Richie was proud of his school. His school years had been formative beyond his imagination. Indeed, Richie credited his schooling for about ninety percent of his substantial career success. He often felt that he’d have been nothing but for his school. And so he had tried to stay in touch not only with his school friends but also his school mentors and advisors. Sometimes, Richie would have a question for a mentor or advisor, while other times he’d just send a birthday or holiday greeting, or congratulate them on something big that had happened for the school. His close relationship with his school became much closer, though, when they invited him to serve on the alumni board, where he learned how much his school had meant to so many others. For all his school had done for him and others, Richie was more than glad to give a little back.
Graduates
Graduates of a school usually have their hands full. The transition from one school to the next can be intimidating, absorbing one’s full attention and energy, and leaving little time to think about the school one just left. The transition from school into the workplace can be even more intimidating, again requiring full attention and leaving little for the school from which one just graduated. Those first mailings from the alumni relations office? Straight into the trash, when one just graduated. The path is forward, not back. Indeed, the graduate still draws services from the school. The graduate may need school transcripts for licensing boards, job applications, and other opportunities and credentialing. The graduate may also need recommendation letters and references from professors and deans. And the graduate may need resume reviews, job postings, and practice interviews from the placement office, all for moving ahead.
Alumni
In time, though, the graduate begins to think less of having just graduated and more of being among the school’s alumni, a proud member of a senior and distinguished, even if very large, group. With that passage from graduate to alumni, the role and relationship of these important members of the school community change. Students and graduates are necessarily takers, drawing everything from the school community, although often also giving much service back. Schools pour their resources into serving students and supporting graduates. Alumni, though, are givers, sharing much with the school community, while asking little or nothing back. Schools maintain alumni offices and offer alumni services, but the school relationship of alumni is generally to give rather than to receive, for all that the school has already provided.
Benefits
Alumni are most generous with their schools when they most appreciate the benefits the school has afforded them. Some students don’t have a good school experience. They may have struggled with school studies and relationships. And some graduates don’t find their schooling contributing much to their vocational or other success. Graduates may also feel that their school already received its due from them, either in per-pupil state funding or in the tuition they paid. Yet many alumni realize a fabulous return on their school years that far exceeds their expectations. They discover that their school formed, matured, equipped, and credentialed them, and not just for the rewarding jobs they gained and careers they pursued but also to marry, form and lead families, and lead in their communities, too. Alumni can credit lots of things for their success, including their own striving. Yet many alumni give due credit to their schools.
Donors
When alumni recognize all that their school did for them, especially beyond the minimum required transactional and contractual obligations, alumni often want to give back. And for alumni, donations are a simple, meaningful, and regular way of giving back. Alumni donations have a significant financial impact on school budgets, especially among private schools. Tuition is the primary revenue stream in higher education and for private elementary and secondary schools. But at some private schools, alumni donations can make up to as much as a quarter of a school’s operating budget. More commonly, alumni donations provide scholarships and other tuition reduction for students in need, and provide funds to enhance school facilities and programs. Alumni donations may fund new facility construction, establish institutes and centers, fund research projects, and support student programs and events. At many schools, you can see evidence of the impact of alumni donations everywhere.
Endowments
Alumni donations also establish and fund school endowments. School endowments have the purpose of ensuring the school’s sustainability through economic downturns, enrollment declines, and other economic vagaries. Schools generally manage their endowments for long-term growth, drawing off earnings without invading principal, while continuing to solicit alumni donations to fuel growth. Annual endowment draws may so substantially contribute to the general operating fund as to enable the school to hold the line on tuition increases or even reduce tuition. Alumni also specially endow faculty chairs, departments, institutes, centers, and other programs, relieving school budgets of some annual operating costs. Schools with long-term endowment plans that alumni generously support can significantly improve a school’s finances, programs, and profile.
Offices
Schools typically maintain an alumni office or designate alumni-relations officials to support alumni and donor relations. The alumni office may plan and conduct special alumni events on campus to draw alumni back to the school, refresh their school contacts, and promote donations. Those alumni events often occur around athletics events or other school programs that alumni may wish to attend. The alumni office may also plan alumni honors, recognition, and awards, to encourage alumni, inspire current students, and attract prospective students to the school. Alumni office publications may feature alumni success stories, celebrate alumni appointments and milestones, and promote class reunions. A vital alumni-relations program can be a key contributor to a school’s inspirational tone and positive culture.
Services
Schools may also promote alumni services, both to continue to serve alumni as valued members of the school community and to promote continued alumni devotion to the school. Vendors of all sorts, from banks, credit-card companies, and insurance companies to rental car companies, travel agencies, and hotels, may offer program, service, and subscription discounts to alumni through the school’s alumni office’s programs. Schools may also offer alumni access to library services, recreational facilities, athletic event tickets, and other school facilities and resources, for free or at discount rates. Career counseling, job boards, and similar services may also be available to alumni, drawing on the school’s resources for students and graduates.
Networking
An alumni office or official can also oversee maintenance of an up-to-date alumni directory, promoting productive networking among alumni. The alumni office can also invite alumni to host alumni networking events at their locations around the locale, region, nation, or world. Alumni networks can be rich sources for business and professional referrals, job opportunities, leadership opportunities, and similar boosts to career sustainability and success. Alumni networks can also supply local mentors for the school’s current students, promoting retention, and new graduates, promoting stronger placement rates and better career success. Schools can help their alumni build and maintain vital networks.
Associations
Schools also often help their alumni organize and maintain their own alumni association. A school with a large and committed alumni cohort may find an alumni association a good way to promote and manage alumni relations. The school may appoint an honorary alumni board over an alumni association, or alumni may elect the alumni board. The school may give the alumni board authority or influence over alumni programs, honors, and expenditures out of the school’s budget for alumni events, enabling the alumni board to plan and promote gatherings and networking. The alumni board also may advise the school board and school leader on alumni interests, help the school promote its reputation and programs, and help the school respond to negative publicity. The alumni board may also become a forum and means to develop and test candidates for the school board.
Representatives
Alumni are a school’s most-authentic representatives. School leaders, board members, and faculty and staff members all have formal roles and relationships with the school. Alumni do not. When alumni act on the school’s behalf, speaking at events, recruiting students, advocating for the school’s interests in legislatures and professional forums, and defending the school in the media and public square, they do so as volunteers acting out of their natural obligation to the school for all that the school did for them. One sees in a school’s alumni the spirit, commitments, values, and contributions of the school. Alumni are evidence of a school’s success. No wonder, then, that schools invite and welcome alumni participation in the school community and that alumni are often more than willing to give back.
Staffing
Alumni can also make good and ready candidates for administrative, faculty, and staff positions at the school. Alumni have the advantage over other outside candidates in that they already know the school, may already have a record of participation and service at the school, and may have strong and close relationships with school personnel. Alumni may have already served academic departments as student mentors, speakers in classes or at events, or even as adjunct faculty, making a good record for full-time faculty posts. Alumni may alternatively have worked closely with alumni-office staff members and the school leader on alumni relations, fundraising, and other administrative matters, making a good record for administrative posts. A larger school may also have within their alumni networks, specialists in nearly every significant field, with substantial skill and experience to offer the school in the event of an administrative need. Don’t overlook school alumni when recruiting candidates for school staffing and leadership.
Reflection
What help did you seek and receive from your school after graduation? How long was it before you began thinking of yourself as a school alumnus with an opportunity to give back to your school? How does your school promote and support alumni relations? Does your school have an alumni office? An alumni association with an alumni board? Have you drawn on your alumni network for any specific purpose? Do you participate in alumni office or alumni association programs? What program or service would you like to see your school’s alumni office or association offer? How are your school’s alumni involved in your school beyond donations? Are any of your school’s faculty members or key administrators school alumni? Is your school’s board composed entirely or primarily of school alumni? Would you be interested in serving on your school’s alumni board or school board?
Key Points
Graduates of a school continue to receive significant school service.
Alumni of a school may give to the school more than they receive.
Alumni can realize the substantial excess benefit of their education.
Alumni give to the school when realizing how much they received.
Schools promote alumni relations for both donations and service.
Alumni contribute to school endowments enhancing programs.
Schools maintain alumni offices to promote alumni relations.
Alumni networks can prove valuable to students and graduates.
Schools may offer alumni access to campus facilities and services.
Schools may support alumni boards to lead alumni initiatives.
Alumni are a school’s most-authentic representatives.
Alumni are a good pool from which to draw school staffing candidates.