Usage of Chapter Funds
 

Hi all,

This is my first post on this website. I was considering running for Treasurer in December. One thing I was thinking about doing is raising dues by $100, as a social fee. I recently have gotten the feeling that our chapter is falling behind because we refuse to spend chapter funds on alcohol. We constantly squabble and this topic of paying for kegs is a burning issue in chapter. Raising dues and using the new revenue for alcohol would remove this issue.

Everywhere I read that chapter funds are not to be used on alcohol. But I am pretty sure that most every fraternity on-campus AND off-campus do this. If I were to open an account with a local bank and had our Social fund there and separate from our chapter dues would that be technically against the rules?

Also, is any of this plausible? It was just a couple of quick ideas

You should speak to the current treasurer and adviser.

1. It's very possible that the Treasurer has no authority to raise dues.*
2. Generally, dues are considered chapter funds, regardless of where they are kept.*
3. Do you really want to play the technicality game, because I'm pretty sure your advisors/HQ did not fall off the wagon yesterday and will win every time.*

*Consult your national policies, procedures, and authorities.

Just no.

http://www.fipg.org/fipg/fipg.nsf/835fe7d91217664d8525723c007a7545/9c0d3c4d4ca5614e8525734b007b08a4/$FILE/FIPG%20Policy%20July%202008.pdf

If you were to follow FIPG and have all parties BYOB you wouldn't squabble over the purchase of alcohol because very guest would simply bring what they were going to drink. Yes, chapters actually do this.

How would it remove the issue? Why would the chapter vote to do indirectly (raise dues to pay for kegs) what it argues about doing directly?

As for funds, it doesn't matter what bank they're in -- if they come from chapter dues they're chapter funds.

Firstly, due to liability concerns, even semi-anonymously, I wouldn't mention that my chapter uses chapter funds to pay for alcohol. That almost certainly is a violation of your national organization's risk management policies. Something you need to learn before assuming a leadership role is that you don't air your dirty laundry in public.

If you are considering a run for treasurer, your first discussions should be with your existing treasurer, your financial adviser (if you have one) and your chapter adviser, in that order.

As far as whether opening up a separate account allowing you to circumnavigate the rules against using chapter funds for alcohol, if this is a social fee and it is enforced by your internal enforcement procedures, the same as dues, then everyone except you is going to see this as dues. In other words, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, it's a duck.

I'm probably going to be jumped on by all the advisors on this board, and rightfully so, but back in my day, there were venues that would throw in free alcohol when we signed a contract to rent their back room or whatever. So, if it looks like other chapters are buying alcohol, it's possible this is what is happening. It is still VERY DICEY in terms of liability.

DBB - I am not jumping on you, and I do get what you're talking about, but we did a lot of things Back In The Day that can't and won't fly today. If you (anyone reading this, not just DBB personally) look at the constitution/bylaws/risk management policies of your organization, it's quite possible that what DBB referenced is a huge NO. It doesn't take but a few seconds to identify what's wrong with the scenario DBB described.

OP: Do what Gusteau said. Check out FIPG. MJ Insurance also has a good reference library that addresses liability.

Ignoring the obvious liability issues here...

1) I imagine that as a Treasurer, you would not have the power to just raise dues by $100 (or even $5). The chapter's budget is something that is decided on collectively, and not something that one person dictates.

2) As MysticCat has said, if no one wants to pay for alcohol now, what makes you think they'll want to raise dues to pay for it? Again, refer to #1 - you cannot just make this decision on your own.

3) Not everyone drinks. And not everyone drinks beer. I'd be pretty pissed if I had to spend an additional $100/semester on kegs if I was never going to have a drink from them.

4) Two wrongs don't make a right. Just because other chapters might be breaking rules of their national organization doesn't mean that you should also.

5) If you constantly argue about alcohol and you feel that your chapter is "falling behind" for this one reason, I think you need to get your priorities in order.

Right, I agree. It's still a HUGE liability, and breaks rules set out by both HQ and the campus. I'm just saying that is why it may appear to him that "everyone else is doing it".

Holy cats YES. I don't know why people ask these kinds of questions in an open forum. If you know what other fraternities at your school do and it's working for them, I don't know why you wouldn't go directly to them instead of asking a bunch of randoms on a message board.

As to alcohol funding, from a liability standpoint, you need to be strict BYOB. And really, that's the fairest way to do it. If you're providing alcohol for guests from pooled money or otherwise pooling money to buy kegs, etc., then you have some serious issues. Some co-ed gets trashed at your party, then hops in her car and ends up driving into a tree, you can say goodbye to the tradition and everything you and your alumni have built over the years in the course of a single evening.

These risk aversion policies exist not because alumni and your national organizations want to be paternalistic pains your ass. These policies exist to ensure that your pledge class won't be the last pledge class your organization ever has. You might consider a different approach in a bid for leadership. You might consider speaking with some alumni (keeping this conversation very in-house) about what can be done to put a damper on some of the risky business going on here and to transition your chapter away from a culture which apparently places alcohol at the center of the universe. You should be worried about the quality of your membership rather than achieving the highest collective BAC on campus.

If alcohol is at your center, you're offering no one anything they can't get at the other houses. If you can't do that, then you're going to fail at rush and your house is going to have to learn to enjoy everyone else's scraps at rush.