To: Alumni Members of the Middle Western Province

From: Charles Wesley Morgan, III - Keeper of Records & Exchequer
         Middle Western Province
         Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

Subject: Alumni Chapter Budgets for FY05

Brothers,

As is the customary practice in alumni chapters of our province during the summer months, you will soon be planning and adopting your chapter's budget for the coming fiscal year (FY05) which extends from October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005. So that your chapters will not overlook any standard items or be surprised by shortfalls during FY05, you are reminded that the following items should be considered for inclusion in your planning:

• Grand Chapter Insurance - The annual payment of $500 for the Grand Chapter Insurance Premium is due on October 1st. Send your payment to our Province Headquarters. The province forwards those premiums to International Headquarters to confirm that your chapter has paid them.

• Kappa Foundation Contribution - To be certified to operate as a chapter of the fraternity, your chapter must contribute at least $100 per year to the Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation. That contribution is due on October 1st. Every alumni chapter must submit that annual contribution through our Province Headquarters.

• Province Participation Fee - Every alumni chapter must pay the annual Province Participation Fee of $150 that is due on or before October 1st and delinquent after November 30th.

• Grand Chapter Delegate - Each chapter must register at least one delegate for the 77th Grand Chapter Meeting to be held in July 2005 in St. Louis, Missouri. Specific items to consider in planning for this obligation may be:
  • Travel to St. Louis
  • Hotel accomodations for five or six nights
  • Pre-Registration Fee of approximately $250 to $300 per voting delegate
  • Per diem for meals, etc.

  NOTE: In conjunction with this line item, some alumni chapters also appropriate funds for a hospitality suite at the Grand Chapter Meeting. That cost could include from $200 to $500 per day for the suite rental, plus some amount of money to provide refreshments. The final determination on this item may depend on just "how much fun" you want to have while in St. Louis.

• Province Council Delegate - Each chapter must register at least one delegate for the 83rd Province Council to be hosted by the Muskogee Alumni Chapter next spring in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Specific items to consider in planning for this obligation may be:
  • Travel to Tulsa
  • Hotel accomodations for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights
  • Pre-Registration Fee of $150 per voting delegate
  • Per diem for meals, etc.

  NOTE: Similar to the "note" regarding Grand Chapter Meeting, above, some alumni chapters appropriate funds for a hospitality suite at the Province Council Meeting. That cost could include from $200 to $500 per day for the suite rental and refreshments. The final determination on this item may depend on just "how much fun" you want to have while in Tulsa.

• C. Rodger Wilson Leadership Conference - The conference will be hosted by the Epsilon Eta Chapter on September 18th in Kirksville, Missouri, and will be hosted by the Zeta Theta Chapter in Stillwater, Oklahoma during February. Your chapter is required to send at least the following officers to at least one of these conferences:
  • Polemarch
  • Vice Polemarch
  • Keeper of Records
  • Keeper of Exchequer
  • Membership Intake Chairman
  • Chapter Advisor(s) for any undergraduate chapter(s) under your supervision
  Expenses to be considered for inclusion in this line item should be:
  • Travel to Kirksville and/or Stillwater
  • Hotel accomodations for Friday and Saturday nights
  • Registration Fee of $30 per delegate
  • Per diem for meals, etc.

• Chapter Advisor Liability Insurance - The premium for purchasing a $1 million liability insurance policy (or rider) for Chapter Advisors is paid by the local alumni chapter and the province. The cost varies across the province. After the policy (or rider) is purchased, the province will reimburse fifty percent of the premium cost, and your local chapter must reimburse the other fifty percent. The concept is that no Chapter Advisor should have to pay any expenses for serving in that capacity.

• Chapter Advisor Training - While there is no registration fee for the actual training of advisors, there are expenses associated with sending the advisor to the training. For those advisors who must be trained, the costs are to be borne by his chapter of affiliation. Expenses to be considered for inclusion in this line item should be:
  • Travel to the training site
  • Hotel accomodations during his stay (usually two nights)
  • Per diem for meals, etc.

• Undergraduate Chapter Funding - In accordance with the Cooperation Agreement between your chapter and the undergraduate chapter(s) under your supervision, there is a contractual obligation that the alumni chapter must provide direct financial support for the undergraduate chapter(s) involved. Because this is a "negotiated" item, it varies from chapter to chapter. Nonetheless, as a rule of thumb, the minimum amounts observed across the province have ranged from $250 to $500, and the maximum has ranged from $500 to as much as $3,000 per undergraduate chapter. In the instances of larger obligations, some alumni chapters have included the cost of travel and/or hotel accomodations and/or registration fees for undergraduate delegates to attend the C. Rodger Wilson Leadership Conference and/or Province Council Meeting and/or Grand Chapter Meeting. Whatever the case, now is the time to make those decisions.

• Guide Right - One of the requirements for certification of an alumni chapter is that the chapter must have a Guide Right Program. Not every such program requires the expenditure of chapter funds, but most do. The extent of your chapter's Guide Right Program may determine this budget line item.

• Student of the Year Pageant - Sponsored as a province program at each year's Province Council, this has not received the attention it deserves "primarily" because the vast majority of our alumni chapters have not brought contestants from their local program, whether that local program may be an adjunct of their Guide Right Program or a local Student of the Year Pageant from which the winner is selected to participate at the province level. This year's pageant at the province level (Spring 2005) could be especially important since the winner would represent the province at the Grand Chapter Meeting. The province winner receives up to $1,000 in scholarship award, and the winners at the Grand Chapter level may receive much more. Of course, this project comes at a cost to the local chapter. Specific items to consider in planning for this obligation on behalf of the student may be:
  • Travel to Tulsa
  • Hotel accomodations for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights
  • Per diem for meals, etc.

• Founders' Day - In accordance with the fraternity's Guide to Protocol & Etiquette, every chapter is supposed to celebrate the founding of our fraternity during the month of January. In most cases, there is some cost associated with this banquet, observance, or celebration activity.

• Scholarship - Most alumni chapters consider this to be one of their most important annual projects. Not only does it offer a direct financial benefit to the recipient(s), it also produces "good press" for the fraternity. No matter that your chapter may fund such scholarships through the profit garnered from raffles, dances, grants, car washes, or whatever the case may be, the "expense" of the scholarship remains a budgetary line item from your chapter's assets.

• Social Action - Whether it be the fraternity's Prostate Cancer Awareness Program, a continuing participation in the Assault On Illiteracy Program, Voter Registration/Networking Program, or some other activity that benefits the community, alumni chapters are disposed and inclined to participate in programs that address societal issues. In many if not most cases, this costs money and may include direct contributions to worthy causes such as the Heart Association, Sickle Cell Research Program, Cancer Society, NAACP, United Negro College Fund, etc.

• Social Affairs - If your chapter will hold some kind of social affair(s) during the course of the fiscal year, there will certainly be associated costs incurred. Some such affairs may be funded by ticket sales, corporate contributions, or other sources. Even if that is the case, the chapter will be "ultimately responsible" for the expenses if, for example, an insufficient number of tickets are sold or something unforeseen causes an increase in the expenses. A balanced budget entails an analysis of the social affairs as they may impact your income, expenses, or both. There is nothing wrong with "planning" to enjoy a "profit" from a social affair as a fund raising event, provided your chapter has properly planned to pay all of the expenses for the affair. This is a budget line item, no matter whether it is included in the anticipated income section as a net-profit item, or whether it is included in the anticipated expenditures as a net-expense item. If the chapter is "ultimately responsible" for paying a band, caterer, banquet/ballroom facility, or whatever the case may be, those expenses should be reflected "somewhere" in your budget planning.

• Senior Kappa Affairs Committee - An edict from Grand Chapter has required every alumni chapter to have a committee that focuses on the more "senior" members of our fraternity. Depending, of course, on the substance of your local chapter's program, this may be an activity that requires funding and/or the potential loss of income if your senior members are allowed a reduction in their dues.

• Reclamation - Measured in terms of actual results, this has been one of the least successful programs of our fraternity. The comparatively few alumni chapters that have experienced an appreciable increase in membership due to reclamation have done so after investing not only their effort and dedication to the program, but also some amount of money for funding such things as smokers, breakfasts/luncheons, postal mailing campaigns, etc. Without "some" funding, your chapter may not actually have a "viable" reclamation program.

• Advertisement - A significant and evident indication of every chapter's support of the Province Council includes purchasing an advertisement in the souvenir brochure. The going rate has usually been $100 to $125 for a full-page advertisement, $50 to $75 for a half-page ad, or $30 to $60 for a quarter-page ad.

• Awards - If your chapter customarily recognizes its members and/or community recipients with some kind of award(s), the quality of the award(s) would be directly proportional to the funding of this line item.

This is not, nor is it intended to be, a comprehensive list of budget line items for your particular chapter. Each chapter must fashion a budget based on its unique annual requirements. Though they may be similar in many chapters across our province and throughout the fraternity, chapter programs may vary widely in quantity, complexity, and cost. In the final analysis, a chapter's success or failure during the next fiscal year may depend on its planning and proposed funding NOW. The reality of today's economy has caused some chapters of our fraternity in other provinces to declare bankruptcy. We don't want that to happen anywhere in the Middle Western Province.

Should you have any questions, or if the consulting resources of the province may be of assistance, please feel free to contact your province officers and committee chairmen. We are here to serve you.

Yours in the Bond,

Charles Wesley "Ceedy" Morgan, III
Province Keeper of Records & Exchequer
Middle Western Province