Fraternity alumni are important for the strength and legacy of the chapter.
This guide helped me go from very few alumni connections to 75% (over 300) of our alumni being involved in the chapter.
These strategies are for active members, alumni, and fraternity advisors who are looking to build and maintain a solid alumni network.
The first step in maintaining alumni relations is knowing who your alumni are. You may need to reach out to your headquarters to get a master list of alumni if your chapter does not already have a running list. Be sure this list includes first name, last name, mailing address, phone number(s), and emails. You can add additional fields such as LinkedIn or Facebook.
At this stage, you should take the contact information found in the previous step and begin contacting your alumni. The goal of this stage should be confirming and updating alumni contact information, as well as starting an initial conversation about what the chapter has been up to and piquing the alumni’s interest in the chapter.
Calling alumni on the phone is the best way to reach them. Be sure to call during normal hours, such as during the day or just before/after dinner time. You do not want to frustrate them and be disrespectful on the first contact. If they do not answer the phone, be sure to leave a voicemail stating your name, the fraternity, and to give you a call back when they’re available. If you have a lot of alumni, consider gathering a team to do this.
If an alumni does not respond to your phone call or voicemail, you should follow up with a text message.
A lot of alumni move fraternity related emails to spam automatically, and may not open it. However, using email correctly can be very beneficial. By using forms that are pre-filled with alumni’s contact information, alumni can quickly confirm or update their information with the click of a button. Google Forms combined with Google Sheets, Google AppsScript, and Google Mail is a good start for this but requires more intricate knowledge of these products. Be sure to update your spreadsheet as alumni are confirming contact information.
Alumni tend to stay connected with their pledge class and those that were in the chapter at the same as them. Use this knowledge to get other alumni’s contact information from one alumni who can give it to you. This can be done by simply asking if they still stay in touch with anyone from around their time in the chapter.
By utilizing a “lost member section” in your website, alumni can submit contact information for other alumni they know of. This is a very easy way to collect information for alumni you have reached a dead-end for.
Using websites like white pages may give you more leads on phone numbers and emails for alumni, but note these results are not always accurate.
Now that their contact information has been updated, alumni need to be notified of chapter events and happenings. This can be in the form of a monthly newsletter, Facebook group post, or any other platform you know your alumni will use.
Any alumni newsletter/communication should be about 30% active chapter news (officer updates, new pledges and where they're from, victories over your rival fraternities, philanthropy) - the other 70% should be content around their experience - pictures from the good old days, alumni updates (weddings, kids, legacies).
It’s important to acknowledge alumni birthdays and initiation anniversaries. Mailing personalized letters signed by the president or the chapter is an easy way to maintain that connection.
The quality of alumni events is more important than quantity. Saturday is the best day of the week to have events, and you should try to coordinate it with other events that are going on during the same weekend on campus (homecoming, football games, etc). Be sure to give alumni plenty of notice - up to 2 months in advance - to have a good turnout. It’s important to have a clean house, ensure all the chapter members engage the alumni in conversation, and don't leave the alumni hanging with nobody to talk to.
This is a good opportunity to establish annual traditions alumni can look forward to. Consider your founder’s day, holidays, campus alumni weekends/events, homecoming, and anything else you can center an annual event around.
Engaging directly in solicitation will burn bridges with your alumni instantly. Do not do this without doing the first four steps. At this stage, you should know your individual alumni well. What is their line of work? Do they own a business that could be useful to your fraternity, and can your members be useful for them? Remember that relationships are give and take - do not take without giving.
What strategies have you found effective in your chapter's alumni relations?
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