[17313] in APO-L
Re: Chapter Dues
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Kenneth W. Hunter, Jr.)
Fri Oct 3 03:00:20 1997
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 01:57:54 -0500
Reply-To: "Kenneth W. Hunter, Jr." <KWH7007@TNTECH.EDU>
From: "Kenneth W. Hunter, Jr." <KWH7007@TNTECH.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
Brothers:
Having served as a voting delegate at the '96 National Convention, I figured I
would pass some information along. Last December, the Convention voted, after
much debate, to raise Active Membership Dues to $12/year (from $8/person)and
the Initiation Fee to $25/person (from $20/person). I looked back at my set of
Convention Committee reports, and found the following rationale for these
decisions, as stated by the Finance Reference Committee:
RATIONALE: Over 1995 and 1996, the Fraternity has lost money. For the year
ending August 31, 1995, we lost $48,558. For the year ending August 31, 1996,
we lost $23,817. Besides hoping to eliminate this lost in the future, we hope
to expand recommended programs, many of which may enhance future revenue
opporunities. Due to the effort to maintain an open membership policy, we feel
that operating expenses of teh Fraternity are best born by active members,
through the initiation fee and AAMD's. Initiation fees had not been increased
since 1988, and AAMD's had not been increased since 1986. In that time,
salaries for National Office personnel have been restructured to attract a
higher quality of employee. In addition, other expenses such as postage and
printing have also increased.
Another factor, not mentioned in the report but discussed during the debate,
was the need for the National Office to upgrade its computer system. There was
opposition to these increases, most noticeably from individuals who felt that
an extra $4/year from actives (and $5 per initiation) would mean the end of the
world for several chapters and their members. Personally, I don't see that
happening, but then again, I could be wrong.
These were not, however, the only changes in fees. The Convention also decided
to lower Life Membership fees from $100 to $75. This was done to attract more
life members, especially with the coming 75th anniversary in 2000. Finally,
motions to raise the Pledge Fee from $10/pledge to $15/pledge and to raise the
Honorary Membership Fee from $5/member to $10/member were not passed by the
committee.
This might be off the point of chapter dues, so I conclude with a brief
description of my chapter's finances. Our chapter's actives pay $100/semester,
which is the lowest semester due of any fraternity on campus. Our pledges pay
$40 for their pledge period, almost all of which goes to pay their fees. These
are the lowest fees on our campus. Still, in comparison with most APhiO
chapters, they are high. The rest of the money is used to pay for Rush, cover
national and section dues, and cover other expenses (Explorer Post charter,
service projects, publications, etc.). We receive no financial support from
the university, and our low membership forces us to scrounge every dollar we
can.
Thanks for reading. I hope this is helpful.
Ken Hunter - Tau Epsilon Chapter - Tennessee Technological University
KWH7007@tntech.edu
