For Free and in Less than 10 Minutes

Laura Cole, Director of Advancement

Did you know that you have a free tool at your fingertips that is a great way to reach out to alumni?  Did you know you can probably complete this task in less than ten minutes?  Your national magazine is an easy way for your alumni to learn about what's occurring on campus and all of the exciting news your chapter has to share.

National headquarters usually send their national magazine at least twice a year.  Believe me, alumni look for their chapter's information and hope to see it listed.  Not to name names, but a certain chapter, of which I am very fond, NEVER submits information to their headquarters' quarterly magazine, and I'm more than annoyed by it.

Here's what you need to do:

• Check your organization's website for submission guidelines and due dates.  Most have moved to electronic submissions, so sending information to your national magazine is as easy as sending an e-mail.
• Pick the best of the best and tell your alumni about the coolest thing your chapter has done in the last year.  Did you have an outstanding recruitment?  Did you raise a lot of money for charity?  Did you win intramurals?  Great!  Share it!
• Write up a short article (less than 100 words) and send it in.  Send a picture along with the article if you have a good one.

Here's a tip:  remember that submission deadlines are usually far in advance of the actual mail date.  It's better to include information about past events and to be specific about when they happened ? April 2010 for example - to avoid confusion.  If you have a huge anniversary coming up in the next year or two and plans are already underway, go ahead and include it, but steer clear of events in the next 3-4 months.  It's too risky that your event will have passed by the time your alumni read the article and then you look like you don't have your act together.

Whatever you do, take advantage of this free communication avenue.  You submit the information, and your headquarters pays to print and mail it to all of your alumni.  You're unlikely to find a better deal.