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Digital Archive Device Market - TAM Fraternities and Sororities
The total addressable market (TAM) for fraternities and sororities in the United States is approximately 765,000 students. The average budget for fraternities is $98,416 and for sororities is $185,165. A look at my findings is below.
Methodology
TAM
As the information was preexisting, there was no need to triangulate the TAM for fraternities and sororities. However, there was a slight discrepancy between three sources with two different totals. The New Jersey Institute of Technology indicates there are 750,000 undergraduate members of fraternities and sororities in 12,000 chapters across 800 campuses in the U.S.
The North American Interfraternity Conference, though, puts the number of fraternity undergraduates at 384,193 in 2016 and USNews says there were 380,565 sorority undergraduates in 2015 (the most recent year for which data is available). When added together, these two sources provide a total number of fraternity and sorority members of 764,758, which I rounded to 765,000. I believe that the 750,000 number is either a low approximation or is from an out-of-date source. As there is no indication of the date of the data provided by the New Jersey Institute of Technology, I elected to use the numbers from the North American Interfraternity Conference and USNews to calculate the TAM.
Chapters
The total number of chapters across the United States is unknown. Despite searching trusted media sites, research reports, and university fact sheets, I was only able to identify the total number of fraternity chapters. The New Jersey Institute of Technology indicates there are 12,000 chapters, but I was unable to verify this number independently without examining all 800 participating schools' Greek life reports. However, I believe the 12,000 is likely a close estimate because I was able to find that there were 6,233 fraternity chapters in 2016. If there were an equal number of sorority chapters, this would total just over 12,000 (6,233 + 6,233 = 12,466). Therefore, I believe 12,000 U.S. chapters is a reasonable estimate.
budget
Likewise, the actual average budget of all fraternities and sororities in the U.S. was unavailable. Even though I searched through fraternity and sorority audit reports, financial statements, and other IRS documents, I was unable to find budgetary information for a sufficient number of chapters to provide an average. However, I did find an article from OmegaFi, a company that provides "financial, fundraising and communication solutions for fraternities and sororities," that gives the average budget for the fraternities and sororities it serves. This article indicates the average budget for fraternities is $98,416 and for sororities is $185,565. Unfortunately, there is no indication of how many fraternal organizations are members of OmegaFi, so it is unknown whether these average budgets are truly representative of all sororities and fraternities in the U.S.
I also located a Fortune article that mentions the fact that fraternities are routinely handling budgets of $100,000 or more. This amount would be in line with the averages documented by OmegaFi, although the Fortune article also says that the University of Georgia chapter of Phi Kappa Tau has a semester budget of $150,000, which would mean an annual budget of $300,000 ($150,000 x 2). This is significantly higher than the averages from OmegaFi, but I believe this chapter is being used for illustrative purposes only and not as an example of an average chapter. Therefore, I am using the assumption that OmegaFi's data is a better representation of budgetary averages for U.S. fraternities and sororities.
Findings
Using the definition of total addressable market (TAM) as the "total market demand for a product or service," the TAM for fraternities and sororities in the U.S. is approximately 765,000 students. This represents the total number of undergraduates that belong to sanctioned fraternal organizations. Unfortunately, there is no data available for the number of graduate students who belong to fraternities or sororities, but the total number of alumni and undergraduates that identify as members of fraternities and sororities is more than 9 million. However, it is my assumption that this request specifically refers to the undergraduate population. Thus, the TAM of 765,000.
The average budget for fraternity chapters in the U.S. is $98,416 and the average budget for sorority chapters in the U.S. is $185,565. According to Fortune, 40% of budgets go to rent and of a $150,000 budget, $36,000 is allotted to social events, which represents 24% of the budget ($36,000 / $150,000). This leaves 36% (100% — 40% — 24% = 36%) of the budget for liability insurance, national organization dues, and "miscellaneous costs."
Conclusion
There are approximately 765,000 undergraduate students in fraternities and sororities in the United States. This represents the TAM of university fraternal organizations.