Giving up. . .kind of
 

We have tried and tried and tried this semester to get our alumnae involved in our chapter. Only 2 or 3 have come around.

For the most recent alumnae(in the past 2 yrs), some of the girls are wanting to start over and get another alumnae club started. Since I'm kind of over alumnae relations, I asked them to wait because although we've given up on them, I want to give them one more chance. One of the girls in adamant about getting it organized before fall.

What should I do? I mean, I have kind of given up on the alumnae and don't expect them to come around. . .but there's a nucleus(including some of our chapter founders) who want to help out.

The alums don't have to help out as a club or group, even if they are in one. If you consistently have several alums who are interested in helping out, why not just give them a call for those occasions you want assistance, instead of contacting the association? The newest alums don't need to be in a group to do this.

Don't give up on your alums! Sometimes lfe makes it difficult to volunteer. There will be times they can, and other times they can't. I know it can be frustrating, but keep asking for help-----but ask them individually. When you ask the group there may be people willing to help that never heard about the request if it didn't get sent to everyone. And no matter what, when you get any help, be sure to thank them for it----that does a lot to encourage them to keep helping.

Encourage the new alums to join their local alumnae group. It may really need fresh blood and ideas to get things going. Starting a separate group will only splinter things. We join our GLOs for a lifetime and that includes helping our local alumnae groups to survive. It might only take one or two new members to get the rest interested in being involved.

Being an alum is so much harder than collegians imagine! You want to be involved, but you don't want the collegians to feel like you're butting in. Just give your alums so time, keep inviting them to things, and most importantly keep them informed!

I agree that the alums don't have to be organized into a "club" to help out your chapter solely. Anyone who wants can do that. If there are only 2 or 3...fine. Better 2 or 3 who really want to help than a bunch who are just there cause they feel they have to be.

If your younger alums are in an alum chapter that they don't like and want to start another one, your national office should be the ones helping them with that, not the collegians. Nationals are the ones that have to give them the approval to organize.

I would agree with this. My collegiate chapter only gets a small contingent of support (and it's the same core group of women) from the alumnae chapter we are all members of mostly because of distance but the group is getting bigger. It has taken us 4 years to get the group of alumnae we have. As someone else said, take the ones you can get and just continue to invite them. The number will grow eventually.

And yes, if your group is like Gamma Phi, your HQ has to approve a new alumnae chapter (not likely if there's one ther already). They will first want to try to build the one that's there.

Does the alumnae chapter invite collegians to any of their events? We've increased our collegian participation in Founders Day and that has improved the alumnae help at the collegiate chapter.