Also if you drop out or don't graduate - Sallie Mae wants her money back still, only starting right away. (Plus - except in special circumstances, you won't be an alum either.)

I shouldn't have to say this, but If you take a job to pay for school and your dues - don't forget to go to class? :(

Bumping and adding my alma mater's newest piece of NPC financial info: here.

Given all the upthread posts about alumnae dues, I wonder if any PNM financial information includes details about that, too. The ones I've seen only list New Member and Active financial obligations. If not, how and when do you inform your members about their financial obligations as an alumna?

I wouldn't really worry about telling a freshman PNM that in 5 years she may have annual alumnae dues that cost less than a Costco membership.

I would think most groups would address it during the New Member period at some point and then refresh them their senior year when it's time to think about their Senior Commitment (or whatever your group calls it).

Speaking from the standpoint of an NPHC sorority, we have programs in place to help our college seniors transition to alumnae chapters. I know it has helped some who are relocating, needing to meet new members and it also helps with preparation for dues and fees. I think the same could be applied to NPC organizations.

Our new members and graduating seniors are informed that they should pay their national per capita dues when they are alums. This amount is tied to an index so it can vary from year to year. Each alumnae group sets their own dues and can change them annually so that specific information is not possible to pass on.

Fifty year members do not have to pay any dues...but certainly may, if they want.

We're not NPC, but our alumnae dues and collegiate dues nationally are both currently the same ($35/year). New Member (MIT) pledging fee is currently $50, and Initiation is $250 and includes the regulation semi-crown pearl vermeil badge. The upgrade to the full-crown 10k badge is $80 extra on the Initiation fee. That upgrade is actually the only new member related thing that has changed in the last three years since my own initiation. It was $50 when I opted for it myself.

As for chapter dues, each chapter (alumnae and collegiate) set their own local dues just like other orgs do. Also, our International Chapter (for sisters who don't live near another active chapter) has its own yearly dues, which are currently $20 a year.

As our chapter's financial advisor, I thank you for putting this out there. Again.

Another alum here! Other things to consider:

• Clothes/shoes (may be required for initiation/rituals, events, formals), as well as hair and/or makeup
• Conferences/retreats above the local level (registration, transportation, hotel, meals)
• Mandatory training/certification for those seeking leadership positions in the sorority (e.g., background check)

Will add more of these as I think of them. Sorority membership is absolutely a luxury ...

Some of the items you listed may be organization or even chapter specific.

Again, if you have to work to help pay for rent or tuition, maybe sorority life is just not for you? This is something to think long and hard about BEFORE recruitment. Especially if you are on a campus with big houses and higher dues.

There are lots of activities, and it is just no fun if you can never go to them if you have to study or go to work. There are fines if you miss recruitment or workshops or philanthropy events, too.

Some chapters are more friendly about excusing absences for work or for SGA or athletics and some are not. This is something to ask your friends in sororities about BEFORE recruitment.

Finally, if you have to drop because of money, you cannot come to events. You cannot wear letters. Anything you bought with the crest or letters on it, you are supposed to give it back to the chapter. (Although I suppose you could sell it on ebay.)

This. I loved my time in a sorority as an undergrad, but if you are struggling to pay tuition and keep a roof over your head, Greek Life should be your last priority.

And if you KNOW you'll have to work to pay tuition and you KNOW you want to go Greek at some point in your undergraduate career it may be wise to look at sorority costs while deciding on a college. I am not an advocate of going to college just to go Greek but if School 1 is going to cost $10k a year to be in a sorority and School 2 will cost $1000 and they both have the same program you want, that is something to consider.

From the "Dad" perspective, I really appreciated the financial obligation form my daughter received before she joined her sorority. It gave a complete break-down of all the expenses and my daughter and I were able to have an adult conversation about the "investment" she was about to make and how much she was willing to contribute to her lifelong commitment. The university she attends provided a pretty broad range of what students and parents can expect. After she accepted her bid, she received the 8-page legal contract again outlining her financial obligation and level of commitment. I made her read it and ask questions before I signed it. So glad the chapter included the parents as part of the awareness.

This is a challenge for the fraternity I advise at a much smaller campus (annual dues less than $1,000 for active members, around $1,200 for pledge year), but guys still pay late or not at all before suspended or they flunk out. We ask the men to share the info with their parents, but many don't for fear of parents not letting them join....different conversation for a different day. This fall, the chapter finally instituted a contract to help with the collections problem.

The difference between how fraternities and sororities collect dues boggles me, honestly. My friends in IFC fraternities routinely complain about brothers not paying dues or being behind and then not having funds to do things, but in ADPi you've got 30 days to pay or your membership is revoked. No dodging the treasurer with us.

The chapter has always had the option to send paperwork to HQ to financially suspend a member, but they are hesitant to anger or ostracize a member because he "has financial problems" - they still don't get that running a chapter is like running a business and you need a positive cash flow to run the organization so they can do "stuff". I get the one off member that truly has a financial crisis, but for the most part, the dead beats are prioritizing buying beer over paying dues. Last year, I followed up with the president and treasurer at the first of the month with the AR report and banged my head against the wall when they say they don't have funds for anything...no duh! Only 1/2 of the chapter was current with dues. Very frustrating. I'm hoping the current officers learn from the mistakes of last year. Only 1 month in and only 3 guys owe from last year and so far most of the chapter is current.

Are chapters allowed to offer incentives for paying dues on time, or staying current, such as earning points (if the chapter has a point system)?

We had the option of paying monthly or quarterly, but even if you paid quarterly there was no discount - not that there should be, but I always paid quarterly to get it out of the way and I wouldn't have minded a little incentive.

They can't really afford discounts because dues are so inexpensive ($450/semester). They won't raise dues because they don't want to price themselves "out of the market". It's pretty inexpensive to be Greek at this campus compared to the nearby SEC schools. Instead, they charge late fees which never get paid and/or they negotiate to remove the fees once the member eventually pays, thus letting the member really pays when they want with no penalty...again a frustration for me and those that do pay on time.

Does your fraternity utilize an online billing and payment system? GreekBill and BillHighway are two popular ones. We use Greek Bill and it automatically generates the Honor Board paperwork when someone goes one minute past due. It takes the vp:finance out of of the line of sight because our members also pay directly to GreekBill. You might ask around your campus for options.

Greek Bill is Awful
 

As a parent, I despise Greek Bill. This organization charges $37 handling fee per student. For a chapter with 200 members, that is $7400 in fees for just one year or semester (can't remember which). Multiply that times the hundreds of chapters around the country x all the groups using their services. They are making a mint! Back in our day all of this was handled by our chapter Treasurer.

I know that it streamlines the process of collecting dues and hounds those with emails that haven't paid. But, I would think that each NPC could develop their own version at a far less cost and alleviate some of the financial burden on each member.

Also, when I opted to pay my daughter's dues by semester, I got monthly reminders. When I questioned Greek Bill why I got an Oct notice for a bill that wasn't due until January, they said that is the way their system worked. I can't imagine if other organizations harassed you for payment before the due date. (Imagine getting a reminder about your mortgage every week until it was due--even though only due once a month!)

For those not using Greek Bill, be happy you are not!

The chapter uses Greek Bill. I'm not fond of it due to the fees but the chapter went that route. It's easy for me to use the reporting, but not sure if worth the expense.

A $37 handling fee per student is a bargain when you compare it to trying to keep track of this stuff on paper. Someone has to pay it, as comprehensive accounting software that does this stuff for hundreds of accounts isn't gong to be free. $7400 / semester is a bargain for all these tools do for a chapter. It's either going to be called out as a regular charge for the billing system or buried somewhere in the general chapter dues.

Absolutely! And a real benefit is that it relieves the chapter vp:finance from the wrath of the members. It's simply the system and the vendor runs it. Very similar to billing systems for high schools - School Admin/Smart Tuition/etc. And also very much like MC/Visa. With credit cards the merchant pays the fee for the transaction and imbeds that in the cost of the merchandise. At least GreekBill shows it up front. It's a bargain!

I wish there would have been GreekBill around when I was a collegian! My BFF and roommate was Chapter Treasurer. It was tough on her. She had to hound sisters and call them to Standards when they didn't pay their bills. The billing companies take the sisterhood part out of being in a sorority for sure. However, they help with the "Business" side since so many parts of a sorority/fraternity are run and handled like a business. I can't imagine what the fees are like for a chapter at Ole Miss where some average 500 members! But in the long run, it's probably worth it. It also means the financial adviser doesn't have to spend as much time writing reports and the like.

Slight lane swerve, but not.... one of our chapters did a presentation last year about how much money they would have in the budget for fun things if everyone in the chapter did electronic funds transfer rather than credit card payments in OmegaFi... and then they rewarded their members last year with a "free" formal if they made the switch at any point during the year.

This is a much better option...rewarding members for saving the chapter a processing fee vs. forcing them to pay a premium for a billing service. This is all about positioning and "sales". The way that Greek Bill is positioned, it leaves a poor taste in the mouth of the payer. Who wants to see a $37 processing fee added to their bill?? No one. Imbed the cost into something else so it is invisible. Or reward those who pay with electronic transfer before the deadline with a $37 discount! Throw a free formal with the $7000! Fabulous idea! For those that pay after the deadline, tack on the $37 fee.

Groups using Greek Bill should be more creative and consider how this is perceived to those who are already shelling out thousands of dollars for membership.

My daughter's sorority uses billhighway and it is okay but not great. I have to say I really like that her sorority fee is all inclusive. It literally covers everything and we have not paid one dime more for anything other than specific clothing for events. All t-shirts, sisterhoods, crafting supplies, mixers, formals including date's ticket, gas to specific functions, etc... some of her friends in other sororities complain that their tshirt order or events get canceled because girls don't have the extra money at the time. At least this way they can budget as an organization and parents have a clear financial cost.

Is the $37 fee for GreekBill a new thing? Because I know that wasn't in place when my daughter was an active Pi Phi from 2013-2016. There were no usage fees.

We use BillHighway and I like it, for the most part. It doesn't charge a member fee, but it does charge late fees directly to the member. We bill members back for the credit card fee. We have 100% collection rate and the only time we ever have any issue is when an occasional member disaffiliates with an outstanding dues or parlor fee balance.

As far as I know, GreekBill charges chapters a fee per member per year/semester. How the chapter passes that onto the members is up to the chapter. There are transaction fees on credit card payments that the chapter must absorb, but they are in line with normal credit card transactions fees.

Coming from the days of tracking down members with bounced checks to pay again, GreekBill is a blessing.

To clarify, the $37 fee added to my daughter's bill is not a credit card fee. I did not pay her invoice with a credit card. It was paid before the due date with a check in the mail. The chapter should not have incurred any transaction fees. Our alumnae chapter uses Member Planet and it costs a $2-3 handling fee. This is reasonable if deemed necessary for processing payments for chapters. But the amount of money that Greek Bill is raking in for their services is outrageous.

Let's say there are 150 women in a chapter each paying $37/semester, multiplied times 150 collegiate chapters x 15 NPC groups using their services, that's almost $25M dollars in transaction fees/year!!! Their service is not worth that much! I am sure there has to be a more reasonably priced alternative to this company.

With the numbers you list above, you are talking about service revenue (which is very likely their primary revenue source since most systems like this are Software As A Service and charge by user rather than with big software license fees) of $25mm for a full service accounting system that services 337,500 accounts. People pay more than $74 a year just to do their state and federal taxes online with many providers, so the notion that $74 a year per person for all invoicing and payments and everything else is kind of silly. Stuff isn't free, people.

I completely agree. In addition, DG has service reps that are full time dedicated to DG, which is an amazing help (and additional cost to the business, of course!).