Ideas, please! Not recipes (although I would be happy to post some more)
 

One of my most favorite members, now a young alumna (she graduated this past May) has taken a leadership role in her local alumnae chapter. ( :D YAY!) She took me to lunch today (she was visiting for Homecoming weekend) and proceeded to try to pick my (limited) brain on ways to increase involvement between the local college chapter and the alumnae chapter.

Bear in mind that the majority of the alumnae in her city did NOT attend the local university, so they don't have any particular ties or loyalty to that chapter. Her intent is to increase interaction between the two groups, as there really isn't much happening at this time. I suggested a few simple activities to her and told her that I'd do a little research to see what has worked with other chapters across the U.S. and Canada.

Would appreciate any and all ideas/suggestions that I can pass on to her. Thanks in advance, you guys. I really truly mean ANY ideas - small group interactions, large group, whatever. I even told her "go bowling" (and I do NOT bowl but I would show up, just for comic relief).

As an alumna who moved around a bit, I always felt more comfortable going to alumnae events at a chapter house (even if it wasn't my own chapter) than at someone's own home. There's just something about a chapter house that feels familiar.

Host an alumnae-collegian mixer or membership education workshop at the chapter house. A great time to do this is during chapter recruitment workshop training. Collegiate members can give house tours and share chapter bragging rights. This way, alumnae who were not members of the chapter can become acquainted with it.

Sorority history is a great topic for an alumnae-collegian membership workshop, and the alumnae can share their war stories with the younger ones. Or have alumnae volunteer to participate in a workshop about business etiquette, resume writing, etc.

My alumnae association in Orlando also hosts a new member brunch shortly before initiation, as well as a mother-daughter brunch during homecoming weekend. Both are always well attended by both collegians and alumnae. Another activity is hosting a alum-collegian philanthropy activity-- we've had good luck with this around the holidays taking dinner down to the local Ronald McDonald House.

You can also encourage a pen pal program between the chapters and the alums-- a mentor/mentee program. Consider reaching out to the chapter to plan an alum-collegian holiday lunch or dinner.

The alumnae should also reach out to the chapter-- what do they need? Can the alums participate in a drive for supplies for the chapter house? Can they receive an invitation to the chapter philanthropy event? I really think Facebook has been such a great way to keep alums in touch with collegiate chapters; the association should have a facebook fan page and invite collegians to join the page.

I've got some ideas, hope this helps!

• Career Night/Networking Reception: Students get to meet alumnae involved in specific fields. A little dry but it can get the ball rolling.
• Can alumnae be invited to certain ceremonies? The collegiate chapter in my town invites the alumnae chapter to the Alumnae Initiation, as well as the Founders' Day Brunch.

Is the advisor involved in the Alumnae chapter? Perhaps she'll have some suggestions as well...

While I'm not an advisor (yet!), I've been involved in other things where I interact with college students. Women around this age are so eager to speak with women who are a little older, but not their moms or older sisters, about life after college. I think an event or two would spark interest and then it would flow a bit more naturally.

Career night can also be a fantastic opportunity if you can offer to connect the seniors with alumnae who might have experience in recruiting, resume-writing, interviewing, and/or negotiation. Collegiate women are often totally lost when it comes to "what are your salary requirements" and similar questions. If the career night can lead to later contacts, you've increased interaction tremendously.

Philanthropic projects might also be an option. Depending on the size of the chapter(s), some larger projects might not be on the scope for either the alumnae or the collegiate chapter due to manpower requirements, but a combined event might work.

ADPiUCF brought up an interesting idea. Could you have your alumnae chapter meetings at the collegiate chapter house? If the alumnae don't have a relationship with the collegians, you might start by just being there. If the chapter has a senior ceremony (I'm sure they're called by a million different names, but a ceremony moving the graduating sisters into alumnae status), then volunteer to organize it or at least participate. And if they don't have one, then now would be a great time to start. And while there, you could cover a few of the nuts and bolts about your foundation, how/why to update your contact information and how to find an alumnae chapter wherever they are over the next 50 years of their lives.

But I would suggest she tread very lightly. An overly enthusiastic alumna wanting to insert herself into the everyday lives of a bunch of collegians she doesn't know could be a real turn off. Not that she is, but she could inadvertently come off that way.

I'm going to say that the collegians need to take the lead as far as telling alumnae their assistance and presence is needed and wanted. If the young alumna in question wants to contact the chapter president personally and have a brainstorming session with her, that would be the best bet.

It may also be that the collegiate chapter DOES have chapter alumnae who are involved with helping the chapter (albeit unofficially and/or via email etc) and the last thing you want is for any toes to get stepped on.