Thank you for the positive feedback! You'll turn my head with such flattery
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I believe that the basics of what I mentioned above provides the framework of an alumni program.
Now the trick would be if we could maybe brainstorm with eachother and add depth and breadth to that framework.
For example, creating (assuming you haven't already) an alumni mentoring program where an active/alum pair grouping is established.
This might work especially well with current officers/chairs and past officers/chairs (now alum). Why always reinvent the wheel, learn what they already know.
You could ask for volunteers generically through your letters and more specifically in letters from current officers directly to alum ones.
The relationship could be based primarily on emails, computer chat, and phone calls. Where you agree to converse a minumum of once a week at a set time.
As a side benefit I bet you guys become friends and they have a renewed interest in the chapter. And they are more likely to motivate other alum they know to help out. They will be involved without smothering you.
Important Fact: The greatest motivator for Alumni are other Alumni.
Side idea: Have an alum as a co-chair for the committee and ask them to establish an alumni committee (if only on paper) to help you out.
And have her/him sign off on your letters.
You can expand the program a bit if you like and have alum mentors to pledges/new members.
The mentoring thing may work out especially well because:
Past officers had a lot of ownership in the chapter.
Sometimes as people get older they have silly ideas like the chapter is to childish for them or inappropriate to be around. This gives them a mature relationship.
Another note: If you don't make a special effort to contact your chapter founders (the living ones) or perhaps the oldest surviving members you should be spanked
You owe them everything, and starting a chapter is such a labor of love.
Let me relate a story (stop reading here if you are bored).
There was a chapter of my fraternity started many years ago in Canada. The founding president went on to become a very important supreme court judge, but did he forget his chapter? No.
In every composite since the first one there are bright young faces . . . and his, slowly aging over the decades as he went back every year and helped nurture his chapter.
His face slowly aging in that composite every year of every decade until his death a couple years ago.
I believe that level of love and dedication probably exists in a number of our alumni, we just need to give them a meaningful way to express it.
This story was especially touching for me because I was the founding president of my chapter (colony and chapter).
So bring on the ideas
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