The key to getting alumni interested and involved in your chapter is to find them a niche and give them a reason to stay. Whether by giving alumni responsibilities and roles, or connecting alumni of the same graduating class, if you give your alumni a purpose for their involvement, they’re more likely to stick around. While there are many ways to reconnect with alumni, we suggest the following four easy steps to improving alumni relations and involvement.

1. Gather contact information

Work with your chapter adviser and even fraternity or sorority nationals to gather the contact information of all known alumni from your chapter. This will be a tedious job but the work will pay off in the end. Also, if you’re interested in broadening your alumni base, consider including alumni living in the area in addition to alumni of your chapter. This is a great way to meet alumni of other chapters and learn about how other chapters and Greek communities function.

2. Contact your alumni

We promise, they won’t bite! Email or call your alumni to get complete and accurate information for your records. Have various members of the chapter do this so people other than you know who the alumni are. And remember: be relentless! In all probability, the alumni you’re trying to contact have full time jobs, families and other social networks. It might take more than one phone call or email to get a response.

3. Plan an alumni event

This is the biggest step of the four step process, and while it is time-consuming, make sure you complete steps 1 and 2 before (trust us, you’ll be glad you did!). Planning a chapter-hosted event for your alumni can be as simple as meeting at a bar for drinks or as complex as a sit-down dinner. You can choose to host an alumni-only event, or an event with both active members and alumni (you might want to save this one for after your alumni meet each other and reconnect). The choice is yours. Just remember, getting alumni out takes time and many, many events. While your first event may not be extremely successful, plan another one and see who else ends up attending.

4. Keep your alumni involved

Once you’ve made contact with alumni and gotten them out to a few events, work to maintain (or even increase) their interest. Chapter newsletters are a great way to keep alumni involved (and keep up-to-date contact information), as are alumni-specific newsletters. Make sure the alumni know what’s going on in the chapter and what the chapter has accomplished, as well as what other alumni are doing.

One final note: we all realize that one of the more prevalent reasons for alumni involvement is fundraising and financial contributions. While you can’t avoid this issue with your alumni (and they probably don’t expect you to), remember to stress that the chapter’s desire for alumni involvement extends beyond writing checks. Being part of an alumni network or association not only serves to involve alumni in chapter business, but it also provides alumni with a social community and network of support. The chapter should encourage alumni to reconnect with each other as this will not only create a tighter and more proactive alumni base, but benefit your alumni on a personal level.

This post was generously provided by ChapterBoard.

The post 4 Easy Steps to Reconnect with Alumni appeared first on The Campus Companion Chapter Life.

As we’ve said before, fraternity and sorority alumni are the untapped resource of every chapter. While we all may believe we know how to run a chapter and know everything there is to know about our respective organization, every chapter can benefit from a chapter adviser. Chapter advisers are fraternity or sorority alumni, sometimes chapter alumni, who give advice and help the active members of the chapter. And, contrary to popular belief, having a chapter adviser doesn’t mean your chapter will have lame parties, a non-existent social life, or be stuck in the 80’s with bad hair and even worse clothes. In reality, chapter advisers are there to help the chapter, not relive their college years, and they can bring more to the table than you expect.

An Outside Perspective

A good chapter adviser will be able to provide your chapter with an unbiased, outside perspective. This can come in handy when you’re planning your next big philanthropy, dealing with problem members, or thinking up ideas for your annual formal. Having the opinion of someone who knows about the Greek system but isn’t an active member of your chapter is valuable in many ways. Your chapter adviser can give an outside perspective from the point of view of other campus chapters, non-Greek students, university faculty and staff, and even other chapters of your fraternity or sorority. Just remember: your adviser is there to give advice. It’s your choice to take it or leave it.

Advisers Have Resources

As your chapter adviser will be an alum of your fraternity or sorority, they will have a lot of experience and contacts. As many fraternities and sororities have alumni associations to keep alumni in contact, your adviser should know a great deal of alumni in the surrounding area. This is a great resource for recruitment help, alumni support and even fundraising. The alumni contacts are also great for employment opportunities, especially for recent graduates. Additionally, even if your adviser can’t hire you at their company, they may know other people (affiliated or not) who have job openings.

Advisers Know The Rules

Many fraternities and sororities require chapter advisers to have some sort of training before advising an active chapter. At a minimum, adviser training usually includes the rules of the fraternity or sorority, headquarter contact information, and regional contact information. As such, advisers are a great resource for fraternity and sorority protocol and regulations. If you have a question or don’t know how to handle a situation, ask your adviser! More times than not, they will be able to either answer your question or direct you to someone who can.

Advisers Give Advice – You Run The Chapter

Finally, remember that having a chapter adviser does not mean the chapter executives are off the hook. The chapter adviser is not a replacement for the chapter president or a crutch for the executive members to lean on. Each member is responsible for performing their duties, contributing their opinions and ideas, and keeping the chapter on track and at top performance. The adviser’s role is to help the chapter and give guidance and advice when needed. Just remember: the adviser is an alum of your fraternity or sorority. You and your brothers or sisters are the active members, and you are the ones who determine whether or not your chapter will succeed.

This post was generously provided by ChapterBoard.

The post Why Every Chapter Needs a Chapter Adviser appeared first on The Campus Companion Chapter Life.

Recruitment is one of the most important aspects for any Greek chapter, thus, there’s always a lot of pressure on those running recruitment. While this time can be stressful and make you want to rip your hair out, don’t forget the one great resource of your chapter: alumni. Chapter alumni, or even regional alumni (alumni who are part of your organization but not your specific chapter) are a great addition to the recruitment team. Alumni can answer recruitment questions, help members practice, suggest strategies that were successful in the past, and also lend an extra hand around the house. If you plan on incorporating alumni support into your upcoming recruitment (and we all at ChapterTalk strongly suggest you do), here are some tips to help you avoid alumni disaster and get a leg up on the competition.

Tell Alumni Early and Keep Them Informed

Although your chapter may know the recruitment schedule months in advance, don’t assume that your alumni will as well. Remember to inform your alumni about recruitment as soon as possible, and keep them up to date on any changes to the schedule. Unlike active members, most alumni are working full time and have other obligations (work, vacations, family, significant other, children, etc.). By giving alumni advance notice so they can clear their work schedule, hire a nanny, or get some time off, you’ll guarantee a higher attendance rate and a lower chance of last minute cancellations.

Keep Alumni Active

Once you get alumni to the recruitment events, remember to keep them busy. As stated before, alumni have different lives, responsibilities and priorities than active members. While active members have an obligation to be at recruitment events, alumni do not (you can’t fine an alum for missing recruitment). Thus, value your alumni’s time and make the best use of it. Like everything else, this also takes planning. If alumni are scheduled to help at a recruitment retreat, make a schedule for them as well (i.e. when they’re not “mock recruiting” with active members, what do they do? how long do they need to stay?). If they’re helping out at the actual recruitment events, plan their schedule as well. Remember: being prepared to keep the alumni busy and active will not only make you look organized, but it will also ensure your alumni are happy and ready to volunteer the next time you ask.

Say ‘Thank You’… Again and Again and AGAIN!

Too many times have we heard about alumni who, after helping out at recruitment, were never properly thanked by the chapter. Although to some this may seem like the most trivial part of recruitment, it is actually a much bigger deal. When alumni volunteer, they usually have to make sacrifices in other parts of their lives: taking vacation days at work, paying someone else to watch their kids, or missing quality time with their partner. While many alumni are happy to make the sacrifice in order to help the chapter, few are ever inclined to do so again if they feel their time and work were unappreciated. As alumni support can improve your chapter’s recruitment, be sure to remember those two magic words, “thank you”, and use them as often as possible. At the end of a recruitment event or retreat, have the entire chapter come together and thank the alumni (an applause isn’t entirely out of the question). And if you want to go above and beyond, leave a little extra room in your recruitment budget for thank you cards (sent out in a timely fashion once recruitment is done). Remembering to thank your alumni is not just about manners and being polite; it’s also about acknowledging the hard work of the alumni, expressing your appreciation for their time, and encouraging them to volunteer again.

Avoid Alumni Drama

Finally, although alumni are older than active members (and hopefully more mature), remind yourself that drama can happen. Alumni drama isn’t necessarily like chapter drama (“she stole my boyfriend”, “he hit on my girl”, etc.), but unchecked, it can be just as messy and stressful. Many times during recruitment, chapters will find that they have an, to put it nicely, “over-zealous” alum who wants to be involved in everything. While alumni interest is much appreciated, these types of alumni can cause problems with other alumni. Mainly, the over-zealous alum will usually appoint themselves “alumni leader”, and then alumni responsibilities like cleaning up after each party will turn into orders (“you alumni, clean this up!”). Situations like this make other alumni uncomfortable, resentful, and less likely to volunteer in the future. To avoid these problems, make sure there is an active member directing the alumni or working closely with your alumni board (if the board organized the alumni in the first place). Also, if any alum gets out of line, be sure to take care of the situation before it blows out of proportion.

This post was generously provided by ChapterBoard.

The post Alumni: The Best Kept Recruitment Secret appeared first on The Campus Companion Chapter Life.

Hey class of 2012! It’s the end of the school year, graduation is here and gone, and you’re tantalizingly close to the “real world” and all that it encompasses. Are you ready? For most grads the answer is “yeah right” (kudos to those of you with full-time jobs already lined up) but don’t worry, there’s no need to panic. At least not yet.

The recent economic turmoil of the past few years has left the job market filled beyond capacity with the hungry, overqualified, and sometimes desperate, unemployed. As if finding a job wasn’t hard enough for new grads! Luckily for fraternity and sorority members, you have a secret weapon: the Greek network.

The Greek Network (not directed by Aaron Sorkin)

When we say the Greek network we don’t mean your bros in the chapter or your big sis who graduated two years ago. Instead, we encourage you to think bigger. Consider alumni who are 30+ in age, went to a different university, and are even from a different state. Starting to get the picture? One of the greatest benefits of being a Greek member is the network you automatically have upon graduation. True, you may not be able to get in touch with a celebrity alum but we bet there are plenty other alumni who have industry experience, great connections, and who have made a sizable amount of money. So how do you tap these resources?

Alumni Associations

Alumni associations events are severely underrated in today’s tech-happy society. While we don’t discount technology (we love technology!) we hope you don’t ignore the amazing benefits of meeting people in person. Oftentimes, fraternity and sorority alumni associations are based on the local city or region rather than the chapter to accommodate transplanted alumni (i.e. alumni living in New York rather than alumni of NYU). Alumni events are a great opportunity to meet people from other places, learn about their collegiate experiences, and expand your network beyond your college town. Plus, you already have a fantastic ice breaker! We also encourage you to check out your university’s alumni association. Every college has one, guaranteed.

LinkedIn

For most college students, LinkedIn is the ugly stepsister of Facebook. Admittedly, Facebook is more conducive for the social needs and lifestyle of college students, after all that’s what it was originally created for. However, for the career-seeking, soon-to-be recent grad, LinkedIn is your new bestie. Accept it. Once you’ve added all your friends on LinkedIn, join the groups for your fraternity or sorority, and start connecting with alumni. Put yourself out there, comment on a thread, start a topic, and link with new people who haven’t seen you throw up in the bushes. Worried about linking with an alum you don’t know? Don’t be, that’s what LinkedIn is for. Hint: mentioning you’re looking for a job is not a faux pas on LinkedIn.

Need some help creating your LinkedIn profile? Look here

Network Your Network

You’ve met a lot of great people, made new connections, but still don’t have anything lined up for after graduation. Now what? Meeting new people is great but expanding your network doesn’t mean jack unless you use it! Once you’ve met people, ask them about jobs and make new connections through them. This doesn’t mean you should approach an alum and say “Hi, please introduce me to someone at Apple because I want to work there.” Rather, once you’ve met someone new, do some research on their network, company and even alma mater, and then ask questions or for a reference or intro if appropriate. Most professionals are more than happy to make introductions (watch out for the 1% that isn’t) especially if they think the introduction will be mutually beneficial. So if you’re a mechanical engineering major, and your new contact has a friend who’s hiring mechanical engineers at his firm, there’s no problem in asking. Worst case scenario, you don’t get an intro. But best case, you get a job. Hooray!

This post was generously provided by ChapterBoard.

The post Greek Networks and Job Hunting: A Winning Team appeared first on The Campus Companion Chapter Life.

Once you graduate, it can be hard to identify your place and responsibilities as an alumna of your chapter and the Greek community. You no longer have those weekly chapter meetings, and, while you’re still a part of the chapter, your role has changed.

How Active Should I Be?

As an alumna, your participation in the chapter is entirely up to you and your schedule. Some alumnae choose to just receive monthly newsletters while others volunteer whenever possible. If you want to do more than just observe from afar, its good to find a balance that works for both you and the chapter. Two important things to remember:

• You don’t want to over-commit yourself so that your life is negatively impacted
• You don’t want to become so involved with your chapter that it ends up being overbearing (and your chapter resents you)

Ways to Get Involved

Some of the best and easiest ways for alumnae to get involved are by doing things for the chapter that they enjoyed as active members. If you were your chapter’s recruitment chair, volunteer to help with Fall recruitment or be an adviser to the current recruitment chair. If you played sports, come back and coach your chapter’s team. If you graduated with honors, proctor your chapter’s study hours or volunteer to tutor active members. The best active alumna is someone who enjoys what they’re doing and who helps active members succeed.

If you’re looking to be more proactive in the management of your chapter, consider being a chapter adviser or joining one of your chapter’s oversight committees (advisory committee, house corp. board, etc.). These types of involvement deal more with the the chapter’s executive members and nationals’ administrators rather than active members. However, this is an excellent way to hone your people skills, make new contacts, and gain experience in sorority management on a larger scale.

Next Time

Is there someone who is too active in your sorority? Is it you? Check back for tips on how to avoid being “that” alumna.

This post was generously provided by ChapterBoard.

The post Being An Active Alumna appeared first on The Campus Companion Chapter Life.

How to Avoid Being Too Active

As an alumna, the best way to handle the situation is not to let it happen. Monitor your activity with the chapter and if it seems like you’re doing too much, you’re spending too much time at the house, or you’re beginning to resent your work, it may be time to step back and reevaluate. Remember that while all alumnae have their chapter’s best interest at heart, your best interest should be priority number one.

If You’re Already There

If you disregard the previous suggestion and the situation gets to the point where you’re approached by active members, just remember to see it from the active member’s perspective. While they don’t want to be disrespectful or come off as ungrateful, they are the ones running the show.

As an alumna, you want to help your active members develop management, organization and leadership skills that will help them later in life. This means supporting them in their efforts, lending a hand whenever possible, and answering questions that come up. Anything beyond that is teetering on overbearing, controlling, and not-your-place.

One other nasty side-effect of the too-active alumna is less alumnae involvement overall. The too-active alumna tends to make others feel uncomfortable, unwelcome, and useless. And, as alumnae activity in the chapter is voluntary, this usually results in less volunteers. Alumnae involvement is key to a successful sorority, and you don’t want to be the one who chases all the other alumnae away.

This post was generously provided by ChapterBoard.

The post Being an Over-Active Alumna appeared first on The Campus Companion Chapter Life.