Some of you reading the monthly UpZete know what I do in my professional life; I am a fund raising professional whose particular niche is capital campaigns and annual fund programs for fraternities-both at the (inter)national fraternity and local chapter levels.  I have helped various organizations (including Zeta Psi of course) raise millions of dollars over the past thirty years, the last eleven as my full-time job since leaving as Zeta Psi's Executive Director in 1996.  What I have to report here applies to American Zetes, so I ask my Canadian Brothers to bear with me this month as I address a vital matter.

Fraternity fund raising has often been challenging because college fraternities are classified as "social organizations" under the not-for-profit IRS Section 507(c)(7).  Contributions made to fraternities are NOT tax deductible by the donor the way they are to the non-for-profit tax-deductible foundations each Fraternity has under IRS Section 501(c)(3).  In our case, the Zeta Psi Educational Foundation has received millions of dollars for over sixty years and has made millions of dollars of scholarship, leadership and other educational grants.  

Our constant challenge is using tax-deductible contributions, within IRS regulations, to support construction, renovation and/or upkeep of independently-owned chapter houses in the United States.  In essence, if sections of fraternity houses are deemed to be "exclusively educational", construction, renovation and upkeep costs of those spaces can be supported with tax-deductible dollars.   That's why virtually every campaign I've worked on has benefited from a 501(c)(3) organization to support all operations of a chapter house qualified under 501(c)(3) guidelines.  A substantial disconnect of these laws is that every dollar contributed to a college or university for the specified purpose of building or renovating a Greek house owned by the institution is tax deductible by the donor. 

To expand the reach of tax-advantaged dollars for the benefit of fraternities across the USA, every Fraternity is working towards passage of the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act (CHIA).  This act would substantially expand the ability of tax-advantaged dollars to pay for more chapter-related house improvements, such as sprinkler systems, fire alarms and other measures to make fraternity housing safer for students.  This session of Congress is the third time the Greek system has attempted to pass this act through Congress.  The combined efforts of the Greek Movement the past few months, including hundreds of professional and volunteer lobbyists for the CHIA in April, has been encouraging, with more sponsors than ever for this bill. We hope that the "third time is a charm" in our efforts to get this bill passed and ensure safe and healthy living conditions for fraternities and sororities for years to come.

What can you do?  My request is simple: can you make one phone call to help influence this legislative effort on Wednesday, September 19^th,to your legislators, especially if he or she has not signed on as a co-sponsor of the CHIA bill?  You can find out if your representative or senator has already signed on to co-sponsor this bill by logging onto to this website by CLICKING HERE.   If you discover that one or both of your legislators has not signed onto the bill yet, I ask you to participate in a coordinated Phone March on Wednesday.  Details of this can be found by logging onto this CLICKING HERE.

As a Zete who I am confident cares about the health and safety of student members in every fraternity and sorority in this country, I urge you to take a moment from your day on Wednesday to help get this bill passed.  Thank you for whatever you are able to do in this regard.