I sent my letter to national headquarters by snail mail. I also sent a letter to the alumnae chapter, but didn't have a snail mail address, so I had to send it by e-mail.

I absolutely feel snail mail is the way to go. Nothing makes the impact of a hand-written letter.

As a first move, I think that the more formal, "real" letter was a smart choice. And don't feel bad about writing to a group that you don't seem to qualify for. The worst they can do is confirm that you do not meet the criteria. No big deal.

I'm really pulling for you!

LM

I sent all of my inquiries via email... :( It never occurred to me that this may be rude. I simply am accustomed to emailing... I hope that won't hurt my chances!

Don't worry. I sent my inquiries by email as well.

I don't think e-mail is "rude"-- but I do believe you make a bigger impact and better impression with a hand-written letter.

Compare it to the job scene. I'm now in the position where I hire people. I get a lot of resumes and inquiries via e-mail. However, it is the snail mail resumes I pay the most attention to. It shows the person made a special effort to print it, get an envelope, address it, lick a stamp, and put it in a mail box. The person shows me he or she will "go the extra mile."

The person who writes me a hand-written thank you note after the interview also has a leg up on everyone else. You'd be surprised how few people take that very basic step in courtesy.

Maybe another good comparison would be a birthday card. I HATE getting e-cards. But, I do enjoy the old Hallmark in the mail.

This is what I did, if anyone cares: I sent my first "introductory" and/or "inquiry" letters to various Tri Delta Executive Officers as a two-page, type-written (on the computer), and personally signed letter. I included my address, phone number, and e-mail address for them to use. I usually heard back from them via e-mail and occasionally the telephone, and responded in kind depending on which method they seemed more comfortable using.

I followed up all contacts with the representatives with handwritten thank you letters.

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CO-SIGN!

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Email would not necessarily have gotten a quicker response (and is no more reliable than snail mail-- I can't tell you how many things get lost in the pi phi email system). Don't be discouraged if you don't hear anything until fall. One thing to consider is that most colleges are now, or are about to be on summer break. Most alum groups don't meet in the summer or if they do, may have one informal get-together. If the groups you sent inquiries to have conventions this summer, their HQ staff is swamped in preparations. (you can find out by going to their website) and volunteer officers may be tying up loose ends prior to transitioning to a new position. If you haven't heard anything by mid-August, you might want to send a followup to make sure you get on agendas at those crucial early fall meetings.

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This being said, would it be rude of me to follow up an email with a handwritten letter now just in case the email got lost? Would this make me look "too pushy" or just really serious about the organization?

Others may disagree, but a handwritten letter is always appreciated and like blueangel said, it shows that you're serious about it, especially if your letter comments upon something different from the email. If you address it to someone specific, that would be even better. Yes, snail mail can get lost too but if you've done both, one will get where it needs to go and hopefully you'll get an answer sooner rather than later.... but don't get discouraged if it's July or August. Things may happen behind the scenes that you aren't aware of :)

Tomorrow after church, I am going to buy some nice stationary and try getting in touch with the groups I've decided I'd be interested in... I'd agree that its a classier touch.

I consider a letter requesting membership information a business letter, and it would be better typed rather than handwritten. Any thank you notes after attending events hosted by alumnae chapters, however, would ideally be handwritten.