Changes within your GLO - Implications and Relations with Actives

[Tom Earp]

Boodleboy, any news from your meeting?

I know that many of LXA Alum were getting upset with what little towards us was not being done with in IHQ.

With time and money we spend with and on our chapters, we feel that there should be more done for us besides just asking for money.

I know a new wind is blowing from IHQ and it is getting more of us as Alums envolved.

Now, I hope it happens for each of us.

[Boodleboy322]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

Boodleboy, any news from your meeting?

I know that many of LXA Alum were getting upset with what little towards us was not being done with in IHQ.

With time and money we spend with and on our chapters, we feel that there should be more done for us besides just asking for money.

I know a new wind is blowing from IHQ and it is getting more of us as Alums envolved.

Now, I hope it happens for each of us.

Tom - Absolutely; Without Getting into too much detail the main issue was that National Dues for Alumni Associations were being reduced. At first glance, the local chapter had a collective opinion on this. A good percentage of the membership felt that this is wrong and that any additional dollar amount pickup could be used to help facilitate the Fraternity on a National level if not local. The idea was that more money never hurts. Basically, the reason that dues were reduced was to make a national effort of recruiting more alumni participation across the US so that Alumni Association volume would increase. It was cited that the appropriate offices at National HQ, such as the Educational Foundation, could still be utilized to channel monetary contributions as desired. At the end of the day the National office proved that the same integrity is still in place as always and simply are dealing with symantics.

What type of new winds is LXA have up their sleeve if appropriate to discuss?

[Kevin]

Boodle -- your national HQ requires dues from alums? That's really interesting.

My alumni chapter (our charter is only 4 years old) is just this moment having a little bit of controversy as to what we set our association dues at. Some of the same arguments were raised -- back to the 'ol "quality versus quantity" argument.

My personal view is that the alumni chapter in order to be relevant must be able to exercise some influence over the chapter. I can think of no method (other than the active chapter voluntarily giving up rights [good luck with that!]) to have a positive influence than by being able to offer up 'carrots' for good behavior. So, perhaps your alumni chapter wants to help fund rush, academic activities, set up a scholarship foundation, set up a foundation for tax-deductible house improvements, pay for certain rush activities, fund alumni get-togethers, fund formal, etc. Your first step should be figuring that out.

Next, you prioritize things. Finally, figure out what maximum number you can charge (back to quantity vs quality) and still accomplish your most important and immediate goals.

The concept of national alumni dues seems interesting if not foreign. Our IHQ does do quite a bit of fundraising, but as far as I can tell, they're very well funded without having to resort to dues. It would seem to me that the idea of alumni dues would be easier to sell to brothers to support their own alumni chapter which in turn supports positive actions by the undergrad chapter as well as creating an organization for alumni oversight and support.

[Tom Earp]

BoodleBoy, there is no Alum dues within LXA IHQ.

On a local level though, we solicit dues as many do in our Chapters.

We use this money to work with the local chapters, give money for scholarships, and send more than the required Rep. to IHQ meetings.

Our IHQ requests donations only to the Educational Funding for some of the above.

Now, if the two bills, one in the House and one in the Senate would allow us as Alums to donate to each chapter with tax deductions, it would certainly help all of us.

[Kevin]

Tom, this ain't legal advice, (if you want to know how to do this for sure, or whether it's feasible in Kansas, contact a lawyah in your area). /end disclaimer

You might want to look into setting up a few entities separate from your alumni association if you're wanting to earmark alum dues to those things. You might even designate x% of your alum dues to go for "educational purposes" meaning that the check gets paid to a chapter educational foundation which you could establish locally as a 501(c)3, getting your alums a little money back on the taxes.

There can be a lot of paperwork associated with these things, but generally, it's all worth it.

[Tom Earp]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Tom, this ain't legal advice, (if you want to know how to do this for sure, or whether it's feasible in Kansas, contact a lawyah in your area). /end disclaimer

You might want to look into setting up a few entities separate from your alumni association if you're wanting to earmark alum dues to those things. You might even designate x% of your alum dues to go for "educational purposes" meaning that the check gets paid to a chapter educational foundation which you could establish locally as a 501(c)3, getting your alums a little money back on the taxes.

There can be a lot of paperwork associated with these things, but generally, it's all worth it.

Yepper, Kevin, We have been looking into the legal asspects for this and have gotten info from Members of other GLOs.

While there may seem to be loop wholes I just wonder what they may be to keep us from doing what We would like to do in the eyes of the IRS?

Do We desearve better, Yes, We do!

[Boodleboy322]

Very interesting stuff Gentlemen. The National Office pointed out that past alumni association dues had accrued over the years and the money wasn't being used. This point justified reducing the dues to an annual $5.00 contribution. That contribution would give the alum a 1 year subscription to the fraternity's national magazine publication. This was one argument that stirred the pot with some alums. Some alums felt that the residual gains could be used to benefit the fraternity for other use in the brotherhood while others said it could be used to promote alumni associations. The caveat is that the other monetary use the additional gains could be used for are already being facilitated by current offices at NHQ. In my opinion there's no such thing as having too much money. Worst case it could be invested into an endowment, scholarship fund, or be put into a Security. I know there's some red tape with the ladder for non-profit organizations. Grrrr.

Currently, our local alumni association is debating whether to keep the past due amount in place and put the extra funds into the association's account. An argument is also in the works that says that we could possibly increase membership in the local association by sticking to the $5.00 magazine contribution alone like NHQ is suggesting. Historically the local association has never had an issue collecting money from any active alumni members. In the past the association would send a percentage to NHQ and put the rest in the local account to be used for our own projects, goals, and donations. One good point about cutting down the local dues to the 5 dollar amount is that it will allow brothers that can't ordinarily attend the monthly meeting to feel included in the membership and have a vote on business when they can attend. They will also be in good standing as an alumni association member. Those brothers can still help out the organization by facilitating projects via the web, conference calling, etc. Both points are valid in my opinion. Our alumni association is a regional organization for brothers living in the Dallas/Ft Worth Area. We have a few active members that pay dues but only show up once a year. These guys live in surrounding states like Oklahoma.

It will be interesting to see what happens. Our next meeting is this Sunday. I will let you all know what we decided to do.

Fraternal Regards,

Boodleboy322

[Tom Earp]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Tom, this ain't legal advice, (if you want to know how to do this for sure, or whether it's feasible in Kansas, contact a lawyah in your area). /end disclaimer

You might want to look into setting up a few entities separate from your alumni association if you're wanting to earmark alum dues to those things. You might even designate x% of your alum dues to go for "educational purposes" meaning that the check gets paid to a chapter educational foundation which you could establish locally as a 501(c)3, getting your alums a little money back on the taxes.

There can be a lot of paperwork associated with these things, but generally, it's all worth it.

Kevin agree with you as we have already done that.

The last House before the IRS closed the so called loop hole was the LX house at the Un. Ks.

Yes, am aware of the Education requirements, but for the money to go for that is very little in housing space. That is Federal but maybe if the Democrates can try and do the right thing it can get changed. We can just hope!

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Boodle -- your national HQ requires dues from alums? That's really interesting.

Not exactly. We do have "alumni dues," which are completely voluntary unless one belongs to a local alumni association (alumni chapter, if you will). We have been through a variety of alumni chapter/assocation configurations over the years, always in search of what works best, and with our current configuration the number of local alumni associations is small but growing. Members of those associations pay the minimal national alumni dues ($5) plus any local dues.

Then there are the majority of alums like me who don't belong to a local alumni association. (Yes, I would love to start one, but I might get clobbered by the wife if I take on any extra responsibility at this point -- I have more than a full plate and will have to wait until some other things on the plate get eaten.) I pay the voluntary dues even though I am not required to.

There is one difference from lots of other fraternities -- if you don't pay the dues, then you don't get the national magazine. Alums get it the first year after going from collegiate to alum status. After that, you need to pay the dues (which basically cover the subscription) to receive The Sinfonian. We never structured things so that at initiation you pay into a fund that provides a lifetime subscription. Too late now.