From Collegiate/Active to Alumni Involvement

[BFulton]

Just curious about what sorts of things your groups do (if anything) to encourage those graduating and leaving the campus organizations to remain active as alumni members?

[AXO Alum]

As fraternal relations advisor to our collegiate chapter, we do several stay involved things. I will say that it can be VERY HARD to keep them interested, especially if they've been a sister for 3 or more years. There can be a lot of burnout, and they often don't realize that being an alum is actually very different from being a collegian.

1) We invite the seniors to our last alum meeting of the semester (the alums meet on a semester basis also for convenience sake)

2) We host a little reception for the seniors before their last collegiate meeting. During this we talk about commitment for a lifetime, the networking opportunities alum life can offer, the VERY BIG DIFFERENCES between the two groups (especially that the focus really turns to philanthropy issues in a major role and that you don't have to attend stuff - you attend because you want to).

3) We get each girl a nice keyring with letters on it so they'll remember to PACE (Promote Alpha Chi Everyday) and so that when others see it it gives her the opportunity to share.

4) We also send them newsletters and updates for the first year, and offer to help them find an alum club in their area if they are moving.

We are a new alum group (3 years) so we are still working on new ways to keep members involved. The biggest thing is to remember that they should ALWAYS feel welcome but realize too that they may need a break to step back and see the big picture. One cute side note is that it never fails that an incoming alum straight out of college ALWAYS votes to go "clubbing" when we consider places to go for girls night out (the rest of us are saying things like dinner, or a paint your own pottery store, etc.) We all just kind of smile to ourselves and realize its all part of the territory! If I can be of further assistance, please let me know (you can email me too!)

[BFulton]

Thanks for some great ideas (I love the key ring one)! I definitely can appreciate your experiences and have seen the same challenges.

Out of curiosity, when you say the alum. chapter has more of a philanthropy role, is that activities with the active chapter or does the alumni chapter conduct its own community service activities?

[This message has been edited by BFulton (edited June 26, 2000).]

[AXO Alum]

Originally posted by BFulton:
when you say the alum. chapter has more of a philanthropy role, is that activities with the active chapter or does the alumni chapter conduct its own community service activities?

[This message has been edited by BFulton (edited June 26, 2000).]

YES - to all of the above We do participate in an activity together with the collegians to raise support for a domestic violence shelter, and we also do our own
projects. Also, my intent in expressing this, was to say that often, as alums, you do tend to take your philanthropy role a bit more seriously than as a collegian. When we meet we discuss our philanthropy projects, fiscal year budgets, etc., not mixers, date parties, etc Not to sound bad about collegiate activities though I know its not all about partying, just trying to show a big difference between the two

[Gizmo]

Well, so far we haven't had too much of a problem with sisters remaining involved after graduation. We do have some that are not involved, but most of us understand that involvement in an alumnae chapter will be severely limited for sisters attending graduate school, medical school or just adjusting to work and married life.

Actually, graduates remaining involved is part of our communication problem between alumnae and actives. We have some very vocal alumnae from our chapter and the actives are beginning to react rather explosively to anything they suggest. So my goal for the next year (as VP in charge of communication) is to find a way to define the ideal differences between being an active and an alumna and to make sure that graduating sisters are aware of this difference.

As part of this goal, I am hoping to have a meeting with the active sisters to determine what they want and need from our alumnae and then to pass that information on to the rest of my chapter. Hopefully, we will be able to better determine what the chapter wants from us so that we are no longer trying to do so much, making the actives feel like we are useful rather than intrusive.

[BFulton]

Originally posted by Gizmo:

Actually, graduates remaining involved is part of our communication problem between alumnae and actives. We have some very vocal alumnae from our chapter and the actives are beginning to react rather explosively to anything they suggest. So my goal for the next year (as VP in charge of communication) is to find a way to define the ideal differences between being an active and an alumna and to make sure that graduating sisters are aware of this difference.
.

Oh, I hear you here! This is especially interesting to navigate with new active chapters AND new alumnae.

Feel free to e-mail me and perhaps we can come up w/some ideas!

[shadokat]

As someone who had major sorority burn out after her college years, I am so glad I waited a couple years to start and volunteer for my sorority. I actually saw an ad in our national magazine for a regional advisor, and I sent in an email for the position. Next thing, I'm advising 8 chapters in my region, which can be tough. I also got the benefits of going to convention, meeting all kinds of new people, and seeing that my chapter isn't the only chapter of the sorority. We also pay $10 a year in alumnae dues, which is VERY cheap, and that has helped people stay involved as well.