Thursday, May 8, 2014

Chapter house update

Please see the message below from Jeremy Donati (May 6th):

Sigma Delta Alumni Brothers,

We hope that 2014 is off to a good start for you and your family. It was great getting to see so many alumni brothers at Picnic Day.

Thanks to all of the financial support that alumni brothers of Sigma Delta have provided over the past five years for the various house renovations we undertook, we are pleased to report that the chapter is thriving!

After struggling financially for two years (2010-2011 & 2011-2012) due to low live-in numbers, the chapter was able to pay its rent to the Alumni Association in full for the 2012-2013 school year, and they’re on track to do so again this year due to increased membership and higher live-in numbers.  

The active chapter has continued to make significant progress in many areas. They placed a significant importance on recruitment. In fall 2013, 13 new members were initiated and have already begun to hold positions on the executive council. The chapter’s goal after 2014 fall rush is to have a strong 50-60 person house. This is a very obtainable goal for the chapter and they are on track to meet their goal in the fall.
 
In addition to recruitment, the house is focusing on academics. The house recognized that they were losing members for academic issues (withdrawal from school, academic probation, or parental influences) and wanted to stop the attrition. Over the 2013-14 school year, the GPA of the house has risen significantly. The house is also getting more involved with the Greek and Davis communities and Chi Phi nationally. The president attended the Alphas Academy in January and the house will be sending to active members to COE and Congress this summer.

We are very pleased with the direction of the house and wanted to share the good news with everyone to demonstrate that your donations had a strong impact on creating a living environment that attracts and retains new members.

In an effort to be more proactive in maintenance of the chapter house, the active chapter and Alumni Association are collaborating on a joint project that will take place over the summer.

The floor in the dining room (also known as the 1824 room & party dance floor) is in bad shape and in need of being replaced. Although we initially identified this as a potential project in 2010, we held off and focused on more urgent renovation projects, including the back roof, back bathroom, kitchen, and the big front house renovation of late 2011/early 2012.

All told, we have financed $190,000 in capital improvements over the past six years:

·         New energy efficient double-paned windows (2008)
·         New driveway (2008)
·         New roof on back section of house (2010)
·         Updated back bathroom/mold abatement (2010)
·         Renovated kitchen (2011)
·         Front House Renovation (2012)
·         Front Bathroom Plumbing (2014)
For the dining room floor, we have engaged the services of Vista Builders, the same contractor who led the front house renovation. The owner, Bob Statham, has been a great partner to the Alumni Association and has performed many small tasks at no charge during that renovation. The scope of work for the floor project is estimated at $5600. Since there is always a chance that the cost could increase once the sub-floor is accessed, we are adding another $1500 into our cost projections.

The active chapter has committed to putting $1000 towards this project, which leaves $7000 for the Alumni Association to contribute.

We were also recently given a heads up that the Delta Gamma Alumni Association wants the fence adjoining our two properties to be replaced. Although they have not contacted us yet, we are building this into the summer 2014 budget and estimating project cost at $2000 if the costs are split equally between Chi Phi and Delta Gamma.

The Alumni Association currently has $15,560 in its Capital Campaign Savings account, with monthly operating expenses being paid from a separate checking account, which currently holds $11,800.

Although we are in a position to finance the floor and fence projects from the Capital Campaign account, we feel that it is fiscally prudent to undertake another fundraiser to offset project costs and continue to build the Capital Campaign fund. As anyone who is a homeowner knows, expect the unexpected. This is doubly true for a house as old as 217 Russell.

As such, we are targeting a fundraising goal of $10,000 for these projects. We recognize that each of you have many financial obligations, so any donation amount is welcome and very much appreciated. Your continued support over the last few years in rebuilding the chapter house has been instrumental in ensuring the continued success of the Sigma Delta chapter.
 
US Mail/Check:
Make Check Payable to “Valley Association of Chi Phi” & Reference “2014 Campaign” in memo line:
Sigma Delta Alumni Association
Attn: Jeremy Donati
1280 Riva Drive #6
West Sacramento, CA 95691
 
Paypal:
Please note that a service fee is levied by Paypal on all donations made via their website.


Thank you for all your support to the Sigma Delta Chapter

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Scholarshi​ps for Undergrads

There are several opportunities for undergraduates to participate in national Chi Phi programs this summer. If you are interested in donating and sponsoring the undergraduates to attend, the alumni association will be coordinating to help with attendance to COE (College of Excellence) and Congress.

COE will be held July 25th-29th at Emery University in Atlanta, GA. The undergraduate that attends would be responsible for paying for the airfare. The conference allows for 1 undergraduate member from each chapter.

Congress will be held June 22nd-24th in Atlanta, GA. The two undergraduates who attend would be responsible for lodging and airfare.

We would like to be able to significant offset, if not pay for, the costs associated with attending these programs. If you are interesting in donating/sponsoring the undergraduates to attend these great programs, you can donate via pay pal by clicking on the donate link to the right or by sending a check to:

Valley Alumni Association
1280 Riva Drive #6
West Sacramento, CA 95691

Any unused monies can be returned or earmarked by the association for future educational scholarships.

Please let Jeremy know if you have any questions.

Update on Emergency Renovations

Here is a copy of an email Jeremy sent out to the alumni after the renovations were completed this fall:

Dear Sigma Delta Alumni,

We are pleased to announce that the emergency renovations we first
contacted you about last fall have been completed. Our fundraising
campaign was very successful, and we would like to thank each of you
who donated for your support. We couldn’t have done this without your
help. We have attached several pictures of the renovated front part of
the house, and hope that you enjoy them as much as we have.

The following is a summary of the project, including project donations
and expenses. We have attached a separate document that outlines
project donations and expenses in greater detail.

Donations
We received $38,307 in donations from 26 alumni members. The attached
document contains a breakdown of the donation amounts with names
removed for privacy.

Expenses
Our initial bid from Morse Remodeling was for $72,651. We established
this as the baseline budget for the project. After receiving two
additional bids for the project from alumnus Jeremy Humble (SD ’95)
and Vista Builders of Sacramento, we selected Vista, whose bid came in
the lowest and included many extras that were not part of the other
bids. Special thanks to Jeremy for providing very helpful advice and
taking the time to submit a bid.

Vista came highly recommended to us by alumnus Erik Franks (SD ’05),
and we are very pleased with the final work product. Based on their
work and the great cost to value ratio that we have received on this
project, we hope to establish a long-term relationship with Vista for
future house projects. Another big special thanks to alumnus Ryan
Boynton (SD ’06) for being our local point of contact and always being
available to head over to the house to meet with the contractor!
The final project cost for the renovations was $71,525, and included
the following items listed below.

Summary of Project
• Abatement of asbestos in duct work throughout the house
• Abatement of asbestos in drywall for the front part of the house
(the old farmhouse)
• New duct work throughout the house
• Energy efficient HVAC system for entire house
• New staircase
• New electrical wiring for the front part of the house
• New electricial subpanels in middle and front of house
• Refinished hardwood floors in front part of the house
• Subfloor and tile replaced in front bathroom, along with new toilet
• New stucco and paint on exterior of the front part of the house
• Recessed lighting in front room
• New front and side doors

Next Steps
This project has mitigated the risks associated with last fall’s
emergency. As a result, we are now in a position where we can resume
long-term financial planning to ensure that the chapter house remains
a viable place to live for future generations of Sigma Delta.

In addition, the Valley Alumni Association will be working closely
with the chapter over the next several months to ensure that live-in
numbers for the 2012-2013 school year are sufficient for the chapter
to meet their full financial obligation to the Alumni Association so
that the rent we are collecting will cover our annual fixed costs
(monthly mortgage payments, property insurance, property tax).

Please stay tuned in the upcoming months for more details on both of
these ongoing initiatives as we embark in planning for the next
generation of Sigma Delta. The most recent renovations are an
excellent example of the great things we can do when we all rally
around a common cause.

We realize that we have asked each of you for donations several times
over the past two years. Although the latest round last fall was
outside of our control due to extenuating circumstances, we are now at
a point where we are ready to pick up our regularly scheduled
fundraising efforts for future structural improvements. Donations for
future house improvements can be made by:

US Mail/Check
Make Check Payable to “Valley Association of Chi Phi”:
Sigma Delta Alumni Association
Attn: Jeremy Donati
1280 Riva Drive #6
West Sacramento, CA 95691

or Paypal, http://davischiphialumni.blogspot.com/
Please note that a service fee is levied by Paypal on all donations
made via their website.

Thank you again for all your support.

Pictures of the renovations can be seen here

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Donation button added

A donation button has been added to the blog. Since the chapter house is in need of structural repairs, all funds collected will go towards construction costs. Two years ago, the alumni association opened an account in an effort to keep donated money separate from the rent money we collect from the actives, this is often referred to as our Capital Campaign to renovate the Sigma Delta Chapter House account. So far we have been able to fund new windows and a driveway with the donations we have collected. The next things several contractors have suggested we fix are the foundation, roof (back half of house), kitchen and door locks. We, and especially the actives, appreciate any help you can provide.

The alumni association will be sending out a letter soon that will provide you with more information on the capital campaign. To be sure you receive this mailing, please make sure you have added your contact info to our alumni database.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Address List

Here is the link to the alumni address list. Please add your info!

Welcome

Welcome to the Davis Chi Phi Alumni blog!

This blog has been created for communication between alumni. We hope that it will help us keep in touch and also it will be used to keep everyone informed about the alumni association and active house.

Please add a comment to this post if you have suggestions for things you want added or altered in the blog and I will do my best to implement them.