June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Public Relations Opportunities

Amanda, The question for you is - how can you encourage, motivate, and assist your graduates in these endeavors? June

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Your First Event

Hi Amanda, When hosting an alumni event, it's important to think from their perspective. Why would they want to come to my event? What's in it for them? Promoting updated information on new legislation would certainly be of interest to them - I like it! June

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Mission Statement Development

Hi Amanda, I encourage you to really think through the goals you have for your alumni association or community and write your mission statement to match those goals. Is your goal purely to offer a place for grads to connect with each other? Then your mission statement is accurate. June

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Barriers to setting up an Alumni Association

Justin, It sounds like you have a pretty clear idea of your obstacles in setting up an alumni association for your institution. I believe you also see the benefits. As you mentioned, your challenge is to show the Board of Directors the benefits and help them understand the issue of cost. But, the bottom line is a RELATIONSHIP - we want to continue our relationship with our graduates and we want our alumni to continue a relationship with us. It can be a mutually beneficial relationship. That's the issue your board is going to have to agree on. The cost/benefit… >>>

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Benefits to Offer Your Grads

Justin, Great idea! Our graduates make GREAT mentors. They've walked in those same "student shoes" and are able to make a connection to our current students. June

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Advisory Board Membership

Justin, Certainly looking for individuals who may be passionate about your alumni and willing to serve (as opposed to being arm-twisted) is a great idea. I might suggest actually targeting some graduates and staff members that you think might be good candidates. Frankly, people like to be asked. You communicating to them that you believe they would be a good fit, may encourage someone to agree to something they might never step up to do on their own. Just a few thoughts to consider. June

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Measuring Alumni Association Results

Hi Justin, I've said many times that our graduates are walking, breathing advertisements for our schools. Certainly, keeping our alumni well served, connected, and happy will produce referrals. The challenge is being able to track that activity. While it's easy to track an actual Referral Form, it's difficult to quantify casual conversation that a graduate may have with a cousin, a neighbor, a co-worker that may down the road result in a referral. Good Luck! June

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Public Relations Opportunities

Randy, Our graduates are living breathing advertisements for our schools and our industry. It sounds like you have some good ideas on how you'd like to take full advantage of that. I have found that gathering alumni success stories via our website and finding creative ways to share those stories both inside and outside of our institution has been a very valuable project. "Stories" are incredibly powerful! Good luck - I'd love to see your website and hear more about your alumni association once you get it up and running! June

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Benefits to Offer Your Grads

Hi Randy, Career Services is the number one motivator in drawing alumni back to their institutions so your emphasis on that is right on. June

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Challenges to Setting Up an Alumni Association Website

Randy, It sounds like you have a pretty clear picture of the challenges you face. As you think about an alumni website for your school, consider what would draw your graduates. What things could you include that would provide that "buy-in"? You might consider components that alumni are looking for like a Job Board, an Alumni Directory (to connect with old classmates), or other helpful information they might be interested in - Career Services, Loan Info, Continuing Education. You may also want to consider some things that would, literally, force them to your site like Transcript Request Forms or Grad… >>>