3. Chapter/Club Management: General Administrative Information
EXECUTIVE
BOARD
The
executive board is the governing body of your
chapter or club. As a group, they maintain
membership records, plan events, and coordinate with
the University. The only requirement for a chapter
or club executive board is that each board must
include a president. A chapter board must also
include a representative to the Truman Alumni
Association Board of Directors, typically a four- to
six-year commitment. The executive board of a
chapter or club should be built around the needs of
the group. For example, Dallas has a college fair
coordinator, Mid-Atlantic has an intern programming
chairman, and Iowa has a membership chairman. If a
job in the chapter or club involves a continuing,
year-round, substantial commitment, there should
probably be a permanent position on the board. Each
group should maintain a list of executive board
position descriptions and their responsibilities.
The information provided in the beginning of this
book will provide a beginning framework for any
group and can be customized as needed.
The
executive board should hold two to four regular
business meetings per year. Before each meeting,
the president should circulate an agenda. If a
board member cannot attend the meeting, he or she
should provide a report for the board via e-mail.
After each meeting, one board member should
circulate the minutes of the meeting to the board
members and Denise Smith, the Director of Alumni
Relations at Truman State University.
The
executive board should set goals for each calendar
year. Typical chapter or club goals may include:
membership goals, number of events to be held,
average attendance at events, community service
goals, and fundraising goals. The group should make
sure each goal fits within the parameters of the
Truman Alumni Association mission. The executive
board should discuss progress on the goals at each
meeting.
BUDGETING
Budgeting helps leaders prioritize chapter or club
needs and anticipate event subsidies for the year.
Income can be broken down into two general
categories: membership dues and event registration
fees. Typical chapter expenses include postage,
copying, bank fees and event-specific expenses. A
rough budget will include all non-event-specific
income and expenses.
Membership
Dues:
Membership dues are set by the Truman Alumni
Association Board of Directors, but all the income
from dues stays in the chapters. A chapter’s
membership dues income can be estimated by dividing
the previous year’s income from membership dues by
the number of members it represents and then
multiplying that number by the membership goal set
by the Truman Alumni Association or chapter officers
for the current year. New chapters can estimate
membership dues income by multiplying $17.50 by the
membership goal set by the Truman Alumni Association
or chapter officers.
Example 1 (existing chapter)
Previous year’s membership dues income |
|
|
10 single memberships at $20.00 |
$ 200.00 |
|
5 single memberships at $10.00 (after 7/1) |
$ 50.00 |
|
10 joint memberships at $30.00 |
$ 300.00 |
|
5 joint memberships at $15.00 (after 7/1) |
$ 75.00 |
|
|
Total Membership Income |
$ 625.00 |
|
Total number of chapter members in previous
year |
45 |
|
Truman Alumni Association membership goal
for new year |
50 |
Estimated membership dues income for new
year |
$ 695.00 |
|
($625/45)(50) then rounded to the nearest 5 |
|
|
|
|
|
Example 2 (new chapter)
Truman Alumni Association membership goal
for new year |
15 |
Estimated membership dues Income for new
year |
$ 260.00 |
|
($17.50)(15) then rounded to the nearest 5 |
|
|
|
|
Please Note:
Recent graduates may join the chapter of their
choice at a special half price rate.
Break-even Events:
Most club events will be break-even events because
clubs do not collect dues and therefore do not
subsidize events. Budgeting for a break-even event
is usually done by estimating all the costs
associated with the event (including mailings to
promote the event) and dividing by the estimated
number of attendees. The price of the event should
be set equal to or higher than the result of the
total event cost over the number of attendees. When
setting a ticket price for events in a chapter, it
is a good idea to set the non-member/guest price
substantially higher than the price for members to
encourage alumni to join the chapter.
Example 3 (non-subsidized dinner)
Expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
Advertising (mailing to 200 people at 50
cents per piece) |
$ 100.00 |
|
Restaurant price per person (including tax
and gratuities) |
$ 27.00 |
|
Estimated attendees |
35 |
Estimated event cost |
$ 1,045.00 |
Estimated cost per person |
$ 29.86 |
|
Ticket price for members (in chapters) |
$ 30.00 |
|
Ticket price for non-members (in chapters) |
$ 45.00 |
|
Ticket price (in clubs) |
$ 32.00 |
Subsidized Events:
Subsidized
events are events where the chapter or the
University is paying a portion of the ticket price
for chapter members or alumni. In chapters, it is
good to subsidize the cost of some events for
members using the income received from membership
dues.
Example 3 (subsidized dinner)
Expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
Advertising (mailing to 200 people at 50
cents per mailing) |
$ 100.00 |
|
Restaurant price per person (including tax
and gratuities) |
$ 27.00 |
|
Estimated attendees |
35 |
Estimated event cost |
$ 1,045.00 |
Estimated cost per person |
$ 29.86 |
Subsidy per member (either from membership
dues or University) |
$ TBD |
|
Ticket price for chapter members
|
$ TBD |
|
Ticket price for non-chapter members
|
$ 40.00 |
|
Ticket price (for club members) |
$ TBD |
REPORTS TO THE UNIVERSITY
Membership
Reports:
Each chapter processes membership dues internally
and reports the member’s information to the Office
of Advancement. The Office of Advancement then
mails a membership packet to the new member(s).
During peak membership times, memberships may be
collected and given to the Office of Advancement in
bulk. However, chapters should try to give the
Office of Advancement information on new members
within one to two weeks of receipt to insure the new
members receive their membership packets in a timely
manner. At the minimum, you should report the name
of the new member and whether a single or joint
membership was purchased. Ideally, you should
provide the following information for each new
member:
-
Full Name & Graduation Year
-
Single or Joint Membership
-
New Membership or Renewal
-
Spouse’s Name & Graduation Year if a Joint
Membership
-
Full Address
-
Employer
-
Phone Number(s)
-
E-mail Address
-
Permission to publish information in the
Truman Review magazine
If
a member joins your chapter online, the University
will provide you with the above information on each
new member and the date the payment was processed.
Membership fees from the University may be received
by the chapter via check or via direct deposit.
Financial Reports:
Chapters are required to submit a quarterly
financial report to the Office of Advancement. This
financial report should include a minimum of the
following: income (dues, events, miscellaneous
items), expenses (events, scholarship, miscellaneous
items) and account balance.
Event
Reports:
A chapter or club is required to submit a quarterly
event/communications report to the Office of
Advancement. A sample of this report is included
below. The report contains two parts: (1) a summary
table of the chapter or club communications and
events and (2) an event evaluation of each event
including the event date, event description,
comments and suggestions, and attendee names.
Within the summary table, keep track of the number
of Honor Points earned for each communication and
event, as well as a cumulative sum of those points.
(The Honor Points structure is located on pages
24-28.) Maintaining this information helps both the
chapter (or club) and the Office of Advancement.
Chapters may use old event reports to target
interested alumni when sending out small mailings of
newsletters or membership appeals. The Office of
Advancement utilizes the reports to log chapter and
club events and to reward active chapters at the end
of the year.
SAMPLE CHAPTER QUARTERLY REPORT
TRUMAN STATE UNIVERSITY ________________ ALUMNI
CHAPTER/CLUB
Chapter/Club Events and Communications Report for
20XX
Date |
Description |
# Attendees |
Honor Points Earned |
Cumulative
Honor Pts |
1/15/XX |
Example: Chapter Board
Meeting |
6 |
5 |
5 |
2/1/XX |
Example: E-mail
invitation to Sports Event |
N/A |
5 |
10 |
2/3/XX |
Example: Formal
invitation to Sports Event |
N/A |
10 |
20 |
2/25/XX |
Example: Sports Event |
52 |
15 |
35 |
3/10/XX |
Example: Chapter
Newsletter via USPS |
N/A |
15 |
50 |
EVENT EVALUATIONS
Date – Chapter Board Meeting,
Location
Event Coordinator: (Insert Name, E-mail, Phone
Number)
Notes: Insert information about the event here.
For Example: cost/discounts, positives, negatives,
what you learned, etc.
Attendees:
(List all alumni attendees)
Date – Sports Event,
Location
Event Coordinator: (Insert Name, E-mail, Phone
Number)
Notes: Insert information about the event here.
For Example: cost/discounts, positives, negatives,
what you learned, etc.
Attendees:
(List all alumni attendees)
GENERAL RECORDKEEPING
Bank
Statements:
Each chapter should maintain a notebook of all bank
statements. The notebook should include copies of
all deposit slips with a description of what each
check was for (i.e., John Smith’s check deposited
05/05/05 for $50 included a $20 single membership
fee and a $30 banquet ticket).
Membership Lists:
Each chapter should maintain complete lists of
members for each year. Chapters can use old
membership reports to target interested alumni when
sending out small mailings of newsletters or
membership renewal appeals.
Event Reports:
Each chapter and club should maintain copies of all
old event reports. Event reports contain
information about interested local alumni and what
events and forms of communication are most
successful for the chapter
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