Alumni Engagement
Alumni Chapter - Collegiate Chapter Operations
AE1 - The alumni have worked with the chapter on their alumni relations effort. Efforts are divided between several collegiate members rather than falling on the shoulders of a single member of the undergraduate chapter. One member serves as the Alumni Relation Chairman, one member serves as the alumni newsletter editor and alumni database manager, one member serves as the Chicago area alumni chairman, and one member serves as the Central Iowa alumni chairman.
AE2 - The chapter invites alumni to participate in events such as candidate and initiate ceremonies, philanthropies, and community service projects.
AE3 - The chapter has worked with alumni to incorporate them into the formal recruitment effort. The chapter has an alumni night where about forty alumni come and meet potential candidates during formal recruitment week. An alum serves as a keynote speaker, and time is set aside for the alumni to speak individually with the potential new members.
AE4 - The third week of every month, the chapter hosts an alumni week. It regularly has an alumnus come and talk to the chapter during chapter meetings to discuss Sigma Nu's impact on his life and his experiences within the chapter. Afterward, the chapter and alumni go to a local restaurant that the chapter has frequented for over 20 years.
AE5 - The chapter involves alumni in bid extension activities through an interactive 'snake path' in which prospective candidates are led along a pathway. Along the route, prospective members hear experiences and testimonials from various alumni.
AE6 - The chapter and alumni have established a pen pal program where candidates are paired with alumni. Alumni act as mentors and offer advice while the candidates keep alumni apprised of their progression through candidate education.
AE7 - The chapter and alumni have created a mentoring network that pairs alumni with active brothers pursuing similar careers or fields of study.
AE8 - Chapter and alumni have started an Alumni Mentorship program to help with chapter academics and the implementation of LEAD Phase III.
AE9 - The active chapter sponsors an Alumni Speaker Series where alumni are invited to a chapter-wide dinner, conversation, and question-and-answer session. One year the chapter hosted four alumni who had served in the United States Armed Forces.
AE10 - The chapter hosts a senior banquet dinner. Invitations are extended to parents, local alumni, and faculty members for the banquet. This serves as an opportunity to connect with those groups and celebrate the successes of the graduating brothers.
Alumni Communication
AE11 - The chapter and alumni utilize www.constantcommunication.com for various alumni listserv functions.
AE12 - The alumni have worked with the undergraduate chapter to set up a computer in the chapter house office, which consists entirely of a database for alumni contact information, including e-mail addresses, phone numbers, physical mailing addresses, professions, badge numbers, and years in school. This information is made available to members and is supplemented by the alumni advisors.
AE13 - Old chapter composites are uploaded to an alumni Facebook group. The photo allows alumni to tag other alumni that they know and help unite older generations throughout the chapter's history.
AE14 - Overview of Effective Communication
AE15 - Developing an Alumni Communications Plan Webinar
AE16 - Sample Alumni Newsletter 1
AE17 - Sample Alumni Newsletter 2
AE18 - Sample Alumni Newsletter 3
AE19 - Sample Alumni Newsletter 4
AE20 - Sample Alumni Newsletter 5
AE21 - Sample Alumni Newsletter 6
AE22 - Sample Alumni Newsletter 7
Alumni Events
AE23 - Sample Alumni Events - Save the Date Postcard
AE24 - On the eve of Thanksgiving every year, alumni attend a reunion and Thanksgiving dinner hosted by the chapter.
AE25 - Every fall, the chapter hosts reunions for different candidate classes throughout the chapter's history. The reunions take place at the home football games. This year included a reunion for the class of 1960.
AE26 - The chapter worked with the alumni to develop a component of the chapter's candidate education program. Candidates are responsible for planning and hosting an alumni event, often a dinner, that serves to introduce many of our local alumni to the current candidate class.
AE27 - The chapter worked with the alumni to host a 'legends' weekend in which alumni were invited back to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new chapter house. The 'legends' event included a Friday night mixer, Saturday groundbreaking and formal ceremonies, and a Sunday golf outing. At the formal ceremony, the chapter inducted alumni into a hall of fame. The event was publicized in the chapter's alumni newsletter.
AE28 - The chapter hosts a dinner during recruitment week for all the potential new members that have been given a bid to increase the chances of that person accepting his bid. Alumni are invited to participate in the formal delivery and speak on their experiences and meet each prospective member.
AE29 - Sample Alumni Event Invitation
AE30 - How to Hold a Successful Alumni Event
AE31 - Sample Alumni Events List
AE32 - Sample Anniversary Banquet Program
AE33 - Sample Commanders Dinner Invitation
AE34 - Sample Chapter Anniversary Save the Date Postcard
AE35 - Sample Chapter Anniversary Event Invitation
AE36 - Sample Chapter Anniversary Registration Form
AE37 - Sample Chapter Anniversary Event Program
AE38 - Planning Successful Alumni Events Webinar (2022)
AE39 - Planning Successful Alumni Events Webinar (2024)
AE40 - Sigma Nu Mentor Network Webinar
Call for Practices
If you have a great example or resource that you think should be included in the Best Practices Library, we want to know about it. Email your examples and resources to Todd Denson, Director of Alumni Advisory Programs, at todd.denson@sigmanu.org.
Additional Advising Resources
The perfect complements to the Alumni Best Practices Library are the specific advisor resources pages located at the links below. There you can access additional resources and volunteer advice for various advising positions.