....our alumnae chapter is small (about 2 dozen active members) and new -- just two years old. And we do not have a collegiate chapter near us. For an alum chapter like ours I suggest keeping it simple and fun and EASY-going -- we always do a ritual which keeps our sisterhood foremost in our minds and we always chat and eat!! A great combination!
The first year we had founders Day, we tried to find a restaurant to use but in our area there were none that had private rooms except those restaurants in hotels and they all wanted huge deposits which we could not afford. So I cooked a nice luncheon in my house for 15 women plus an alum initiate candidate (who is now a member). I like to cook so it was not any big deal -- herbed chicken breast, sauteed green beans with bacon & pears, horseradish carrots & pine nut rice, also a nice cake for dessert. We had wine and soft drinks and the ol southern standby -- "sweet tea!" We did charge a small amount to cover the food cost and a donation to our Headquarters Foundation. I set up two card tables and used the kitchen table and the dining room table and had atble cloths and china and silver and crystal glasses to give it all a special touch -- it was the first Founders day nearly all had been a part of in many years...we all had a blast -- much nicer than a restaurant where we might have felt pressured to move on. Everyone really enjoyed it.
We did essentially the same thing last year but we did it as a potluck at our new President's home. I was too busy to cook -- our Founders Day is also Veteran's Day and I am a retired military officer so I could not squeeze cooking into an already-full schedule...again we had a blast -- we did a presentation for a member who had attained 50-year status -- she was thrilled to be so honored -- she had not been involved since her college days...now she is one of our stalwart members (she and I even roomed together at our convention this past summer!).
At our most recent Founders Day this past Nov, we joined up with our Atlanta Alum Chapter for a joint Founders Day luncheon in downtown Atlanta at a restaurant -- we will possibly do this joint luncheon every other year. They had arranged a guest speaker who was really interesting and a half dozen collegiates came from our chapter at Southern Tech. We had ritual which was quite nice. Our newest member alum initiate Andrea (aka GreekChat's HOUSTONCHICA) drove all the way from Athens to be with us and we had invited Annie (aka GreekChat's PNAM Cluey) who drove all the way from Florida!! It was a fun event but we all agreed the restaurant setting -- though nice -- is not nearly as comfy as someone's home...so that is what I suggest y'all try!
, I attended another organization's local founder's day celebration. It was held at a (large and stately) home of one of the alumnae members. Tea and coffee were served, along with sweet and savoury snacks, and a couple of desserts. It was a lovely event, and because it was in someone's home (as opposed to a restaurant or club) a few of the members remarked that they enjoyed it a bit more. 
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