Alumnae Relations
 

Hi everyone!

I've just been elected alumnae relations chair for my chapter, and I really want to start some new traditions. In the past this office has been kind of a joke. No one has done anything at all with it, and I am determined to change that. My chapter is at a point where we really need the support of our alums. Do any of you have things that you do for your alums or any traditions that my chapter could implement? Thanks!

I would say the first step is tracking them all down. If you have some alumnae who are missing, who have moved, who are no longer in contact, attempt to find them. They'll be happy to know you thought enough about them to locate them.

Something that one of our Liaison's did was to map out all of our family trees. Everyone knew about a few people above them and a few people below, but they didn't know much more than that. She sent out the completed family trees to all of the actives and alumnae so that they could contact each other and keep in touch. In addition to the Alumnae Liaison conversing with alumnae, all of the sisters took an active part in communicating with the members in their family tree.

Have an alumnae day. Invite all of the alumnae. Fill the day with activities. You could have a dinner for everyone to attend, and make the rest of the day an option, so to speak. Do a philanthropy in the morning and invite alumnae to participate.

Or.. if you have a lot of alumnae in the area who have children, put on an event for Halloween or Easter where the kids all dress up and have candy hunts. You could even charge for the event, or ask for donations, and all of the money can go to your philanthropy.

Another idea... At an event where a lot of alumnae will be (formal, alumnae day, etc.), present an award to an alumnae member. Have an award for an advisor (if you have more than one) and another one for an alumna who has dedicated her time/effort/money to the chapter.

I'll say what I always say: ask the alumnae what THEY want. Within reason of course.

one easy thing that doesn't cost anything and is not time consuming- create a facebook group; invite the alumnae that you have e-mail addresses for, and keep it updated. If you update your own facebook page, then you can update the alumnae page at the same time. Post a few pictures, etc. It is also an easy way to e-mail the whole group with chapter updates, help requests, etc. Alumnae that you have lost track of might even find you.

Another thing the last Collegiate Alumnae Liaison did for my chapter was set up an account on myfamily.com. You can post anything and everything going on with the chapter, and you can invite all of the active members and alumnae to sign up with an account (it's very quick and easy). Any events that are posted can automatically be sent via e-mail to all registered users. And pictures can be put up of all of your past activities. It's a great way to keep in touch and to inform the alumnae of all of the things that are going on.

Thanks, everyone! These are some really great ideas :)

This is great advice. I'm the Collegiate Chapter Liaison for my alumnae group. We have as much trouble thinking of things to do for y'all! I try to find my collegiate chapter's alumnae relations chair each semester to see what they need. One thing I'll tell you is that alumnae want to give back...you just need to let them know how! Two chapters in my area have recently hosted events to bring in alumnae. One event was Sunday, and since I was out of town, I have yet to hear how it went. The other event was an Alumnae Networking event at Sigma Tau chapter. Alumnae were invited to come out for a session that allowed collegiate members to ask questions about life after college. It was a very well received event, especially for the Juniors and Seniors in the chapter. They plan on doing this yearly.

Before you speak to your Collegiate Chapter Liaison, think of ways that you need support from your alumnae. These need to be more than just monetary (depending on the make-up of your local alumnae chapter, you may have women who can commit more time than they can money.)
If your alumnae chapter doesn't respond, I'd be surprised! One of our chief missions is to provide a bridge from collegiate life to alumnae life...what better way than to interact with collegians and show them the life beyond college?
Good luck!! Feel free to PM me if you want!!