The economy and greek life...
 

Is this economy affecting any other chapters? I'm hearing that a lot of the chapters at my school are starting to struggle, but for all I know they are only rumors. This semester's exec board has started to refuse to allow girls to take a semester off for financial reasons. At a meeting a few weeks ago, the chapter was told that we have a pretty significant number of actives who aren't fully paid up on their dues. Our social calendar is pending next year because we don't know if we have the money to put on events! This news, in turn, is bringing down the house morale and a lot of girls who have been paying are now wondering if the (pretty expensive) dues are worth being in a house that cant afford to do anything. I dont just mean parties, I mean we will have significant cuts in sisterhood events, food, activities, etc. We have had to cut senior activities as well. This semester there are additional costs for going to events, so girls who DO pay/pay on time are having to pay extra. Clothes and bags are no longer included in dues either, for example rush shirts.

Legally speaking, in the state of California, is there anything our chapter can do to fix our situation besides fundraisers? We use APH right now, could we take girls to collections for overdue dues and fees? If we take girls to collections, will that still be an option if they decide to drop the house?

I really hate the financial part of all this!! I know it's a business, but it really sucks that there are no alternatives anymore. It doesnt seem fair to have a "pay or leave" policy for your sisters. For some girls, credit cards and student loans just arent an option for a sorority. With so many people (and parents) losing jobs, paying $2000 a year (plus miscelaneous fees/expenses) just to be Greek is an easier thing to cut than clothes or housing.

I feel like pursuing collections and possibly ruining credit is so harsh for someone I call a sister.

We are losing out on so many AMAZING girls because of financial issues :(

any similar problems/advice?

If the chapter has paid for rush clothing, change up what you're doing and have the girls buy their own clothes - items that can be used in everyday life, rather than just for rush.

Cut back on the party t-shirts, favors and "extras." They'll most likely all be in a box 2-3 years after you graduate anyhow. (Old fart statement) I have never understood why it's such a priority to have t-shirts for every little event.

Send people to collections if you have to. Don't sleep on this. It's the easiest way to send your chapter down the drain. I know it sounds really harsh, but especially for a large chapter with a large house, the "business" end is part of sorority life.

This is going to sound Pollyannaish, but trade some of the planned activities for nights watching TV at the house. Believe me the moments you remember the most are the little ones, not the huge affairs.

Re-do your budget as your parents would - what can you CUT without detriment to all (t-shirts is a good one 33 mentioned) - can you do a social at a venue with no costs thereby reducing overall costs? Slice and dice the budget but most of all, discuss this with an advisor or national officer right away before it becomes a runaway train. Good luck.

I agree with the idea of re-working your budget and/or finding cheaper alternatives to your events/para/etc. Definitely do fundraisers and seek out donations whenever/where ever possible and encourage sisters to pay their dues. Granted it does suck to have to implement a "pay or leave" policy but with or without the recession, those are generally the rules. In terms of past due fees/dues, maybe you can set up a payment plan so that at least the chapter has a little money to pool from when needed and the sisters that owe arent as pressured to pay such a large sum all at once that might literally bankrupt them.

Try having a semiannual "budget day"

Make it separate from a regular chapter meeting where your entire chapter goes over the budget.

Tell your sisters about a month ahead of time to look at their finances and try to determine whether or not they will be able to stay active in the next semester.

On that day, let your sisters know that they will be signing a contract stating that they approve the budget and that their dues will be what is allowing this budget to work the way it is.

Make one of the clauses in the contract explicitly say that they will pay the dues they promise even if they drop out or are removed by the processes of the Sorority. This way you won't have as many sisters dropping mid-semester because of dues. (It's better to have people drop before your budget is created, instead of after, I wouldn't be surprised if that is where a lot of your financial turmoil stems from)

If an emergency arises, and they cannot pay because of a genuine financial crisis, then let them know that you are willing to work with them. If it's a really tough call, put it up to a chapter discussion and vote.

If a sister tells you before "budget day" that they do not think that they will be able to pay next semester, then try to see what is stopping them from being able to pay. Work out a payment plan, ask the sister to do an additional fundraiser for the sorority, or work with her to try and get a better job/manage credit/reduce other costs. (If a sister makes a payment plan, make sure to incorporate that into your budget)

If she tells you that she still cannot make her dues, then you should ask her to resign. Let her know that she will always be your sister, but she cannot remain in the house if she cannot pay her dues.

The whole point of this is to do 2 things

1. Make sure your budget is predictable
- Having a budget that is getting thrown out of whack because you don't have the cash inflow that you need can get quite expensive. You end up buying too many shirts and too many meals. Being sure of how much money you have is almost as valuable as the actual money. You won't have any more sisters drop because ya'll are "unsure" about whether or not you will have events

2. To get people to take Fiduciary responsibilities seriously
- Social Psychologists have described the process of altering a general population's opinion about something as "framing". Right now, it seems like paying dues to your organization is not "framed" as important enough. By taking a day aside to talk about one thing and one thing only, you get importance of paying dues on time and having a balanced budget into your sister's heads.

In answer one of your questions- Yes. It seems that the economy is putting a damper on Greek life for many. All of the sororities (even the "upper tiers") at a large state school in my state took on additional members this past spring to make up for the large number of sisters who had to drop due to finances. Sororities taking new members in the spring, with the exception of 1 or 2 glo's on campus, is unheard of at this particular school.

I keep hoping that things will be on the upswing before the end of the year.

Are the sisters who owe outstanding dues still members in good standing?

They shouldn't be. Furthermore, if they aren't paying their dues, they shouldn't really be allowed to attend events (mixers, formals, etc) because dues *pay* for those events.

If it helps, work out payment plans with them. Sometimes it's intimidating to know you owe a ton of money, but it makes it easier if they know they can pay a little at a time.

Like 33 said, cut unnecessary things like t-shirts.

When you're thinking about social ideas, try to find things that are less costly. Can you reuse decorations from a past mixer? Maybe have some low-key sisterhood nights ?

One day of rush and Bid Day tshirts were the only chapter financed tshirts we ever received. We paid $15-$20 for all social event, intramural, and other shirts if we wanted them. We also didn't have other party favors like mugs. I did not miss having them!

We also got put on social probation if our dues were not paid up. We were not allowed to attend any social functions (or the more fun sisterhood ones) if we were not current on financial obligations.

You really will have to implement something to make sure members pay. The way I see it, is that it's just part of the responsibility. I had a job to pay for most of my non-essential spending throughout college. It's a tough decision, but I'm sure girls could give up one or two nights of going out, or a new pair of shoes, to pay their dues. = )

Depending on your chapter, you may be able to cut some costs other places, too. Like dining...is it really necessary to have 4 types of juice? What about all of the dressings on the salad bar? We also had only cold cuts and salad available for Friday lunches, but I would not have minded eating them two or three times a week.

Forego the fresh flower arrangements in the hallways and bathrooms, and cut back to having them in the entry way except for important days when guests will be visiting. A lot of decorating type things my house council did were superflous, and we probably wouldn't have noticed if they were not there!

Check with your org's policies, but you probably CAN'T fundraise for any purpose except to donate the proceeds to a philanthropic or charitable cause.

I've never seen it happen yet that a dedicated member who worked out a payment plan with her chapter, and followed through with making the agreed upon payments in full and on time, even if the payment was $25 a month until what seemed like eternity... had to resign her membership.

Where there's a will there's a way!

We have girls buy their own shirts for recruitment, and most houses as stated above are usually willing to work out a payment plan to members that are really dedicated to the house.

When members join they realize that there is a financial commitment as being part of the sisterhood/brotherhood. With the economic climate suddenly plunging in recent years though, it's a little more understandable because people who could pay now can't. I second (or third or fourth) the payment plan option. Make sure they make payments. If Susie misses payments on her plan but goes to the bar and then smokes some 'mad kush', she clearly does not have the interests of the sisterhood at heart and should be removed.

I noticed that this thread was started by a southern cal greek..... if she is at at Cal State school, or a UC campus, students at those schools are being hit by huge fee increases, and cutbacks in enrollment and course offerings. Keep them in your thoughts!

The semester after I graduated, my chapter lost alot of girls due to money issues....also apparently there are only about 100 girls registered for fall recruitment at USF...usually we have at least double that by mid July.

Don't fret about that just yet. That happens every year at my Florida school so it's normal for us, then you have the last minute rush to sign up for recruitment and we extend the deadline and STILL have people rolling up on the last minute (and even on the day of because of their own stupidity but by then it's too late since the deadline has WAY passed):rolleyes:. The economy is probably just encouraging similar experiences at some of the "smaller" Greek Life schools. It will not be TOO bad.

That's mostly because people are lazy as shit and always wait until the last minute to do anything though.