This kind of offended me
 

Did anyone else get one of these, too? :mad:

I got a letter in the mail from the Foundation asking for donations. On the front of the envelope were the following words:

"Harry Potter", Elton John, Timothy McVeigh, and [my name]!

On the inside, it talked about the important events of the year in which I pledged, 1997. But... Timothy McVeigh? They're telling me there were no other important events which happened that year that they could have included other than that guy? Why in the world did they think it was appropriate to include him in that list? What about those who pledged at Central Oklahoma in 1997? They surely don't want to be reminded of that. If I do decide to donate, I'm considering slipping a note in the envelope about it because I feel it was totally insensitive.

That is all.

No I did not, but wow, just wow. I hope, later on, that I get a letter saying 'awesome things happened, also, the London Underground Bombings!' because that's what I want to remember about 2005. The day I thought half my family was dead.

Yeah, I agree that that wasn't the best idea. I'm not sure I'd be offended, but geez.. make it happy things. Things that make you want to give money...

I think I would be offended too. Especially with your name immediately following it.

I'll be on the look out now for one in my mail box soon.

Does Sigma Kappa have alumna dues? If so how much does it cost each year?

There are only dues to your alumna group if you belong to one. Mine are $30 a year.

oh so it's voluntary and they sent this letter out with McVeigh? hmmm

The Foundation has been calling my house for the last two weeks to remind me to donate again for 2007. I usually do, and when I finally talked to them last weekend they said they would send a donation form. I assumed this letter was in response to that phone call. I don't belong to an alum group, so I have no dues to pay.

This is for donations. You know like your high school does (at least mine does) and your college will.

Alum dues are local, mine are like $40 (but it's free your first year!)

I'd like to give, but I need to get my schooling in order first. If I get loans, I'll be celebrating with a donation :D

Your hs asks for donations? Was it private?
Yeah money grubbing UF already asks my parents for money. They even asked for donations before I started going to UF. I'm pretty sure we have the cheapest tuition in the nation and they are always raising money here.

Yeah, Catholic. My university (St. Louis U) is too.

On the plus side I got a calendar from them.

I don't think I've gotten that particular request for money from SK, but I have gotten multiple emails and address labels so far.

I think all schools ask parents for money - i work at my school's phone fund raising thing and some parents get really mad when we call. But others give like, $200 :eek:

I'd give money to my high school for the right reason. They just built a new science building (something I would have donated money for if I wasn't in college at the time) I might even do so at SLU, but it would be for something.

My requirements for SK aren't as high as I know what the money helps with! :D

<<Alum dues are local, mine are like $40 (but it's free your first year!)>>

when i went through order, we were given out coupons for a free first year in an alumni chapter, but i think i lost mine. is that something i definitely need to get my first year free? this is a silly question, but if i find it, does it expire? lol

My chapter gave me the first year free anyway (I assume they pay for me) because I lost mine :o

But you should be able to get a new one of those coupon thingies.. ask the VP-AR from your chapter

You're from UCR right?

If that's correct, then I'll be joining your alum group as of the first of the year. I was unable to prior to the New Year since I had way too much going on in life but now I'm free to join and have fun. I've talked to the alum Pres already too.

yup, i graduated from ucr in '05. unfortunately i can't join the alum chapter there because now i'm in richmond, va. i should get in touch with the women here, but procrastination.. you know. have fun with the riverside group!

So they got me. I answered a phone call and they sent me a little card thing. It's not that I don't want to give money, it's that I want to wait until I have school sorted out!

Hi,
I showed this post about the Foundation mailing to Allison Lewis, executive director of the Sigma Kappa Foundation, and she sent me the reply below and asked that I post it to the forum.
Julia Kozicki
Legal Counsel
Sigma Kappa Sorority


Hi, Julia! Thank you for bringing this member’s concern to the attention of the Sigma Kappa Foundation. I am very sorry to hear that a reference to Timothy McVeigh ended up on her envelope, as I whole-heartedly agree that such a reference is inappropriate and I apologize for that having made it to print.



This year’s year-end mailing theme was “Memories” and each letter and envelope were personalized to every initiation year with references to news, inventions, songs and other memorable events for each individual year. To achieve this, our mail vendor utilized a database of such information. Our vendor is reputable, having many Greek foundations as clients, and has utilized this database of memories with great success in the past; however I did still personally review sample years to get a feel for the content. Given the volume of the data, I couldn’t review every year, though, and regrettably I didn’t get 1997 as a sample or I most definitely would have removed the reference to Timothy McVeigh. The idea of the mailing was to conjure memories from college days and while some news events certainly can define a year or even an era; in this instance, focusing on positive memories would have been most appropriate.



Upon receipt of this posting on Greek Chat, I contacted the vendor about the situation. While our mailing has already gone out and we won’t be doing something similar in the near future, I felt it was important for them to know that referencing this particular news item, and perhaps other negative events, could be offensive to potential donors in the context of a Greek foundation solicitation letter. The vendor is currently searching its database to review the content and remove such items.



Since Greek Chat names are not identifiable, I’m not able to contact the member who commented directly and thank her for bringing this to my attention, but you are welcome to post my comments on Greek Chat if you wish. I want her and others to know that we have addressed the issue and that we deeply appreciate their support. Members of Sigma Kappa – collegiate and alumnae – benefit from the educational, leadership and scholarship programs that the Sigma Kappa Foundation is able to fund with the generosity of our donors. We thank our donors for their understanding and continued investment in Sigma Kappa’s future.



Allison K. Lewis
Executive Director
Sigma Kappa Foundation
8733 Founders Road
Indianapolis, IN 46268
NEW PHONE NUMBER: (317) 381-5530
FAX: (317) 872-0716
www.sigmakappafoundation.org

"Supporting the Heart of Sigma Kappa."
The mission of the Sigma Kappa Foundation is to lead, educate and inspire Sigma Kappa members and society through educational programming and philanthropic endeavors.

Julia, You ROCK!

Thanks for bringing it to the attention of the Foundation. You're simply awesome.

Agreed! Its so comforting to know that Julia peruses the boards & keeps an eye out for us. :)

Since I wrote the orignal post, I feel I should come in and thank Julia again for her work on this. Julia and I PMd back and forth and I definitely appreciate her looking into this for me. Looking back, I shouldn't have made this such a public declaration, but it is what it is and the end result was a good one. At any rate, I do appreciate all of you and I agree that it's awesome that someone is here to keep an eye out for us. :)