Alumni with drive and influence can help a college alumni organization meet its long-term goals. Prospective donors may be willing volunteers, and regular review of the alumni notes may suggest volunteers. A diverse volunteer group can best represent diverse alumni populations. Challenging, meaningful assignments that tap expertise are the most…

Two models of administering college and university alumni chapters--using volunteers or paid staff--are compared, based on comments from alumni directors who have addressed the issues. A flexible club structure, which integrates a fully structured, chartered-chapter model with two versions of predominantly staff-driven models, is proposed as…

Although volunteers serve many useful functions in fund raising, soliciting gifts should be left to staff. Volunteers are hard to recruit, keep, motivate, are unreliable, lacking in expertise, and they can balk at the realities of development tasks. Development offices should carefully think through the appropriate roles for these individuals.…

Organizers of auctions, fairs, rummage sales, and other fund-raising events at schools and colleges offer suggestions for making sales run smoothly, avoiding burnout, and complying with the law. These include ideas for improving efficiency, using volunteers effectively, making changes to accommodate new situations and conditions, and addressing…

The Pennsylvania State University national alumni admissions program involves alumni in direct recruitment of undergraduate students. This is a major service to the institution, increasing friends of the college and contacts with organizations, clubs, local high schools, and prospective students. Most important, it provides local contacts for…

A discussion of donor records in college and university fund-raising programs looks at a variety of issues, including who sees them (administrators, donors, volunteers, and members of the legal profession), how access to them is controlled, and what is kept in them. Suggestions are offered for managing such records, and the experiences of a number…

Four experienced college alumni volunteers offer information and opinions on how and why they became volunteers, how they serve, amount of time spent volunteering, what the alumni office does that is most helpful, how to keep volunteers from feeling overburdened, how to reward volunteers, and working with a spouse. (MSE)

Five tactics used by the University of Massachusetts to make alumni operations effective with minimal cost include assuring the campus administration's commitment to alumni club programming, training chapter volunteers on campus and through regional visits, controlling mailing costs, planning events in a cost-effective manner, and deciding whether…

Results of a national survey of colleges and universities concerning alumni involvement in off-campus community service programs indicate a broad variety of activities. Steps to take in establishing and managing an alumni association community service project are outlined. (MSE)

Advice for stretching the capacity of the small college public relations office includes planning well; using strategy; searching out creative ideas; choosing quality over quantity in press releases; using student and volunteer workers; developing strong media relations; accepting advice; and anticipating problems. (MSE)

Volunteer fund raisers for colleges bring enthusiasm, perspective, motivation, and influence to the task of soliciting gifts. They stretch staff time, fill out the fund-raising team, and cost little. Careful definition of responsibilities, recruitment, training, and monitoring and rewards for good work are essential to getting the best results.…

Ideas are offered for targeting groups in college and university fund raising, including reunion class giving, using volunteers, soliciting parent giving, asking faculty and staff to give, and helping students establish an early giving habit. Specific solicitation strategies are provided for each group. (MSE)

Advice is offered for making college alumni reunions successful fund-raising events, illustrated with ideas used by several institutions. Suggestions include long-range planning, leadership by complementary cochairmen, recruitment of committed volunteers, flexible structuring of class committees, continual coaching of volunteers, and establishing…

Strategies for recruiting and keeping alumni for college volunteer programs address specific issues: demands on personal time; length of assignment; accommodating spouses and divorced alumni; generation gaps; advancing technology; economic climate; occupational and geographic mobility; and competition with other organizations for volunteers' time.…

College alumni program professionals offer specific ways to make good use of limited resources in the areas of program planning, scheduling, time management, staff communication, use of technology, involvement of board members, use of volunteers and student workers, coordination with other campus programs, and staff motivation and appreciation…