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this is a great idea, but what if it doesn't help? i recently attended an event at my collegiate chapter and met some of the women there. i graduated 5 years ago, and i live 6 hrs away, and i have managed to get to 1 rush and 1 initation. so some of the women confide in me that things are not ok. i offer to do what i can to help....our alums had already been discussing some things. i get back home and send info to these ladies right away....and i hear NOTHING!!! none of the alums who offered their help that night have heard anything either! so, how many times do you email before you give up? my chapter has meant a lot to me. i want to help, but it is hard to help people who don't want help.
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When you as alumni and advisers feel you have done everything in your power to assist a chapter, then it's time to get your National/International Headquarters involved. Let
them know what's going on, too. We had a situation like this recently where we advisers were tearing our hair out because it seemed the actives were not listening to anything we said and we watched the chapter go further and further downhill. Then we got our HQ involved. It might be a crude "scare" tactic, but those girls will take notice if higher-ups get involved. Ultimately the goal is to help them be their best so the fraternity can be its best.
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I think part of the reason why our young alum don't get as involved is because they're like me in that they're trying to get their careers started on the right path....trying to get their foot in the door at their company. I'll pull 50+ hours a week of busting my butt so that I can make a name for myself. I know many of my pledge class sisters and the pledge classes that are only a year or two ahead are the same way. With trying to better ourselves within our career, we don't have the time to put into the alum organization. Sad. And, the older alum tend to have families to take care of. That usually leaves the much older alum to take care of the organization. Since our chapter is so new (1971), we don't have older alum. Our older alum are from other chapters.
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It's true, it's very difficult to strike a balance of what you feel will benefit you the most (career, marriage, etc...) in your life and your GLO. You don't have to be Super Greek on the local Alum board, acting as adviser and on the local Panhel, I think even just paying your National Alum dues (which are usually very minimal) can go a long way. Maybe once a year--during recruitment, during the Holidays--drop a quick letter or card to your chapter (or any chapther of your GLO that's nearby), just to let them know you still care.
It's hard to keep hope when you keep giving and get no response, but don't give up. And don't foucs solely on your chapter, if you're closer to a different chapter, contact them. Contact other alums in the area--even if they're from different chapters or different GLO's. Get together and brainstorm about better ways of keeping in touch.
And it's okay to not be as involved right away after you graduate. We have a "rule" that an alum must be out of school 2 years before she can be a chapter adviser or chaperone a social event. I think it's good for two reasons: You get that time away from your chapter to diminish the burn out effect, and the girls you were potentially closest to have pretty much left the house, so it makes it easier to be impartial and do what you have to do as an adviser (which includes doing things that may sometimes may be seen as unfavorable or unfair to the chapter members).