There once was a fraternity who lived in a shoe. They had so many problems that they didn’t know what to do . . . .
If this sounds familiar, you’re probably in the process of looking for your first chapter house.
First off, congrats on starting this long, harrowing process. There’s nothing quite like fraternity house living.
You need a solid plan when you begin the process of looking for a house. You must go through the basic steps of alumni fundraising, project planning and execution. Your chapter also faces its own unique set of circumstances that you have to account for along the way.
How you approach the process of choosing a new house differs depending on whether you’re buying an existing property or building one. There’s plenty of research involved either way, and you have to prepare for potential obstacles along the way.
Hitting a major roadblock without a solid plan can sink your house search before you get started.
You really don’t want to mess this up, and go back to holding chapter in Dev’s apartment living room. We feel you.
Pennington & Company believes there’s a perfect house waiting for every fraternity chapter. With the right tools and proper planning, we’re sure you’ll be on your new deck grilling with brothers in no time.
First things first. These are our major Mishaps to Avoid When Looking for Your First Fraternity House.
3. Don’t Skimp on Fraternity House Basics
Whether you belong to the biggest fraternity chapter in America or a fledgling colony, you have to cover the same foundational steps when looking for your first fraternity house.
This includes some basic market research. Compare the property values of fraternity housing on and off campus, so you can get a relative idea about how much funding you’ll need. Consult with realtors and other housing market experts.
While you’re at it, weigh the benefits versus the costs of investing in an off-campus chapter house, rather than getting a house on Greek Row.
Consider any costly renovation needs of a property, such as cosmetic upgrades or updated safety features like fire suppression systems and alarms. If renovating a fraternity house or building one, consult contractors, architects, engineers, plumbers and electricians. Compare and itemize costs.
Factor additional costs like insurance and property taxes, and determine what brothers who live in the house will pay. You want to keep the cost of living competitive with other student living options, if not make it more affordable, so brothers actually want to live in the house.
Estimate a timeline, from day one of fundraising to the moment brothers can walk through the door of their new fraternity house.
2. Don’t Forget: This Is Your Fraternity House
Your house is a window into your chapter’s soul. It’s your home, and it has to be the right home for you.
While you should shop around and see how your housing will compare to other chapters, as well as university dorms and local apartments, you can’t make your decisions based completely on the housing of other chapters.
Consider the size of your chapter. If your membership is on the smaller side, you may not need a massive facility. Leave room for growth, but don’t waste money on space you won’t use anytime soon.
Consider rooms and features that would fulfill specific chapter needs for meetings, rituals, study hours, dining, living quarters, bathrooms, laundry facilities and parking. Make lists of “needs” and “wants” for your fraternity house, and gear your fundraising goals toward the “needs.”
This not only makes your fundraising goals more realistic, it also shows alumni that the house fulfills chapter necessities. You can sell some house “wants” as recruiting tools, so your chapter can keep pace with other organizations on campus.
Be careful, though. This line will only go so far with alumni. If you add outrageous costs to your project, even under the guise of recruitment, alumni won’t waste their time and money.
Sorry, guys. You’re probably not getting that indoor bowling alley.
1. Don’t Fall Short on Fundraising for Your Fraternity House
A fundraising capital campaign can make or break your fraternity house dreams.
Once you shop around, you’ll notice that houses built to room thirty men aren’t exactly cheap. A new house can easily cost over a million dollars.
Even if you aren’t building one from scratch, your house may require significant renovations, and those can be costly as well--even a smaller restoration can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Let’s be honest. Your chapter can’t afford that on its own. Nor is your national organization likely to have the extra cash just lying around.
You know you have to raise the funds somehow, but a chapter carwash isn’t going to cut it. You need a coordinated capital campaign targeting alumni donors.
Strong alumni engagement is crucial. Build meaningful relationships with alumni before you ask them to cut a huge check. Get alumni involved in annual campaign giving, and offer the option of recurring, smaller gifts versus large sums.
Do your research before you mention the campaign to alumni. Have a detailed project plan and itemized fundraising goal for your new house. Know who your top donors will be. Realize that not all alumni will give, and of those who do, only a handful will give most of your goal.
Between the housing committee and chapter, this level of fundraising can easily overwhelm your resources. Consult with professional fraternity fundraising consultants to see how they can help manage your capital campaign. Fundraising experts can guide your chapter’s efforts to find a new house through campaign feasibility studies, alumni engagement and giving strategy, gift management and more.
Plan every brick of your new fraternity house and then fundraise to make it a reality. We know you can do it.
What’s on your fraternity house wish list? If you’ve already gone through the process of finding a fraternity house for your chapter, what advice would you give? Roll out the blueprints of your perfect house in the comments below.
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