Fraternity or Sorority Magazine

[AOII Angel]

AOII sends out hard copies to all collegians, alum chapter members, Life Loyal Members and subscribers. Everyone else must get it online. We had a phase out period. The Life Loyal program funds are actually going to an endowment to ensure the future of To Dragma since no one did prior to that and we almost lost the ability to continue publishing our magazine due to cost. There has been a lot of hard feelings about this, but it is what it is.

[pbear19]

The Crescent is sent to all members in hard copy, 4 times per year, unless the member opts out and chooses electronic only. All members have access to the electronic copies even if they get a hard copy.

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

AOII sends out hard copies to all collegians, alum chapter members, Life Loyal Members and subscribers. Everyone else must get it online. We had a phase out period. The Life Loyal program funds are actually going to an endowment to ensure the future of To Dragma since no one did prior to that and we almost lost the ability to continue publishing our magazine due to cost. There has been a lot of hard feelings about this, but it is what it is.

Theta's is similar to this except we don't have a subscription service. Collegians, alumnae chapter members, Life Loyal members, and those that pay the Fraternity alumnae per-capita fee get the magazine in hard copy. It is online for everyone else. We too had a phase out period.

I personally really like the hard copy of our magazine and I look forward to receiving it four times a year. Getting both my magazine and alumnae per-capita fees paid for life was my biggest incentive to becoming Life Loyal! Not only do I keep receiving the magazine, but my alumnae chapter dues will forever be cheaper!

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by ThetaPrincess24

Theta's is similar to this except we don't have a subscription service. Collegians, alumnae chapter members, Life Loyal members, and those that pay the Fraternity alumnae per-capita fee get the magazine in hard copy. It is online for everyone else. We too had a phase out period.

I personally really like the hard copy of our magazine and I look forward to receiving it four times a year. Getting both my magazine and alumnae per-capita fees paid for life was my biggest incentive to becoming Life Loyal! Not only do I keep receiving the magazine, but my alumnae chapter dues will forever be cheaper!

I have no idea if anyone actual subscribes to To Dragma, but the option is there. Seriously, if you're going to subscribe, why not just join your alum chapter? I guess there are members out there who don't have an alum chapter near by who still want the magazine.

[pshsx1]

I don't even know if it's possible to opt-out of The Journal. lol To my knowledge, every member has a free print subscription for life. They are all stored online as well, but not distributed in that manner. The smaller newsletters are, though.

Also, The Journal is published twice a year in April and October.

I guess according to the website, "parents, friends, and prospective members" can get it too.

[thetygerlily]

Kappa still sends The Key out via snail mail (in addition to online); I'm not sure whether that'll change in the future.

I've flipped through online magazines from various GLOs as well as other organizations. Maybe this makes me stuck in the past too, but I can't stand the online magazine formats either. I'm fine with it online- but give me a plain & simple PDF instead of the fancy virtual magazine. I don't need to see the simulated page turn, or load a special program that probably doesn't work well on a mobile device.

[SoCalGirl]

Sigma Kappa Alumnae who pay their annual dues get a hard copy. I'd love to see an option to get it digital instead of hard copy, although I don't love the digital either. I never know what to do with the old print versions. I feel guilty at the idea of recycling or trashing it so it just sits in boxes.

[KSUViolet06]

The Triangle is published 2x a year. We moved to an online format in an effort to go green. Everyone receives it digitally unless they communicated to us that they still wanted to receive a hardcopy. There was an "opt-in" for hardcopies form sent out last year. I get it digitally.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

The reason that some companies still send out catalogs is not because anyone orders something from the catalog, but because they serve as a direct marketing tool.

A fraternity/sorority magazine works in the same manner: it reminds people who wouldn't otherwise engage of their membership. Of course, it is expensive to do this, and there is an environmental impact, but getting a magazine is probably more likely to re-engage someone than just getting a letter asking for a foundation donation.

So, I'm surprised that groups would do away with them entirely. Perhaps they've done the cost-benefit analysis and found they are spending more than they are gaining in alumni engagement, and I wonder what they are doing instead.

Phi Mu splits the difference: if you are not up on dues, you get one/year instead of three/year.

[OPhiAGinger]

I totally get the arguments for going digital. Omega Phi Alpha has never had alumnae dues and our collegiate dues & fees are pretty modest. We, too, were told that our one-time lifetime membership fee paid for a lifetime of receiving the quarterly Chevron. However, if you crunch the numbers, the amount we pay in that lifetime membership fee doesn't even come close to covering 50 years worth of printing and mailing a quarterly newsletter, must less factor in inflation.

We've been seriously considering moving some of our Chevron distribution to a totally online system, but another concern arose. When a member moves and leaves a forwarding address, we are notified of that new address. But if we are only sending one printed mailing per year to our alumnae, we might miss the forward order. (Most of them are only good for 6 months.) Has this been an issue for any of you who send only one hardcopy to your members?

[misscherrypie]

The Torch of Beta Sigma Phi is available to all members online, but in order to receive a hard copy, you have to subscribe.

[MysticCat]

Phi Mu Alpha has three main publications. The Sinfonian, our primary magazine, is published twice annually right now. In the past it was quarterly. Hard copies are sent to all collegiate mambers (this includes two issues after transfer to alumnus status), sustaining members (phased out many years ago) and Life Loyal members. Other alumni can subscribe for $5.00 a year. Otherwise, the digital edition is available online.

The Red & Black is the collegiate newsletter, published four times a year. Collegiate members receive hard copies, but they are sent to chapters, not to individual collegiate members. The digital version is available online.

Resonance is the alumni newsletter. It is digital only and is sent six times a year to all alumni with valid email addresses. It can also be found online.

I can easily understand why there has been a move to digital magazines, but I agree with those who prefer the hard copy. Call me old fashioned too, but just like with books, there's just something kind of usatisfying about digital magazines.