Special Gathering for Senior Alumni

[Dianna Moodley]

We don’t have a formal program for our potential bequest alumni and sending this group a brochure on making a bequest to the school was not received very well. In fact we received no responses from around 600 that were mailed this brochure.
So we have decided to host an event just for our senior alumni and first try and engage with them as some of these alumni we have not had any contact with for a very long time. We plan to hold a wine tasting and a very informal menu and setup so alumni can move around and start up conversations more easily. Does anyone have any ideas on what else will be appropriate and interesting for this group of alumni?

[Bobbi Aralica]

Hi Dianna,

I don’t have much experience in alumni bequests, but many years ago I organised a similar event for VIP gastroenterologist-doctors. What worked well for my company at the time was displaying old scopes
and instruments which the doctors started their careers with.
This groups of individuals are very nostalgic so perhaps going through your archives and finding old transcripts, pictures, thesis examples, books, journals (especially if they are featured in them) and giving them a point of reference they may find interesting. Maybe even some chess boards to assist with the atmosphere. As your institution hasn’t had much contract with them, chances are they haven’t had much contact with each other so may need some prompting. It could be a conversation starter.

Just a thought anyhow.
You could also go the other way and show them how much the school has changed and what you have planned for the future. Past and present. The marketing message or invitation could therefore be more personal, especially if they know they will see their contribution to their particular industry.

Good Luck
Bobbi Aralica

[Dianna Moodley]

That’s brilliant Bobbi. Your idea definitely could work for our School as we also celebrated our 50th anniversary of our first MBA graduate. We could do a past, present and future story around the School. Wow, there definitely is something here. Thank you so much for sharing your idea with me.

Regards,
Dianna

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