Big Problem!!! Need Help!!!!

rufio · #1 06-21-2007, 04:04 AM

so moral of the story, save your receipts. what your chapter could do is credit the amount owed to her dues so you dont take a direct hit. although 2 bills is kinda just change.

AlphaFrog · #2 06-21-2007, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rufio

although 2 bills is kinda just change.

Stop being a tool.

Ilaria Ame · #3 06-21-2007, 03:14 PM

wait wait wait...i know this has been resolved, BUT--the pledges spent $200 on a fundraiser that only made $177??? and one of the pledges REFUSED to chip in?????? first of all, the responsibility of the $200 should have never been put on one pledge, no matter how well off she is. second, you as her big, should have been able to warn her that IT MAKES NO SENSE for the chapter to reimburse her for money raised to buy a GIFT for the chapter. the only people responsible for reimbursing her are the women in her pledge class who made the descision to spend it. unless the descision was made by the pledge in question alone without consulting the rest of the women, in which case she alone is responsible for her actions. was no one watching out for these girls while they were doing this???? sorry if this is very aggressive, but this situation blows my mind.

navane · #4 06-22-2007, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ilaria Ame

second, you as her big, should have been able to warn her that IT MAKES NO SENSE for the chapter to reimburse her for money raised to buy a GIFT for the chapter.

I agree, the whole thing is wacky; but, AlwaysSAI did state, "The SAI pledge process involves a fundraiser, among other things. Because when the class is initiated they have to present the chapter with a gift." So, in my opinion, if the chapter is going to "force" pledges to hold a fundraiser and buy a gift whether they want to or not, it's not so outrageous for the chapter to reimburse for the expenses.

.....Kelly

eagreen · #5 05-06-2008, 09:56 PM

I know this is a long time coming but I just found the blog (leave it to beaver to only think to trace her big sisters footsteps a year after she was initiated...she is an amazing lady).

The who fiasco was a huge blow to me. I did catch a ton of flack from my entire family (including aunts and uncles) who could not understand why I was willing to put so much time into an organization that was not of the same "league" as theirs. While I respect their opinion, I do not regret my decision one bit.

For the record...200 was spent (technically more that than but I worked it out to "donate" many of the supplies to the chapter to keep the cost down and provide tools for future pledge classes) After the 200 had been deducted we would have made 177. The treasurer, after finally calling me back (post 2 months of phone calls and emails since she had left the city for the summer) arranged to take the total profit (377) from me. Once she had the money she refused to reimburse the original costs, saying that it was not chapter policy and since i was initiated at the end of the semester, i was part of the chapter and had to abide by said policy, even if i was not aware of it. The whole situation blew. There is a golden liner though, keep reading....

As soon as I started having problems my biological sister's sister drive (no matter what sorority she was in) kicked in and she was able to give me strength. to bolster the aid I found in my biological family my big sis was there for me. It was silly of me to assume that my pledge mom was filling in the bigs about what was going on with the pledge class when she didn't even know herself.

I am happy to say that even though this experience gave me doubt I was able to learn from it and push on. I have just been inducted as m chapters VPM for the upcoming school year and can not wait to right some wrongs that have been done. I have taken your suggestions to my big sister and hope to be implementing some of them this year. I will be there for my pledges, no matter what. I see that they are my responsibility, no matter how big or little the task they will be completely informed. I am currently working on a pledging handbook that includes ALL of the procedures for the tasks that they will be faced with. Biggest of all I want them to know that m dedication lies with them, i am there to mold them as sisters. My pledge mom has been horrible to me since "the incident." To the point of uniting an entire graduating pledge class against my nomination for office, luckily for, my chapter saw through it and have put their faith in me.

Tragedy avoided

AlwaysSAI · #6 05-06-2008, 10:04 PM

I love you boo.

breathesgelatin · #7 05-06-2008, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by navane

I agree, the whole thing is wacky; but, AlwaysSAI did state, "The SAI pledge process involves a fundraiser, among other things. Because when the class is initiated they have to present the chapter with a gift." So, in my opinion, if the chapter is going to "force" pledges to hold a fundraiser and buy a gift whether they want to or not, it's not so outrageous for the chapter to reimburse for the expenses.

.....Kelly

Why would you have a fundraiser to buy a pledge class gift? Let's face it - nonmembers of your organization are probably happy to participate in a fundraiser for cancer funding, a battered women's home, and things like that. Why would anyone think that outsiders are going to pay in money to a fundraiser to buy a pledge class gift? That's ridiculous. Unless you're selling something amazing, I can't imagine that EVER working.

amanda6035 · #8 05-07-2008, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ilaria Ame

wait wait wait...i know this has been resolved, BUT--the pledges spent $200 on a fundraiser that only made $177??? and one of the pledges REFUSED to chip in?????? first of all, the responsibility of the $200 should have never been put on one pledge, no matter how well off she is. second, you as her big, should have been able to warn her that IT MAKES NO SENSE for the chapter to reimburse her for money raised to buy a GIFT for the chapter. the only people responsible for reimbursing her are the women in her pledge class who made the descision to spend it. unless the descision was made by the pledge in question alone without consulting the rest of the women, in which case she alone is responsible for her actions. was no one watching out for these girls while they were doing this???? sorry if this is very aggressive, but this situation blows my mind.

I agree. The pledge class should have split the cost of the supplies - not the chapter, if it's a gift to the chapter. And if I had been her, there's no way on God's Green Earth that I would have fronted that money if my pledge sisters weren't going to pay me back...

That being said, I CAN understand if, perhaps, the chapter were going to reimburse her the money, and then charge the pledge class members the fair portion of the money (for example, if each new member was supposed to pitch in $20, then the chapter would take on the debt, but charge the new members $20 each to cover that debt...)

rufio · #9 06-22-2007, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Stop being a tool.

never! tool for life.

AGDee · #10 06-22-2007, 05:54 AM

This is a good example of why new members/pledges shouldn't be solely responsible for the planning of any events, even a philanthropy, because they have not been educated regarding the policies and procedures of things such as reimbursement of out of pocket expenses. I would imagine that most, if not all, organizations require that the expenses be approved ahead of time by a financial officer of the chapter or else they would risk not being reimbursed.

Have them work on committees with experienced officers/members rather than plan and execute something all on their own and you avoid these types of issues.