financial advisors....

[StargazerLily]

Oh My God, I want to pull my hair out and scream.

Are there any other financial advisors out there? Preferably from chapters that are comprised of girls who are working and paying their bill on their own, and not the mentality of "If you have to ask how much sorority cost, then you probably cant afford to join."

The chapter I advise has pretty low dues. It's right at $300 a semester - no house (not yet anyway). New members pay $415. They are told this before they join. They are also given a breakdown of how much their dues are, when each payment is owed, etc. I've rearranged how dues are billed, but every semester, I have that girl (or girls) who "oops, cant afford it."

I have been advisng just over a year, and I've been burnt bad already by some really flakey girls. As a result, I have a low tolerance for girls who always have an excuse why they cant pay. I got tired of the chapter paying national dues for girls who never paid their bill and then got kicked out for financial delinquency. So I made it mandatory that they had to pay their national dues (initiation, and semi annual dues) in full before they were allowed to initiate. Really, if they would just pay the darn bill by the due date, this wouldnt be a problem.

You would think.

What gives? Jeez, $415 as a new member is not that big a deal. The chapter has busted their butts to get to total this semester, and we want to have great retention efforts, but darnit they need to pay their stinking bills. Why is that so hard to understand? I was an undergrad. I knew I had a financial responsibility, and I paid my bill on time, or I went and asked for a payment plan before I got so far in over my head that it was impossible to get caught up.

If I had my way, I'd bill the whole semester in full on their very first bill and require the $415 up front. But that wont fly on this campus. So what do you do? I've tried getting the New member educator on board with me to help educate them on their finances, but I swear I've told her the same thing 16 times this semester already - so I dont know how much of that information is actually being relayed to the new members.

I tried to correct this problem before it started by creating a financial packet for the new members, including what to expect financially, and my contact info if they had any problems, or questions. ONE has contacted me. And there are more than one who are already past due on their bills. And initiation is next week.

uuuuuuuuuuuughhh.