Frustrated!

[Dewgirl]

I am taking over as Alumni Committee chair this fall, and am already frustrated with the situation I am facing.

There seems to be a phenomenon nationwide with my sorority that alumni, once they graduate, do not become active in the alumni organizations until they hit age 70. This was brought up at our national conference this summer, and little was solved. At the chapter level, my chapter holds an annual banquet dedicated to the alumni, they are invited to come to meetings, we send out invitations for them to come and take part in our initiation and rituals, and they don't want to. The only event which has been attended by an alumni was the banquet itself, and still only 5 of over 200 alums that we sent invites to replied, and only 2 actually showed up! We send them newsletters, invitations, we call them, and they're not interested in having anything to do with us, except when they want contributions to their chapter. What can I do?

[BFulton]

Have you tried getting your recent graduates (as in those your chapter members know very, very well) to come? Or, worked with the more recent graduates to identify what would entice them to be involved?

Just some thoughts. (There's another thread somewhere on this forum that goes into this a bit, might be helpful.)

It seems if you can get a core group of new alumnae together, that really helps with this situation. Good luck!

[mwedzi]

Dewgirl, I am really sorry to hear about your situation. I think the problem begins at the chapter level. It must be constantly repeated and endlessly shown that their collegiate experience is only the first step. There should be big banners on the wall on how your organization represents a life-long commitment. There should be times at meetings at least once a month to focus on the contributions of alumnae in your chapter and in chapters across the country. I know that doesn't help you at this very moment, but I just wanted to say how it's important to make sure they understand that before they graduate.