Getting younger alums involved
 

Ok...so I'm looking for some insight. :)

I'm currently the Vice President of Membership for my alumnae association and I need some help with retention of younger sisters in our chapter.

At 29 years old, I'm the only active member under the age of 45. We have two members in their 40s....everyone else is like 70-80. What happens is, we'll get a new sister in town, 24 - 30 years old, and she'll come to one of our events. After hanging out with a room full of senior sisters, she'll decide we're not for her and never show up again. :(

The three of us "younger" sisters try to stick by our younger guests and make them feel welcome and not out of place....but it's a tough hill to climb.

Now, there is one older alumna in town who sort of unofficially heads up a young alum group. It's not official, so it's just sort of one of those things where there is an event or two a year if someone gets around to it. Plus, the lady I just mentioned (who is an outstanding sister btw) is sort of the "keeper" of the young alums and it's kind of tough to get a say. :( I know the young alums are in town....I'd just like to see them participate with the actual chapter every once in a while. You know?

As MVP, I'd like to try and get some more "young-ish" type events on the schedule like sushi night, ballgame and stuff like that. Though, I'm not really sure how I should approach this. Does anyone have any experience tackling this kind of problem?

Many thanks for any advice you can offer!

.....Kelly :)

In our Alumnae groups we have "Special Interest Groups" aka SIGS. We started an young alum one where we organize Happy Hours, lunches, shopping etc. It is open to anyone but is geared more towards those of us who are 23-35. Since organizing these events, it seems that the younger crowd starts to come to the more general chapter events as well. It comes and goes though. Some years there were only two of us at any of the young alum events and others we get anywhere from 5-12.

To help get the word out I use Evite to invite all those that are interested to all of the Young Alum events. PM me if you want more details!

Hope that helps!

This is a great idea.

Break it down at least for a while until membership is built up of some of the younger people. Chapter events with any Alum invited back if they are near enough.

Try younger things. BBQ that may envolve young people with families. Singles night out local resturant, wine tastings, Victoria Secret Party(:D ), or what ever.

Then either once or twice a year have a full blown funtion of some semi-formal kind.

Kelly, I know what you mean and it is tough!

Good Luck!

If you have their contact info on file you may want to send them a form asking what types of activities they would want to see. My AC has a form that I filled out when I paid my dues where we got to say what types of things we were particularly intersted in so they could better program! For instance if you wanted to be part of the young alum group or the mommy and me playgroup, etc.

We rely on Evite, too - and meet at Panera Bread, as they offer a free meeting room. Geography plays a HUGE part in any organization in our area!

But we got younger members more by those of us who were in the middle saying, "ENOUGH! There's a limit to what we can do!" and stepping down. Then, a notice was sent out to the last 8 years of graduates, and they happily took over! We now have a much happier, much more alive Alumnae Association. Many of the things we now do, we wouldn't have considered five years ago. I am seriously convinced that it's all in the attitude!

Some Examples:

Five years ago: We sold candy for Ronald McDonald House, donating the proceeds.
Now: We make a meal every other month for RMH, and celebrate holidays with gingerbread houses, Easter Baskets, etc.

Five years ago: We met in each other houses, making newer alumnae uncomfortable, in pin attire only.
Now: We meet at Panera Bread's meeting room, in any sort of clothing.

Five years ago: It was pulling teeth to get anyone to attend the Panhellenic Luncheon.
Now: We had models in the Fashion Show.

Five years ago: TWO of us were reliably available for our senior ceremony (Jewel Degree).
Now: We actually had EIGHT alumnae at Jewel Degree, while another three prepared the Jewel Degree Brunch.

Kelly, do you have only one alumnae chapter in the area?

I ask because we have the SD chapter that is associated with State and the La Jolla chapter that is associated with UCSD. While there's no restrictions on who can join which chpater or how the alumnae chapters help the collegiate chapters there is definitely a divide between that ages. The LJ chapter more or less ranges from early 20s to early 60s with most in the 20-40 range. The SD chapter seems to start in the 60s. The SD chapter has bridge nights where as the LJ chapter has monthly happy hours. :D

This is pretty much what I did...right as I went alum I joined the local alumnae chapter. It wasn't about showing up & seeing a room full of seniors that turned me off-it was that their activities were things like basket weaving, book club, and knitting. No joke! Its not that those aren't fun for some, but I was hoping for a little variety.

The alumnae association (for my chapter) in my area seems to only do one thing - meet for lunch once a month on weekdays, on the other side of town at a time that doesn't fit into my lunch schedule so I can never attend. This seems to cater to the older crowd, and I had a heckuva time finding out this info in the first place.

I think it's great that you're trying to do programming to draw younger alums in. I think that using Evite would be an excellent tool. I also think that Ecupidelta's idea of asking younger members what they're interested in is a good idea as well

Wow, thanks everyone for the hints!


At a recent officer meeting, we got the ladies to agree to include a section of our application form where sisters can check the things they are interested in (happy hour, sporting events, book club, mommy and me, etc); but I'll have to find a way to get that information from the treasurer, who receives the forms.


We do meet every other month on a Saturday morning at a coffee place like Starbucks. The other meetings are usually at someone's home and include a program (like a guest speaker).


SoCalGirl, we also have two alumnae associations in town. The La Jolla association supports our USD chapter and the San Diego association supports our SDSU chapter. We (SD alums) meet on Saturdays and La Jolla meets on Mondays at 10:30am. Both groups have a mostly "senior sister" crowd.


Here's the kicker, one of the La Jolla alums sort of "commandeers" a list of the young alumnae members and orchestrates an unofficial young alum group. They use evites to advertise their events and they get a pretty decent turnout to them. The thing is that it's not consistant and these ladies only seem to attend for the "fun", they don't really participate with either of the associations. They *do* help with recruitment.


What I would like to do is to get the younger sisters to attend the ASSOCIATION events and support the collegiate chapters. I think the younger alums would bring a wonderful dynamic to the association....and I truly believe that they could learn a lot from the older sisters.


At a Founders Day event today, one sister suggested a good idea. She thought we should go to a wine tasting in the nearby wine country in the spring and let people bring whoever they want (their husbands, friends, whatever). She further suggested that we invite the graduating senior girls from the chapters to come along. In this way, they'll get to do something fun and possibly be excited to join the association when they graduate.


I've already got a listserve going and I hope to have a website up by the end of the year. I'm also hoping to somehow start a "Young Alums SIG" as a sub-section of our alum association. I'm going to let some of your ideas "marinate" and see what I might be able to do!


Thanks again!

.....Kelly :)

The time to recruit young alumnae is when they are still in college. Not only seniors, the younger members need to see that the AA is active too.

Invite them to an event at the local chapter for an open house. You can also promote a "Bring a non-XYZ" to a wine and cheese or happy hour. It can be really intimidating to go to an event alone, so always include non members, spouses, etc., if you can. You'll get your headcount up if nothing else and make it more welcoming. Also, instead of a welcome letter to new alumnae in the area, organize a phone tree and call them and invite them to a coffee hour with other alum. Even if it just 2 people, it's still coffee and they may feel more inclined to come to a future event.

If there is a collegiate chapter nearby, host a new member brunch for the new girls during their new member period. Co-host a membership education workshop with your AA and the chapter. Co-host a philanthropy event. Really integrate with chapter programming as much as possible. New alum are familiar with chapter life and are still clinging to it, so if they are new in town it is a little less scary to go to a chapter event than an AA-only event. Also, by hosting the combined chapter and AA events, you are grooming future alumnae members both for your AA and others.

As a young alum who doesn't go to much, I can give you a few reasons why:

1) Cost. I'm in law school and on a pretty fixed income so while I would have loved to go to Founders' Day Brunch, $35 will also buy my groceries FOR THE WEEK, or buy a study aid for finals.
2) Meetings in people's homes. Like honeychile said, younger people aren't comfortable to going to someone else's house that they've never met, especially when it seems like everyone else there knows each other.
3) Lack of information on attire - a lot of the meetings are weeknights, which is great, but the last thing I want to do is come running in from class in a hoodie if everyone else is in pin attire, or come running in from work in a suit when everyone else is business casual.
4) Family-centered events are great, but I really feel my alumnae chapter is focused on these so much that it makes me feel almost like an outcast for being young and single.
5) Most of the women up here are from the same two chapters (near the metro area where we are) and I'm from a smaller chapter in another state. I feel a little weird when they all start talking about traditions up here and I don't have any idea what they are.

I'm one of those alums who pretty much turns out to help with recruitment and that's it.

I totally agree with GP. Those are probably the biggest objections. I know the bring your family/husband/boyfriend events don't appeal to me all the time since I am perpetually single. :(

I cosign those as well. Timing is also hard, particularly when your AC is 30 minutes away. Weekdays are impossible, weeknights are improbable.

I need to get more involved in the chapter I just joined, but then I'd like to start a SIG and get more young-uns like me!

I guess I don't understand why husbands or children would be involved in alum events at all, unless it's a once a year picnic or something. The events are for sisters to bond with other sisters, not their families that they already spend time with. If they're incapable of doing anything without hubby and/or kids, they need to skip the alum chapter meetings while they head to the mall to purchase a life.

Completely agree that there is NOTHING more uncomfy than meeting in someone's house. If there are only 5 of you in the area and you've all known each other since approximately 1930 (I'm guessing this is what our one alum chapter in California is like) and no one new is coming, fine. But other than that - it's just bad for everyone involved.

I think the bringing family/husband/boyfriend to the events is to make new members feel comfortable b/c they'll know someone.

But that's exactly my point. If you're that apprehensive, you'll probably stick to hubby all night and meet no one. I mean - you went through rush when you were 18 - 19, you can't walk into a room with maybe 10 other women as an adult and make conversation, you've clearly got issues. Maybe it's because I'm an only child and got used to doing things on my own out of necessity, but a grown woman who would be too "scared" to meet other people without her husband along is just bizarre to me.

The idea with husbands and kids (Family) is to make them feel at ease.

So, while a cook out may seem corny, have it at someones house and say a horse u pit for guys, something for the kids like a lawn sprinkler.

Get money for the esintials and ask everyone to bring "Their" speciality whether it be Chips and dip, dessert, beans or what ever.

Volley Ball net for youngesters (Alums) with BFs.

Maybe washer tossing game? Like horse shoes but in a smaller area.

You need to also maybe consolidate two Alum groups into one to make it stronger.

Once a year, have a special function, some form of semi dress up type of dinner and dance.

Hey, guys like to dress up to!:D Not that often, but once in a while!:)

Actually Fraternitys are not that much different when it comes to getting the ladies to come on down as it is for ladies to get the guys to come on down!

Who is more persuasive?;)

Every two years we hold regional mini conventions. These are on the off years from the national convention. We invite the graduating seniors and when we do an induction ceremony, we give them a certificate giving them free membership dues to the AA that is local to them. We have gotten several new members that way.

Also, we have been holding membership wine and cheese events at the beginning of the year. We get the names and addresses of all local members from national and invite all the ladies on the list. This year, our membership chairperson only invited the 100 youngest members from the list. We were able to get 7 of them to join. Once they join, we immediately get them involved in a committee so that they feel needed.

DaffyKD

Get contact information for alums in your area from your HQ. Try a letter of introduction (doesn't have to be as formal as that sounds but its your opportunity to tell 'em you are not a senior sister!), hype some fun social event, give them your email/phone number to get involved - or put together a survey or just a simple response card/form. You can follow up with an Evite (if you're lucky enough to get e-addresses from HQ). Bring a digital camera and take pix! Then, post to your assoc's site - and email everyone who attended with a link to the pix. And thank them for coming!!

UPDATE -- Last week, I was able to get an electronic copy of the list of the alumnae in my area from IHQ, thanks to Amy, who was way super helpful! On Saturday I e-mailed everyone who had an address and invited them to join a yahoogroups listserve I had created.

Prior to the e-mail, we had 9 sisters on the listserve and virtually no traffic. In the last four days, we've had 29 sisters join the listserve for a total of 38!! A lot of them have said things like "Wow! Thanks so much for contacting me!" and "I've wanting to get involved, thanks!"

I'm amazed at the response as people had been telling me that previous attempts at sending out letters or e-mails like that have flopped. I tried to sound upbeat, explained why being on a listserve is handy, and mentioned that I wanted to put together a young alums event in the future to help welcome the sisters who were new to town.

Of the 29 who have signed on so far, they are in the age range of about 22 - 52 years old. Two of the sisters are still collegians! I guess they're just eager to get a head start on life as alumnae!

So far, so good...my next goal is to get the sisters chatting and attending events!

.....Kelly :)

Maybe its just me, but I think that occasional family events are a good thing. At the very least, for those of us who have daughters, having them see what our GLO means to us and the lifelong enjoyment we get out of it might encourage them to Go Greek someday (and even better...join our own chapter!).

Also, for those of us who married someone who was not in a GLO, giving them the opportunity to see what our organization is all about might help them understand the time you give to your organization.

Certainly not every event should be this way - a majority should be sister events, but I think it would be a shame if family were excluded from everything. (Especially, as I mentioned above, in the case of future legacies. :) )

Kelly sounds great and the first big step is the hardest isn't it?:)

Maybe as susan314 said, break it down.

While some Husbands may not have been Greek affilidated, they may have more in common than one would think or if they are Greeks compare notes to to the good old days and about their schools.

The family thing is nice and shows love. Something out doors like a cook out at either at someones home or a nice park.

Single girls night, Wine and cheese is always good, breaks down the inhabitions or maybe a fondu party, say a trip to a museum, movie night and then cocktails at a local Pub! Wine tastings with a little cheese to clean the palate only!

Use the KISS principle, "Keep It Simple Stupid"!

Also price can be a factor.;)

Our chapter is mostly young alumnae (at 37 I'm one of the older ones) and having women who only come for the "fun" things is quite normal, for a lot of them that's all they want to do. And rather than trying to change them and get them to do things they aren't interested in, just have events that interest them.

We do happy hours, wine/brewery tastings/tours, pottery painting, a trip to the horse racing track, Race for the Cure and things like that. And then we had a summer BBQ last year for the first time which was very popular.

And we surveyed our membership once and most of them said they didn't want spouses becaus sorority time was time just for them.

OTOH...there is a place for younger alums away from the chapter....
 

While I would never say "never" to a young alumnus being involved in the chapter, I think there is merit in the advice I give to my graduating seniors--Stay connected to the chapter, but be involved in another chapter for the next 5 years.

If you want to be on the alumni advisory board, do it at another chapter.

If you want to be on the house corporation, do it at another chapter.

If you want to have a cold refreshment with an undergrad, do it at another chapter.

Why? Because the guys (in our case) you are leaving behind need a chance to spread their wings and do things without your "help." If you do not move on, then they cannot move out.

Just a thought...

Art Hebbeler
Chapter Advisor, Phi-Delta Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha
AA 1038 (Butler '82 -- Go Dawgs!)

Brother Art, I am not sure I can agree with you here even though you have some good points.

Usually the only local members are from that Chapter. If there are some from other Chapters, they can be added to either the Advisory Board or the House Corp.

But, who has the most interest, the local Alumni. I know, I was on the H C for 10-12 years and now President of the Alumni Association.

Sometimes it is better for a Brother from outside the Chapter to be High Pi Advisor) for those who do not know our Officerships.

Along this topic, what methods do your headquarters/chapters use to find alumni members who have not been active for years? Is it appropriate to use switchboard or google? What if people don't want to be found?

If you are serious, then use all lines that you can use.

If they do not want to be contacted, they will tell you as such.

But, many times they are lost and are very happy to hear what is going on and maybe want to do things as send money or find out they are near other Members!:)

Ergo:

Looked for a Brother for years and found him in the KC area! When He was found, He was tickled to death and has been involved for two years now!:D

Oh, this is after @ 40 Years since he was lost!:)