By Merrie Beth Neely, chapter housing specialist

Did you know that many school foundations offer the opportunity for campus organizations, including fraternities and sororities, to accept donations for educational housing? This allows donors to take advantage of tax deductions and ease a bit of the accounting load on the volunteers of the house corporation board. The process at some schools may even be as simple as noting Kappa Delta House Corporation on the memo line of the donation check! Some university foundations may restrict the use of these funds to university owned housing, or to certain aspects of off-campus housing that meet educational requirements – like computer access, and building/furnishing libraries and study areas. It is important to note there may sometimes be an account management fee (between 1 and 3%, or a flat rate).

Some volunteer groups have also instituted precautions to verify that donations meant for chapter housing were correctly applied to their account, but this will vary by institution and the accounts management process at each foundation. The house corporation’s dedicated account within the Foundation could then be used to fund anything from appliances to scholarships! It will be worth your while to investigate if your school’s Foundation supports such a program. If not perhaps they would be willing to implement it where one does not currently exist. This is usually a win-win situation for all involved by benefiting chapter housing, providing tax deductibility for the donor’s contribution, and reminding the University Foundation just how important Greek alumni donations are to the University’s mission!

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