The Cost of Fraternity
Fulfilling your financial obligation to your chapter enables your treasurer to fund socials, recruitment, brotherhood events, philanthropy and much more. In the same respect, your chapter must fulfill its financial obligation to the great fraternity to allow the fraternity to provide cutting-edge programs that help to build better men for a better world.
Membership is for Life
In Triangle Fraternity, we place a large emphasis on understanding the financial obligations of membership prior to joining. Once a new member makes the commitment to be initiated into a chapter, he is expected to fulfill a financial obligation for the full tenure of his undergraduate education.
Every new member and brother should be aware of the following and all other local costs before making a lifelong commitment to Triangle.
Prospective members and brothers often find that creating a four or five-year personal budget will aid in determining whether or not Triangle is affordable for them. This is best done prior to being initiated, because again, once initiated there is an expectation to uphold the financial burden of the chapter and the national organization.
National Dues & Fees: The Basics
Many chapters choose to incorporate all national dues and fees into their local dues structure. Typical semester dues will include other local fees for housing, Interfraternity Council dues, social activities or meal plans. The total amount of dues you pay each semester is different for each university.
National Pledge Fee
National Initiation Fee
The National Initiation fee is a one-time fee of $260 and is due 14 days prior to the scheduled initiation. This fee provides each brother with the official Fraternity membership badge and certificate, and a lifelong subscription to the national magazine, the Triangle REVIEW.
National Active Fee (NAF)
The National Active Fee (NAF) is currently set at $357 and is due within two weeks of starting the academic term. This fee is split evenly each academic term over the course of one year. This fee subsidizes national events and resources, undergraduate chapter support, expansion efforts, alumni services, and Triangle Headquarter operations.
Risk Management Program Fee
This fee provides liability and other insurance coverage for chapter officers, members and volunteers and supports Triangle’s Health & Safety programs and resources, such as training and presentations to prevent alcohol/substance abuse, sexual misconduct and hazing. For more information on the Fraternity Health and Safety Initiative, visit the website at http://fhsi.jrfco.com/
Active/Alumni Chapter Fees
The Active Chapter fee is $1,200 per year. This fee is billed in two installments of $600 each and covers the registration costs of two chapter delegates to attend National Convention. Registration includes shared hotel room and convention meals and events.
The Alumni Chapter fee is $720 per year and covers the registration cost of one alumnus delegate to attend National Convention. The full amount is billed in March. All payments are due within 30 days of the chapter receiving the invoice from the National Headquarters.
National Growth Initiative
In order to help chapters minimize the cost of national fees, Triangle has initiated a Growth Initiative. Chapters that grow total membership over the previous year can get a credit against their national fees. Growth of 3 or 4 men results in a credit of $15 per total active membership (not just the 3 or 4 men). Growth of 5 to 9 men results in a credit of $25 per total active membership. Growth of 10 or more men results in a credit of $50 per total active membership.
Chapter membership numbers are calculated at the end of the fiscal year (June 30) by taking the total dollar amount of National Active Fees (NAFs) and dividing by that year’s NAF, then comparing to the previous year. Any applicable credit is applied to the chapter account to reduce any current account balance or to apply toward future billings of pledge, initiation, NAFs or chapter fees. In this way, growth helps reduce overall chapter fees to Triangle.