FarmHouse International Fraternity

FARMHOUSE QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK
(From recent Inside FH newsletters)

Dues / Fees

"We're going to be initiating an associate member this January and have another guy we think can be an affiliate member. Could you explain the differences?"

"We're working on the term report and some of the guys had questions about where the dues go. I know I received something about that at the Leadership Academy but must have lost it. Can you help?"

"Could you explain what our International Dues go towards?"

"I see on the Chapter Award of Excellence that we get credit for initiating associate members. Could you explain what an associate member is and why we should initiate them?"

"In completing our Term Report, we've got several guys who are now 5th year members; do we still pay dues on them?"

QUESTION OF THE WEEK? --- "We're going to be initiating an associate member this January and have another guy we think can be an affiliate member. Could you explain the differences?"

In FarmHouse, we have five distinct types of membership - the first two being the most obvious -
1) chapter membership; and
2) alumni membership.

The other three require a little further explanation -
3) honorary memberships are conferred only by the FarmHouse International Board and usually take place at Conclave after the men are nominated by chapters or associations;
4) associate memberships are conferred by the local chapters and associations to men who never pledged FarmHouse or any other fraternity as an undergraduate but have the qualities and characteristics of what we seek in a member (for instance, men who serve as Dean of Ag, University President, potential advisors, etc.); 5) affiliate memberships are conferred by local chapters to men who attend your university for less than 1 year such as exchange students, faculty on exchange or sabbatical or other non-traditional students.

Initiation fees must be paid for Associate Members and Affiliate Members, but these men aren't required to pay any semesterly International Dues. Occasionally we'll have chapters interpret this type of membership incorrectly and try to list juco transfers and men in 2-year degree programs as affiliate members.

If you have questions about these classifications, you can review more specifics on the last three at http://www.farmhouse.org/pdf/bylaws.pdf - Pages 5-7... - JG

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK? --- We're working on the term report and some of the guys had questions about where the dues go. I know I received something about that at the Leadership Academy but must have lost it. Can you help?

As you take a look at the percentage breakdown of the FarmHouse International Fraternity budget below bear in mind that two of the greatest "expenses" in the budget are counteracted with two of our largest "inflows" into the budget - Foundation staffing and FRMT. Since the Fraternity and Foundation share several staff members, the Fraternity is the official employer for both entities and the Foundation provides reimbursements for compensation costs for Foundation employees and time the support staff spends working for the Foundation as well as for a portion of the office rent.

Taking that into consideration, the International Fraternity's 2002-03 budget is broken down as such:

Inflows - "Where the $ come from"

International Dues - 34 percent
Foundation staffing/rent - 24 percent
FRMT inflow - 16 percent
Foundation Academy grants - 6 percent
Initiation fees - 6 percent
RLC/educational expense fees - 5 percent
Sales (jewelry, posters, plaquing) - 4 percent
Foundation educational grants - 2 percent
Affiliation fees (dues for expansion groups) - 1 percent
Association dues - 1 percent
Misc. income - 1 percent

Outflows - "Where the $ go"

Foundation staff (fully reimbursed - see above) - 22 percent
FRMT (see above) - 16 percent
Office expenses - 11 percent
Academy - 10 percent
Administrative expenses - 7 percent
(note: personnel/overhead costs are reallocated to corresponding programs,
based on percentages of time spent on various programs)
RLC/educational programs - 6 percent
Publications - 6 percent
Chapter support - 6 percent
Board meetings/conferences - 6 percent
Expansion - 5 percent
Sales - 3 percent
Recruitment - 2 percent

If you'd like any further clarification, please feel free to contact Jim@FarmHouse.org - JG

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK? --- "Could you explain what our International Dues go towards?"

Attached is a chart breaking down the inflows (income) and outflows (expenses) of the International Fraternity. We'd encourage each chapter to print off the two pie charts and distribute copies to your members to help them better understand what their dues go towards.

To help you better understand what the actual expenses are for various programs and initiatives the Fraternity undertakes, the budget has been broken down to reflect the direct cost of the programs and related overhead expenses (staff time) for each of the programs. This is the best way to truly measure where your dues go.

It's important to look at the two pie charts side by side to see how many of our expenses are balanced with income coming in to support those programs or portions of those programs. For instance, Conclave expenses will account for 12 percent of our expenses for the year, yet 10 percent of our income from the year is made up of income from Conclave registration fees and money the Board sets aside for Conclave. Likewise, Foundation staff and overhead expenses and FRMT dues premiums are a wash (balance each other out) in our budget, since the Fraternity's budget serves simply as a flow through for both.

Ultimately, the bulk of our members' dues are provided to equip the FarmHouse International staff to provide the programming, support and resources to best help our chapters succeed.

We have a staff of three full-time employees working for the Fraternity, two full-time employees working for the Foundation and two full-time employees who split their time between the Fraternity and Foundation and one part-time webmaster. To see a breakdown of the various responsibilities of each staff member, look at http://www.farmhouse.org/staff_email.htm

The areas we spend the most time and money on include (see breakdown in attachment) - Conclave, FarmHouse Leadership Academy, Regional Leadership Conferences/Career Days, chapter support (consultations, targeted programming visits, Regional Advisory Council coordination), recruitment assistance, expansion, board meetings and training conferences and our publications and web site (Pearls & Rubies, FarmHouse Flash, handbooks, Inside FH).

For more detailed information, feel free to contact Jim@FarmHouse.org

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK? --- "I see on the Chapter Award of Excellence that we get credit for initiating associate members. Could you explain what an associate member is and why we should initiate them?"

RESPONSE --- Chapters receive a bonus point on the Chapter Award of Excellence application (due March 1, 2004) for initiating an associate member during the past year. It's a nice carrot - but chapters and associations are really missing out if they're not initiating at least one associate member a year. There are countless men who are worthy near every one of the campuses where we are located.

Associate membership is designated for men who never joined another Fraternity during their undergraduate years or didn't attend college yet have the qualities and characteristics desired of a FarmHouse man (specifically character, scholarship and professional excellence). Since a large majority are men who are affiliated with the university, most go on to provide valuable leadership and guidance to our chapters.It's becoming increasingly important for our chapters and associations to identify, invite and initiate men to become associate members, particularly when you look at how we have fewer and fewer members becoming university professors, majoring in agriculture and living near the campus after graduation.

Amongst the roughly 23,000 lifetime initiates in FarmHouse, more than 600 are associate members. Several have received the Master Builder of Men Award, more than a few have served on the FarmHouse International Board and Foundation Board of Trustees, many have served as long-time advisors and leaders of our associations.

"Like converts to Catholicism, they're often more zealous than those born into the religion," says long-time FarmHouse Executive Director Bob Off about our associate members. So, who might your chapter and association select?

- One of the best choices, yet often overlooked, fathers of FarmHouse men who either never joined a fraternity as an undergraduate or never attended college.
- University Presidents, Deans of Agriculture, university student recruiters, professors,administrators and coaches.
- Men who don't look or think quite like you do - maybe from a different culture or background.
- Men who can be groomed to serve as advisors, academic counselors, help with recruitment and assist in other important areas.
- Men who never married or are widowed turn out to be outstanding associate members and advisors, as the chapter often becomes their family.
- Men who are leaders in your community (in business, government, etc.)
- Men who pledged the chapter as an undergraduate, but had to withdraw for various reasons, yet still have a love for the organization (whether it was demands on time, having to drop out of school, transfer to another school, etc.).

Once initiated, Associate Members have full voting rights at all Association meetings and have full privileges of membership in the Fraternity. Associate Members go through the same formal initiation as all other initiates, usually at the same time as your fall and/or spring classes. A special section can be added to the ritual of initiation if you have associate members being initiated as well.

Initiation fees must be paid for Associate Members (currently $90 per man, plus $30 if you want the certificate plaqued), but these men aren't required to pay any semesterly International Chapter Dues. Oftentimes chapters or associations volunteer to cover the costs for the initiations, but sometimes the associate members want to cover the costs themselves.

The bylaws now allow for chapters or associations to take the lead in identifying and contacting associate members, although the chapter, advisors and association board are all required to approve of the candidates before the initiation takes place. - JG

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK? --- "In completing our Term Report, we've got several guys who are now 5th year members; do we still pay dues on them?"

RESPONSE -- That depends on several factors. The bylaws (Article II, Section 2 (b) ) allow for members to be placed on alumni status only when one of six requirements is met:

* member had to withdraw from school before completing degree;
* transferred to another school;
* enrolled in professional school (vet, med, etc);
* has started a 5th year (but is no longer active in chapter and/or no longer lives in house - in other words, someone who no longer is on chapter's scholarship report, no longer participates in intramurals, no longer has a vote at chapter meetings and no longer attends chapter social functions);
* has married;
* has proven extenuating circumstances and requested alumni status.

The tricky one is the 5th year issue. Since more and more degrees are taking longer than four years to complete, the majority of our 5th year members decide to remain as active members until they graduate - so that they can participate in intramurals, attend chapter social functions, vote at chapter meetings and participate as an active member of the chapter. We even know of one brother who lived in the house 7 years and paid dues all 7 years until they finally earned that degree!

Remember though, that section of the bylaws requires a 2/3 vote of the chapter and the unanimous approval of your chapter advisors before the chapter may request alumni status from the International Executive Director. That request should be made in the form of a typed letter to be sent in with the term report.

Chapters need to be aware that we must be careful about allowing 1st-4th year members to be placed on early alumni status. Chapter presidents need to make upperclassmen and men who move out of the house aware that the Fraternity granting early alumni status for "extenuating circumstances" is very rare and only for legitimate cases. Chapters must guard this basic expectation of membership very carefully.

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