The Importance of Sorority Dues Collection

Billhighway has propelled fraternity and sorority organizations to financial management success for over two decades. Our automated financial management technology saves time and money at both the chapter and headquarters levels. Through integrations, Billhighway manages the entire process, from member payments to national fraternity and sorority dues revenue collection to banking and event management.

Membership dues act as a lifeline for sororities at the chapter and national levels. Greek organizations rely on member contributions to pay the bills. Sororities have other sources of income, but dues are the financial foundation upon which a chapter’s survival depends.

The capital acquired from dues primarily covers the following costs:

  • Community service
  • Philanthropic projects 
  • Social events 
  • Parent weekends 
  • Alumni reunions
  • Insurance 
  • National fees
  • General chapter expenses 

Each chapter chooses what expenses to cover through membership fees. For example, some chapters use a portion of dues revenue to fund scholarships and payment plans for members in need.

 

Understanding Chapters Versus Headquarters

Each Greek chapter uses local chapter dues as well as national dues to bring in essential revenue for the organization.

In America, collegiate sororities fall under the National Panhellenic Council (NPC), while the North American Interfraternity Council (IFC) governs fraternities. These national organizations provide support and advocacy for the fraternal industry. A portion of the dues collected from each studentmember goes toward fees that the national councils charge each chapter. Through its programs and initiatives, the councils encourage the sharing of information, resources and best practices to ensure the sorority and fraternity experience continues to meet the needs of today’s collegiate women and men.

What do the national councils provide specifically? Chapters receive these benefits:

  • Coaching 
  • Crisis communication support 
  • Recruiting materials
  • Guidance
  • Insurance 

In addition, upon acceptance, new brothers and sisters gain access to direct benefits, such as the following:

  • Connections & Networking
  • Leadership Opportunities
  • Fundraising & Event Planning Experience
  • Participation in Philanthropic Activities
  • Education & Academic Focus
  • Lifelong Friendships
  • Sense of Community
  • Future Career Opportunities 

The national headquarters sets generalized standards, offers support, and provides the above benefits to each chapter. Outside of these areas, sorority chapters govern themselves. As a result, the new member dues and active member dues vary greatly depending on the Greek organization and chapter to which they belong.

With the input of alumni and senior members, each sorority chapter decides its budget by committee. In addition to national organization fees, the committees budget for expenses such as programming, philanthropy, social events, apparel, and formal recruitment.

The active members of each chapter vote on the budget each semester. This system is democratic but leads to several organizational challenges, such as separating national and chapter fees, and parsing chapter revenue into different categories.

 

Sorority Life Without Billhighway

What was life like before Billhighway? Before Billhighway, chapter officers would have to: 

  • Run an accounting system
  • Manage all member payments themselves
  • Find a way to accept those payments
  • Ensure the money in the bank account matches with the bookkeeping
  • AND work with a CPA

Managing all these tasks with low-tech tools, such as excel spreadsheets, savings account passbooks, and paper checkbooks, consumes enormous time and energy, causes confusion, and results in costly errors and damaging budget overruns. Today all these activities happen seamlessly within Billhighway, with a cost-efficient, easy-to-understand bundled pricing structure.

 

Benefits of Billhighway

As chapter officers know, dealing with finances gets complicated. Creating a budget takes both time and skill, and implementing that budget requires substantial accounting know-how. After that, cash management becomes time-consuming, and bill payments also need a treasurer to ensure proper handling and balanced books. On top of this, revenue from non-dues sources, such as fundraising, need accurate budgeting and accounting.

Billhighway’s comprehensive sorority financial management software provides chapters with advanced features that keep them on budget while easing the burden of billing and accounting tasks.

By comprehensive, we mean one program that handles all of a chapter’s financial needs, from dues collection to national headquarters payments to budgeting and accounting. Key features include the following:

  • Billing members
  • Payment options
  • Expense management
  • House Corporations
  • In-person payments
  • Fully mobile cashless solutions
  • Member payments
  • Donations & fundraising
  • Mobile deposits
  • Financial & member reporting

BILLING SORORITY MEMBERS

Dues sustain each chapter. Without them, chapters can default on essential expenses, such as chapter house payments, insurance, and event costs. On average, Greek-affiliated students pay $300 to $600 per semester in dues, making them the top source of revenue for chapters. Billhighway offers tools that make the payment process convenient for members while eliminating the need for chapter officers to spend valuable time chasing down outstanding payments.

Automated invoicing is one of Billhighway’s benefits. It allows the treasurer to enter each member’s information into the system one time, at which point invoicing becomes automated. The solution bills members on the dates selected by the chapter.

PAYMENT OPTIONS

In the old days, different payment types landed in different places, requiring chapter officers to distribute funds into various bank accounts. Billhighway’s payment management system eliminates this headache. The platform manages all payment types, whether old-fashioned cash or check, plastic, or ACH payments. Dues move automatically to the designated account, making life easier for everyone.

In addition, members automatically have multiple convenient payment options. Billhighway allows them to select the method that works best for them, including credit, debit, ACH, and paper checks. As payments arrive, Billhighway’s accounting system credits them to the chapter’s bank account and the appropriate member’s account.

IN-PERSON PAYMENTS

Electronic money is here to stay, and chapter members want to pay that way!

Billhighway meets the demand for ever-growing cashless commerce with Anywhere. Anywhere makes mobile payments and funds transfers possible from wherever—a chapter event, fundraiser, football game, student union, or on spring break.

Members want the convenience of paying on the go. Billhighway’s Anywhere app provides this by integrating with members’ Billhighway accounts, allowing them to pay on the go with the click of a button.

The surefire way to collect sorority dues on time is by making paying easy with Anywhere!

DONATIONS & FUNDRAISING

Many chapters rely on donations to fund critical activities, such as social events, charitable events, and organizational meetings. Anywhere makes donating as easy as paying member dues—just click the button. Anywhere makes it easy to create trackable campaigns that allow for focused fundraising efforts.

MOBILE DEPOSITS

Anywhere card readers allow chapters to collect payments on the spot from debit and credit cards, a vital asset for events. In addition, chapters can deposit paper checks into Billhighway accounts directly from their mobile phones.

In addition, Anywhere offers these capabilities:

  • Bluetooth enabled
  • Campaign tracking
  • Income tracking
  • Encryption
  • Customizable permissions
  • Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and Android

FINANCIAL & MEMBER REPORTING

Data integration allows Billhighway’s program to provide valuable reports that guide organizations at the chapter and headquarters levels. In addition, the linkage between banking, chapter, and headquarters increases financial visibility while solving many of the difficulties associated with the yearly turnover of chapter officers.

Billhighway stores member rosters, member documents, and member payment history. In addition, it tracks key member engagement metrics, including dues payments, event attendance, and registrations. 

This data provides keen insights. For example, national organizations can run reports that show the performance of each chapter based on critical data. Reports on member retention rates show which chapters are performing well and which may need additional support. At the  chapter level, member roster integration allows HQ leadership to track key engagement statistics, such as event attendance. 

In addition, the integration of banking into Billhighway precludes the need for separate bank accounts. This eliminates financial vulnerabilities. When chapter leadership changes, there is no need to change account signatories.

Billhighway: The Superhighway to Financial Management Success

Fraternities and sororities with dozens or hundreds of chapters must navigate the complexities of multi-layered financial management. For example, sorority dues collection at the chapter level can be laborious and time-consuming, as is budgeting and expense management. At the national level, gaining visibility into chapter performance also presents challenges.

Billhighway integrates financial management across the entire fraternal organization. As a result, chapters benefit from automated dues collection, banking, budgeting, and expense management, while the national organization gains visibility into chapter performance and financial standing.

 

Sometimes seeing is believing! Contact Billhighway to learn more about how to make your fraternal organization’s finances flourish.