Need Help Getting On Track
 

Over the past few years my fraternity has been slowly declining and getting in the shitter with our nationals. Finally though i have been put in charge as president and i am working as hard as i can to get us back on track. I was wondering if anyone had any advice for a plan to help me get back on track in a years time. Any advice can help.

define "declining" in quantifiable terms.

Were in a good amount of debt like 10k plus and our last few eboards really havent done their job at all by not speaking with nationals or the school... So i really need to setup a good plan by next week to send to nationals and try to get support from alumni

Have you asked your Nationals for help? Do you have an alum advisor - or even better, an advisory board? Sounds like you need to get some alumni who have been around the block a time or two to step in and give you some guidance.

Keep in mind that the chapter didn't get into this situation overnight and they aren't going to get out of it overnight. Do you have an alumnae advisor or National rep that you could ask for suggestions or that could assist you in coming up with a plan?

If you don't have anyone to contact at the National level, at least set up a meeting with the Greek Advisor on your campus to make sure that the school is behind your attempts to rectify the situation.

Work on setting SMART Goals for your chapter and creating an action plan for the semester. Most national officers will see this as a good faith effort to correct the mistakes of the past few classes of brothers.

Also, you mentioned the debt issue, so another good step would be to create a comprehensive budget to explain where all of your money currently goes. From there you can work to set up a feasible payment plan with your nationals. If you need assistance, contact your school's department of finance or accounting.

I hope this helps you out.

Please keep us updated...

They're lucky to have you trying to get them back on track!

How are grades? And how big is your chapter?

Been there, done that. It's incredibly hard work to turn a chapter around but it is doable. 1 person cannot do it alone. It needs the support of all the officers and the members. Contact your Inat'l. Most have resource people available to help -- that's their job! When I started helping my chapter as an alum I had little knowledge of our Inat'l org. I later learned the officers and I spent a year re-inventing the wheel.

My biggest concern is your debt. Money runs everything, from parties to recruitment to keeping the lights turned on. You need to set up an accurate and realistic budget that has a line item of $X for paying off your debt. Present the chapter members with the facts. Most members have no idea how much it costs to operate a chapter. Tell them and how much debt there is. Just like a homeowner who can't pay the mortgage, a chapter cannot operate in the red and not pay their bills. Eventually bankruptcy would have to be declared.

Be careful, if you jack up members' dues a substantial amount in 1 year or semester you'll have folks screaming bloody murder and possibly turning in pins because they can't afford it. It will mean cuts in non-essential things until the debt is paid off. Typically the largest non-fixed/non-essential budget is social. Cutting a social budget is incredibly unpopular, but sometimes necessary. Present your budget and debt payment plan to the chapter saying "We can cut these costs or we can raise dues this much."

Every member must pay their dues on time with consequences if they don't. Yes we are brother/sisterhoods, but we are not charities. Remember one of our goals is to to develop our members' character. Becoming a financially responsible adult is a positive thing that will benefit them their entire life. Offer incentives for paying dues in full rather than installment plans and on time. For example, if you pay in full the total will be $Y, if you pay installments there will be a small fee added to each payment. Charge a (reasonable) late fee. Any collected fees should be applied towards the debt payment.

Every officer must abide by their set budget with consequences there too. Set a limit that any spending over $Z needs prior approval by the Treasurer and/or Pres and/or Exec. If one area goes unexpectedly/uncontrollably over budget, then another budget area must be cut to offset. Remember that just because there is money in the budget there may not be money in the bank. Meaning, budgets are set for an entire fiscal year. If dues are collected by semester, then an officer will not have access to their total budget on day 1 of the school year. Regular financial reports should be made to the Exec of all spending and outstanding accounts receivable (i.e. membership dues collection). Make regular reports to the chapter about the progress you are (hopefully) making in paying off the debt.

Pursuing alum donations is a good idea, just rememeber times are tough for everyone in this economy so you can't count on this. Any collected money should be used to pay off the outstanding debt first. But without a budget/spending plan in place donations won't do any good in the long run. Alums won't be happy if you blow their money on a party or use it to make up a budget shortfall because you didn't make cuts, then come back asking for more in a year or two.

That sounds like really solid, well-thought-out advice.