What are exactly fraternities?

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Originally posted by jubilance1922
Question: do alumni NPC/NIC members pay dues, both nationally and on a chapter basis? If you don't join an alumni chapter, do you have the option of still being financially active (we call that Member-at-large in Sigma Gamma Rho)? And do you have a life member catagory?

Just wondering.

DPhiE nationally has lifetime dues of $250 or annual $10 dues. Some local alumnae associations have additional fees as well. An alumna doesn't have to be a part of an AA to pay these dues.

[emb021]

Originally posted by 33girl
But they probably have some fee that they pay during their collegiate years that is earmarked as a "lifetime alumnae fee" or something of the like. I can't imagine that they would never ever have any sort of national alumnae dues - what would be the point of supporting alum chapters?

It may depend on the group.

In my org, we don't ask the alumni to pay national dues of any kind, but the alumni associations must pay an annual fee ($15) to be registered.

We also ask alumni to become Life Members (on-time fee of $100), and pay annually to our endowement to become Torchbearers.

[Tom Earp]

Lambda Chi Alpha has a policy, you pay your Initiation Fee and You are a Member for Life.

There are no International Organization Fees as an Alumni.
If there is a Chapter/City Alum Association, they can ask for yearly dues that are not overly burdensom.

We do on an International level have Donation Drives for the Educational Foundation.

Ways that We have tried to cut expenses are:

1. Not sending out our Magazine if they are returned with no address.

2. If not a donor, then getting the Magazine if you sign up for it on our Web Site.

3. Cutting back on Staff and HQ Functions for the local Chapters.

Running a National Organization is an expensive proposition especially if Chapters are all over the USA and Canada.


Mailings, sending ELCs, Regional and National meetings cost a lot of money as We pay for a represenative from each Chapter to attend.

[Wolfman]

For NPC/NIC fraternities (excluding KA Psi and Iota Phi Theta which are also members of the NIC), when the term alumni/ae chapter is mentioned, are they referring to alumni associations of undergraduate chapters or chapters of alumni/ae members of a given group in a given locale? And as "chapters" are they fully functional like undergraduate chapters,i.e., they carry out social action programs, have scholarship fundraiser dances, have the ability to vote at conventions, etc.?

I ask this because for NPHC groups a "graduate chapter" denotes something that may or may not have the same referrent in groups in the other councils in general.

I'm active with my graduate chapter of Omega Psi Phi (chapter officer and committe chair). We have annual dues on three levels:national,district and local. D-0 groups tend to be more dues-driven, and less emphasis on endowments.

"The value of our fraternity is not in numbers but in men, in real brotherhood"--Bro. Walter H. Mazyck,Esq.,The Oracle,1925.

[Rudey]

Wolfman, it all varies from organization to organization. We have alumni chapters linked to individual chapters and local area alumni orgs.

The NPHC grad chapter is different IMO from an NIC/NPC one in its function probably...

-Rudey

Originally posted by Wolfman
For NPC/NIC fraternities (excluding KA Psi and Iota Phi Theta which are also members of the NIC), when the term alumni/ae chapter is mentioned, are they referring to alumni associations of undergraduate chapters or chapters of alumni/ae members of a given group in a given locale? And as "chapters" are they fully functional like undergraduate chapters,i.e., they carry out social action programs, have scholarship fundraiser dances, have the ability to vote at conventions, etc.?

I ask this because for NPHC groups a "graduate chapter" denotes something that may or may not have the same referrent in groups in the other councils in general.

I'm active with my graduate chapter of Omega Psi Phi (chapter officer and committe chair). We have annual dues on three levels:national,district and local. D-0 groups tend to be more dues-driven, and less emphasis on endowments.

"The value of our fraternity is not in numbers but in men, in real brotherhood"--Bro. Walter H. Mazyck,Esq.,The Oracle,1925.

[WCUgirl]

Originally posted by Wolfman
For NPC/NIC fraternities (excluding KA Psi and Iota Phi Theta which are also members of the NIC), when the term alumni/ae chapter is mentioned, are they referring to alumni associations of undergraduate chapters or chapters of alumni/ae members of a given group in a given locale? And as "chapters" are they fully functional like undergraduate chapters,i.e., they carry out social action programs, have scholarship fundraiser dances, have the ability to vote at conventions, etc.?

As far as I know, AXiD does not have any official alumnae associations linked to an individual chapter (I say official b/c I know of a few groups of alumnae from individual chapters who are very active in supporting their initiating chapter, having reunions, etc.). Our active alumnae associations are allowed to vote at convention. Some of them will hold programs or sponsor programs for a nearby collegiate chapter, some of them will give out scholarships, and some of them will do nothing more than meet once per however often.

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by Wolfman
For NPC/NIC fraternities (excluding KA Psi and Iota Phi Theta which are also members of the NIC), when the term alumni/ae chapter is mentioned, are they referring to alumni associations of undergraduate chapters or chapters of alumni/ae members of a given group in a given locale?

Hey Wolfman,

To the best of my knowledge, there are no Delt alumni chapters connected to a specific undergraduate chapter. They tend to me more geographically based in terms of where the alum lives.

Our Colorado Delt Alumni Chapter has members from all over the country and Canada.

[AGDee]

It sounds like much of this varies by GLO. In Alpha Gamma Delta, there are voluntary $30 annual alumnae dues. This is in addition to a small fee which is paid at the time of initiation which is an alumnae chapter fee, which goes to alumnae chapters to help cover newsletter fees, etc. If that collegiate chapter doesn't have an alumnae chapter, then it goes into a fund which can help pay for a Chapter Advisor to attend Convention, so that the chapter doesn't have to cover that cost directly. The $30 annual alumnae dues are voluntary and were initiated with the logic that 90% of our members are alumnae but 90% of our budget comes from the collegians. Hardly a sign of equity!

We have alumnae chapters and alumnae clubs. Alumnae chapters dedicate themselves to supporting a specific collegiate chapter by assisting with recruitment, ensuring that advisors are provided, etc. Alumnae clubs are more loosely structured and a little more social. Alumnae Chapters have more structured requirements about what they do. Both do philanthropy projects/fundraising and donate to the Foundation. We also have an "Adopt a Chapter" program that either Clubs or Chapters can participate in. They adopt a collegiate chapter to give extra support, care packages, etc. They can be geographically near that chapter or half-way across the country. When we colonize or re-colonize, we try to make sure there is an Alumnae Chapter that is either in existance or can be created to provide support to the new chapter.

Dee

[oncelurked]

Originally posted by 33girl
But they probably have some fee that they pay during their collegiate years that is earmarked as a "lifetime alumnae fee" or something of the like. I can't imagine that they would never ever have any sort of national alumnae dues - what would be the point of supporting alum chapters?

I was just trying to keep this one simple but I don't think we can.

I think it varies quite a bit. Chi-O has the policy that once the initiation fee is paid, you are a member for life. Our alumnae chapters are genrally area-based, and we do have local dues if you want to participate in alumnae outings. Generally, we also keep mailing lists for alumnae of individual chapters for special events like homecoming.

[adpiucf]

ADPi collegiate members are assessed a one-time (inter)national initiation fee and small annual "delta" fee that is used for alumnae membership development. Post-college, ADPi alumnae are members for life (barring any violations of ADPi bylaws or code) and are not bound to pay any kind of set (inter)national alumnae dues, although there is an optional "ReMember Dues" campaign where alumnae may contribute money for the purposes of alumnae membership development.

Dues that an alumna pays to an alumnae association are used for that specific local chapter, although usually the association contributes to the ADPi Foundation and the "ReMember" campaign.

[jubilance1922]

Originally posted by oncelurked
I think it varies quite a bit. Chi-O has the policy that once the initiation fee is paid, you are a member for life. Our alumnae chapters are genrally area-based, and we do have local dues if you want to participate in alumnae outings. Generally, we also keep mailing lists for alumnae of individual chapters for special events like homecoming.

Sigma Gamma Rho also has that rule, but in order to be considered "active" by HQ (and receive member benefits) you must remit alum dues on at least a national and regional level. If you join an alumnae chapter, you must also pay chapter dues. If you pay life member fees, then you would pay chapter dues after that. Our fees are MUCH higher than the one's listed in this thread. Our alumnae chapters are organized geographically, and we mainly participate in community service projects in our particular geographic area, though we also do social/sisterhood events as well.

[33girl]

Originally posted by oncelurked
I think it varies quite a bit. Chi-O has the policy that once the initiation fee is paid, you are a member for life.

then your initiation fee is probably honking huger than ours.

I'm not being a jag, I just have the feeling it all equals out somewhere.

[Wolfman]

Yes, BGLOs dues structure,generally speaking, is much higher, I think. Our graduate chapter is having an initiation, and the price tag is gets fairly close to $3000, inclusive of national,district, local and other assessments. If you become a Life Member, you're free of national dues.

" Que Psi Phi til the day I die!"

[bonelifer]

In Kappa Kappa Psi we have what are called Alumni Associations. AA's can be chapter, district, or regional/metropolitan. In order to be a member of one of these you have to have be an active member of the National Alumni Association($25.00 a year). Also you must have been an Active, Conditional or Associate member of the fraternity, or be an honorary member(one time fee of $30.00, usually paid for by the chapter). A chapter, district or the national organization may bestow upon someone honorary membership. It is only bestow upon those either a. Are exemplary in their field of endeavor, b. Have somehow greatly affected music or the field of music, or c. Have in some way provided great assistance to the National organization, a District, or the Chapter in question. If you are an honorary member you have the same rights as fraternity Alumni, including the right of purchasing a LIFE membership. Our LIFE memberships have a one time cost of $250.00. Life members get a Life Member roster number, LIFE Member Shingle, LIFE Member Card and get our national magazine(The Podium). They also are allowed to attend national/district conventions and if a chapter chooses them as a proxy may vote on their behalf. Being able to vote on behalf of a Chapter and attend the closed business sessions are one of the rights a LIFE member has over an Alumni member. Since our Alumni association holds their biennial convention concurrently with ours there are some sessions built around Active/Alumni interaction, while some sessions are open only to Actives and Chapter Proxies.

As far as being active after graduation, that is really unfortunately something that varies chapter by chapter in our organization. I've seen chapters that have strong Alumni support and chapters that didn't have support of their Alumni due to either being weak or not attentive enough to the alumni base. But for the most part I feel our alumni situation is one of a growing nature, due to the fact that Alumni Chapters failed to work for the most part and were disbanded during the early/mid-eighties for this reason and because of the then hazing situation--> Insurance situation(The control structure was antiquated[from around our founding in 1919] and therefore Alumni Chapters often were way too autonomous and hard to punish/control for hazing activity). Then in the early nineties the National Alumni Association was formed. It's basically barely 10 years old right now, so it's still evolving. Our NAA is working hard through both the district and the district alumni associations to help get Chapter and Regional/Metropolitan Local Alumni associations started. As far as the structure, it's NAA -->> District(District AA's are considered a LAA) -->> all other LAA's. They each have their own officers and send an annual report to the NAA along with an LAA due of I believe $25.00, plus the NAA fees from the members of the LAA. Each LAA is free to collect or not collect a local fee for their local administrative needs and purposes. The NAA fee's cover national administrative cost and cover their part of the NATIONAL INSURANCE FEE.