Hyped Up

Hyped Up: How Allen Rogers Motivated His Chapter to Excellence

If Allen Rogers, Gamma Psi (Augusta) was a chapter of only himself, he would have ranked in the top 20 out of all Pi Kappa Phi chapters nationally in fundraising for The Ability Experience. But as the 2019 Philanthropy Chairman of the Year, his focus has always been on being a team player.

We finished the year at $14,617, that number is always going to be embedded in my mind,” Rogers said. “I’ll never forget that number. It was a wild year, and I was so surprised to be recognized with that award at Chapter Officers.

As a Gear Up Florida and Pi Kapp College for Emerging Leaders participant, Rogers took the initiative to put Gamma Psi on a path for success by motivating his members as an intuitive leader.

“I remember hearing during Chapter Officers all these stories about these chapters that were hosting big events where they would raise thousands of dollars, and that’s just not us,” Rogers said. “We’re a small chapter at a small school with eight or nine thousand undergraduates, and it wasn’t really realistic for us.”

With that in mind, Rogers shifted his chapter’s mindset from large-scale campus philanthropy events to focus on peerto-peer fundraising and raising money consistently throughout the year. Doing so took a strong work ethic, something that he attributed to his Gear Up Florida experience in 2018.

“Hunter Stewart, the project manager for my Gear Up Florida team, told me that passion is contagious, and I believe that,” Rogers said. “When I was up there pumping those guys up for March Madness or whatever we were doing, I would be passionate. I would always be the guy who talks the most at chapter meetings, and I would be passionate. It seemed like overkill at first, but by the end of the year everyone was getting involved, and I think I was better because of it.”

Allen Rogers, Pi Kappa Phi's 2019 Philanthropy Chairman of the Year and a 2018 Pi Alpha.

If passion is infectious, then it is fair to say that Gamma Psi was wrought with an epidemic of enthusiasm for The Ability Experience under Rogers.

Starting with small events to get their chapter recognized on campus, and a War of the Roses competition which brought in $4,000, Rogers showed his brothers that he was committed to the mission of The Ability Experience, and found ways to bring that same passion to others.

“I really believe that if we hadn’t done those earlier events on campus and they hadn’t seen that potential we showed, that they wouldn’t have joined.”

Within a few months, infectious passion became tangible results as the chapter made the final four in The Ability Experience’s 2019 March Madness peerto-peer fundraising competition.

“When March Madness came up, that was the point where I got the guys on my side and pumped up about philanthropy,” Rogers said. “I remember every week, whether we were up against Wingate or Clemson, I would go up there during chapter meetings and get them pumped up about it. I would tell them that the other chapters don’t want the smoke and that we were coming after them.”

In total, the Gamma Psi Chapter’s fundraising for The Ability Experience in 2019 saw a 2000% increase from 2018 and raised more money than it ever had since the chapter’s 2016 rechartering.

Part of what Rogers believed made him an exceptional fundraiser and philanthropy chairman is his own personal connection to The Ability Experience. Born with kidney disease and having a pacemaker implanted when he was two years old, he said that his brothers continued to motivate and inspire him to be the best he can be.

“Your brothers are a group of people that look past everything exterior,” Rogers said. “It sounds complicated, but I’m 5’3”, I’ve had 23 surgeries and I’m covered in scars and I’m not exactly the coolest person, I’m

kind of a nerd. But when I met my brothers they saw none of that and they brought me in immediately.”

Rogers’ Pi Kappa Phi experience has gotten him through the doctors’ visits and bad days, which has motivated him to pay it forward through the interactions he has had through The Ability Experience.

Allen Rogers received his Philanthropy Chairman of the Year Award at Pi Kapp College for Chapter Officers, and is seen with Pi Kappa Phi National President Elect William Sigmon (left) and The Ability Experience's Assistant Executive Director of Programs Andrew Matznick (right).

When I would see some of those kids who were totally cognitively functional and have a conversation where they would say they have been in hospitals all their life and not really able to interact and have a normal life, I was able to relate to them. I just told them that you don’t give up.

Putting service before self is a standout character trait of Rogers. He is focussed on giving others the same opportunities Pi Kappa Phi and The Ability Experience have offered him, and improving the world around him.

“I was never expecting philanthropy chairman of the year, it hardly crossed my mind, but I did it all for them,” Rogers said. “I owed it to Pi Kappa Phi for giving me these brothers to succeed.”