Selling your National Headquarters???
 

I just read an article that Alpha Xi Delta sold their headquarters building due to staff working remotely. I also read a few weeks ago Theta Phi Alpha also terminated their headquarters building lease in order to save on costs. Anyone else know if their organization plans to eliminate/reduce their national headquarter offices?

https://www.alphaxidelta.org/update-...rters-building

Wow! Delta Gamma is half and half and has decided to remain that way - according to the latest announcement. I can't imagine not being able to view our archives!

Alpha Phi Omega went from owning their own office to renting space in an office complex about a decade ago. (After spending the 1990s trying to convince alumni to help pay down the mortgage on the National Office). The National Office building is owned by a local State Farm insurance office.

Amen. I would spit nails if my GLO thought a “digital collection” was an acceptable substitute. Sorry A Xi D, but this is an absolutely horrible idea. Perhaps I’ve just seen Soylent Green too many times, but we have no guarantee that our current level of technology will grow or even maintain itself forever.

This is the only part of the whole thing that surprised me and kind of makes me sad. Not having a "true" national headquarters totally makes sense in this day and age, and I imagine there's little to no need for orgs to limit themselves to HQ staff that are centralized in one city or town.

Plus, real estate is expensive. This, in addition to payroll, is where a lot of for-profits and non-profits spend the most money. If you can eliminate at least part of the real estate from the equation, it makes good financial sense and allows you to allocate money and resources to more of the things that matter.

That being said, keeping a small space - even if it's leased - where a small staff overseas historical items that sisters can view seems necessary. I can picture VERY small museums I've visited, and they're totally worth it.

Going digital nowadays is certainly practical - and sometimes necessary - but this seems like one step too far.

Sadly, I doubt Alpha Xi Delta will be the last to go this route.

It really sucks for our organization. I was surprised when the announcement was made. They also don't have plans for a new building. Hopefully a space is leased to have the opportunity to see historical items.

But honestly the building was not comparable to the other organization HQ building in the area (at least in my opinion)

Your headquarters looks to be right around the corner from ours, and is similar in appearance and structure.

There is a very clear difference between NPC sorority (and fraternity) HQs. Some are McMansions and others appear more like office buildings.

I wouldn't be shocked if, in the near future, the former keep their large buildings and the others go the way of Alpha Xi Delta.

But again, the one thing that seems worth holding on to is the physical history that a computer screen can't match.

I can't remember which group it was, but I thought there was one who closed their headquarters but put the archives in one of the large chapter houses. Does that sound familiar to anybody else?

AGDee - pretty sure that was Alpha Phi

Do your organizations have historical exhibits at national conventions?

@Sen - I remember such a display but I’m not sure which one of Alpha Gam’s conventions it was. Maybe our centennial in Chicago?

We had one in San Antonio, the 50th Convention, for historial convention memorobilia. I believe there were displays in Chicago for our Centennial too.

Zeta does it every convention.

AOTT isn't planning on closing their headquarters building.They are currently creating a new AOTT history museum addition inside their HQ in honor of their 125th anniversary. My sister worked with an AOTT this summer who happened to mention the AOTT plans.

Mine doesn't. I don't know if they have in the past for milestones, though.

Delta Gamma just did a $30 - 40 million capital campaign

AFAIK, as of 2018, SAI owns our NH building free and clear. And, the NH history/ritual room was just recently completed. I certainly hope we won't we don't go the remote working route.

If you're sitting on real estate that nobody is using because of WFH, there's no sense in holding on to it. I mean, what's the purpose of the empty building if they're all working remotely? Seems to me that financially it's a smart decision. I don't know all the logistics of the history and items, but nothing a couple of storage units couldn't take care of.

I live 90 minutes from my sorority's national headquarters and I've NEVER been there. I don't know that I'd care if they sold it either. Our IHQ has moved at least 4 times that I know of, so it's not that we've been there forever and the building has some special meaning.

I know that I'm in the minority here, but times are tough, and you need to be fiscally responsible and smart to survive. Good for AZD for doing what they think is best.

At our Convention this summer, this was announced as something that sororities are contemplating, so I'm just guessing there will be more who make this move or at least consider it if it works out for Alpha Phi and Alpha Xi Delta.

I've visited the Chi Omega, Kappa Delta, Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Delta Pi, Phi Mu, and Delta Delta Delta headquarters. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting all of them. I hate the idea of not having a central office, especially being able to see the museums/archives.

It hasn't been sold yet - I found it listed by Coldwell - the listing says it is actively for sale for $1,975,000

I agree, sister.

I see both sides. It would be so much less expensive to run the overall organization without having that physical space. Similar to the question that many corporations are facing right now- keep office space that the last three years has shown isn't really needed? or try to maintain that brick and mortar presence?

^^^ Exactly. It's really a financial issue, and these spaces are very expensive.

I'd be pretty discouraged if I was an alumna of AXiD. They are an organization with significant revenues comparable to other organizations which have no problem maintaining significant B&M facilities. If they can't afford a physical plant, where is the money going?

My own organization maintains a sprawling campus in Lexington, VA with multiple historic buildings--all very well preserved, including a museum of our historical artifacts.

My first feeling--is that unless there is something particularly problematic about AXiD's revenue as compared to peer organizations is that maybe executive compensation needs to be looked at or that there may be something untoward going on.

^^^ I think there's another reason why the financial obligation of maintaining a sorority headquarters is difficult, compared to large, old fraternities like Sigma Nu. I would hazard a guess that many fraternities have received significantly higher donation revenue through the years than most sororities, due to gender disparities in the workforce, income, financial control of household finances and discretionary spending, etc. I've wondered about that over the years, because it just seems logical that there would be a gap. For many decades, there wouldn't have been as many women who had the income levels or access to discretionary funds that would allow them to make significant contributions to capital campaigns.

In other words, scroll through the notable alumni on some fraternity sites, and compare that to the notable alumnae on sorority sites. Lots more CEOs, etc. among the men = lots more money to donate = paid off facilities.

Erma Bombeck once wrote women raising money tended to hold a big community bake sale, sell out, and clear a small profit amount (say $75.00), whereas one man would take a second man out for an inexpensive fundraising lunch pitch and go home with a check for $500.00 toward the fundraise from that second man. She knew, fifty years ago, that women consistently thought small when it came to raising money.

Some sororities have taken a huge hit in donations due to their trying to totally change policies and traditions by pretending that they listened to opposing views. Maybe those groups won't be able to maintain their HQs.

I'm really disappointed - we're selling ours.
"In September 2022, an interested buyer presented us with an offer to purchase our building on East Euclid Drive. After 10 years of considering the building’s sale, International Council (IC) determined the time had come to reduce our physical footprint and sell the building. We will close on the sale of the property and vacate in January 2023. We are currently seeking a smaller location that better meets our business needs."

I am so very sorry, SWTXBelle, as well as everyone else in this situation. I would be horrified if our EO went in the same direction.

What a shame. SWTXBelle..

SWTXBelle—I, too, am sorry! Both times I’ve visited Fiji Hdqtrs. I’ve been fascinated with the amazing collection of vintages badges, photographs, portraits, letters and other memorabilia.
For awhile I’ve felt something is “in the air” regarding our entire Greek system, both male and female.

It’s sort of like how I HATED it when the wonderful downtown shops disappeared only to end up in malls—lacking any charm and individuality.
NOW the malls are closing and those stores are mostly online—photos and descriptions are replacing the joy of in-person shopping, perhaps the same way “online headquarters” are replacing the wonder and emotions of experiencing our Greek organizations’ journeys throughout history.

We’ve survived wars and depressions, demonstrations and social and political upheavals. But can we survive this? Only time will tell…

I feel that we are headed in the direction of corporatization. I mean this in the sense that our GLOs are becoming a "product" to sell to the member "consumers" in order to ensure the "bottom line". For example, I see this in the way my sorority refers to our volunteers as a "workforce". Our sisterhood gives way to corporate-style programming complete with personality tests, "elevator pitches", and a lot of "word salad" statements.

Our organizations may continue, but the heart will be gone.....

Oh lord navane, that is horrible. I can't imagine referring to sister and brotherhoods in a business sense with all our organizations have done.

This is what I said back when we started having “mission statements” and talking about “branding.” I was going to do a post where you had to match each NPC with its mission statement just to show how homogeneous they all were, but I’m pretty sure I would have thrown up while I was typing it.

NPC has gone so "woke" and political, it is truly ruining the system. The idea that we would let "trans" join our sisterhoods is repugnant. I believe I read that ZTA is the only NPC who is holding strong on being a biological woman in order to join.

It recently bothered me alot to read some of the changes to my group's practices. The powers that be seem delighted with the changes, and presented them as though we ought to be very happy and grateful to be so trendy and with-it. Navane is right, the heart is gone and buzzwords/corporatization are way-in.

Not that I'm looking to torture you, but here are just a handful of mission statements I found. And yes, I included my own org's in the mix for good measure. It admittedly does kind of make me cringe when I read it and hear it.

Honestly, though, making this a guessing/matching game would basically be impossible.

- Committed to providing opportunities for personal development, service to others and a space for members to forge their own paths-all through a lifelong spirit of sisterhood.

- To promote lifelong friendship, inspire academic excellence, to lead by example, and to serve our campus and surrounding communities.

- Invest in women by instilling the skills necessary to navigate life, and inspire members to enrich their own lives and the lives of others.

- To offer women lifelong opportunities for intellectual, and personal growth.

- To inspire the personal development of each sister and perpetuate the advancement of womanhood.

- Empowers each member to reach her fullest potential by enriching the experience of women with similar ideals, building lasting relationships, promoting civic responsibility and fostering personal growth.

Ignoring the second part of your statement: Why do you think our orgs are going political and "woke"? (another word that makes me cringe now)

I'd argue it's because the whole country has done the same. I don't know why we would expect our orgs to be immune from it. Heck, our own members are demanding it.

When the Supreme Court decision on overturning Roe v. Wade was handed down, I was in the middle of our alumnae reception at Convention. Someone looked at their phone and told me what had happened. Before the reception was even over, there were members blowing up the comments on unrelated posts on AST's social media pages, demanding that the org make a statement.

And look at Kappa Delta and Amy Coney Barrett. I meeeeeaaan... yikes. KD couldn't win on that one! There's a flippin' change.org petition (Kappa Deltas Against Judge Amy Coney Barrett) about it with 15,000+ signatures.

All of our orgs are different and they're handling this all differently. It's hard to address any one issue collectively and with blanket statements without being privy to the inside workings of every org. Even here on Greekchat, people are purposely vague at times. I can't say that I blame them, though, and I assume it's to avoid airing dirty laundry.

But ultimately, our country is politically divided, and members now expect that our organizations take a side.

Why do social organizations feel the need to politicize? There are many people on both sides of so many issues who can see that taking sides will only lead to pain and loss.

Sometimes the leadership in certain organizations just happens to lean one way at the time and they decide to hammer their views into the membership, no matter what it takes. No matter how many millions of dollars they lose, no matter how many hardworking alums refuse to help any more or even resign, these people are going to try to smash their views onto others. And then they have to close chapters or leave off house repairs or sell their HQs.

Who wins here?

That's a very simplistic read of the situation. I know fraternities are going through a very similar issue and at least in our organization thus far, we are permitted to initiate anyone who identifies as a man. If your chapters aren't given the latitude to be who they need to be on a given campus, they may find themselves disassociated and cancelled. Mass disaffiliation may occur.