Starting an Alumni Chapter

Zetagymnast · #1 12-01-2003, 02:27 PM

My sorority went out for a couple fo years and this is our second semester back, we are also trying to start an grad chapter since our undergrad is now back on it's feet. Can any help me with how you go about setting up a grad chapter? I will be a grad next year this time so I need to make sure it's set up by the time I get there? Eg. Officers and stuff like that and how are they elected.

AOIIalum · #2 12-01-2003, 05:50 PM

If I may, I suggest you focus less on alumnae officers and meetings, and a whole lot more on outreach and programming. Sure, there needs to be a few alumnae officers who make sure everything is getting done, meetings are being publicized, dues are being paid, support to the area collegiates and philanthropic aims are getting there, etc. Based on my experiences (in an NPC sorority, of course!) setting up an alumnae chapter based on formal meetings and all business is a recipe for failure. I suggest the emphasis be on "Hey, we're here and we want to have fun with our sisters now that we're alumnae!" {FYI--for sororities the proper terminology is alumna (singular) and alumnae (plural.) If it's a mixed group of males and females, then alumni is the word to use!}

A few Do's and Don'ts

1. Do contact everyone you can think of. Use chapter records, parent's contact info, university alumni resources, word of mouth. Let everyone know that you're forming an alumnae chapter and that you want to get ALL alumnae involved.

2. Do think long and hard on programming. Depending on the ages of your alumnae (if your collegiate chapter was a recolonization, then you may already have a lot of area alumnae who'd love to be reintroduced to Zeta Lambda Phi!) A few programming suggestions, other than the collegiate/alumnae ones mentioned below:

Paint your own pottery
Family day at a local zoo, park, skating rink
Pot Luck dinner
Girls Night Out/Dinner and a Movie
Annual Philanthropic event. Whether adopting a highway (quarterly commitment), volunteering at a cancer or AIDS Walk (annual), serving at a soup kitchen (weekly/monthly) or whatever your sorority supports!
Monthly "Lunch Bunch" (schedule the same day/week monthly, like the 2nd Thursday of each month)
Happy Hour (same as above, choose a set day and restaurant for each month)
Holiday Ornament or Cookie Exchange
Fall Kickoff Meeting and Dessert
Wine Tasting event
Annual Business meeting with ritual, elections, bylaw approval (yes, that's annual, as in only once each year.)
Fundraising meeting with presentation by Pampered Chef, PartyLite, etc (where the alumnae get a percentage of sales in cash as a chapter fundraiser)

3. Absolutely, positively do not ask your alums for anything at first. Seriously! Invite them to events, tell them that you are working to improve your collegiate/alumnae relations, encourage them to reconnect with the sorority. Invite them to ritual events, your Founders Day celebration (and if you don't already do one, strongly consider it for this year and the future!), recruitment functions. If you don't have a specific ceremony for when your collegiates graduate or go alum, consider developing one and ask your current alumnae to perform the ceremony for this year's graduating Seniors! If your chapter does not have an Alumnae Relations officer, consider amending your bylaws so you have someone on the collegiate level responsible for such an important task!

4. Do remember that alumnae have completely different points of view, time commitment issues and financial situations than your collegiate members. Some women will consider Zeta Lambda Phi as something they did in college, others will jump at the chance to get involved again. Overprogramming can be as dangerous as underprogramming. Also, consider the age range of your alumnae members. Members in the mid-late 20s have completely different interests than members in their late 30s, and those in their 40s and 50s. That's definitely okay, but when you're trying to maximize participation you really need to keep these things in mind.

5. Do encourage and allow your alumnae to do the work. It may turn out that there really isn't any interest in an alumnae group, or there may be a lot of interest. Don't force, but encourage. It's okay to let your alums know there's interest in the collegiate level in seeing an alumnae chapter started. Also, do start NOW to teach your collegiate members that your sisterhood is something to be celebrated throughout your lifetimes, not just while in college.

6. Do handle the business side of things on a consistent basis as how the collegiate chapter is set up. If the collegiate bylaws or officers have specific names, consider using these as a template for the alumnae chapter (removing EVERYTHING that just isn't appropriate or necessary for non-collegiate members!) Bylaws for the alumnae chapter should be adopted, minimum officers determined (President, Secretary and Treasurer for starters. You can add committee chairs and any additional Exec positions as needed by appointment (comm chairs) and amending bylaws (Exec positions.) Set up a calendar of events for the year, and try to avoid doing more than 1 "meeting event" per month. Set dues accordingly. Your goal should be to raise enough through dues to cover any mass mailings (one, maybe two per year max depending on # of pieces being mailed out), any support given by the alumnae to the collegiate chapter, a general philanthropic donation in the alumnae chapter's name. Again, sorry I don't know but if you have a national organization, you may have a few additional per capita fees to collect on top of these.

7. Do contact other chapters of your sorority if you have them, and ask them about starting an alumnae chapter. See who else has done it, what worked, and what didn't. Translation, don't reinvent the wheel

I hope some of these suggestions help. Feel free to PM me with any questions.

Good Luck!
Christin

Edited because although I knew it would be long, I still hit send before I was ready.

Tom Earp · #3 12-01-2003, 06:03 PM

Why would you want to do that?

Just kidding!

It would be a heck of an idea if you are in close contact with your Alums!

There could be a web site set up where the Alums could be in contact with each other. A person who is in cahrge of colelecting email address to keep all informed. Input works both ways if you get my drift.

If there are enough Alums in an area, they could start it and expand. If there are pockets of Alums they could start a sub chapter to work with the Alum Group.

Officers are elected by the Alums. Do they want to do dues. Have a Meeting, do things together, put out a news letter from the Alums or tie it into a News letter with the Active Chapter.

Corraspond with each other and what can be done to help the Chapter.

Make sure that Actives and Alums know when events are going on that they may be interested in coming back to!

Remember, there are two main times that they may come back, HomeComing and your Founders Day!

Do you have a Chapter house? If so, do you have a Houseing Corporation. Do you have a Mentoring Weekend where Alums come back and work with you as an Active Chapter. This entails, Alums who have held the offices and working with those new Officers on a oni on one basis, planning a Semester Calander of events so ALL know. Does the Treaurer know what they are doing, does the recuitment chair know what they are doing. What worked and what didnt.

Alums will only do what they feel about being a member of the Chapter and then how they are made to feel. Keep them informed and you will be more succesful. Ask for their help, it will be forth coming!

Zetagymnast · #4 12-01-2003, 06:24 PM

FYI, most of our alumnae sister live somewhere esle besides where the school is located. There are only three here in Huntville and we do keep them involved.They were invited when we had our interest meeting for NMs (Tea) and I had a meeting with one sister and we discussed the pledging process. How do they start forming their alumnae chapter if they live all over the place

DGMarie · #5 12-01-2003, 07:11 PM

In order for there to be an alumnae chapter, the alumnae need to know who lives in their area. Do you send out a directory or keep accurate records in a database of where everyone is? Do you have a person who is responsible for overseeing alumnae nationally (in otherwords, who is going to coordinate and distribute this info)? The other posters make excellent points. To start a group you need to know who is where.

Zetagymnast · #6 12-01-2003, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DGMarie
In order for there to be an alumnae chapter, the alumnae need to know who lives in their area. Do you send out a directory or keep accurate records in a database of where everyone is? Do you have a person who is responsible for overseeing alumnae nationally (in otherwords, who is going to coordinate and distribute this info)? The other posters make excellent points. To start a group you need to know who is where.

We know where most of our Alum Sisters are because we have their addresses. We do have a sister who is a alum who is in charge of alum relations until the alum chapter is setup. She is also in charge of our reunion coming up. We know where everyone is and I guess you guys missed what I was asking. I am asking how to we set-up the chapter not how do we get in touch with them. Also, I wouldn't be asking how to set up the chapter if I wasn't in touch with them.

AOIIalum · #7 12-01-2003, 08:53 PM

It's great that you've kept such good track of your alumnae through the years! It will make your task so much easier.

Are you looking to start a chapter association, something to unite only those sisters from a single collegiate chapter? Or, are you looking to start an alumnae chapter for your local alumnae? There's a difference.

It is very difficult to have a single active alumnae chapter if the members are living all over the country. Most alumnae chapters I am familiar with are geographically based, not chapter based. That means that you can have a 'College Town' Alumnae Chapter, and an Atlanta Alumnae Chapter, a NYC Alumnae Chapter, and so on. If there are enough women in a particular city/geographic area, that makes it easier to gauge demand and help organize the efforts.

FYI--my sorority has something for those alumnae sisters who do not live near another alumnae chapter. For a small annual fee, they receive a listing of other alumnae living close to them, newsletters throughout the year and other little goodies. This may be something your sorority may wish to consider in lieu of a traditional alumnae chapter, especially if everyone lives so far apart. News can be spread, informal activities can be planned between local sisters, and so on.

Kevin · #8 12-01-2003, 10:06 PM

We're currently in the process of getting our alum chapter up and running. What you've seen on this thread is some great advice. We're a brand spankin' new chapter trying to start things right. We started an alum chapter as soon as we had around 10 alums that could actively participate.

I would advise that you don't rush things and get them set up right before "going public".

Best of luck!

33girl · #9 12-01-2003, 11:08 PM

zetagymnast:

It sounds like you want to do something similar to what a lot of the fraternities do. They have a physical business meeting once a year (often for housing business) and the rest of the year they get together at golf outings and such wherever they are across the country. Plus with the internet you can have virtual alum chapter meetings.

Honestly, it is really up to the alumnae to set all this up, not the collegians. They have to choose what will work best for them.

DGMarie · #10 12-01-2003, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 33girl
Honestly, it is really up to the alumnae to set all this up, not the collegians. They have to choose what will work best for them.

I would second this. If the alumnae in city ABC were sent a list of all the other alumnae in city ABC, and encouraged to get together, this would be the extent of what you could do. Unless you are also in city ABC, then I don't see how you could organize them long distance.

Your question is a good one and certainly must have happened to all alumnae groups (they all started at some point). I assume they received a list, decided they wanted to join together and started making phone calls. But the initiative comes from them to form.

Zetagymnast · #11 12-02-2003, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DGMarie
I would second this. If the alumnae in city ABC were sent a list of all the other alumnae in city ABC, and encouraged to get together, this would be the extent of what you could do. Unless you are also in city ABC, then I don't see how you could organize them long distance.

Your question is a good one and certainly must have happened to all alumnae groups (they all started at some point). I assume they received a list, decided they wanted to join together and started making phone calls. But the initiative comes from them to form.

As i said befoe in my first post (i don't think you guys read it)

. I will soon be an alum for my sorority. I have been told by my alum sisters that they are starting a alum chapter so I just want to know if they don't have it going by May when I become a grad that I can help them with whatever I can.

Zetagymnast · #12 12-02-2003, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by AOIIalum
It's great that you've kept such good track of your alumnae through the years! It will make your task so much easier.

Are you looking to start a chapter association, something to unite only those sisters from a single collegiate chapter? Or, are you looking to start an alumnae chapter for your local alumnae? There's a difference.

It is very difficult to have a single active alumnae chapter if the members are living all over the country. Most alumnae chapters I am familiar with are geographically based, not chapter based. That means that you can have a 'College Town' Alumnae Chapter, and an Atlanta Alumnae Chapter, a NYC Alumnae Chapter, and so on. If there are enough women in a particular city/geographic area, that makes it easier to gauge demand and help organize the efforts.

FYI--my sorority has something for those alumnae sisters who do not live near another alumnae chapter. For a small annual fee, they receive a listing of other alumnae living close to them, newsletters throughout the year and other little goodies. This may be something your sorority may wish to consider in lieu of a traditional alumnae chapter, especially if everyone lives so far apart. News can be spread, informal activities can be planned between local sisters, and so on.

To be honest my brother fraternity has an alum chapter and they live all over the country and they function fine. They just had a reunion celebrating 19 years and it was well planned. They meet ever so often and plan events for ther alums.

AOIIalum · #13 12-02-2003, 09:28 AM

Zetagymnast, please remember that we are posting our suggestions based upon our own personal experiences, just as you are posting based upon yours. My personal experiences indicate that it is very, very difficult to organize an sorority event requiring people to travel long distances to attend. Of course, it can be done (see state, regional and national conventions for many GLOs as well as annual homecoming and Founders Day activities.) Congrats to your brother fraternity for doing so on a regular basis. I also believe that is key, to schedule events the same time every year. That way, all of your alumnae know that there's a Homecoming Tea every year on the day of the game, a Founders Day dinner dance the Friday night closest to your Founders Day every year, and so on. Tradition is good!

Again, I believe that outreach and communication are keys. Get the word out, plan fun and "non-businessy" events, and go forth from there. Quite honestly, as 33girl and DGMarie stated, it is not the task or duty of a collegiate chapter to start an alumnae chapter (I'm sure you stay busy enough with your school work, sorority functions, campus and community involvement, jobs, families and non-school social lives!) Let them make the choice and do the work. Once you are an alumna, you'll be ready to help and stay involved. I wish more sorority and fraternity members remembered that their membership is for a lifetime and not just a few college years.

Quote:

My sorority went out for a couple fo years and this is our second semester back, we are also trying to start an grad chapter since our undergrad is now back on it's feet. Can any help me with how you go about setting up a grad chapter? I will be a grad next year this time so I need to make sure it's set up by the time I get there? Eg. Officers and stuff like that and how are they elected.

From your original post, it appeared that you were asking about starting an alumnae chapter so it would be active by the time you were an alumna. I don't believe any of us misinterpreted your post, and I'm sorry if my suggestions have not been helpful to your sorority's needs. I've helped to organize/reorganize a few alumnae chapters in the 15 years that I've been an alumna. It may be as simple as my experiences in various alumnae chapters may not be at all what you and your sisters want, so these suggestions are not appropriate for you.

You have been offered some wonderful thoughts on this thread, maybe not my own but from other posters. I sincerely hope that some of them may be helpful to your group down the road. The very best of luck to you and your sisters on your effort to organize your alumnae!

Fraternally,
Christin

Tom Earp · #14 12-02-2003, 06:01 PM

Has anyone asked:

Is this a local/National.

I am not sure myself. If it is a local, Okay no problem.

I agree, there have been many good ideas, but according to what we know upon our individyual situations.

Is hard, Heck yes. Some one has to take the bit in their mouth and lead the group.

If you have NO Alum Group, and you are near to graduation, then if you have the time, go for it.

As both AOII and KtSnake have told you I can not agree more.

Now my problem is, with all of this advice, you still do not seem to get the point?

DGMarie · #15 12-02-2003, 11:04 PM

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