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Not sure how I missed this thread up to now, but I'd like to add my 2 cents on several different topics that have been discussed.
First, it is my understanding that an advisor or approved alum chaperone must be present at every ADPi social function. I believe the approval for chaperones must come from the PD. The name of the attendee must be listed on the Social Event Planning form. If there is no one present and something horrible happens, our insurance company can deny coverage because of this.
Second, the official chaperone or advisor must be paid for to attend, but not her date. She can cover his cost, but if it's financially feasible it's a nice gesture to say "Thanks for taking your time to come help us out". Also, if financially feasible it's nice to cover any other advisor that is in attendance but not mandatory.
Third, the only alums that may attend a social function are advisors, approved chaperones and International Officers. Again our insurance does not cover them nor do we have any "authority" over them. Meaning, we can't call them into standards in the event of a problem.
The only exceptions are for specifically designated alum functions and must be spelled out on the Social Event Planning form. This may include events such as Parents Weekends, Homecoming Parties and Founder's Day celebrations. Though honestly, many folks may question whether it's appropriate to have a Founder's Day celebration where alcohol is available. Founder's Day should be a celebration of our heritage and the ideals our organization was based on. (FYI - this is not coming from me, rather the response I heard from an International Officer and DLC facillitator when the question was asked.)
Third, as already said the social budget is specifically limited to 25%. Members cannot be additionally charged for any known expense or one that should have been anticipated. All of those expenses should be factored into the budget and thus dues. I finally put a stop to the almost weekly "Everybody has to bring $1 to get into Chapter for XYZ reason/philanthropy." Now we add an extra $10-$15 to dues to cover these anticipated expenses. (BTW - I'm also the Financial Advisor)
There are a couple of exceptions though. Obviously any year where a major unknown expense(s) occurs then members can be assessed an additional fee. As I said though, this should be a rarity and it cannot be for a social. Members should be allowed to vote on these assessments, but sometimes that's not feasible if you know they will vote it down and the money is required to pay something like the electricity bill or Panhellenic dues. However if a vote is taken and it's voted down, the Chapter's only other option is to pay for that mandatory expense out the Social Budget because honestly those are the only "discretionary" funds a Chapter has. (Note, in my experience threatening to cut the Social Budget is usually a pretty good way to get members to change their minds, whether it be for an assessment or a dues increase.)
But a member's guest/date can be assessed for a social because our dues technically only cover our members. It is then up to the member to determine how she wishes to pay for it, whether out of her own pocket or ask the guest. A bonus here is it also provides a more accurate number of how many will attend. Again though, if this becomes a yearly thing the Chapter should really consider budgetting it in. At some point the CFD may even require it.
Fourth, security is mandatory at every social function. It is also strongly recommended that we provide our own even if the hotel/bar/whatever provides it. The reason being is those folks work for the establishment and not us. I have seen situations where the security's only interest was to make sure no damage was done to the property and no fights broke out. They couldn't care less about our risk management procedures such as guests needing to sign in, id's checked, wristbands distributed and enforced by the bartender. With our own paid for and contracted security we set the rules.
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