question about philanthropy

[layla2728]

Hi girls, I have a question for you:

Our chapter does a fashion show every year. Since I joined as a sophomore, I've only been able to attend one show (since I was abroad last semester). That year, we were required to purchase two tickets (ourselves included) and two advertisements in the program.
Apparently the rules changed last year and this year. Now we're not only required to buy the two tickets, but raise $300 in donations (monetary or goods for the silent auction) or ads. They say the $300 is a minimum requirement... now personally, I'm dirt poor at the moment (unlike many of my sisters), and don't have connections to businesses in Miami. The only way I got by last time was getting my parents to purchase two of the smallest ads they could. But $300 is looking to be near impossible at the moment. I'm graduating a month after the fashion show, and personally don't feel like breaking my already near-broken bank to come up with this money.

So after my long tangent, my question is: can my chapter require this of us? If I don't raise the $300, can they kick me out? I don't know the rules behind any of this stuff, so any help would be welcome.
Thanks, ladies

[PenguinTrax]

My opinion is that it's OK to require the members to find a certain number of donations for the silent auction, but requiring them to buy a certain amount of tickets, etc., defeats the point of having the event. If you are just going to collect money from the sisters, then ditch the event, have everyone make a $300 donation to ZTAF and be considered personal major contributors.

Please talk to EDV regarding your concerns - it appears to me that the spirit of the event has been overshadowed by the costs and maybe the whole planning/running of the event needs to be revisited.

[Dianne]

This sounds similar to the male beauty pageant we used to have. We had to collect donations - either money or some type of good - for door prizes and prize packs for the winners. And trust me, I was dirt poor, too! So I know exactly how you feel. What I would do is go around to restaurants with some kind of info on what the ZTAF does and ask them to simply donate dinner for two. You'd be surprised how easy it is to get restaurants to donate food! And if you estimate a $50 value for dinner for 2, you only need to hit up 6 restaurants. Or you can go to a swankier place where dinner for 2 might be in the $100 range. It's an investment of time, but you could do it in one Saturday. And it's cheaper than an investment of money! Remind the restaurant manager that donations are tax deductible and it's good advertising.

Also, if you don't have an "in" with businesses in Miami, hit up people you may know from your hometown. Maybe your mom has a friend who sells Mary Kay who would be willing to donate make-up samples. If you got enough, you could put it all together as a little gift basket. Count what it would be worth if you ordered all the stuff out of the catalog. Meanwhile, it's not costing the Mary Kay lady a ton of money to make the donation.

Hope those ideas work. I know it can be annoying, but there are always ways to get around having to shell out your own cash.