Question regarding housing/fundraising

UHPhiMu05 · #1 07-13-2004, 12:02 PM

Okay we just got our house in the fall of last year.. Due to financial issues we were unable to do a whole lot to our house.. we have awesome furniture and all that.. it's just there are so many small things that we need to do, especially in order to compete with the other sororities on campus during rush..

What are some ideas regarding fundraising that have helped y'all? We're trying to get enough money together to put down the wooden floors we have wanted since the beginning.. we're currently getting ready to paint our house and all that.. I could use the ideas from fellow Phi Mus... Any input is greatly appreciated!

ladybug1116 · #2 07-14-2004, 03:07 AM

Just a thought, but have you contacted your alumnae and asked for donations? (Maybe some sort of "naming gift" opportunity like Nationals is doing for the new HQ?) I would assume you all have a housing corps in place to help advocate for needs/improvements of the house. Also, do you all charge any sort of "parlor fee"? I'm not sure if the parlor fee is a nationally mandated fee or not but our chapter had an annual parlor fee that went into an account for things such as house improvements/updates. You may want to speak with your adviser regarding this and if certain things (such as a Parlor fee) aren't in place yet then maybe they can be implemented in the fall with the new pledge class. Please PM me if I can be of any help. LIOB

Pink_Bug · #3 07-14-2004, 08:23 AM

I have to agree with Ladybug about the "naming gifts" being a great idea. The chapter I advise does not have a house but we tried something similar when tring to raise money to purchase Ritual supplies. We sent out a mailing to alumnae (if you don't already have a spreadsheet with alum addresses you can contact Shanda LaForge in the Executive Office) to ask for their donations and gave them the option of donating their money or item in honor of / memory of someone, etc. This turned out to be a great fundraiser!

UHPhiMu05 · #4 07-14-2004, 10:22 AM

these are some options that we are definitely addressing right now. The first thing we want to do before we send any sort of letter out to alumni is to to get somewhat of an idea of the amount of money that we will need to replace the carpet in the chapter room with wooden floors, paint the house, etc. We have someone that is currently taking care of getting the names/addresses of alumni. Thank you for the name at the executive office - I will pass that along to her.

We do have a housing corp that we are definitely working with to get approvals/figuring out the financing, etc.. We also do have the parlor fee as well. Unfortunately there's just not enough money there. We've come up with a few ideas, and hopefully we will get this all rolling soon. I'm been searching for ideas regarding fundraising and have found some that I really liked.. such as a 50/50 raffle, hosting an alumni dinner with the chapter at Houston Baptist University, more car washes, etc.

Thanks for the ideas.. I really really really appreciate it. We have a lot of work to do in the next two months.. we want to kick some a** in rush this year, and this is something we feel we really need to do.

Keep us in your thoughts!

pinkyphimu · #5 07-14-2004, 06:24 PM

i am not sure exactly of all of the things you may be interested in purchasing, but perhaps you can register for them. a linens n things, etc will allow you to register as a house warming. you can send the alumnae from your chapter and those in your area the info. they will have the flexibility to purchase online and have them sent to your house. this idea will work if you are looking for things like lamps, dishes, kitchen accessories, picture frames, etc.

Whistlin Dixie · #6 08-02-2004, 06:45 PM

Be sure to inform your alumnae and parents what you would like to accomplish in your chapter house. Someone may own a flooring/paint store. Others may be skilled in installing the floor or willing to paint. It is suprising what can happen when you ask! We tiled our entire 1st floor, painted all the walls, and relandscaped our courtyard just by asking parents to help. Right now we are considering selling bricks in order to raise funds.