Quote:
Originally posted by adpiucf
So you go to college, pledge a sorority and have 4 wonderful years.... then you graduate and POOF! We never hear from you again!
So how do we retain our alum? I have my theories and I am willing to share why people don't stay, and what we could do to keep them. But I am interested in hearing what you have to say first 
|
Part of it is that many people never kept in touch-- moving home, getting five apartments within five years-- it all means that people are hard to contact. It's easier now with email mailing lists, since all a sister has to do is set one up, and other sisters can find the list and join it for discussions.
In other cases, people move to places where there isn't a local alumnae chapter, or isn't a local collegiate chapter, or the people there are just a very different "fit" than where one went to school. As an alumna initiate from a local in the Chicago area, I might be intimidated if I moved Down South and was living near a very traditional chapter. (Not that I'd have any need to be, per se, but meeting new people can feel like recruitment all over again, ya know?) Not to mention the age difference-- some alumnae chapters are average age forty-five, which will feel different than those with average age of twenty-eight.
I think marketing, advertising, and having an online presence will help people know that there's a chapter out there. Keeping updated with your magazine and private side will help the (I)NHQ of your org get your info to local alumnae chapters, and help them market their sisterhood to new (or new-to-area) alumnae.