alum support?????

[lesliedz]

Hey girls. I know that I do not have alot of time available to be as active on thread as I would like to, but I do try to read up on what everyone has been doing!!!

K... here is my problem, SIU is tearing down our greek row! They are going to build us new houses, but these houses are not as we would hope them to be.
I was talking with many girls in my chapter and we discussed getting help from alum to build us a great chapter house. We are currently working on our alum relations because in the past we have not had success with the position.

My question is that...what are some ways that your chapters get your alum involved more with the chapter & how do you receive more financial help from your alums???

Thank you thank you thank you
Leslie

[lesliedz]

any ideas!!!! please we need your help

Love,
Leslie

[dzandiloo]

Sorry Leslie-
I keep meaning to reply but the days get away from me!

1st and foremost, you have to reach out to your alums w/more than just requests for money (I know you aren't planning that!). You have to help them reconnect with the chapter & keep them informed of what's going on-show them you value them and want them to continue to be a part of the chapter. A really easy way to do that is to use your alum relations budget to send a Newsletter to your alums (you can get a strip list from HQ of the most current addresses).

Another good way to do that is to start a Chapter Association w/some way to keep them regularly connected. If you are not familiar w/Chapter Associations, they are what we call the entire body of initiated members of a single chapter...all women initiated into your chapter, ever in its history, are members of the chapter association. Whether your chapter has a functioning chapter association is another story (in other words, someone has to take the initiative to actually recognize it & notify the membership). They don't have dues like the brick & mortar alum chapters that you join based on the city you live in.... Some Chapter Associations even have websites (go here to see some links to chapter association web-sites).

For Xi Nu's Chapter Association, I started a Yahoo Group w/a handful of e-mails a few years ago, ranging from charter members to current collegiate members (if you have the most recent alum directory from HQ, some of those may still be good). These groups are easy-as-pie to set up: go to www.groups.yahoo.com and create one (ours is called TarletonTexanDZs).

Through word of mouth, and promotion on the Chapter's web-site, we have now grown to enrollment of 90 women. Through the list-serve, we keep intouch about every day life, and coordinate chapter gatherings and even some donations (sometimes it is better received when it comes from another alum, than when it comes from the collegians themselves...). Membership on the list-serve is closed to non-members, so weirdos can't get on and post things. I confirm membership w/HQ if someone tries to subscribe that I don't know personally.

Anyway, I've rambled. I hope some of this is helpful. I visited Carbondale when I was a Chapter Consultant about 11 years ago & have great memories of that house/visit. Building a house is a pretty big endeavor, though. I encourage you to work w/the University to see what can be done to meet your chapter's needs/desires. Good luck!

Edited to add a better description of a Chapter Association:
Every initiated member in Delta Zeta is a member of a chapter association. Why? Because all Delta zeta members were initiated into a chapter with a unique Greek letter name. The ‘chapter letter’ bond is what makes everyone a part of a chapter association. Chapter associations differ from alumnae chapters because they are defined by one’s initiating chapter regardless of geographical location. On the other hand, alumnae chapter areas are defined by geographical location, not on chapter letter designation.