The Alumni Association Support and Brow-Beating Thread
 

Are you in an alumni association?

If not, why not? Why don't you start one? What are you waiting for?

Do you need help? I'll help you.

Post now.

I am no longer involved with an alumni association. With my other fraternity responsibilities (chapter advisor, extension sponsor, section volunteer, region volunteer, APO LEADS presenter) I am already stretched rather thin, and to add another responsibility on top of that would be a disservice to the students that I serve. Once this group charters and I'm less busy, I'll join up with one.

Hey Arvid, if you're in the Chicago area, I know of a great alumni association there. ;)

Sister Havana, me too :)

But seriously Arvid, if there's one in the area, consider even just putting your name on the roster -- sometimes that's better than nothing.

A group of people I'm helping outside of my region are having a hard time recruiting because people think OMGALUMNIASSOCIATIONHARDWORK when it doesn't have to be much work at all. Sometimes you just need names of people who want to see it happen.

There was one in my area; it fell apart after their president moved. If one forms back up in my area, I'll put my name on a roster with no problem. I unfortunately can't devote any of my already stretched Time, Talent or Treasure to them at this point.

There are no "buts" in this thread. Only support and brow-beating.

I was the first president of the NJ Alumni Association. Now I'm the secretary. It's , fun, not as much work as being active in a chapter (which deters many people) and a great way to stay involved. If you're in the NJ area and are interested, find more information here:

www.aaonj.webs.com

Good job, Explicit! New Jersey is doing great things!

I tried for many years to get an alumni association up and running in my area. I had a few other alumni working with me, but most of them left the area. We couldn't get alumni to come out even for a once a month met & greet type thing. I tried 'dinner & a movie' type events, etc. I just couldn't get alumni to come out and get involved.

I threw in the towel a few years ago.

I keep busy as an advisor and alumni volunteer.

If someone in my area wants to get an association going, I'll help them out, but am burned out on trying to get one going.

What's your area?

Miami/Ft Lauderdale/West Palm of Florida

I'm not sure what approach you used, but one thing that's working for Uptown DC is a 1-1-3 model.

One meeting and one event every three months, if possible.

The other component that we're working on is ongoing recruitment and enhanced visibility. We're thinking outside of the box to find alumni who aren't otherwise engaged.

It's not easy, but we had a lot of momentum at first and it's being sustained by the grace of God. :-)

And on that note...
 

I believe in "Alumni Service Areas" -- geographic areas with a number of "inactive" alumni that suggest the potential viability of an alumni association.

For example, Fairfax City and County (VA) have about 1500 alumni with good addresses. Is it possible to find a minimum of 5 alumni to start an alumni association for that area? I believe so.

Alumni shouldn't have to travel out of their own communities for an alumni association experience unless they happen to have a greater affinity for another area or another community needs greater service.

I don't think alumni associations need to encompass large geographic areas -- some communities will always be left out, and in my experience, people don't even send out mailings to the alumni in their area. If your "alumni service area" has 10,000 inactive alumni, how can you ever reach all of them to advertise your first meeting? Postage is expensive!

Just rambling and hoping that anything I say inspires one person to find four others and get the ball rolling in their own community.

FWIW, the person who initially tried to get things going tried doing weekly meetings. We quickly changed this to once a month, at a public location that was easy to get to (ie a Denny's off a major road that could be gotten to quickly from most locations). We wanted to do a major event (ideally a service project) about once a month.

But getting people to come out was a major pain. They'd usually come once and never again. No idea why. Many had great ideas, then never followed thru. Most seemed reluctant to travel furthen then 15 minutes from home, which is silly in our area. Many people I know commute 30-60 minutes daily. We picked a time and day that wouldn't be a burden and nothing seem to work.

I hear ya. Sometimes it's a combination of a lot of factors.