[23017] in APO-L
[APO-L] On AAMD's, Pledge Fees and Other Items
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (jcb2181@TEXASONLINE.NET)
Wed Oct 23 23:36:36 2002
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 21:36:32 -0600
Reply-To: jcb2181@TEXASONLINE.NET
From: jcb2181@TEXASONLINE.NET
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
My first comment is that I find it interesting that we have spent quite a bit of time talking about AAMD's and fees and haven't touched on a real big change to the make-up our fraternity board that has been proposed=2E I guess it is just late October, pleant of time to air out the rest of the legislation ;=
)
Now back to our current topic:
1) Raising pledging and initiantion fees is not new=2E Each convention the "board finance committee" recommends something along dollar amount suggested here=2E The removal of the AAMD's is a new twist=
=2E
2) The consensus is that APO has a value greater than $100 to it's members, and there are some really good ideas that have been expressed that can used to overcome this "hurdle"=
=2E
3) The Fraternity is in dire need of raising money from somewhere=2E In 1989 pledge fees in my Xi Delta Pledge Book were "$37 (most to National) + $8 fellowship fee + T-Shirt"=2E If it's at $35 now=2E=2E=2E we've been affordable for a long time=2E Just think how postage, salaries and insurance (some of the fraternity's bigger expenses) have jumped up in 13 years=2E The fraternity has done pretty good with it's alumni and outside fundraising efforts, to keep the prices artificially low for a long time, but I can tell from the financial statements it just isn't keeping up=
=2E
4) I don't think point out how people look at $100 in different situations (blowing it unconciously vs=2E on APO) is a poke at anyone's finances or their economic situation=2E It is an observable point of human nature=2E Additionally, why wouldn't it be good for chapters or the fraternity educate brothers and pledges about personal fianace? Little steps like having the discipline to save a few bucks a week to pay a $100 pledge fee can be building blocks for brothers to save to buy homes, be free from debt, be in a position to donate back to the fraternity, etc=
=2E
5) From what I have read and hear, the Fraternity is making strides to derive more income from alumni and other sources, so the Board is attacking the problem on several fronts=
=2E
just some thoughts=2E
-James Busby
