1. we can't afford a director, so someone will need to add it to his/her current responsibilities... the only way to overcome that issue is to pitch the benefits, and show that the investment will be worth it...
2. cost of the software to track alumni membership... solution is similar to above...
3. "we haven't had one so far, why do we need one now?"... talk about the retention and recruitment benefits, as part of the institution's strategic enrolment management plan, and remind everyone of the savings that are involved in retaining an existing grad, or not having to recruit a new one (because they've been referred by an alumni)...
Bradley,
Our graduates really are our best form of marketing if we can find a successful way to tap into their success stories. Some of the money directed toward marketing may be better spent gathering stories from happy, successful graduates and then determining a way to share those stories in a variety of markets.
June Gudeman
My school is small, and employees ar over worked, so getting extra help will be a problem. I am going to offer incentives and salery raises/bonus to join and participate with the alumni association. Time is another factor, and I am going to work most of the association duties into their regular schedule. Convincing them of the value of the association will be easy, as we need to keep in touch with our students after graduation to prove job retention. All of our instructors will feel an alumni association will assist in this area, as well as others...
Stephan ,
It sounds like you have some creative ideas to getting around the typical barriers to setting up and running an alumni association. It seems that every institution struggles with an overworked staff. I would encourage you to utilize some of your key graduates to assist you in developing an active association.
June Gudeman
1. The cost of doing a website would be one objection, mainly for small business/school like ours.
2. Hiring a person to take care of the Alumni association, or assign it to an employee can also be a problem.
3. Also keeping all the records updated can be very hard.
Linnet,
I believe you have touched on several of the toughest barriers. Do you have some suggestions to overcoming any of those particular barriers for your institution?
June Gudeman
Barriers I see to setting up an AA are:
1. Participation. This includes members of faculty and staff, graduates and community members. A clear reason for people to get involved needs to be established early and often to combat this.
2. Financial. Events can cost money depending on the size and scope. To elimiante this issue, we will need to identify events that will not be costly but still give a good ROI.
3. Worthwile content. It may be difficult to keep people engaged in the AA unless regular, worthwile content and contact is delivered. To eliminate this issue, grads should be asked what content they would like to see.
Matt,
You've done a great job of summarizing the challenges. I would agree that participation on all fronts is certainly the biggest challenge. People are so busy and our events need to merit attendance. I really like your idea of asking grads what would make an event worth attending. Sometimes we 'think' we have a great idea, but it doesn't hold the same appeal for the actual alumni.
Good thoughts!
June Gudeman
1. How will we ever maintain adequate communication through the website, fb, etc.?
Solution: Assign interested and capable front desk personnel 1 or 2 shift(s) each week to monitor & respond to FB; website inquiries to be directed to Director.
2. Everyone's so busy; who will commit to be accountable as Director?
Solution: Initiate partial redistribution of assignments to allow most interested current staff member to make and maintain that commitment.
3. We want to do it, we just need to get to that place where the priorities currently above it are successfully completed.
Solution: Clarify assigned Director and focus on making it a priority now.
Jody,
It sounds like you've thought through the issues you're going to face and already have some great solutions.
June Gudeman
There are several barriers when attempting to start an Alumni Association.
1) Lack of resources - sometimes people will say, we do not have enough resources, but this is where you can start out by working with the resources you do have. Get the buy-in from several staff and faculty and break up the tasks so they are manageable. If someone has community outreach background, use them to reach out to graduates and the community.
2) Money - money can always be used as an excuse to not do something, especially within education; however, with the advancement of technology there are plenty of free tools that can be used. Blogs, e-newsletters, and Facebook pages can cost little to nothing. It's ok if they are not fancy right away, the most important thing is that you are doing something.
3) Marketing - budget constraints can place limits on marketing, but again some of the free technology tools can help to provide avenues for marketing at little to no cost. It's ok for an alumni association to grow along the way as long as alumni see that the school is doing something and that they care.
Susan,
I appreciate your thoughts on moving forward despite a lack of resources/funding. You are correct - there are so many free tools that can help us 'connect' to our graduates. I believe as a your institutions sees the advantages through your 'free' methods of connection, they'll be encourage to invest in their alumni program.
Great ideas!
June Gudeman
1. Distance of Alumni - a lot of alumni move out of state after graduating, making in person alumni events more difficult. There may have to be more of a focus on online or distance events.
2. Time- being a College with a relatively small staff size, all of our time is spent doing many important tasks - carving out the time necessary from someone's schedule in order to properly initialize and run an alumni association will be a challenge, and may have to be more of a "team" effort.
3. Contact with alumni. Over the past few years, there has been a more identified charge to keep in contact with graduates of the school, however, before that, there are many alumni whom we don't have contact information for. To overcome this, we could do an alumni drive to ask those we have contact with to share our alumni association information with any other alumni they may be in contact with.
Shawn,
It sounds like you have clearly identified the barriers. The next difficulty is determining the best way to get around those things that seem to be in the way. I like the idea of an alumni drive. Know also, that if you're able to put together some type of alumni site or alumni Facebook page, it will solve some of the distance issues and they will actually come to you and update their contact information.
June Gudeman
1. Lack of funds: We are a not for profit school, so allotting a budget for an Alumni Association might be difficult. We would definitely have to depend on donations, fund raisers, etc.
2. No information on alumni: A good number of alumni do not update their personal information - email, home / work address. I think a way to try and reach some of them would be thru other alumni.
3. Someone to head the Association: We have a great outreach director, who would do well in this position, but he is stretched beyond his limits. The only alternative would be to hire someone to fill this position.
Milagros,
You've clearly articulated some tough barriers that are not easy to overcome. But, naming them is the start and now your challenge is to think creatively and, possibly, out of the box to make your way around the roadblocks. I like your idea of finding grads via other grads. Facebook is certainly a free option to finding your alumni. I know that some organizations who can't afford a designated alumni website create a Facebook Alumni page. You may be surprised how many of your grads "find you" rather than you looking for them.
June Gudeman
budget. Solution: utilize volunteer alumni for part time director position.
no graduates/student involvement Solution: generate buy-in from all decision makers as well as staff, faculty and students.
Leticia,
Those sound like some tough barriers - I like your ideas/solutions.
June Gudeman
First you may need to hire a person to take care of the association which implies more money, which could be the second difficulty, a budget. And third reason could be trying to stay in touch with the graduates.
Linnet,
It sounds like you have done an accurate job of considering your barriers.
June Gudeman
