Three approvals, not one

A campus club clears an event with student activities and is done. A chapter has three bodies with overlapping and non-identical interests, and the fastest way through is to know what each actually cares about rather than sending all three the same email.

The campus Greek life office

Cares about: event registration, alcohol and risk policy, the council's own rules, whether the event is on or off campus, and whether your chapter is in good standing.

Ask them: does this need to be registered, does the council have a philanthropy approval process, are there dates we cannot use, and is there anything about our current standing that affects it. Most Greek life offices are more helpful than chapters expect and are used to being asked late.

Your inter/national headquarters

Cares about: risk management policy, use of the letters, crest and insignia, what a chapter may fundraise for, whether an outside philanthropy is approved, and anything that could appear in a photograph.

Ask them: is there an approval process for a fundraising event, may we use the insignia on materials and merchandise and through which vendors, are there restrictions on what we may auction, and does our philanthropy partner need to be on an approved list.

Two things headquarters will almost always have a view on: alcohol at any chapter event, and merchandise carrying the insignia. Assume both are governed and ask rather than discovering.

The house corporation

Cares about: the property. If any item involves the house — a room for homecoming, a dinner in it, a naming opportunity, a brick — the house corporation decides, not the chapter, and it may have insurance considerations about non-members staying overnight.

Ask them early and ask them as partners. The alumni board wants the chapter to succeed, has the contacts you are trying to rebuild, and is generally delighted to be involved in something that is not a maintenance bill.

One meeting, three emails, eight weeks out

Send each body a short message with the same four facts and the specific question that applies to them: what the event is, the dates, who benefits, and the item list. The item list is what actually surfaces problems — an approval given on a description and refused on the catalogue is a wasted month.

If something is refused

Ask what a workable version looks like. Refusals here are almost always about form rather than concept — an item involving alcohol becomes a restaurant certificate, insignia merchandise goes through the licensed vendor, a room in the house becomes a dinner in it. Do not run a refused item anyway; the consequence lands on the chapter's standing, which is worth more than any lot.

General information, not tax or legal advice for your chapter. Structures differ by organization and campus and they change — check your own chapter documents, your headquarters and your Greek life office before acting on anything here.