Omega Financial

[LATau]

Does anyone's GLO use Omega Financial for dues collections? I'd like to hear how it works, if there are any problems, and if you feel it is worth the money. My GLO is considering making the switch from hand collections to Omega in the fall. Thanks.

[Kevin]

Originally posted by LATau
Does anyone's GLO use Omega Financial for dues collections? I'd like to hear how it works, if there are any problems, and if you feel it is worth the money. My GLO is considering making the switch from hand collections to Omega in the fall. Thanks.

I was a chapter treasurer that used Omega Fi. Now, I'm a chapter financial advisor that sometimes looks at it

Ask here, or feel free to PM me with any questions you may have. I'd recommend it to anyone though. Excellent system!

[UlChiOCutie26]

The University of Louisville Phi Kappa Tau Chapter uses it and they love it. It's very handy. PM me if you want some more info!

[Tom Earp]

They take the Financial onus from the Chapter.

They do take a small percentage of moneys from The Chapter.

They do the collections for the Chapter..

They do give You The Money that is collected.

They do have contracts for Legal Responsibility that are co-signed by parents to pay for said moneys in a rears.

You will get more money this way than if you have Members who just walk away from what they owe.

Strongly suggest that You and The Chapter look into it.

[AGDLynn]

This might be a lame question but here goes...

I know that OF charges a percentage based on how much a member owes for various things.

Is that % on the member's statement or is a grand total charged to the chapter? Or do chapters have an option?

Considering OF too.

Lynn

[Kevin]

Originally posted by AGDLynn
This might be a lame question but here goes...

I know that OF charges a percentage based on how much a member owes for various things.

Is that % on the member's statement or is a grand total charged to the chapter? Or do chapters have an option?

Considering OF too.

Lynn

You'll want to call them. I know that their goal is to collect a set amount each year from each member.

The formula is based on how many members you have, and what your total accounts receivable will be in each FY.

The % is taken out of whatever the member pays in. For example, if the % that OF is taking out of your deposits is 10%, the member pays $100, you get a $90 deposit made to your chapter's receivable account.

[Zillini]

I'm the Chapter/Financial Advisor for a large ADPi chapter. Sorry I'm not familiar with Omega Financial. But my recommendation for any GLO that is currently collecting it's own dues in house is that if you can afford it, by all means hire an outside accounting or collection agency. We did about about 8-9 years ago and it has made a world of difference in cutting down our Accounts Receivable.

I know nobody likes to talk about money and even less people seem to understand the accounting side of running a GLO, big or small. But let's face it, we're not charitable organizations and without cash you can't do anything.

Before we hired outside help we had real problems. We routinely had a 19-20 year old Treasurer trying to collect all chapter dues and house bills (meaning room and board). Due to the size of our chapter it added up to almost $250,000 per year that one young woman was responsible for. Maybe it was those first couple of Treasurers I worked with or maybe the southern "politeness", but they had real trouble standing up to sisters and/or parents demanding payment.

But all that changed when we hired proffessionals. It was amazing the difference when sisters/parents receive billings from a proffesional organization. Plus, they also have procedures in place to turn things over to a collections agency should a situation ever deteriorate to that point.

It's become so common place in our sorority that our Nationals decided to offer this service in house for all the chapters. Our Executive Office Financial Services will start handling all billings and collections this fall for a small fee.

On a side note, it never ceases to amaze me when an active/parent doesn't take the chapter bill seriously. I mean these people would never not pay their rent, mortgage or utility bills or continually be late. They know the University wouldn't allow them to miss a tuition payment. Why in the world do they think it's not that important to pay for their sorority, especially if that member lives in house?

Sure I'm understanding when money gets tight at home, but tell us about it! We can work out payment plans or something. Please don't wait until there's no other option than to cancel a membership. Nothing breaks my heart more than to have to request cancellation over money, have to go through the eviction process or prevent someone from eating meals at the house. Nobody wins in those situations, there's only sadness and hurt.

[dukedg]

I totally agree about using a collection agency. When I first came to advise at the Cal DG chapter they were uncomfortable turning women into collections and each year ended up more and more in debt.

We agreed that we would turn women over to collections but only after we had informed them (and their parents) of this plan. We also explained to the women how badly this would reflect on their credit history and how difficult this could make simple things like getting an apartment or car loan after college.

You would be surprised how quickly people turn over money once they realize you are serious. In the five years since we instituted this policy we have only ever turned one woman over to collections. Everyone else has worked out a way to pay her full debt to us. So sometimes you can "use" a collections agency and it doesn't cost you a dime to make the collections!

Oh, DG internationals has selected one collections company that we all use. I can find out which one if anyone is interested.

[TxGirl]

Omega is definately the way to go. I worked with the same chapter for about 10 years and the difference between when the chapter collected dues and with Omega collecting dues is incredible. The chapter based their budget on 85% collection, but was only getting 65-70%. With Omega there has not been a semester that is has been below 95%. The first semester we only had two women we did not collect from by the end of the fall semester (of 100+) and they paid by the start of the next semester.

I will tell you that it isn't cheap - but the more you bill through them the less it costs you. Of course what they bill you is just chump change compared to the extra that they collect for you. We figured in $40 per person (dues were about $550-600 for initiated members) per semester to cover it. You can do the math on that one.

They allow check by phone, mail and credit card payments. Bills can be sent to parents (if they are responsible) or to the member (if they pay their own). You can also keep track of info (phone numbers, email etc.) for ease of contact when members become past due. Depending on what your national organizations collection policies dictate, they will set that up as well (how long a member has to pay before suspension).

It makes it easy for the chapter treasurer and financial advisor to see where the chapter is at at any given time. Funds are deposited directly into the chapters account and can be put into different accounts (rent, chapter etc.).

There isn't much I can say bad about Omega except that you have to be sure to figure into your dues what their fee will be per member each semester so that you don't over budget. Their account executives are really helpful and quick to respond.

Can't think of anything else!

[carnation]

Omega is pissing me off. I paid all my daughter's dues at once last winter and they're still sending me dunning notices and claiming she owes a late fee. They have ignored the copied check that I sent awhile back.

My niece is having problems too. The chapter mistakenly put that she owed a fine for not attending study hours and when she pointed out the mistake, they promised to contact Omega and clear it. They contacted Omega and Omega hasn't cleared it and now she has a late fee too.

In all my years, I have never worked with a less responsive company. Time to get out the ole lawyer....

[TxGirl]

You need to talk to the chapter about your niece's situation b/c Omega can't issue a credit - the chapter (usually the treasurer) has to do it. All Omega can do for that kind of situation is post it for the treasurer to see so that she can fix it. They like it done within three days. But, like I said, they can't go in and credit her account - the treasurer or someone else with administrative access has to do it. I know that my FVP's were not always on it and as Chapter Advisor I had to fix a couple things b/c it was past the three days. You might try contacting the Chapter Advisor or the Financial Advisor (if the chapter has one).

As for your daughter probably the same route. If you paid the chapter directly for her dues they treasurer has two ways to make sure her account gets credited - mail it to Omega or go in and manually post it. If she just deposited it and didn't post it then that could be the problem. If you can't get response from Omega then go to the treasurer or the advisors. I know used to check Omega about once a week depending on what was going on with the chapter, just to see who was behind etc.

[carnation]

We did all that and so did the chapter! And Omega goes right on ignoring us all.

[_Lisa_]

Originally posted by carnation
We did all that and so did the chapter! And Omega goes right on ignoring us all.

Sounds like you need some face-to-face interaction with the chapter then. Whenever snail-mail/email/phone calls don't get the job done the most efficient route to take is to speak with someone face to face.

[lrau123]

I am the current treasurer for my chapter and we use Omega Financial, and love it. Our rep. that works with us is wonderful and very helpful. Using their system makes collections so much easier than collecting checks each month.