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oulioness01, i laughed when i read your post stating that "older members" were those who had been out of college 10 years or more. i consider our older members those 65 or older, but old is relative isn't it?(i am middle aged!) anyway, i am sure that you get a strip list from phi mu hq. utilize the dickens out of that. and keep hq updated to each woman's status as that becomes known to you,i.e. when your mail is returned to you and unfortunatley when you are notified that a sister is deceased. that helps clean up your strip list. a good rule of thumb to remember is that out of the invitations you mail , approx. 10% will come to an event. that has held true for us. during the summer the exec. officers meet to set the calendar for the year and plan events and philanthropic activities. a month before the first meeting a mass mailing is done, which includes last years dues paying members, any former dues paying members that didn't pay dues last year, people new to the list, and then a target group(maybe they indicated they would like to participate in the future, or some other criteria), usually between 100 to 200
newsletters total-if we have email addresses we also utilize that resource. we always have a membership/dues form included in that mailing. we do one more mass mailing after that then contact only dues payers, until january when we do another mass mailing and include another membership/dues form for those that didn't pay their dues in the fall. we have a strong core group of about 8-10(assorted ages) who usually are at every event(we meet once a month) with another 5-6 who may come to one or more events. this is out of a possible 200-300, in the metro area. our goal is to increase membership by 10% each year, which is a national alumna goal. so far we have been able to do it, because our numbers are so low. we have done surveys and listed a plethora of possible events and given people the opportunity to rank which day of the week and a.m. or p.m. they prefer and the same core members were the ones that responded. we meet usually on a saturday but have tried meetings on week nites to accomodate those that indicated a week nite would be better for them(they did not come). so i look for the small accomplishments-with our small numbers we have provided toiletries to the local women's shelter, donated food to the local food bank, adopted children from the salvation army angel tree and distributed our breast exam shower cards. we have increased our numbers and most importantly, those of us who participate have made wonderful friends from all over the country! it can be discouraging, but it is worth it. lisa
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