Lack of gun ho!

[Sue_XO]

I need to vent on my alumnae members here on the East Coast!
I got a list of everyone in my sorority all over Connecticut. I thought it would be a great idea if say you lived in Hartford - if you had a list of every other XO who lived in Hartford. My letter to everyone was basically like- "who knows.. your next door neighbor could be a XO!". Well, I did this in September and now I feel like a big ole loser because not ONE person has written, called or emailed me with a thank you or good job Susie!

I did this for every town in this god foresaken state!

I know this is not indicative of my sorority because I did a similar project for my chapter in Indiana and got TONS of thank yous and letters of praise.

Should I give up? Is it just the East Coast way of life? Am I being greedy by even looking for a little praise?

Thanks for listening to me rave! :) Sue

[The1calledTKE]

I guess its a case of older alumnae not careing about greek life anymore. I would say 3/4 of alumns have nothing or very little to do with the glo say like 5 years after graduating.

[lyrelyre]

I think people just get busywith their lives, I'm sure that they appreciate your work. I would love it if I had a list of all AXO alums in my town. In fact, I'm working on it now. There was an article in The Lyre a few years ago that graphed the activeness of alums. It said that alums are active immediately after they graduate until about age 30, then they are active again after age 60.
Maybe you could get in cahoots with a nearby collegiate chapter and plan a reunion or a get together to coincide with a campus event.
I always found it interesting when I was in college that we never heard from alums, but if their daughter rushed we were supposed to be really interested in her. Not that legacies aren't important but it would be nice to hear from alums other than when they say. "You better pledge my daughter."
I always said that I would be an active alum and I'm trying.
Keep up the good work!!!

[Rosealum]

Unfortunately, what you have found and the others have said are true...based on experiences with different alumnae chapters of my sorority.

It is very very frustrating to get excited about an event, either just the alums or with the undergrads, send out 100's of invitations and only getting a handful of people to attend..ususally the officers and their pledge sisters.

I agree that it is probably common practice that alums ignore their own chapter or one nearby or where their daughter/son goes to school, until kiddie wants to go through rush and then it's BY GOD, I'M AN ALUM AND SHE/HE IS A LEGACY!

Looking at another sorority in town, they have 2-3 different alumnae groups because they are taught as undergrads about how critical and expected that YOU will attend Alumnae meetings.

If undergrads don't see an active alumnae base while in school, it may be hard to create a vibrant, active local alumnae chapter.
:( Unfortunately, that leads to many alumnae (and sometimes undergrad) chapters going inactive.:(

It can be only a couple of hours or more a month..not bad for a "lifetime committment".

[33girl]

It does sound like a good idea....but it might have freaked people out a bit to get a list of names and know that their name was going to everyone else on that list. Sometimes people just do not want to be found and you have to respect their wishes. I think people in the Northeast do tend to be a bit more insular than those in the midwest and south. Plus some alums (especially if they don't keep contact with their collegiate chapter) see the sorority letters and automatically think "they just want a donation."

It's like a deer in the forest - the more you chase them, the more they run. You just have to let them come to you. Plus sometimes it's hard to connect with members of different chapters - as we all know 2 chapters of the same sorority can be as different as night and day. I would say just get a website up for the alum chapter and let them know you are there. If you don't have an alum chapter start one (it usually doesn't take that many members). I agree, it can be frustrating, but at least you know when people show up that they are there because they want to be, not because they have to be. Good luck!

[lyrelyre]

Everyone has great points. I think that good alumneaship (new word) should be taught to undergrads. That would really help. Good alums should be used as examples.

I disagree a little about them not wanting to be found. Nationals don't force you to update your address. If you do keep it updated I think it is obvious that it will be available to sisters.

[Tom Earp]

Sue_XO. You are going to always find that!!!

It takes a lot of DAMN HARD WORK and TIME!!!!

When it finally gets off the ground You will know what you did!!!!! and find the rewards in your heart!

As normal, it is the 20 % that do the work and the 80 % that are there for the ride, that is normal!!!!

I speak from experience as have become the Locator for Lost Alums! I have been working for 1 1/2 yrs. and started with 10 Alums and have 185 E-M from all over the country for my Chapter!

I have worked hard and find it very rewarding but frustrating as well!!!!!

Hang in as tommarow is a new day!!!!!

Do Not Give Up!!!!:)

[Sue_XO]

Thank you everyone!

My pity party can cease now! I just realized not all alums have our spirit! But I won't let these Yankees wear down mine! :)
Sue

[UMgirl]

On behalf of the spirited East Coast Yankees who care... I apologize :)

[MooseGirl]

Our alum chapter is finding the same response.
we have been working on our chapter's 20 yr reunion for several months now. Around 200 invites have been sent out...so far we have only about 25 replies. Some who said during the summer that they would come have sent back negative replies now. it is quite disheartening.
But I know I can have a great time with the 25 ppl that show up.(i also know the actives have not yet bought their tickets yet either)

so we hope for the best.

[madmax]

its not that they are not replying, they are probalby not even getting the original invite. the last time I looked at our alumni address book almost every address was obsolete.

just think about how many times college grad moves before they finally settle down. after graduation they might move home until they get a job and some $$, then when they geta job they get an apt., then they get transferred and get a new apt., then they buy a townhouse, then a single house, then they have kids and need a bigger house.

[DG4evah]

Hi! We are going through the same thing here in Alabama. It is very frustrating to use up all those stamps for people who are not even interested. We just got a directory finished for our area. We have 114 alumnae & only 20 dues paying members. 13 of them are advisers(who are wonderful, bless their souls!).
We are having better luck with the collegians- we are really working on recruiting them and pounding into their brains that DG is for a lifetime. But it really makes me sick when one of the alums tells me ,"I'm so busy". I've got four children, 11,8, 4, & 19 months plus very involved in church. spare me! Dg doesn't take that much time & I'm president of my local association as well as new member education adviser(very fun!).
We thought that after getting a collegiate chapter close by that would help. It did , but now it seems the advisers do everything. It also seems that we must grab these recent graduates before they get involved in other groups.
We also have some closed chapters(years ago) in our state that made alumnae very angry. I wish panhellenic groups would really think before they just close down a group. Of course, we don't know why- it's very hush -hush. It has definitely affected our alumnae association. Well, I guess I also wanted to vent. I am doing things to change this(i.e. website, more newsletters, more activities, phone calls), but it has been frustrating. Christy:confused:

[bolingbaker]

My fraternity chapter just hosted a 50th reunion: men who were in the chapter between 1949 and 1951. About 25 men came with their wives & families for a two-day event that included a casual afternoon, a dinner, and golf the next day. They are fanatically loyal to the chapter (not to Pike national, but to the chapter).
The thing that seems to be most effective is when one guy takes it on himself to organize the other men in his age range. They respond to each other rather than the undergrads or to someone they don't know. The 1980-era alumni are just as fanatical in their loyalty as the 1950-era guys. But they only respond to their own peers.
I assue everyone is the same way: they respond to their own rather than to a mailing from the chapter or some stranger. It's been very successful for us.

[kristiAZD]

I understand your pain, from a collegiate standpoint. We have a sticky situation with our alumnae. We have a small chapter and every semester we sponsor an alumnae tea for the alumnae to get together with us. We are small so we don't have much money, and a lot of money goes into postage and food and rental of our cafeteria to hold it in. Then only about 3 out of 465 alumnae show up. I had to host it this year and I was very upset at the turnout. It cost us over 150 dollars JUST IN POSTAGE to let everyone know about it and to have 3 alumnae show up was an insult. Everyone knows about it because they had to have one when they were here at school and we hold in on a Saturday so people can make it. Then I get angry emails from alumnae that say they didn't get the invite because it went to their parents house and they don't live there anymore. It is not MY FAULT they didn't change their address with the school or Nationals!!! I am sick of bending over backwards for alumnae that don't participate when all they do is complain that we never do enough.:mad:

[madmax]

We used to have similar problems, but in the last few years we have done a great job and our alumni turnout for events has improved tremendously. On Homecoming we had 4 times as many alumni as the next GLO.

1. We switched all of our alumni mail to email. Snail mail used to cost us over a grand a year.
2. We have a social calender on our website. If anyone doesn't get mail they dont have an excuse for not knowing.
3. Make sure you contact the key alumni and let them spread the word. Alumni want to hang out with their old friends and if they know others that are going they will be more likely to go. I We have key alumni that always show up with large groups of their pledge bros.
4. Send out the mail early. Alumni need time to make plans. They have jobs, kids and family events. the more time you give them the better.

[carnation]

Amen, madmax! I second you on the "jobs and kids"! Many alums are thrilled to come to chapter events but whether you have 1 child or twenty, you have to do some major juggling to leave for a day.

[SigkapAlumWSU]

I do feel your pain. When we first re-colonized the Alumnae chapter in my area, they sent out betwen 250-350 postcards or letters to let people know. For the chartering meeting, we had 50 show up (which was impressive) but then the membership dropped down to about 15-25 active participants. One thing that really helped us is that we have an alum forum on Yahoo with our calendar and events, directions, and everyone's email that we can get. We even have polls to figure out where and when meetings are convinient for the most people to show up. We rotate the meeting place so that alum from the far end of the area can come sometimes (if not all the time) and still feel like they have an active part. We also have 2 chapters in our state, and most of the alum are from one or the other. So, we volunteered to help out both chapters with Rush and any other events they needed us for. Rush is held at different times for the chapters and this allows alum from each chapter to take an active role to help the place they came from. We have Alum weekends at each chapter as well (mine is coming up this next month, I am so exctited!) which helps remind alum to try to take an active role after college. We encourage alum to come to at least one meeting a year (more if they can) and we have a bi-annual newsletter (I think) where you can put info about yourself, family, events or anything which helps to keep contact and ties.

[Tom Earp]

I just returned from our weekend of Founders day, and while I was dissapointed in the Alum turn out, we had from # 1 (me) along with #'s 6,14,16,and 19. We are called the old Farts!:D

But we had more up into the 500's and just Initiated # 595! That was a Very Proud Moment for me ant the Old Farts that attended!

It is a two way street, the Actives have to keep n contact with the Alums and the Alums WILL KEEP in contact with the Chapter!

I restarted the Alum Golf Outing 3 years ago and this last year, we had the largest turn out ever!

I have been working for over 2 years to get @ 200 e-m addresses and still working to get more! The Alums want to hear what is going on with something that is one of the most important times of their lives!

As # 54 says, Fraternity/Soroity is not for 4-5 years, for us it is a lifetime!

I hope # 54 will send me a copy of his Keynote Speach, and I will try to post it for you to read as it will reach each one of us!