The Renaissance of an Alumni Association

[Senusret I]

I am the President of an APO Alumni Association. (Do I say that a lot? I don't mean to, just wanted to frame the thread appropriately.)

Anyway, we are basically going to be changing the way we conduct business during this year. We have one year terms, and although most Presidents stick with two, I expect three. (There is never any competition and most presidents sorta just give up and move on LOL)

That said..... my goal for this administration is to basically start instituting "best practices" for everything we do.

First thing I did was start standing monthly board meetings, as opposed to "whenever the President feels like it" meetings. That alone has been helpful for collecting mail, signing checks, and acting more quickly on certain issues before the board.

I've also had to make some tough decisions .... for example, we're obviously a service fraternity, so we are supposed to do service. But when a project was planned for this Saturday with no notice before Wednesday, I asked the Service chair to postpone it. I just didn't believe it was a best practice to have a service project on short notice.

I want our events to be successful, not just adequate.

I hope to talk about the growth of my alumni association in this thread and inspire others who are also rebuilding their associations or chapters.

To kick it off, here is my first question:

For those of you who consider yourselves "idea oriented" leaders.... as well as those who demand a certain level of quality in what you do.... how do you work with people who are used to just throwing things together and hoping it works out somehow?