Franks' comment below is right on... Your leadership and role modeling is the most important thing. People don't follow (and contribute) if they don't respect the leader.

That being siad, here are some other things to think about:

1. Call in some favors - Do you have friends or contacts in the committee you can ask for help? People you haven’t thought to ask? The number 1 reason people aren’t involved is.. .they weren’t asked.

2. Appoint an honorary chair – A honorary chair who has connections in your community can be a big help – you don’t give them any Relay duties, other than to be an ambassador, make some calls, get people there and to committee and team captain info meetings, and speak at the event if they want. If you at a college/university – think about a professor, dean or someone else otherwise connected. Or get a sports team at your college to collectively take up the cause. People will follow the honorary chair(s).

3. Go find survivors - Survivors are at the heart of our event - get the local paper to donate an ad looking for participants and particularly survivors - invite them to the reception at the event in the ad... Tell them to call you - if you have survivors, you will build a base that will come back - after all, for them cancer is an integral part of their lives (that's what they tell us when we survey them), and they want to be involved. They tend to be the most loyal committee members.

4. Make the Weird Ask - If your Relay has a bunch of professionals, they might not think to ask the checkout clerk at the local grocery. If your team is led by a bunch of folks who work at a school, they might not think to ask someone who they don't interact with on a daily basis. If your team and committee has a lot of people who don't work, they might not make as many corporate asks - none of this is meant in a bad way - the point is that many (not all) of us stay in our comfort zones... Go ask people to be involved that you haven't asked and otherwise might not think to ask. I had one chair tell me about the gas station attendant they had seen every week for 5 years who ended up being her most involved committee member. The attendant saw a Relay For Life folder in the back of her car when filling up her tank, and asked about it. Turned out he had a lot of cancer in his family, but had never really known how to get involved. Cancer affects EVERYONE, so ask EVERYONE. The worst they can do is say no! We can always have more diversity at our event - and there are many different kinds of diversity.

5. If you have ACS Staff or volunteer turnover limitations, be independent and strong! - One of the most common reasons Relays struggle is because of issues between the committee/chair and the staff. Not to say that staffers OR committee members are good OR bad people. THe truth is that we will have both staff and volunteer turnover. It happens... The less reliant on staff that events (and volunteers) are, the better the expense ratio (then staff can handle more events), and the more likely the event will survive from year to year. And the more volunteers from different places, the more likely you'll have continuity. Sometimes a clique of friends will stop Relaying together - if you have people from everywhere and everything, it's more likely that one group will grow strong as another grows weak.

6. Be Bold! - Have the core of your committee be BOLD! Have interesting icebreakers, really motivate folks, have cancer survivors tell their stories - the more harrowing and heroic, the better - Relay ISN'T easy! BUT neither is cancer!!! Give your committee and teams the most basic motivation you can - ALWAYS remind them why we are Relaying! I heard a completely unmotivated committee turn around after hearing a 5 year old survivor speak - nothing makes it more real for people.

7. Set a priority list - You can't do it all - so figure out who you have, and what the priority list is - then do it in that order so that you have the most important stuff done.

8. Help your teams - Give them as many fundraising ideas as you can (see http://www.acsrelay.org/Darn_Good_Ideas/10-Fundraising_From_A_To_Z.doc), give them letters they can send (see http://www.acsrelay.org/Darn_Good_Ideas/10-Fundraising_Letters_Examples_DGIs.doc), and tell them whether they raise $20 or $200 or $2000, you still value what they are doing.

9. Be as organized as you can the day of Relay - make sure you have volunteers on the most important things - taking care of registration and teams, taking care of survivors, coordinating the ceremonies and activities you have (whether that is 2 things or 200 things), logistics, etc.

10. When it is all said and done, celebrate what do you have done, the teams you have, and the $$ you do raise - Relays big and small ALL make a difference.

Good luck, and ask for help!

You are describing what is probably an age old problem with committees in General.  I have started two of the Top college events in the nation (Georgetown University and Loyola College) and I can tell you that it happened with a strong committee.  With that said, I was dealing with the same types of college students you are.  It all is going to come down to leadership.  Here are a few tips.

1.) If you are not passionate, no one else will be.  You are the nucleus, never forget that. 

 2.) You need to put people in the right place, I never put someone in a position because there is a need, I put them there because they want to be there.

3.) Before you can go anywhere, you need to build a team that is passionate towards Relay For Life and committed to eachother.  I don't know how I really accomplished this, but I think it comes down to making people want to work with you.

 4.) You need to cultivate your relationships.  RFL is a business with a heart, but you need a friendship before you need a business relationship.  When the going gets tough, business relationships often fail, but friends never bail. 

5.) You need to make people BELIEVE in Relay For Life, I also don't just mean about our mission.  Always highlight its amazing ability to unite a community.  You need to make them believe that what they are doing will have an unfathomable impact on campus.

6.) NEVER TAKE THE CREDIT and ALWAYS BE HUMBLE.  YOU ARE NOTHING WITHOUT YOUR TEAM.

7.) Create short term wins.  Successful kickoffs, reaching a goal early, and other milestones help propel the event. 

8.) NEVER USE THE WORD "I".

9.)  If something is not working, and they tell you, you need to change it.

10.) Find ways to create accountability. 

11.) READ THE BOOK: LEADING CHANGE BY JOHN KOTTER.  MODEL EVERYTHING YOU DO OFF OF HIS SEVEN STEPS. 

12.) I always have RIDICULOUS goals, (Georgetown was 300 K and Loyola was 100K.  They both hit goal.  You need to be careful and very "suave" about this.  I could give a four hour training about goals and how they motivate.  My point is, I can't articulate this into words.  I suggest if you want to explore this topic you should do some reading.

13.) Read a book on the ART OF PERSUASION. 

14.) FINALLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY:  People are giving you their time, their energy, their weekends, and are sacrificing a great deal.  It is your job to make sure that by the end of all this, they are proud of what they have done.  They are PROUD TO BE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY RELAY FOR LIFE VOLUNTEERS.  At no point did I ever care about my own personal gain (I didn't even go to my sister's wedding), I cared about the team at all times.  I never measured my success with a monetary amount (though it always translated into that), I measured it in the level of pride my team had for the product they produced.