#LoveAlumni is back

Show your alumni you care! Dear Friends, Yes! It’s time! February is the perfect time to celebrate: 

1. our alumni
2. the crucial work of alumni relations (and other sectors from student affairs to career services that directly involve alumni in transformative work)
3. the alumni-facing professionals and alumni leaders that make this magic possible.

 As a regular newsletter reader the chances are you already recognize the importance and potential for alumni for our institutions, for each other, for our students and for society. #LoveAlumni is the perfect opportunity to think about how to celebrate three key groups: Alumni Doers - those already engaging and giving their time and talent to support the institutions, fellow alumni and students Alumni Detectives – that’s all of us! Be alumni sleuths recognizing and seeking out those alumni opportunities to enhance our own alumni potential Alumni Enablers – let’s celebrate the alumni professionals and alumni volunteer leaders that make our alumni programming possible. Sometimes this is the group most underappreciated and the one that needs the extra boost – more ways to celebrate this group next week! Check out an archived blog post extending the arguments on why we need to celebrate these 3 groups for this month-long #Love Alumni campaign! #LoveAlumni is a great way to raise public awareness of the power of alumni as a key part of the #alumnidecade! This week’s Alumni Friday challenge: 

1. For all: Promote an alumni event or initiative to fellow students and alumni – forward it on to them in a DM or on social using the hashtag #LoveAlumni

2. For alumni-facing professionals: create a Community of Practice! Start with a small group of like-minded professionals to meet regularly (even once a quarter or once a month) to brainstorm ideas and tackle problems. Reach out to 2 or 3 other alumni-facing professionals to start this motivating group. (Need a reason why to start this type of mastermind group to orchestrate alumni serendipity? Check out another vintage article here.)  If you start a group take a photo and post is with #LoveAlumni – we can feature you in a future Alumni Friday newsletter!

 Love to discuss your alumni needs? Curious about The Alumni Hour? Book a discovery call with me this month! Let’s talk alumni! With alumni love, MariaQuote from the book“The alumni-university relationship doesn’t begin or end with the fundraising ask; it is far more nuanced and complex. Viewing alumni solely as an income stream robs the university – and alumni – of the potential of a deep, enriching relationship.”The Alumni Way, p. 2Photo below: #LoveAlumni in focus! The follow-up from the LUMENS ’24 even at Pompeu Fabra University has been electric! I love alumni stories of effective alumni networking in action – my DMs on LinkedIn are full of positive experiences – keep them coming!Do you have good alumni connection stories? Hit reply and share!