enforcement of social dues?
 

Alright many fraternity chapters have "local" dues (i.e. - "social dues", dues that are collected for a party fund, etc.). Money is a touchy issue, especially in the past few years as the economy tanked. But many people in our fraternity have simply not been paying social dues (about $200 per semester per person).

For some people, its quite a burden, and we've worked plans out with people who we know it is more of a burden on. The problem is the guys who simply go on with the "ya i'll get it to you tomorrow", etc. and never do. Honestly, they're good guys and friends of mine, but they're just not paying up.

We're looking for realistic enforcement of this policy. We have the policy of "no going to parties if you haven't paid", but realistically, no one is going to tell their pledge brother that they need to leave the party b/c they haven't paid. So I want to find another enforcement mechanism.

We currently have bi-laws about driving (which everyone does once per semester), and are thinking about that if you didn't pay a certain balance by certain dates (like 2 per semester), then you have an extra driving shift. The only problem is the "trail" it leaves behind on our driving records we keep (b/c "social dues" are not recognized by nationals, campus, etc.)


But i'm looking for more solutions. Any creative solutions other fraternities use (I'm sure i'll get some smartass here that says: "Ya, we pay!" ;)

Any ideas?

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Standards?

standards, in our chapter, is enforced with fees, etc. Which are put on Omega, our financial services. And we can't list reason as "failure to pay social dues". Once again, that's walking on thin ice to make records that are that obvious

Thanks for the input

Here's where your enforcement problem is.

So is it not allowed? If you're doing something you shouldn't be doing, stop doing it and find another solution. If you're doing something that's allowed, then don't worry about the trail, use it to prove you're holding people to standards.

Be careful though that you don't just end up with NO money and lots of people who want to drive.

We were prohibited from having 'driving' programs so to speak, but we did have an option to pay fines via community service hours instead. (And real community service, not stuff at the chapter room/etc.)

So, you mean a slush fund? No need to dance around the issue, calling them "social dues" makes it sound on the books.

Basically, grow some balls and kick people out of parties if they haven't paid. If you can't hold your brothers accountable you have bigger issues...

Perhaps come up with some new options (as Drolefille stated -- service, etc).

Although, if it's in your bylaws, it should be something that can be brought up to standards. If this is walking too close to the line, you may need to reconsider the fees.

If you're going to be pussies about reinforcing the policy, people are going to take advantage of you. And it's going to snowball. Why would Joe bother paying his social dues when Jack never pays his and gets to go to everything anyway?

Unless you want your chapter to end up closing due to money problems, someone's got to be the enforcer and have everyone hate him a while. If these guys have money for coffee or porn or golf clubs or whatever it is men spend money on, they've got the $$ to pay their f'ing social dues.

The alternative is to GREATLY scale down the number of parties/type of parties you have, thereby tanking your reputation on campus. Tell guys that if they don't want to pay, fine - they will soon be proud members of a dry fraternity.

What she said.

In my experience, brothers do have the money to pay 'social' dues but find no 'value' in doing so. If they know you won't enforce it and they still can go to events, why bother paying? That's more money for the bar!

I also guarantee the brothers who DO pay these dues are pissed off that those who don't pay get to do whatever they want without any enforcement of the rules.

You guys need to grow a backbone and enforce your rules without worrying about hurting people's feelings. If the brothers choose not to pay the social dues, they choose not to go to the events. Once you actually enforce this, you'll find the brothers will suddenly have money to pay the dues. (Unless your 'social' events suck and aren't worth paying for)

I have. Hell I have kicked people out of the house who had excessive debt. Being a brother comes with responsibilities, not just the fun stuff and paying dues is part of that.