[Kevin]

This answer is very much not in my lane, but having experienced the chapter founder experience (and we had much more support than some online individual) is completely different from pledging an existing organization. I mean you will be creating that pledging experience from scratch. You have no traditions, no past, no alumni. It's just you and whatever other membership you're able to scrounge up and create experiences for.

I was one of the founding members of a large NIC/IFC national with hundreds of thousands of members and nearly 300 chapters. We had an expansion consultant stay with us for a whole semester (that was of debatable benefit) and had constant visits from consultants and other interaction with HQ.

You're talking about starting from scratch, just you and someone on a computer or pledging something which exists. Understand these are two very different experiences.