Alumni Recruitment
How do you suggest recruiting alumni to join the new Alumni Association who have been out of school for several years?
Nathan,
I'm wondering what you mean by "Alumni Association" - are you thinking of an organization they "join"? Would it cost them something? Are you thinking that just by logging into an alumni website, they would become part of an "association"? I would challenge you to think about staying away from the word "Association" and, possibly, lightening the title to something like "Community" and maybe even stating that just by graduating, they are part of the "Alumni Community".
If you are thinking about ways to draw them to your website or to an alumni event, I think you need to consider what they "need or want". For example, requiring graduates to go to an alumni website in order to request a transcript will draw individuals to your site. Including some type of "Career Services" at your event will be a draw to many of your grads. I would suggest asking some of your own graduates what would be a draw for them?
June Gudeman
Forgive me June, but I am a bit confused. This course is entitled "Setting Up an Effective Alumni Association", yet you are telling me to avoid using the word "association". Can you please elaborate on the reasoning for this?
Although we have had an "active" alumni association for some time now, we have many alumni who graduated several years ago that were not automatically signed up for the alumni association. I am trying to reach out to those graduates to encourage them to join the alumni association, and was looking for suggestions on how to draw them in such as an event, giveaway, etc.. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Nathan,
I am not trying to tell you to avoid using "association" -- I was merely suggesting alternative titling if you were just starting that might help encourage participation. Since I now know you have an existing association and are merely trying to encourage involvement, I would still suggest reaching out to a group of your current active alumni and asking THEM what giveaways or services they would appreciate. We can try things that sound good to us, but you have a great group of individuals who can offer better advice right in your association.
June Gudeman
Former students want to get involved and stay connected this is a great outlet.
