51 Elm Street is the symbol of our sorority and she needs our help!
The Heaven & Earth Proposal’s primary aim is to raise funds to repair the roof of our beloved mansion. The roof is the most critical repair needed to slow or stop additional damage which will result due to leakage. It couples the roof project (“Heaven”) with the brick walkway project (“Earth”).
It is our aim to complete both Heaven and Earth and therefore we have set the goal to raise $48,000 in two years with the brick project being the reward for the whole OAA for meeting the goal and individual memorialized bricks the reward for meeting individual goals. Updated October 4, 2018! Click here for the H&E progress update.
Please click on the tabs for the details on the many ways offered to earn memorial bricks.
Let’s show our Omega hearts and move Heaven & Earth to help save our Lady who always welcomes us home!
Objective
The Omega Alumni Association Fundraising Team in coordination with Omega alumni and Active Omega Delta Phi membership will raise $48,000 by Q4 2019 for the purposes of financing a new roof and associated structural repairs and a brick walkway at 51 Elm Street in 2020.
Background: Carole Raymonda, the former Alumni House Advisor (thank you for years of service), indicated that a new roof and structural repairs were the highest prioritized need for the house at 51 Elm Street. Estimated cost – $40,000
A proposal for a brick fundraiser was made by Peggy Blumenthal Jerchower. Estimated revenues for a project are $6,000 to $8,000 based on participation rates, cost of bricks, landscape design, and installation. The estimated revenues fall significantly short of the need, but the Memoriam brick concept holds considerable appeal for a number of alumni. The estimated cost for a brick walkway – $5,000 (This is a place holder as the final cost will be dependent upon the design of the walkway. It is important to note that the Active Membership owns 51 Elm Street, and therefore the decision on the final design will belong to the Actives.)
A proposal by Corey Downie was put to the alumni for a Fundraiser based on average monthly donations of $20 by 100 alumni for two years to generate $48,000.
Several alumni have also expressed interest in small, incremental fundraisers.
This proposal fuses all the ideas in an effort to meet the financial needs to repair the roof while recognizing the personal needs of individual alumni.
Line of Approach:
- Establish an individual financial target of $480 over the next two years; individuals reaching this target will receive an engraved brick in the walkway that is funded through this initiative. In other words, the initiative includes funding the roof and the walkway, but the bricks are not sold, they are earned.
- Provide numerous ways for individuals to reach this target including:
- Annual and monthly payment systems
- Partnering payment systems – Example: An alumna who is only able to donate $10 per month may partner with an alumna who is able to donate $30 per month and BOTH will receive a brick (Fundraising Team needs to be made aware of the partnership and will document)
- Individuals that run a smaller fundraiser that generates $480 of revenue in the same two-year time frame will receive an engraved brick.
Boundary Limitations: The overall project goal of $48,000 must be achieved to fund the brick walkway.
Check or Money Order
You may mail checks payable to ODPAA and write Heaven & Earth in the memo line so that your contribution is properly accounted.
Checks should be mailed to:
Valerie Steltzer
6959 Northview Dr.
Lockport NY 14094
Please note this address will change after the next election.
Online via PayPal or Credit Card
Please see the online payment options available below.
You can choose your own one-time or recurring payment in any amount, set up an automatic monthly payment of $20 for two years, or pay the $480 in full.
Please note that donations are NOT tax deductible.
Answers to several questions you may have are in the Frequently Asked Questions section below.
If you still have any questions or concerns not addressed here on this page, please contact Vice President Development / Fundraising: Corey Naab: vpdevelopment@odpalumni.com.
51 Elm Street Photos
For your viewing, photos of the roof portion of the home inspection can be found here.
Heaven & Earth On-line Payment Options
Choose Any Amount
One-Time or Recurring
For this option: If you are donating toward a brick for a Family Tree, Pledge Class, Founding Member, or deceased sister, there will be a field in which to enter this information during your check-out process.
This is what you will see when you enter the donation amount and choose your payment method.
Set Up $20/Month Recurring Payment
For this option: If you are donating toward a brick for a Family Tree, Pleadge Class or deceased sister, please enter the information in the text boxes above. Leave the fields blank if you are not donating toward a brick for a Family Tree or deceased sister.
One-Time $480 Payment
For this option: If you are donating toward a brick for a Family Tree, Pledge Class, Founding Member, or deceased sister, there will be a field in which to enter this information during your check-out process.
This is what you will see when you enter the donation amount and choose your payment method.
To make your donation with a check or money order, please see the Donation Options tab. Please note that donations are NOT tax deductible.
Heaven & Earth Frequently Asked Questions
Please click on the ‘+’ to reveal the answer to each question. If you have a question that is not answered here, please send an email to Vice President Development / Fundraising Corey Naab at vpdevelopment@odpalumni.com.
Answer:
We have a 5 year old estimate for the roof for ~ $33,000. The Inspection indicated a need for some additional structural work. Adding these two together and assuming some cost increases in the past 5 years, we are using $40,000 as an estimate for the roof pending receiving actual bids.
The cost of the brick sidewalk will include the cost of installation as well as the cost of the bricks. Both costs will be dependent upon the final design with a larger, more complex design obviously costing more. The final design will need to be approved by the Active House as they own 51 Elm St. Based on the cost of a traditional brick walkway from a driveway to a front door with the possibility for a more complicated design, the cost is estimated to be $5,000 to $6,000.
$48,000 was set as the target to account for both the roof and sidewalk with some added buffer should there be additional unforeseen costs.
Answer:
The timing for this fundraiser has been set for two years to raise the necessary funds. The goal is large and it was necessary to have a timeline allowing people to make small incremental payments while bearing in mind that there is a finite amount of life left in the roof.
We will be securing bids on the roof in the near term and will schedule the work when we have good confidence we will have sufficient funds to pay for it. If this is less than two years, we will begin sooner.
We will complete the sidewalk project after we have reached $48,000.
Answer:
The individual fundraising target is $480 over two years. It was determined based on the overall target of $48,000 and an assumption of approximately 100 participants. The 100 participant assumption was based on ranges of participation in dues payments which have ranged between ~ 50 and 150 ladies as well as input from Phi K that their efforts with their house have been largely accomplished through the participation of 100 alumni. Thus, individual targets were set based on the overall need and an estimated level of participation based on the data points available.
Answer:
The Fundraising Team would like to give everyone an opportunity to earn a brick while not losing focus that the primary objective is to repair the roof. If we don’t get the roof fixed, the house will be in big trouble. As one sister pointed out, “Where are we if we have a beautiful sidewalk in front of a house that is falling down?”
We understand that bricks are meaningful and therefore we want to offer as many ways to earn one as we can and are open to other creative ideas that might be out there to reach the individual goal. To date, the ways proposed to earn a brick beyond individual payment include:
- Partnering with a sister or sisters such that the average amongst sisters calculates to $480. Examples: One sister donates $10 month for two years and their partner donates $30 per month for two years. One sister donates $5 per month for two years and partners with 3 other sisters where one donates $35 per month and the other two donate $30 per month. The partners will need to make the Fundraising Team aware of the partnership so that we might track you together.
- Conduct a smaller fundraiser or fundraisers yourself that results in $480 raised for Heaven & Earth.
Examples to date: Make Omega Beautiful fundraiser and crocheted Omega cozies fundraiser.
- Participate in a Pledge class or other group effort. (Note that every brick supplier limits engraving to 3 lines of 20 characters each, so a Pledge class brick may not be able to list individual names.
- Throughout the duration of Heaven & Earth, there will be various contests and lotteries whereby bricks will be the prizes. The first such lottery will put the name of every person who makes a donation of $5 or more in September 2017 into the pool. The winning name will be drawn and they will win a brick for themselves, a friend, or their pledge class…whatever their choice.
Answer:
You can make whatever arrangements that make you comfortable. You can make individual or recurring payments by check or PayPal. If you want to donate monthly, that’s great. If you want to donate once, or twice or a dozen times, that’s all great. We will track them and let you know when you reach your individual target.
Answer:
The projections for the amount of money we would likely raise through the proposed brick project fell far short of the amount of money needed for the roof. The brick project was projected to raise possibly $8,000 after all costs were deducted. It would take 5 or 6 projects of this nature to raise enough money for the roof, which is a critical need. This would become a full-time job for someone who, like myself, might already have a full-time job and/or might take longer than two years which the roof doesn’t have and/or might create fundraising fatigue for many people. It was determined that the need for the roof was larger and more urgent than the projected funds from the brick fundraiser alone.
However, it was clearly understood that there was continued interest in the bricks. Therefore, the team tried to find a way to fold this into an initiative that targeted raising sufficient funds in a timely manner for the critical roof replacement.
Answer:
If you have signed up for recurring payments via PayPal, simply log in to your PayPal account, find the recurring payments section in your account and cancel them.
“What is home? My favorite definition is “a safe place,” a place where one is free from attack, a place where one experiences secure relationships and affirmation. It’s a place where people share and understand each other. Its relationships are nurturing. The people in it do not need to be perfect; instead, they need to be honest, loving, supportive, recognizing a common humanity that makes all of us vulnerable.” ~ Gladys M. Hunt, Honey for a Child’s Heart: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life