Changes within your GLO - Implications and Relations with Actives
 

There have been a few changes that have taken place in my fraternity over the last 3 years and it seems that Alumni brothers today feel that our Alumni Associations are focusing too much on Collegiate members and not thinking about other Alumni Brothers. I think that both are equally important. Has anyone else ever gone through anything like this? It could be as easy as a small change to your chapter traditions from 10 years ago to what is being done today.

Fraternally,

Boodleboy322

Sorry have just picked up on this post BoodleBoy!

As the New and actually first Alumni President of my Chapter I can understand where you are coming from.

As Alumni, we try to help the Chapter where we are from.

Many times, the chapter is in need and who better to help but the Alumni Chapter.

When it as Alumni get big enough, they can do both.

But isnt the commen thread for each of us the Chapter and National Greek Organization we each belong to?

Alumni do many things that come first before the Alumni Organization:

1. Keeping the chapter in good status.

2. Keeping the National working for the members.

3. Having fun with Alum Brothers.

Doesnt # 3 encompass all of these?

Do you mean you think there isn't enough alumni programming, or

do you mean you think there are too many changes being made to the way things are being run with the collegiate chapters and the alums aren't being consulted about it?

Relations
 

33girl - There are definately changes that alums don't feel that they're being consulted with.

I know this is a pat answer, but if that's the case, get more involved on a national level. Sometimes there becomes an old boy (or old girl for that matter) network among the higher ups who run things on a national level, not necessarily because it was planned that way, but because no one else stepped up to the plate.

It really isn't a pat answer, but it is more true than most think.

Many of our Alums have complained and we are finally being heard.

More emphasis is being placed on Alums as We are the ones who donate $$$$$!

We as Alums get DAMN tired of only hearing from IHQ when it is donaiton time.

We as Alums also spend our money in going to the chapter and working with them through three main committees:

1. House Corp. where needed.

2. Alumni Advisory Board, working with the local chapter.

3. Alumni Association.

But, unless the chapter is not willing to work with us, then it is a lose.

IHQ has finely come to the same conclusion as many of us have been telling them for years!:D

Relations
 

We've definately stepped to the plate. During a cross-fire of email chains being delivered on our Alum List Serv I began copying other List Servs around the country. We must have had some type of impact. The director of Alumni Affairs himself is flying down from Nationals to attend our Alum meeting and to help clear some air. I'll post back some more info. as it comes.

Nationals can be of help!:)

But the important part is that the Chapter shows that they are concerned.

When Nationals see this, they are more willing to work with you and the chapter.

I have been working with a member of another Fraternity and he has gotten excited and is working with His Chapter, which in turn has given new hope top His IHQ!

Nationals will be more than happy to work with those who want to work with them!:D


Please keep us updated on the goings on!

Our Director of Alumni Affairs at Nationals is flying down in November to attend and talk with our Alumni Association. This is great news!!! !

Hey, that is great. Have a true meeting of the Minds, Alums and Actives.

Explain the problems and see what HQ person says and suggests.

Remember, there are 3 parts of a Chapter:

1. Actives.
2. Alums.
3. Hq.

It helps if all work together for one goal.


The very best of Luck to You and your Chapter!!!!!:)

My organization (and our sister organization, Tau Beta Sigma) are currently going through some internal changes regarding our NAA and alumni chapters.

Without getting too specific: A lot of the contention and discussion revolves around the role of alumni members with regards to the National Fraternity and Sorority. In my opinion, it's a result of the growth of both orgs in the past ten (10) years.

Of course, things will sort themselves out in the long run, but the resulting controversy is forcing the alumni organizations to reevaluate the current ways in which their business is being conducted and make changes/adapt where necessary in order to continue playing their invaluable role(s) in the Fraternity and Sorority at-large.

Boodleboy, any news from your meeting?

I know that many of LXA Alum were getting upset with what little towards us was not being done with in IHQ.

With time and money we spend with and on our chapters, we feel that there should be more done for us besides just asking for money.

I know a new wind is blowing from IHQ and it is getting more of us as Alums envolved.

Now, I hope it happens for each of us.

Tom - Absolutely; Without Getting into too much detail the main issue was that National Dues for Alumni Associations were being reduced. At first glance, the local chapter had a collective opinion on this. A good percentage of the membership felt that this is wrong and that any additional dollar amount pickup could be used to help facilitate the Fraternity on a National level if not local. The idea was that more money never hurts. Basically, the reason that dues were reduced was to make a national effort of recruiting more alumni participation across the US so that Alumni Association volume would increase. It was cited that the appropriate offices at National HQ, such as the Educational Foundation, could still be utilized to channel monetary contributions as desired. At the end of the day the National office proved that the same integrity is still in place as always and simply are dealing with symantics.

What type of new winds is LXA have up their sleeve if appropriate to discuss?

Boodle -- your national HQ requires dues from alums? That's really interesting.

My alumni chapter (our charter is only 4 years old) is just this moment having a little bit of controversy as to what we set our association dues at. Some of the same arguments were raised -- back to the 'ol "quality versus quantity" argument.

My personal view is that the alumni chapter in order to be relevant must be able to exercise some influence over the chapter. I can think of no method (other than the active chapter voluntarily giving up rights [good luck with that!]) to have a positive influence than by being able to offer up 'carrots' for good behavior. So, perhaps your alumni chapter wants to help fund rush, academic activities, set up a scholarship foundation, set up a foundation for tax-deductible house improvements, pay for certain rush activities, fund alumni get-togethers, fund formal, etc. Your first step should be figuring that out.

Next, you prioritize things. Finally, figure out what maximum number you can charge (back to quantity vs quality) and still accomplish your most important and immediate goals.

The concept of national alumni dues seems interesting if not foreign. Our IHQ does do quite a bit of fundraising, but as far as I can tell, they're very well funded without having to resort to dues. It would seem to me that the idea of alumni dues would be easier to sell to brothers to support their own alumni chapter which in turn supports positive actions by the undergrad chapter as well as creating an organization for alumni oversight and support.

BoodleBoy, there is no Alum dues within LXA IHQ.

On a local level though, we solicit dues as many do in our Chapters.

We use this money to work with the local chapters, give money for scholarships, and send more than the required Rep. to IHQ meetings.

Our IHQ requests donations only to the Educational Funding for some of the above.

Now, if the two bills, one in the House and one in the Senate would allow us as Alums to donate to each chapter with tax deductions, it would certainly help all of us.:)

Tom, this ain't legal advice, (if you want to know how to do this for sure, or whether it's feasible in Kansas, contact a lawyah in your area). /end disclaimer

You might want to look into setting up a few entities separate from your alumni association if you're wanting to earmark alum dues to those things. You might even designate x% of your alum dues to go for "educational purposes" meaning that the check gets paid to a chapter educational foundation which you could establish locally as a 501(c)3, getting your alums a little money back on the taxes.

There can be a lot of paperwork associated with these things, but generally, it's all worth it.

Yepper, Kevin, We have been looking into the legal asspects for this and have gotten info from Members of other GLOs.

While there may seem to be loop wholes I just wonder what they may be to keep us from doing what We would like to do in the eyes of the IRS?

Do We desearve better, Yes, We do!:D

Alumni Dues
 

Very interesting stuff Gentlemen. The National Office pointed out that past alumni association dues had accrued over the years and the money wasn't being used. This point justified reducing the dues to an annual $5.00 contribution. That contribution would give the alum a 1 year subscription to the fraternity's national magazine publication. This was one argument that stirred the pot with some alums. Some alums felt that the residual gains could be used to benefit the fraternity for other use in the brotherhood while others said it could be used to promote alumni associations. The caveat is that the other monetary use the additional gains could be used for are already being facilitated by current offices at NHQ. In my opinion there's no such thing as having too much money. Worst case it could be invested into an endowment, scholarship fund, or be put into a Security. I know there's some red tape with the ladder for non-profit organizations. Grrrr.

Currently, our local alumni association is debating whether to keep the past due amount in place and put the extra funds into the association's account. An argument is also in the works that says that we could possibly increase membership in the local association by sticking to the $5.00 magazine contribution alone like NHQ is suggesting. Historically the local association has never had an issue collecting money from any active alumni members. In the past the association would send a percentage to NHQ and put the rest in the local account to be used for our own projects, goals, and donations. One good point about cutting down the local dues to the 5 dollar amount is that it will allow brothers that can't ordinarily attend the monthly meeting to feel included in the membership and have a vote on business when they can attend. They will also be in good standing as an alumni association member. Those brothers can still help out the organization by facilitating projects via the web, conference calling, etc. Both points are valid in my opinion. Our alumni association is a regional organization for brothers living in the Dallas/Ft Worth Area. We have a few active members that pay dues but only show up once a year. These guys live in surrounding states like Oklahoma.

It will be interesting to see what happens. Our next meeting is this Sunday. I will let you all know what we decided to do.

Fraternal Regards,

Boodleboy322

Kevin agree with you as we have already done that.

The last House before the IRS closed the so called loop hole was the LX house at the Un. Ks.

Yes, am aware of the Education requirements, but for the money to go for that is very little in housing space. That is Federal but maybe if the Democrates can try and do the right thing it can get changed. We can just hope!:)

Not exactly. We do have "alumni dues," which are completely voluntary unless one belongs to a local alumni association (alumni chapter, if you will). We have been through a variety of alumni chapter/assocation configurations over the years, always in search of what works best, and with our current configuration the number of local alumni associations is small but growing. Members of those associations pay the minimal national alumni dues ($5) plus any local dues.

Then there are the majority of alums like me who don't belong to a local alumni association. (Yes, I would love to start one, but I might get clobbered by the wife if I take on any extra responsibility at this point -- I have more than a full plate and will have to wait until some other things on the plate get eaten.) I pay the voluntary dues even though I am not required to.

There is one difference from lots of other fraternities -- if you don't pay the dues, then you don't get the national magazine. Alums get it the first year after going from collegiate to alum status. After that, you need to pay the dues (which basically cover the subscription) to receive The Sinfonian. We never structured things so that at initiation you pay into a fund that provides a lifetime subscription. Too late now.

This is still interesting to me and I really cannot fathom asking for Alumni dues.

As I stated before, we as Alums are asked for donations only.

Our National Magazine has always been free to all initiated members. But, because of the cost of printing and members not giving proper updates for mailing, LXA went to an electronic magazine which has proven to work out nicely and is saving @ $250,000.00 a year or 1 Million every two years.. While it may not sound like much, it is a savings that can go else where more needed. Our Executive Director said in the last one that other organizations have contacted us asking about it.
While I have donated some money over the years to IHQ, most of my donations go to my chapter in many ways for them to spend for what they need.

Still an interesting topic to see how others work.

Tom - The magazine concept sounds pretty awesome. Does the electronic magazine get emailed to members or is there some type of centralized website with member access to view? How did the really old guys that have never touched a computer react to the change?

Regards,

Boodleboy322

Lambda Chi Alpha's Cross and Crescent. (Yes, I like to check out the magazines of other orgs.)

By the way, Boodleboy, "The Sinfonian" is also available online in .pdf format, as is "The Red & Black," but since the server at sinfonia.org seems to be experiencing some difficulties in the last few days, I can't pinpoint the URL.

And I guess you know that there is a new electronic newsletter for alumni that is being emailed to all alums for whom Lyrecrest has valid email addresses; it is also available online. I think the first issue was sent out this past Founder's Day.

Tom, I'd be interested, too, about how alums, particularly the older ones, have reacted to the change. Did y'all go completely to an electronic magazine, or is the hard copy still available to those who want it?

In answer to both of the above questions, yes, there were problems with older members about not getting paper copy mailed. The cost is staggering as you can see.

But after implemation and a little time, the time had come. It can be down loaded and copied for those who want a hard copy.

As far as getting out to members, the paper copy mailers, many were sent back because of bad address'. Cost, many dollars in mailing and printing. When you have over well 250,000 members the cost can really rise.

So, the advent of the electronic magazine is a lot cheaper needless to say.

The main point to point out is the cost of printed as opposed to electronic.

If some members do not get it, is this any different than mailing and they do not get it?

When I send out emails to my chapter Brothers, I always remind them to update with IHQ so they can get the magazine on line as it is free.

Kind of like the horse led to water scenerio!:D

We have a special Brother who works on the magazine, but there are many Brothers who give their time to give input and complaints or compliments to him.

Actually, I was one of the Oldsters who were not pleased, but old dawgs can learn new tricks!:D


Edited to add. Yes, members can go to the LXA Site and hit the icon to bring it up!

When I signed up and paid my initiate fee, I was told that it included a lifetime subscription to our magazine, "The Delta."

It's great to have the multimedia-enhanced version, but really, nothing replaces seeing it in print. It's a great thing to have on my coffee table. It's a good reminder of my lifelong commitment. I do realize that the fraternity has a significant financial burden here, but really, a newsletter is absolutely vital to a cohesive and lucrative alumni operation. Seeing it in some tangible form is something I feel is vital.

I'd be strongly against moving to an electronic-only medium. This is one of those expenses which I don't think we can afford not to have. Tom, while the overall cost of 250,000 members may seem pretty daunting, keep in mind that is 250,000 members who *could* be giving money. Even a very small amount (say, $10/month/member) could be absolutely huge to the national fraternity.

Boodle, for $5.00/month for local, I have no idea how y'all operate. It doesn't seem to me that you'd have much of that "power of the purse strings" with such a small amount flowing into the coffers. That's barely enough to fund a newsletter!

Now, $5/month would be more like it. See if you can't find something like Paypal to direct-debit it from donors' checking accounts on a monthly basis. To be more than a social, twice-a-year meeting where we all get together and argue about what college kids should be doing, we need money. It's a lot easier to tell an active chapter, "Do this and you get x$" than it is to say "Do this."

Kevin, I agree in many ways with you!

As the first Alumni President of my chapter, we asked for only $25.00 a year Alum dues. We got 35 Brothers to give to it.:o

Now, as to the electronic magazine, I was along with many others totally against it. Like you and many others from all GLOs it was nice to see in the mail box and read cover to cover.:D

But as with SN, LXA promised a life time subscription also.

But, we all have come in the throws of money problems for many reasons.

Times are changing of course as we all know and we as members must change along with them.

With the electronic, I have been able to read so much more and if I wish to save it, I hit the button and print it. But, it is saved in the data bank for later re-reading.

I know only to well what you are talking about so do not worry, I too felt pangs of anger and worry!

Dang it takes some time to get used to!

I am used to it now and happy!

I think a strong alumni chapter can be vital to a chapter. I know if we hadn't have had our alumni come together we would have inevitably lost our charter. But now we have the biggest alumni chapter in the world and they are building us a half million dollar house as well as financing rush for the forseeable future

You are absolutly correct. The Alumni Chapter can be a very big help! The problem seems to stem from undergraduate chapters not keeping Alums in the loop except for asking to be bailed out over and over.

The main thing is keeping a web site updated with an Alum Site link if there is one.

Keeping the Alums updated with what is going on with time and dates of functions that they can come back to. Make them still feel like still part of the chapter.

Sounds like you have done something right!:)

It's up to the alums to stay involved with the chapter as much as it is up to the chapter to stay involved with the alums.

The Alumni officer in the chapter should not be thought of as a lower-tier stair-stepping position. It should be a pretty big deal.

There should be a great deal of collaboration between the actives and the alumni chapter in the newsletter.

The Alumni chapter needs to make sure it offers qualified advisers to the chapter officers.

The Alumni chapter needs to financially be able to support the chapter.

The Alumni chapter needs to keep the House Corp. staffed with the best it can offer.

The Alumni chapter needs to be willing to offer 'strong guidance' when it is needed, and when it is not to keep its influence to a minimum. Let the chapter run itself.

A healthy interaction will ensure the chapter is a success.

I wish someone had made the decision for us to do that way back in the dim, dark past, but they didn't, and as I said earlier, it's too late now. Alums get the magazine free for one year after graduation.

Like you, I like having the hard copy -- it's one of the few magazines I get that never gets thrown away/recycled. I have quite a collection.

I agree with all that you said here, although we are organized a little differently, in that we don't have alumni chapters as such. We have local alumni associtions, which are made up of alums in a given area, but the alums of specific chapters are not organized in any kind of formal way. (Remember that most of our chapters don't have houses, so housing support isn't an issue.)

Some chapters are better than others about maintaining good communications with chapter alums. I can say I have seen increasing effort and energy coming from our headquarters over the past 10 years or so to increase alumni involvement/connection on national and provincial levels and to support chapters in doing the same on a chapter level.

MysticCat,

I think most of NIC do not Alumni Chapters, but Alumni Associations.

I cannot speak for anyone elses organization, but our LXA Alumni Assoctions are working at the local chapter level working with the chapter with time and money.

But I do know that two areas for LX have Alumni Associations that are combined from several chapters. Dallas and San Antonio are two that come to mind.

Like DeltAlum, we were promised our magazine for life. Life is short especially if the National is hurting. It still was untill a few years ago.

But if someone wants to get it then they do have to notify IHQ of an email address. They still should notify IHQ's about changes of address and phone. Whose fault is it if they don't?

Heck, this is just like the 20-80 % factor. Those that do and those that don't!

Alumni Dues
 

All - We decided to keep the local alumni association dues as is and put the remaining balance in our local treasury.

Kevin - Great point about keeping the actual magazine around the coffee table. I do the same thing. The $5.00 a year subscription is sent to IHQ and is managed there for the printing and mailing of the magazine only. There are other donations sent in to IHQ via some of the offices like our Sinfonian Education Foundation and some brothers will donate a percentage of their estate to IHQ when they pass away.

Mystic Cat - You are correct. We currently have no National type of Housing Office or committee but some of the chapters around the US have their own house facilitated through their own alumni. In my opinion, I hope to see this concept carry over to IHQ and get adopted some day. The Delta Tau Delta website has some really good information on building a house and starting a committee. Some of the leadership and responsibility opportunities that it could bring to the table are worth considering. Sooner or later this will show up at the National Assembly and I will be there.

Everyone here has brought some really good stuff to the table. I appreciate everyone's input.

Regards,

Boodleboy322

Sigma Nu's National House Corp. is still 'in the works.'

It's on an opt-in basis, and as you can see from the website, some chapters with great facilities have opted in.

http://www.fifthpt.com/services.php

They offer other consulting and design services for chapters as well.

Nice reading.

There is a need and I am sure each Greek Organization is trying to figure out how to accomplish these objectives.

The problem seems to be that each National GLO new or old has the same problem, how to extend services to individual chapters with out cutting cost and where to get the financing.

LXA was in a financial bind and with cost cutting as I mentioned on another thread, we are in the black. The first time in some years. If My Fraternity has run into problems being one of the largest, how many others have had problems.

It still boils down to Alums who donate money.

This then opens up another can of worms. How many Alums are donating money to afford all of the costs to run a business of Greek Life as we know it.