If I may, I suggest you focus less on alumnae officers and meetings, and a whole lot more on outreach and programming. Sure, there needs to be a few alumnae officers who make sure everything is getting done, meetings are being publicized, dues are being paid, support to the area collegiates and philanthropic aims are getting there, etc. Based on my experiences (in an NPC sorority, of course!) setting up an alumnae chapter based on formal meetings and all business is a recipe for failure. I suggest the emphasis be on "Hey, we're here and we want to have fun with our sisters now that we're alumnae!" {FYI--for sororities the proper terminology is alumna (singular) and alumnae (plural.) If it's a mixed group of males and females, then alumni is the word to use!}
A few
Do's and
Don'ts
1. Do contact everyone you can think of. Use chapter records, parent's contact info, university alumni resources, word of mouth. Let everyone know that you're forming an alumnae chapter and that you want to get ALL alumnae involved.
2. Do think long and hard on programming. Depending on the ages of your alumnae (if your collegiate chapter was a recolonization, then you may already have a lot of area alumnae who'd love to be reintroduced to Zeta Lambda Phi!) A few programming suggestions, other than the collegiate/alumnae ones mentioned below:
- Paint your own pottery
- Family day at a local zoo, park, skating rink
- Pot Luck dinner
- Girls Night Out/Dinner and a Movie
- Annual Philanthropic event. Whether adopting a highway (quarterly commitment), volunteering at a cancer or AIDS Walk (annual), serving at a soup kitchen (weekly/monthly) or whatever your sorority supports!
- Monthly "Lunch Bunch" (schedule the same day/week monthly, like the 2nd Thursday of each month)
- Happy Hour (same as above, choose a set day and restaurant for each month)
- Holiday Ornament or Cookie Exchange
- Fall Kickoff Meeting and Dessert
- Wine Tasting event
- Annual Business meeting with ritual, elections, bylaw approval (yes, that's annual, as in only once each year.)
- Fundraising meeting with presentation by Pampered Chef, PartyLite, etc (where the alumnae get a percentage of sales in cash as a chapter fundraiser)
3. Absolutely, positively do not ask your alums for anything at first. Seriously! Invite them to events, tell them that you are working to improve your collegiate/alumnae relations, encourage them to reconnect with the sorority. Invite them to ritual events, your Founders Day celebration (and if you don't already do one, strongly consider it for this year and the future!), recruitment functions. If you don't have a specific ceremony for when your collegiates graduate or go alum, consider developing one and ask your current alumnae to perform the ceremony for this year's graduating Seniors! If your chapter does not have an Alumnae Relations officer, consider amending your bylaws so you have someone on the collegiate level responsible for such an important task!
4. Do remember that alumnae have completely different points of view, time commitment issues and financial situations than your collegiate members. Some women will consider Zeta Lambda Phi as something they did in college, others will jump at the chance to get involved again. Overprogramming can be as dangerous as underprogramming. Also, consider the age range of your alumnae members. Members in the mid-late 20s have completely different interests than members in their late 30s, and those in their 40s and 50s. That's definitely okay, but when you're trying to maximize participation you really need to keep these things in mind.
5. Do encourage and allow your alumnae to do the work. It may turn out that there really isn't any interest in an alumnae group, or there may be a lot of interest. Don't force, but encourage. It's okay to let your alums know there's interest in the collegiate level in seeing an alumnae chapter started. Also, do start NOW to teach your collegiate members that your sisterhood is something to be celebrated throughout your lifetimes, not just while in college.
6. Do handle the business side of things on a consistent basis as how the collegiate chapter is set up. If the collegiate bylaws or officers have specific names, consider using these as a template for the alumnae chapter (removing EVERYTHING that just isn't appropriate or necessary for non-collegiate members!) Bylaws for the alumnae chapter should be adopted, minimum officers determined (President, Secretary and Treasurer for starters. You can add committee chairs and any additional Exec positions as needed by appointment (comm chairs) and amending bylaws (Exec positions.) Set up a calendar of events for the year, and try to avoid doing more than 1 "meeting event" per month. Set dues accordingly. Your goal should be to raise enough through dues to cover any mass mailings (one, maybe two per year max depending on # of pieces being mailed out), any support given by the alumnae to the collegiate chapter, a general philanthropic donation in the alumnae chapter's name. Again, sorry I don't know but if you have a national organization, you may have a few additional per capita fees to collect on top of these.
7. Do contact other chapters of your sorority if you have them, and ask them about starting an alumnae chapter. See who else has done it, what worked, and what didn't. Translation, don't reinvent the wheel
I hope some of these suggestions help. Feel free to PM me with any questions.
Good Luck!
Christin
Edited because although I knew it would be long, I still hit send before I was ready.