Dues systems

[Kevin]

I've been trying to design an all-inclusive dues system for our chapter, something that includes all t-shirts, parties, etc... Has anyone else tried a system like this and is there anything special I should know before trying to set it up.

I've started by organizing all of our bill-stubbs and expenses for this semester -- I figure that's a good start... But to predict what you'll need next semester is really tough. I hate to propose a raise in dues to the membership without having some solid stuff behind my plan, so maybe someone out there has some ideas I can use..

Welp thanks in advance!

LHT,
Kevin

[tridgirl]

We do this, with the exception of bid day and formal pictures and formal shirts, everything is included. As VP Finance I have each office draw up a budget for the expences and I review them to make sure we aren't assessing, then out area financial assistant does the same and then I send everything into our accounting control center. Its not hard to include everything, and in our case we didn't have to raise dues to include sponsor gifts, paddles for bigs and shirts for greek week and derby days. If I did have to raise due I would show them the budgets and show how much we make off of dues every semester, what we pay to nationals etc. then tell them how much easier it is when you don't have to keep forking out money. In our case we have the second highest dues on campus so I would try to aviod raising dues as it would make us less competitive. Remember when reviewing your chapeter budget to cut overspending on useless things and increase it on what we call manditory spending, if you have to pay for it to participate thats maditory spending, and the chapter HAS to cover it. I hope it works out for you, its easier then it sounds if you have a solid budget.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

We had very low dues that only covered national and campus fees and a few mixers, but we had many out of pocket expenses which we paid almost every week. Instead we started a "slush fund" which covered those expenses and then some. For example, if we attended another GLO's event together instead of each paying for an individual ticket, we would write a check for our sorority and use money from the slush fund. We would count the number of t-shirts we would buy and number of events we would attend and figure out a price. I think the amount that we each had in our slush fund was $50. When we attended an event or bought something, we would deduct the amount from the individual's slush. Any money left over went to pay for the formal. It eliminated the need to pay for different things every week, but it did increase our dues.

[SAEalumnus]

A good number of chapters in my fraternity, mine included, use Omega Financial, Inc.. They allow you to fully customize your billing practices. You can add charges for tshirts and anything else you want, all of which will appear on the bill which they mail out for you. They do take a cut for their services of all funds they receive directly, but from a convenience standpoint, it's worth it.

[Kevin]

A good number of chapters in my fraternity, mine included, use Omega Financial, Inc..

We've been fortunate enough to find them. A decent treasurer usually shouldn't have any trouble keeping a %100+ collection rate.

My problems right now since we lack any organized history is to do enough budgeting for an all-inclusive dues system.

[Pike4Life]

It can be VERY tough to create an "all inclusive" system of dues, especially if you are looking to keep the overall costs per member down.

My chapter kicked an "all inclusive" program idea around several years ago, but received some MAJOR resistence from many of the Brothers. Their main arguement was "What if I don't want an Alpha Gam mixer shirt...My girlfriend is a Phi Mu, so I will only wear Phi Mu mixer shirts" or something similar. Basically it boiled down to many members feeling like we were trying to FORCE certain things on them. They couldn't see the benefits we were trying to offer them. They decided they would rather pay a lower semester dues structure and then be "nickle and dimed to death" throughout the course of the semester with individual expenses for t-shirts, pictures and other assessments.

Although in theory the "all inclusive" dues structure looks like it would be a great tool, you have to take into consideration that not all your members are going to be anxious to pay an increased amount of dues when many of them struggle to pay dues at the previous lower amount.

In my experience Omega Financial works best as a collection agency for those members that are habitually deliquent or have large amounts of back dues. Because they charge so much (what is equivalent to 10% of my chapter's individual dues), the Exec. decided to only report and register those brothers with a considerable amount of debt.

And older chapters with established patterns of behavior are VERY hard to break out of the cycle despite the hard work of a "decent treasurer." You'll find it's hard to have a 100% collection rate than you imagine.

[Kevin]

And older chapters with established patterns of behavior are VERY hard to break out of the cycle despite the hard work of a "decent treasurer." You'll find it's hard to have a 100% collection rate than you imagine.

Sorry meant nothing by that, it's just that my particular chapter had a treasurer last year that rarely looked at Omega Fi and really didn't take action against delinquent brothers. I on the other hand have done it by the book and now (because I've collected all his late money) have a 100%+ collection rate...

But you're right, old habits die hard.

Pike4Life, your chapter seems a lot like mine (financial structure-wise) Omega takes a huge chunk out of our budget (like 10-12%) but it's keeping our collections at a very high level so it's hard to complain.

Thanks for your advice everyone!

LHT
Kevin Taylor
MT 5
University of Central Oklahoma

[Pike4Life]

I'm glad you're doing things "by the book!" It is all too easy for a treasurer to be lax and let guys slide, but I've always said that the treasurer should be known as the biggest "a$$hole" in the chapter to all the members...it's only that way that you'll have good luck at collecting money from your Brothers.

Since you seem to be having some success, what methods and approaches are you taking when you address someone's debt? I'd love to pass some suggestions on to my chapter's current treasurer. He's facing some of the same things you did - his predecessor wasn't the most organized or effecient person, so he's had to go back and try to straighten out the financial records first, and is just now getting around to addressing the back dues that so many members still owe.

And like I mentioned before, he and the President decided to cut the Omega cost by just putting those with back debt on the system...sort of a "punishment" for not paying your bills. Those guys with a zero balance or that are current and stay current on payments are not put on Omega.

I'd appreciate any tactics you can share.

Pike4Life

[Kevin]

Certainly, in Sigma Nu (and I hope other GLO's) we have something called the 30/90 rule. After 30 days of delinquency I suspend a member unless they have a payment plan to me IN WRITING before that time. That acts as a contract and if they break it they are suspended (can't park at house, use it, go to meetings, etc).

At 90 days late in Sigma Nu we are required to remove them from our fraternity. We strip them of their badge and all membership and they can't come back. I haven't even had to suspend someone yet.

With my problem-people, as in people who were habitually late, I had a new bylaw passed that allows a 5% discount on dues for semesterly prepayment.

Omega Fi has been a great tool (even though it's so damned expensive) we're looking for alternatives. It handles all the collections aspects of the job (or most of them) so I can focus on other things. It's wise for you to have Omega because some treasurers can get it done when it comes to collections, but your next one might not be so great.

I was talking with an alum from nearby Oklahoma University and it seams back in the early 80's I guess they had a treasurer who was a massive individual. His technique on late brothers was to sit on them until they cut the check. I can also see that being an effective technique

LHT
Kevin Taylor
MT 5
University of Central Oklahoma

[shadokat]

Sorry to pipe in a little late on this, but one thing that we do that always seems to encourage people paying on time is to offer two payment dates. The first payment date is slightly earlier, but you get a $25 discount on your dues. The second date is the regular dues amount. People who are late that aren't on payment plans immediately lose their privileges to participate in activities once the second date arrives. It ends up weeding out folks who may never pay. Deactivate them and move on. I never had to do that, but other groups have.