There were 22 workshop sessions conducted during the conference, all of them on Saturday, May 18th. Janie and I split up so that we could cover those we believed to be most relevant or of greatest individual interest to us. Where possible we've included referenced websites because they supplement our summaries. Just click on those that interest you.
The specific workshops we've written summaries for are:
-
The Membership Initiatives Workshop
-
The Electronic Communications Workshop
-
The Board Development Workshop
-
The Alumni Admissions Committee Leaders Workshop
-
The Communications, Public Relations, and Shameless Self-Promotion Workshop
We also attended the Alumni Outreach Workshop, but it was late in the afternoon and, truth be told, we were tired of taking notes at that point. However, we do have some handout examples of where the Alumni Association is going in terms of new avenues for promoting Alumni education.
.
Membership Initiatives Workshop
The Membership Initiatives Workshop was hosted by Cheryl Stringer, and featured panelists were Mary Anne Matyaz (Metro Washington DC Chapter), Richard Ranich (Beaver Valley, PA Chapter), and Janice Kosman (Montgomery County, PA Chapter). The objective of the workshop was to discuss how to attract members regardless of age, race, gender, and profession.
Mary Ann Matyaz made the point that there is no one magic formula for guaranteeing an increase in chapter membership. What works for some will not necessarily work for others. She cautioned to set modest goals, and acknowledged that the Metro Washington DC Chapter has only 15% of the local alumni as chapter members. Realize that some people simply will not join. Other people will join and never attend an event or volunteer for anything. Bottom line: Don't beat yourself up over it.
The following points summarize recommendations that were put forward and discussed during the workshop . . .
-
A well-designed newsletter is critical. Some people join just to get the newsletter.
-
Establish a Happy Hour at a set location, on the same day (e.g. a "First Friday" Happy Hour every month), at the same time. This facilitates word-of-mouth notification.
-
Consider having a Happy Hour with other Big Ten alumni groups. Promote the Happy Hour sessions by using the term "networking" to attract younger members.
-
As a reminder to members, put the expiration date of membership on mailing labels.
-
Consider a "rolling membership." That is, whenever someone joins they are a member for a full year thereafter. (Note: Some people said that tracking individual rolling membership might be problematical, especially in larger chapters.)
-
One of the chapters found that an effective technique on retaining members is to wait four to six weeks after their membership newsletter mailing, and then send our post-card reminders to renew membership. This technique provides a significant jump in renewals.
-
Tout the benefits of membership. One chapter, for example, persuades local businesses to provide a 10% discount on goods or services. It was acknowledged, however, that this involves a lot of work to set up. And here in Buckeye Country, businesses might be reluctant to participate with us.
-
Consider having a series of events each month; use a mailer to local alumni to announce the events — try to have something different each month. Then encourage attendees to sign up as members of the chapter.
-
Use postcards and e-mail and your website to target an event.
-
A website is a great facilitator for membership. Simply hand out the website address, and make the membership form available on-line to print and send in.
-
The entire Board should be "on-board" with the goal of increasing membership. Each Board member should have a ready supply of membership forms and regularly attend events to hand them out.
-
The Metro Washington DC Chapter has a Membership Operations Manual, and a tri-fold brochure that describes the chapter and its activities. The brochure also includes a membership application. (Note: I have copies of both items.)
During the workshop, Rich Ranich distributed copies of the Beaver Valley Chapter's Membership Strategy/Initiatives paper. Their initiatives are driven by the unique demographics of their location. They are also unique in that they are connected with a Penn State campus and have the use of facilities there. Their activities fall into four general categories: community service, social gatherings, sporting events, and campus support. Each of these activities are described, and the paper also describes some of the challenges the chapter has faced in trying to increase its membership. Again, I have a copy of their Membership Strategy/Initiatives paper, and other reference material from the Beaver Valley Chapter.
— Compiled by Bob Gehman —
.
Electronic Communications Workshop
Giovanna Genard, the Alumni Association's Assistant Director for Electronic Communications, led the discussion for this workshop. The workshop was designed to provide an overview of the Association's on-line services, such as website templates and hosting, e-mail forwarding, the on-line directory, discussion groups, and the "My Penn State" portal. The objective was to learn how to better use electronic communications to effectively connect with our constituents.
Ms. Genard began the workshop by citing statistics indicating that 95% of Penn State alumni have access to the Internet and 93% have permanent e-mail addresses.
Ms. Genard used a laptop computer to access the Alumni Association's website, and then demonstrated the range of functionality that had been built into the site. There was no handout material, hence there may be some gaps (or even slight errors?) in my summary of what she presented. With that caveat, here goes . . .
-
There was much interest in the Alumni Association's sponsorship of website templates and the web hosting capability. Many chapters do not have a website and are looking for help in getting on-line with one. Based on what I saw, I think Ms. Genard and her team have done an outstanding job in providing individual page templates that almost anyone could use to "fill-in" information, link to other pages, and upload to the contract web host. If we were starting our website from scratch I'd be tempted to use the templates provided.
-
In conjunction with the discussion on page templates, a question came up about the capability of having chapter membership payments on-line. Ms. Genard replied that her group has done some exploratory work in this area, but that there are many complications associated with doing this.
-
Several attendees expressed their need to have a template form for chapter membership. Ms. Genard said she will take action to make sure this template is developed and made available as soon as possible.
-
Ms. Genard made a special note of the on-line Volunteer Tool Kit, which is designed to aid affiliate groups with information about the Annual Report Form, Alumni Group Events, the Speaker Request Form, Web Alumni Guidelines, Geographical Membership Maps, the Chapter Leaders Handbook, the National Service Week Handbook, Logos Guidelines, Discussion Databases, and Banners for Alumni Groups. To access the Volunteer Toolkit, click on http://www.alumni.psu.edu/groups/volunteer/default.htm .
-
The "On-line HUB" was also emphasized. This is a relatively new feature for the Alumni Association's website, and is described as ". . . the place where you can unwind and have fun." You can access six webcams on or near campus; send electronic Penn State postcards; download Penn State desktop themes, a movie, photos, sounds (e.g. the Lion's Roar), and the lyrics to Penn State songs; link to the Blue Band website; and more. Check out the "On-Line HUB" at http://www.alumni.psu.edu/hub/default.htm .
-
E-mail Forwarding is now available for Alumni Association members. No matter how often you change e-mail providers, your friends will be able to get in touch with you using the same address (e.g. your address@psualum.com). To learn more about the benefits of E-mail Forwarding, go to http://www.alumni.psu.edu/membership/benefits/email.htm .
-
Also highlighted was the On-Line Directory, which includes all alumni and Alumni Association members except those who've requested not to be included. This is a great way to find old friends and classmates. You can search alphabetically, by academic discipline, by geographical area, and by designing your own custom searches. I know our chapter receives an annual mailing from the Alumni Association with data on all alumni living in the Dayton area. But the On-Line Directory might be a useful tool to augment the annual mailing data. To use the On-Line Directory, go to https://psualum.com/directory/directory.asp . Please note the "https" web address header, which denotes a secure website.
-
One of the issues presented in this workshop, and others, was the proper use of the Alumni Association's logo. Ms. Genard said that one of her team members, Char Myers, would be willing to design a unique chapter logo based on the Alumni Association's shield/type/thin line logo. I want to send a request for Ms. Myers to design a unique logo just for our chapter. Before I do so, however, I'd really like confirmation on the precise wording of our chapter charter. I assume that "The Greater Dayton and Miami Valley Chapter" is correct, but I just want to make sure.
-
I had an opportunity to briefly describe our website, and how we make extensive use of pictures to showcase our activities. I said I felt it was important to do more than merely post a series of pictures on a page. The pictures need to be large enough for people to actually see themselves, and there should be at least some narrative with each picture to identify who's in the picture and what they're doing or saying. After the workshop I conferred with several people who asked for our website address.
-
As a result of this workshop and other discussions, I have some ideas for enhancing our website. I'll endeavor to implement these enhancements as quickly as time permits.
— Compiled by Bob Gehman —
Board Development Workshop
This workshop was co-chaired by Kevin Barron (the Alumni Association's Director of Volunteer Management) and Ellie Beaver (Executive Director, Centre County United Way). The workshop's purpose was to discuss techniques for identifying, recruiting, and training enthusiastic board members.
Initial discussion focused on the need for a board to develop a mission statement, and annually review the statement to make revisions if necessary. As general guidance the mission statement should be 10 or 12 words and be easy to remember. The mission statement addresses the "business" your are in and focuses on the client or customer. In our case, of course, the customers are local Penn State alumni and supporters.
Workshop participants viewed a video produced by the National Council for Non-profit Boards (particularly interesting was that Mark Light, Director of the Victoria Theater Association, was featured in the video). The video addressed board responsibilities; the importance of a written mission statement and how the statement should drive a board's other activities; oversight to ensure that the organization is well-managed and its mission is carried out; the need for resource development to ensure that the organization has the financial and human resources it needs to carry out its mission; and, board outreach initiatives such as serving as community ambassadors, recruiting new board members/volunteers/donors, and expanding the organization's circle of influence.
The above information is merely a summary of the video presentation. A more detailed explanation can be found in excerpts from the "Meeting The Challenge" User's Guide (Bob has a copy) and the Council's website, which is: http://www.ncnb.org .
Ideas and suggestions floated after the video included:
-
People give money to people, not causes.
-
Money for scholarships can come from a number of sources, such as: a portion of the dollars collected from annual dues; asking members to bring items for a silent auction; cheeseball sales; requesting donations via the newsletter and website, and subsequently reporting on how much was raised and how the money was used; conducting a "50/50" Raffle anytime there is an event, with 50% of the money going to the scholarship fund and 50% to the winners.
-
A Strategic Financial Plan is expressed in numbers, not just descriptive words.
-
Some other service project and fund-raising ideas are: Volunteer bell-ringers during December for the Salvation Army; a blood drive competition against other local Big Ten alumni chapters; a silent auction (or real auction) to raise money for scholarship fund. Wonder if we could get a Joe Paterno-signed football to auction off?
— Compiled by Janie Gehman —
Alumni Admissions Committee Leaders Workshop
Martha Jordan, the Director of Recruitment and Alumni Admission Recruitment Team Members, led this workshop, which was designed for Alumni Admission volunteers to share ideas and exchange information.
The workshop was highly structured, in that Martha's agenda covered a variety of topics. Information and discussion about the Phonathon and the Alumni Admissions website were addressed by Recruitment Team members Tracey McCloskey and Jenn Snare. Subsequent topics were led by individual chapter members, and included Recruiting New Volunteers (Anita Lombardo, Columbus, Ohio), Managing Volunteers (Joan McLance, Orange County, California), Training Volunteers (Jim Napolitano (Northern New Jersey), and Making Big Numbers in a Small Market (Bob Testa, Albany, New York).
I believe the following ideas and discussion items were of particular interest . . .
-
Include the parents of local area Penn State students at college fairs to help answer questions that parents might have. "Penn State Parents" offer a high degree of credibility.
-
The Freshman Send-Off could include all local students leaving for their freshman year or returning as upperclassmen.
-
Assign a chapter member to each Penn State Student/Family Unit. This alum then sticks with the student through his/her college years, and does things like helping with the application, sending care packages, sending letters or maintaining phone and/or e-mail contact.
-
Highlights from Jim Napolitano's "Training Volunteers" handout included such areas as attending the annual training session, identifying typical activities requiring training, and listing the many forms of training. (Bob has a copy of Jim's two-page handout.)
-
Bob Testa provided a handout that described their chartered bus project to serve Capital District and Mid-Hudson students. In essence, they run a charter bus to transport students for the Thanksgiving weekend and the Spring Break. In providing this service to students, the chapter endeavors to help students' families avoid the long and time-consuming drive to and from State College. Bob Gehman has the handout detailing the particulars of the charter bus service. The handout also includes a comprehensive letter of useful admissions information the chapter sends to prospective students.
-
The Recruitment and Alumni Volunteer Program website was spotlighted. An integral component of the site is The Recrutiment Newsletter, which was created to keep the lines of communication open to volunteers. the newsletter features announcements, updated info from the Recruitment Team, a contest, and other interesting reading. Check it out at: http://www.psu.edu/admissions/volunteers .
— Compiled by Janie Gehman —
Communications, Public Relations, and Shameless Self-Promotion Workshop
April Scimio is the Alumni Association's Director of communications. She led this workshop, which provided a platform for informal discussion of the tools and resources useful to promote affiliate groups and increase communication with members.
Ms. Scimio provided a presentation on the need for each affiliate group (i.e. Alumni Interest Groups and Chapters) to have a comprehensive Communications Program. Her 3-part presentation addressed: (1) What you tell people; (2) What people say about you; and, (3) What people know about you.
In discussing what you tell people, she focused on the various communications channels that are available. These include using a listserve for e-mail, a website, a newsletter (still the most effective communications tool), postcards, and invitations. Whatever the message, the key to getting it across is to repeat, repeat, repeat.
When it comes to what people say about you, think in terms of cultivating media relations. It's OK to brag, and we can do it better if we can use local media to help. try to make it as easy as possible for local media to write or say something about you. (Note: This might extend to drafting an article for the Dayton Daily News or one of our smaller neighborhood weekly newspapers.) However, media people won't be interested unless we can make the "media event' truly interesting. Examples might include some type of intergenerational event, or a tradition that has spanned a long period of time. (Another Note: Maybe an article about Mike Zollars, and his role as the Nittany Lion, could showcase Penn State and our chapter in a very positive light for high school students, their parents, and our local unaffiliated alumni. Yet another thought is to use the On-Line Directory to identify any local alumni who are working as writers — and, if any are identified, encourage them to join our chapter and take on the task of cultivating media relations.)
In expressing her views on what people know about you, Ms. Scimio believes strongly that reputation and image are everything. First impressions are extremely important, and everything we do sends a message. We continually have to be concerned about — and ask ourselves — what would people think?
Ms. Scimio distributed a 6-page handout entitled Public and Media Relations 101. The handout addressed, in some detail, such topics as what public relations entail; why media relationships are important; creating a press/media list; the what, why, how, format, and timing of press releases and public service announcements; the importance of internal (e.g. chapter) communications; and, a sample press release and sample public service announcement.
Another handout, entitled "Staying One Step ahead of the Logo Police," was also distributed. This document is a set of guidelines on the proper use of University and Alumni Association logos, symbols, and marks.
I have copies of the two cited handouts available for reference.
Other discussion topics included:
-
In response to a request for additional photos and clip art to be made available to chapters, Ms. Scimio said she'll see that such material is posted on the Alumni Association's website.
-
Photos that are sent to the Alumni Association for publication must be of high quality.
-
As a chapter, we can submit news/event items to be posted on the Alumni Association's website.