Housing Corporations

[honeychile]

I posted much of this in another Forum, but I wanted to see what y'all think. Has anyone ever been on a Housing Corporation (either as a student or alumnae)? Does your chapter use the Housing Corporation system? Does it work well for you?

Here's my story, in a nutshell:

When I was an active, we had a truly wonderful Housing Corporation. There was something like $400k in cds, and at least one room was redecorated each year on the interest - sometimes the whole suite. FYI, at Pitt, sororities (except for one) have a suite, which usually has a formal living room, an informal living room, and a Chapter Room/den/dining room (depending on the chapter), plus two large, room-sized hallways and two kitchens. This was an upscale apartment building that was converted into a dorm, so each sorority basically gets two apartments.

Our formal living room was mostly off-white & gold, the chapter room in leathers and taupes, and the informal side was blue & white when I was there. Anyhow, it was drop dead gorgeous and when the NPC had a meeting at Pitt, it was unanimously decided by Panhel to have the tea in our suite. Unfortunately, the next treasurer of our Housing Corporation has since been deactivated, after embezelling all the monies!!!!

Then, at our 150th anniversary, it looked like downtown Beirut. No carpeting, horrible nasty pine utilitarian crate-looking furniture, no blinds, no draperies, no window treatments. The elevator hallway (your first look at each suite) was papered in the same wallpaper that my mother's interior decorator did in her bathroom!! The few of us who came together went to the Holiday Inn and wept into our collective pink drinks.

This Friday, I gritted my teeth and decided that I was going to like it, no matter what. I was pleasantly surprised (for the most part), but there's STILL so much to do!! At least that wallpaper is gone, and they are trying to keep it nice.

I do know some alumnae who will give some money; unfortunately, the one who would normally give the most was so disgusted by the "Early Bomb Shelter" look, I can't see her willing to cough up a few thousand (as she has done in the past). What are good fundraisers for Housing Corporations?

So, was anyone ever an active when the Housing Corporation started up? How hard of a transition was it? Any other thoughts?

[AGDee]

I was on the House Association for my chapter almost from it's inception when I was a new alumna. The housing situation that time fell through after a couple years and I've been trying to help a group of women get started again so that my initiation chapter can get an official house again. All of the chapters on this campus don't own property, but rent houses from local landlords. Currently, a group of women are renting a house which they call "the house", but it's not official and they don't have a resident supervisor (which we want to have). They have a lot of issues because we have no real jurisdiction over things that happen in the house/women not paying their share of bills, etc. If we can make it official, we have some say in all of that and can help urge members to pay their rent.

Our source of funding has always been members, both current and alumnae. A portion of their monthly dues, new member fee, and Initiation fee have been put into a House Association account. It has taken over 10 years to build that fund back up after the last official house didn't work out. Begging for alumnae donations is a biggie, but also for their time and talents. If you can get a group of parents and alumnae (and their spouses) together who are willing to pitch in manual labor, you'd be surprised how little budget you really need. Think.. fabric to be turned into drapes, perhaps a Pergo flooring with a donation of rugs. Seek donations, not just of money, but of supplies or time/talents. You'd be surprised what a little paint and fabric can do to a room!

When we furnished the original house, we got a lot of furniture that was solid stuff and in good shape from a hotel liquidation place.

We are able to get mass mailing labels for all alumnae in our area, from a certain chapter, etc. from our IHQ. You could check into that to start a big donations campaign. They also probably have some sort of House Assocation specialist who can help you get started. Contact them!

Good luck!

Dee

[AOIIalum]

Yes, I'm currently a Corporation President.

Naming rights are a good way to raise funds. It's funny what alumnae will do to get their names on a plaque in a computer room or bedroom or whatever. Ask for non-monetary donations as well. You never know who has contacts with an interior decorator, a paint store, a carpeting store, etc. Like Dee said, sweat equity can be just as important as cold hard cash.

One thing to remember is to have a firm plan before ever asking for the first penny. Don't re-invent the wheel, if your group has an established National housing or Properties arm, utilize their knowledge and resources!

If the chapter hasn't stayed in touch with her alumnae--OR have only contacted alumnae to ask for money--go slow. Work with the chapter to establish some kind of alumnae outreach that doesn't ask for money at first. There's no bigger turnoff to tell alumnae "we know we haven't contacted you in years but we want your cold hard cash."

Hope this helps!

[Little E]

Wow, that's a horrible story!

When you approach alumnae, I would go in with a very clear plan. We've done some re-decorating of our chapter house and one of the biggest issues has been people not knowing where the money is going. We are all young, the chapter is only 6 yrs old, so we just aren't paid enough yet to throw tons of money away. I would challenge the actives to hold a fundraiser and then challenge the alumnae to match that amount. Make both sides work for something they have in common.

We did a great fundraiser where we did final-grams for students that their parents bought. It went great and they ususally make a couple thousand (a lot of money to a small chapter) some goes to convention and the rest a project. Something like that might work.

Good Luck rebuilding!

[STL Kappa]

I just thought I'd throw this in because I just found out last night... 70% of our dues (a little more than $1600 per member a year) goes to our house board! And the expected budget for next year was over $633,000!!

[WCUgirl]

I was actually going to start this thread a few days ago.

I am currently a Corporation Secretary and on the fundraising committee, so we are looking for some great ideas! One of the ideas we're presenting at our annual meeting on Saturday is a 10-10 club. The idea is that after graduation, each sister is committed to donating $10 per year for ten years.

I know that one of the other NPC housing corporations here in Charlotte will do the exam care packages. They send a letter to the parents of the chapter members and they can order the packages for the corp. board to deliver prior to final exams. The girl that was telling me about said they've raised a lot of $$ that way.

[CougADPi]

I second the getting alums help, not just in monetary, but in donations of supplies and time. That is a big way we got our house fixed up last year. Also look into options through the school. I know at WSU alums can donate through the WSU Foundation and specifically request that the money go to ADPi's House Corp, or whatever. That way its tax deductible and the university has to do most of the paperwork. If you want to see what donations of time, supplies and money can do, check outUpsilon's House Site

[Tom Earp]

honeychile, etal, a House Corporation is set up for three reasons as I am sure all of you know.

1. Trying to find a House.

2. Keeping a House up.

3. Building a New House. (May be combined with # 1).

I have been on Our House Corp. for 10 years now, and brought up an idea of building a new house on property that We do own 20 years ago.

Now, where does money come from for the House Corp. Alums of course.

Yes, we did have $$, but paid off a small 3 bedroom house we bought to give us a 3 corner lot for a new house to sacve on interest. (Need a Great Alum who is willing to do the job and knows accounting and financing).

We also have a dwindleing Active Chapter and used these $$ to keep it square with IHQ so now, we are virtually broke in the HC.

But there have been some inovative ideas presented on our Web Site where Alums can help donate $$ and be representated.

lambdachipittstate.org.

Take a look and it might give you some ideas!

No, it is never easy, keep it incorporated, it doesnt cost much and will be in the wings when and if needed!

[AOIIalum]

Yes, a Corporation can and does all of these things, but that's just the basics. I don't know for all GLO's, but what I'm familiar with is that the Corp is the actual legal entity of a collegiate chapter. The Corp (not the local chapter itself) owns ALL property (this includes furnishings, various and sundry equipment, artwork, crystal/china, etc, physical plant, appliances, etc.) They handle the hiring and firing decisions along with all necessary human resources needs for legally staffing a chapter house. Also, do not forget that the Corp is the only entity actually authorized to enter into any type of contract on the behalf of the local chapter. Anyone ever deal with a composite company after some uninformed collegiate signed a composite contract, for example?

It's a lot more than just obtaining and managing "the house." There's nothing like running your own (insert your Corp's annual budget HERE) business, and that is exactly what a House Corp does.

Yep, I've actually talked before about turning Corp volunteering into viable resume experience

[AGDee]

Apparently some GLOs use their House Associations/Corporations in different ways. While ours is responsible for the physical upkeep of the house, our Chapter Advisor usually hires the Resident Supervisor who is then responsible for the hiring/firing of additional house staff, as well as ordering food, supplies, etc.

STLKappa.. the amount you state sounds like it might include rent for those living in? Either that, or you're paying a parlor fee of $200 a month if you don't live in. If that includes room and board, you're getting a great deal. Generally, you figure out what your house expenses are (rent, utilities, food, employees, taxes, insurance, supplies, cleaning service, lawn service, snow removal, etc) and then charge a rate to those living in which is competitive with living in the dorms (preferably a little cheaper to entice women in!). Any remaining expenses are divided among the members not living in as a parlor fee, since the chapter house is open to them for studying, socializing, sometimes meals, as well as chapter events, meetings, initiation, recruitment, etc. $200 does seem high for a parlor fee but cheap for rent. Your parlor fees are higher if the house isn't filled to capacity. The biggest budget I've worked with was our chapter at the University of Michigan when they were at Total (120) with 68 women living in the house and about 10 employees total (including bus boys and cleaning crew, etc). The budget then was in the 400,000 range total, although that was in the early 90's. It floored me and made me realize that it would be a good resume item to be the Vice President Finance who was managing a budget of that size. Pretty impressive for any collegian!

Dee

ETA: I do like the idea of selling plaques, stepping stones, etc. with alumnae names on them. You could also encourage memorial donations.

[honeychile]

Originally posted by AOIIalum
Yes, a Corporation can and does all of these things, but that's just the basics. I don't know for all GLO's, but what I'm familiar with is that the Corp is the actual legal entity of a collegiate chapter. The Corp (not the local chapter itself) owns ALL property (this includes furnishings, various and sundry equipment, artwork, crystal/china, etc, physical plant, appliances, etc.) They handle the hiring and firing decisions along with all necessary human resources needs for legally staffing a chapter house. Also, do not forget that the Corp is the only entity actually authorized to enter into any type of contract on the behalf of the local chapter. Anyone ever deal with a composite company after some uninformed collegiate signed a composite contract, for example?

It's a lot more than just obtaining and managing "the house." There's nothing like running your own (insert your Corp's annual budget HERE) business, and that is exactly what a House Corp does.

Yep, I've actually talked before about turning Corp volunteering into viable resume experience

This is what I'm most familiar with. One of the questions I can't seem to get an answer to is, does a Corporation have to be renewed? If not, then we should still have a legal Corporation. If it does, we have to find an alumna who can at least do the paperwork for free, if not the filing fees.

A second problem is getting the current sisters to fully understand the whole concept, as you've stated so well. They have been collecting Housing Corp. fees, but not delivering them. We understood that, if something broke, if we needed something for the Suite, if we even needed cleanser - we contacted the Property Manager (who was on Housing Corp.) They have been so independent for so long, this is really going to be hard! They've put a LOT of sweat equity into the Suite's current look; I'd just like to see a plan of action, instead of one sister painting a room one color, then another painting it a different color two weeks later.

One MAJOR expense that we'll have is in painting the formal living room. The ceiling is something like 20 feet high at points and is 25'x16', so we need scaffolding. We cannot use scaffolding without using the University. We must pay union wages to the University painters. So, before we spend a small fortune for just one room, I really think we need a decorating plan, if not a decorator. Let's face it, if you get 10 people in a room, you'll get at least 5 opinions on what should be done (hence the decorator). One of our Junior Leaguers has said that she'll round up a decorator, but we haven't heard anything further.

So, breaking it down:
1) Do we need to file a new corporation?
2) How do you introduce a totally new, but more efficient, system to a chapter, while still asking them to help out with the "sweat equity" - at first.
3) Do other HC's take yearly inventory of the property, and send out newsletters to alumnae? The chapter does the occasional newsletter (usually via email), but I think one combined with the Housing Corp. would work even better (because you can include an envelope, for starters!).


Keep the ideas coming!!!


ETA: We don't have a staff problem, as the University provides the neo-nazi security guards, and there hasn't been a regular cleaning woman since I was in school.

[WCUgirl]

Originally posted by honeychile
This is what I'm most familiar with. One of the questions I can't seem to get an answer to is, does a Corporation have to be renewed?

Probably not. Check w/ your Secretary of State. Here in NC, if you're established as a perpetual corporation, even if it goes inactive for x number of years, it's still a corporation until the dissolution papers have been filed.

[bluefish81]

I served on the Corp Board as an undergrad when I was facility manager. Since then, I have not, however there is an overlap of some of the Advisory Board officers and Corp Board Officers as some of them have dual rights, so we're kept right in the loop of what's happening.
That being said, our chapter is quite possibly in a similar situation as yours in terms of some major updating needed on the facility. When our numbers were down, our Corp Board in order to keep the chapter open and afloat reduced the rent to the collegians and as a result - remodeling that would have normally taken place got shifted to more of an emergency basis. Remodeling projects got a lot smaller and cheaper.
Last spring our Corp Board had an inspector come in and check the house out to get an idea of how much life was left in everything - windows, furnaces (we have at least 4) etc., so that could be factored in to future updates. Last summer updates started with replacing windows on one side of the facility, repainting it and ordering new furniture for 11 members in the house to be placed in four rooms. This summers project will be more of the same.
Since then, our HQ had a conference for Corp Board's and AB and after returning from this our Corp Board members sat down and laid out a 20 year so that everything would be completely updated.
Within the next year, the Corp Board is going to start fund raising for our living room (which really needs it). We have the advantage that normally there are at least a few alumnae who went to Iowa State for Interior Design and are willing to lend their skills to develop a new insert item here. Another that was picked up was a plan to show the alumnae why a renovation was needed, i.e. here's some picture of the dated room and here's what the plans are with it. Something about them knowing were the funds are going and how they are going to be used will help.
I couldn't find another item I was searching for, but I know for awhile there was a measure in Congress about contributions made for chapter improvements being tax-deductible. That might be something to research and see if it passed and could be used as another angle to get some donations. Just a thought.

Good luck on your project!

[AOIIalum]

Originally posted by honeychile

So, breaking it down:
1) Do we need to file a new corporation?
2) How do you introduce a totally new, but more efficient, system to a chapter, while still asking them to help out with the "sweat equity" - at first.
3) Do other HC's take yearly inventory of the property, and send out newsletters to alumnae? The chapter does the occasional newsletter (usually via email), but I think one combined with the Housing Corp. would work even better (because you can include an envelope, for starters!).

1. As AXiD670 said, you may not have to refile. It depends on the state. In Ohio, we had to file a domestic reinstatement to reactivate the corporation when the new board came in.

2. Do something tangible, something they can see before asking them for sweat equity. Once they see the CB doing something (even if it's coming in and doing a major deep clean on the suite) they may be more likely to buy into the plans. Let them know in writing about the Corp's reorganization and short-term plans. If your GLO doesn't require a chapter representative on your CB, get one. It makes a world of difference if the Chapter President or Property officer, for example, is at the CB meetings and can report what's going on to the chapter. Actions speak louder than words, and once the chapter sees and knows the Corp is acting on their behalf, it'll be easier to "sell" a new system. Trust me, it takes time, but it's worth it once accomplished!

3. We've instituted an inventory control tag system which is updated when any new property (everything from shower curtains to the huge food service fridge!) is obtained or disposed of. The next step in that process is having the chapter inventory the "chapter equipment" to ensure a current and complete listing of everything (down to the last catsuit!) The house is inventoried once a year. It's made life so much easier for us as we rent, and we now documentation of what we actually own.

As for a newsletter, we have not done one in a while but send an annual announcement/evite for the annual board meeting each fall. We'll be doing a mailing soon for a landscaping "sweat equity" project, where the Corp provides the mulch/flowers/shrubs, etc and we ask the collegians, parents' club members and local alumnae to come help with the weeding and planting.

We are required to do an annual letter to the collegiate chapter, outlining what we plan to do to improve the property and reviewing what is expected of them in relationship to the property. We also do a move-in packet at the start of the year to residents, outlining the house calendar (openings and closings, etc) house rules, emergency contact paperwork and so on. At the end of the year, we do a summary letter to the chapter and request their "wish list".

It really helps when the CB is planning on expenditures and improvements to know what the chapter members would like to see. For example, we finally got high speed wireless internet installed last year and the girls seem to be happy with that particular improvement. We also purchased an ice machine--our first--that's been a huge hit!

I'd be happy to share prior letter samples if anyone would be interested, just PM or email me.

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by CougADPi
I second the getting alums help, not just in monetary, but in donations of supplies and time. That is a big way we got our house fixed up last year. Also look into options through the school. I know at WSU alums can donate through the WSU Foundation and specifically request that the money go to ADPi's House Corp, or whatever. That way its tax deductible and the university has to do most of the paperwork. If you want to see what donations of time, supplies and money can do, check outUpsilon's House Site

Your house looks awesome now!