Alumni Association Voting: Engage Alumni Associations with an Election

An alumni association offers a networking platform where like-minded students can connect, get access to career-building tools like job postings and resume workshops, and keep their connection to their alma mater strong.

However, different alumni boards have different membership responsibilities. For instance, the alumni association at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) is responsible for:

• Increasing alumni engagement with the school
• Participating in working committees, events, and board initiatives
• Selecting winners for the annual HKS Alumni Awards
• Representing the alumni board at all HKS events
• Recommending prospective students
• Sharing internship or job opportunities when applicable
• Encouraging alumni to run for the alumni association's board

This isn’t possible without an alumni association board, which works as an advocate out in the field, provides the alumni community with ways to champion the university’s mission, and increases alumni engagement with the school.

Alumni associations don’t just offer perks when students are in college. They can also pay off in big ways after students graduate, such as:

• They connect graduates with established professionals, allowing them to build connections.
• They help students choose career paths, transition into new careers, and explore career opportunities. For instance, the University of Michigan’s alumni association provides students access to job boards, self-assessments, and even career-searching scholarships.
• They host virtual networking events or online career fairs, enabling alumni to learn career skills.
• They give their members discounts on health and auto insurance, computers, financial services, clothes, restaurants, and smartphone services. This can help alumni save 15% to 50% in expenses.
• They offer free tickets to university events and concerts and in-person or virtual volunteering opportunities.
• They offer scholarships to students with alumni connections. For instance, Berkeley’s alumni association gives scholarships worth $2 million to new students yearly. At Princeton, alumni make admission recommendations.

All of these benefits prompt students to give back in the form of scholarships or donations down the road.

Engaged alumni can act as school ambassadors, contribute money in the form of scholarships, offer their expertise to the alumni board, and provide access to career opportunities. Plus, they encourage others to run for the board of association directors, which is crucial for alumni elections.

So, how can an alumni association or board motivate students to run in board elections and contribute their expertise to their alma mater? Here’s what to do:

• Start early: Make students feel valued when they begin studying at the institution instead of starting in the last year. This will build lifelong relationships and enable boards to recruit alumni to cover association responsibilities.
• Invest in students: Provide alumni with useful resources like professional development workshops, career services, and job opportunities. The long-term payoff of this investment can be in the form of alumni’s time, talent, and resources.
• Give access to an exclusive platform: Instead of relying on the university’s student portal, provide every alum with access to an exclusive platform that creates tailored and just-for-alumni events. This can increase interest in the board, especially if the membership comes with perks.