golden Key would like to raise $40,000, dedicate 400,000 hours of service and impact

400,000 lives through SPARK.

GK MONTH OF SERVICE:With the launch of the new SPARK program, chapters are being asked to participate in one

or more service events focused on literacy, education and/or real-world preparedness in the

month of October.

LITERACY-FOCUSED ACTIVITY:Chapters are encouraged to perform literacy based service projects towards the new

SPARK program. Activities should be focused on improving at-risk youth’s lives through

literacy. These activities include but are not limited to an ongoing tutoring program, a

book drive, events at libraries and partnering with an outside organization.

EDUCATION-FOCUSED ACTIVITY:Chapters are encouraged to perform education based service projects towards the new SPARK

program. Activities should increase education in all forms to youth ages 0-17. These activities

include but are not limited to tutoring, mentoring, computer skills, health awareness campaigns

and providing educational tools and resources.

REAL WORLD PREPAREDNESS - FOCUSED:Chapters are encouraged to perform real-world preparedness activities which should

help youth ages 0-17 to learn skills needed to become successful in school, the workplace

and in life. These activities include but are not limited to resume building workshops,

practice interviewing skills, how to write a college essay and team building activities.

PARTICIPATE IN A GENERAL SERVICE INITIATIVE:This requirement is open for you to pursue a general service initiative of your choosing.

For example, a local community service event, book drive, literacy project, longstanding

service partnership, or a university-wide service initiative. We encourage you to work

with other organizations, where applicable.

FUNDRAISE FOR SPARK A CHANGE:Part of the mission of SPARK a Change is to raise $40,000 by 2017, in order to reach

GOLD standing, chapters must raise a minimum of $50 for SPARK a Change. This can

be done cumulatively through multiple events or letter writing campaigns. The funds

collected must be sent to Headquarters to be counted towards the SPARK a Change

program. The funds will be put in the SPARK a Change fund, separate from chapter

funds and Billhighway. Please contact your Associate Director if you have any questions

about the process.

organization training meeting to a conference held on campus or within your community.

If your chapter is unable to send a delegate to a conference or event, please consult with

your GK Headquarters representative prior to June 1.

COLLABORATE WITH ANOTHER ORGANIZATION ON CAMPUS:Chapters should collaborate with another student organization on-campus for a major

activity or event. Types of events include, but are not limited to: Relay for Life, Make A

Difference Day, Global Youth Service Day, fundraisers, hosting speakers, volunteering in the

community and social events.

HOST HONORARY MEMBER OR ALUMNI EVENT:Chapters are encouraged to organize a major chapter event that engages and/or recognizes

honorary members and/or alumni for their commitment or service to the community.

Events may include honorary member dinners, alumni socials, forums and receptions. This

event is separate from engagement at the New Member Recognition Event.

Bronze• Primary Advisor• Co-Advisor• President• Treasurer• Service Director• Membership/ Marketing Director

Silver• Primary Advisor• Co-Advisor• President• Treasurer• Service Director• Membership/ Marketing Director• Webmaster• Honorary Member Liaison

Gold• Primary Advisor• Co-Advisor• President• Treasurer• Service Director• Membership/ Marketing Director• Webmaster• Honorary Member Liaison• Secretary• Alumni Relations

DESCRIPTION:The Key Chapter Award will recognize chapters who

exemplify outstanding achievement and/or

contributions in the areas of Golden Key’s three

pillars: Academics, Leadership, and Service. Please

find detailed descriptions of the three pillars by

visiting www.goldenkey.org and clicking “About Us”.

ELIGIBILITY:All chapters who meet the Gold Standing

requirements as of June 1, 2014 are eligible to apply.

CRITERIA:Each applicant should exemplify the Golden Key

pillars and go above and beyond Gold Standing

level.

2014 - 2015 Key Chapter AwardsAPPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:• A brief outline describing the events in which

your chapter participate. Chapters may include up

to five events.

• Select one event that brought you beyond Gold

status and describe the impact this event had on

campus, membership and the community

at large.

• Provide a letter of recommendation from a

campus official, honorary member, alumnus or

community leader.

• Submit a 1-2 minute video highlighting a

single successful chapter event or multiple events

throughout the year.

APPLICATIONS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE CHAPTER TOOLKIT AND MUST BE SUBMITTED TO KEYCHAPTERS@GOLDENKEY.ORG BY 11:59 PM EST ON JUNE 1, 2015.

Chapter Operations

SUBMIT BUDGET, ANNUAL PLAN & HONORARY MEMBER UPDATE:• The annual budget template is available via Billhighway and on the Chapter Toolkit and must be completed

by November 15th (Canadian chapters do not use Billhighway). For further information, please look on the

Chapter Toolkit or visit www.billhighway.com.

• All U.S. chapters are required to submit the annual planning document to their Headquarters representative

by September 30th. The document can be found on the Chapter Toolkit.

• All chapters are required to report events on www.goldenkey.org by December 1st and June 1st deadlines. The Event Assessment tab must be

completed after each event concludes in order to be granted credit for a Chapter Standing level. For more information regarding adding activity

reports, please view this short video at http://www.screenr.com/vC27.

• In an effort to maintain the most accurate records internationally and locally, please update the contact information for your

honorary members. Please log on to the leadership portal to download your current list of honorary members, highlight names that should be

removed (retirement, moved to another institution, deceased or other reason), and send to leaderprofile@goldenkey.org by June 1, 2015.

MAINTAIN GK CHAPTER WEBSITE & FACEBOOK PAGE:Each chapter will be required to maintain their chapter’s website and Facebook page by uploading current officer information, photos, videos,

upcoming events and posting regularly.

HOST MEMBERSHIP DRIVE:Each chapter will be required to submit prospective member information at least once per academic year, as well as host a minimum of one information

table and/or session per membership drive.

DETERMINE AND/OR CONDUCT OFFICER TRANSITIONS:In order to ensure a seamless transition from officer to officer each year, chapters are encouraged to hold an officer transition event or meeting

directly following elections. These conversations are designed for past and current leaders to share knowledge of past events, brainstorm ways

to increase meeting attendance, membership drive best practices, and current challenges and opportunities. This is also the suggested time to

plan the annual calendar of events and budget for the following year.

KeyChapter Awards