Jess -
My recommendation if you are trying to squeeze things like New Member welcome gifts into the budget is to prioritize dues a little like ISUKappa said.
For example, most event t-shirts end up costing more than $5 per shirt. So if you make 5-6 shirts a year each member is paying something like $30-$40 of their dues to t-shirts alone. I know on some campuses chapters make shirts for
everything but maybe is is time to re-evaluate? Can you scale that back to 2-3 shirts a year? One idea is to actually buy NICER shirts and wear them for multiple events.
If your chapter has an Alumnae advisor for the treasurer, call them up! They can certainly help you find ways to prioritize and keep dues reasonable. And if you don't have alumnae advisors - contact national headquarters. I know, no one wants headquarters to tell them what to do. But if you do need help - ask! You should be able to get a special traveling consultant (or your consultant may stay around a little longer) to sit down with your officers and help them out. Your chapter can also get a "virtual" advisor (email/phone) - this is something that works well if your college is not near a major city with a lot of alumnae. Kappa also has free leadership trainers they will send to help out to just conduct general leadership training classes - might as well make that per-capita fee you pay headquarters work for you!
By the way, if you need more information and bylaws and such, you can find it all at the Kappa website:
www.kappakappagamma.org . Your login name is on the address label of your last issue of The Key, and there should be instructions there too. Go to the collegiate sections and they have forms and resources galore!
Loyally,
Paula
