As a local sorority with no national chapter, we depend on dues for our yearly budget. Social and house dues are used to pay for all of KDE’s exciting and defining events: Derby, formals, Senior Banquet, Wedding, as well as yearlong sisterhood and programming events. As one of only three local sororities on Webster Avenue, we have the privilege and the responsibility to maintain a space that is safe for sisters and non-sisters alike. Maintaining this level of activity necessitates a budget that allows for flexibility and change, which depends on every sister’s individual contribution to the house.
That said, we recognize and appreciate that financial backgrounds are not uniform across the house. As an organization that strives to foster a diverse sisterhood and bring leaders together from across campus, we are committed to ensuring that financial difficulties do not determine a sister’s involvement. In the past, some had been able to reduce their dues with college billing projects and payment plans. While these projects have aided many sisters, they have not been able to reach all.
In the last few years, we have taken a more proactive approach towards financial aid. In 2009, Liya Shuster, ’10 Treasurer, started the KDE scholarship fund. In 2010, Roni Nitecki, ’11 Treasure, began working with the philanthropy chairs to create more fundraising opportunities for these scholarships. These new initiatives have allowed us to ensure that dues were reduced by at least 25% for any sister that requested financial aid.
This major achievement, however, tightens our budget and makes it increasingly difficult to maintain our goals as a local sorority. Our priority is to ensure every sister can stay active, but we are undoubtedly limited by the size of our budget. The 2011-2012 Leadership has committed to starting an endowment to ensure that every sister or potential new member can afford KDE, regardless of her financial background. With your help, we an achieve our mission as a house and reduce the burden of dues from our members. Please consider making a donation today!
That said, we recognize and appreciate that financial backgrounds are not uniform across the house. As an organization that strives to foster a diverse sisterhood and bring leaders together from across campus, we are committed to ensuring that financial difficulties do not determine a sister’s involvement. In the past, some had been able to reduce their dues with college billing projects and payment plans. While these projects have aided many sisters, they have not been able to reach all.
In the last few years, we have taken a more proactive approach towards financial aid. In 2009, Liya Shuster, ’10 Treasurer, started the KDE scholarship fund. In 2010, Roni Nitecki, ’11 Treasure, began working with the philanthropy chairs to create more fundraising opportunities for these scholarships. These new initiatives have allowed us to ensure that dues were reduced by at least 25% for any sister that requested financial aid.
This major achievement, however, tightens our budget and makes it increasingly difficult to maintain our goals as a local sorority. Our priority is to ensure every sister can stay active, but we are undoubtedly limited by the size of our budget. The 2011-2012 Leadership has committed to starting an endowment to ensure that every sister or potential new member can afford KDE, regardless of her financial background. With your help, we an achieve our mission as a house and reduce the burden of dues from our members. Please consider making a donation today!
