Script

Welcome to the JMU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Chapter Leader Training. If you are watching this video, it is because you have joined an alumni chapter leadership team, so first off I’d like to say thank you for your commitment to JMU and to your local chapter. We are excited to have you and look forward to you being on board.

Let’s go over our objectives for this training video. First, we’ll go over the mission vision and values of the alumni association, and how the chapters fit in to them based on their goals. Second, we’ll cover the resources provided by the Office of Alumni Relations. Third, we’ll walk through the areas of chapter administration, and lastly, we’ll cover the expectations we have for our chapter program and volunteers.

Let’s get started with the mission vision and values. What is our mission as the JMU Alumni Association? It is to engage alumni & cultivate involvement and investment in JMU. Our purpose as an office and organization is to help alumni stay connected in meaningful ways to the university and vice versa. Our vision is to be a leading Alumni Association that, through University, Student and Alumni engagement, is an essential partner to the advancement of the JMU Mission. Alumni are an active, thriving part of JMU and we want to ensure that the experience does not stop at Graduation.

We value Engagement, through keeping alumni connected to each other, current students, and the University.

Investment- through the support of JMU’s fundraising efforts.

Service, by providing opportunities for alumni to give back to their communities and to JMU.

And Collaboration, by working closely with other offices across campus to better serve the needs of our alumni.

What does this mean for you as a chapter? It means that you are engaging alumni in your areas through good quality events, fundraising efforts, and effective online communication. All of these things need to happen in conjunction with each other, and are of equal importance to the success and livelihood of your chapter.

But!

We also want you to make it your own. You all are the experts when it comes to living in in your areas and what events will work there. Whether it be a Nats game in DC,  a Golf Event in  Dallas, a casual get together in San Francisco, we recognize that each chapter is going to have its own flare. You know what kinds of events will work, so make it your own by putting your own local twist on these components.

Some ideas we’ve seen in the past are trivia nights, complete with JMU themed trivia. Service events such as the Big Event, JMU’s national day of service, Picnics at local sporting events, or a pool party hosted at someone’s home. The goal is to find the things that will bring out a variety of people and to work with alumni in your area to make them happen.

Our second topic involves the resources provided by the JMU Alumni Office. First of all, we have a staff person dedicated to you all- the Assistant Director for Alumni Chapters. They are here to assist with the recruitment of new leadership members, training of new/existing members, event planning, chapter maintenance and management, and team development. Basically, this person is your liaison to the University and will assist with your chapters’ needs. They are your lifeline and go to, so please do not ever hesitate to reach out to them with questions.

Additionally, there are some more specific items that are offered by the JMU Alumni Office. First, there is financial assistance. We keep your bank accounts, and can pay for almost anything out of them when you need us to. There is a form to fill out for these payments that can be found on our website, but you need to be sure to work with the Assistant Director for Alumni Chapters to ensure that your bank account is kept up to date and that you have funds to cover your chapter needs.

Second, we provide event assistance through our online registration system. Every event that happens in a chapter should have an event page on our website that we host and track registration through. These pages can be simple RSVP pages, or can take payments for events like a baseball game or anything requiring tickets. The third thing is marketing assistance, through the sending of emails to alumni in your area, facebook and other social media posts from the JMU Alumni Association main page, and creative marketing assistance as needed.  

Lastly, we provide training resources, such as this video you are watching now, conference calls, and our annual Madison Alumni Conference, aka MAC, that is held every June.

We want to ensure that you all have the right tools to make big things happen in your area. So please let us know if there are additional resources that you’d like to see. We’ll do our best to make it happen.

Our third topic is areas of chapter maintenance. These can be broken down in to three main areas. First is administration. This involves forming your team, by finding the right fit for each position, leading your team and managing expectations, keeping records of who is on board and communicating that back to the Assistant Director, maintaining a good budget and chapter finances through your programming, and understanding who all of your contacts are at JMU. For the most part, this areas is managed by the Chapter President who works directly with the Assistant Director on these issues.

The second area is communication- this involves sending email through your chapter gmail account, maintaining your email list through your listserv, updating and engaging people through your social media account and adhering to the communication guidelines of the Alumni Association and the University. This is typically handled by a communications chair, or by two people who tackle email and social media separately.

Lastly, there is the events area. These are the foundation of all chapters and the primary vehicle through which you will engage your alumni. This involves event planning, thinking through ideas that work and what specifically will work in your area, working with the event request timeline set forth by our office to ensure we can maximize your efforts and provide all the necessary resources in order for you all to have a successful event. Lastly, it involves submitting the event request form which is the first step to get your event approved by our office and registration pages up on our website. These items are handled by an event chair, or multiple event chairs who cover different areas such as service, social and athletics.  

Let’s take a quick look at the event planning timeline. It is available on our website, but it goes through the different types of events and how far in advance you need to start planning. As you can see, there are different timelines for each kind of event, but at the minimum, we require at least 3 weeks of advance notice for the most basic of events. Ideally, we have 6 weeks for all events, and want you to recognize that the farther out you plan, the better off your events will look to others. It does not display a positive image of the University to plan events last minute and have poor attendance. Planning in advance is the best way to ensure you have successful events in your area. 

Alright, we’ve come to our last topic which are the expectations we have for the chapters and chapter volunteers. First, we’d like you to adhere to the mission, vision, and values of the JMUAA. This means aligning your events to our overall goals to ensure what you are working on builds upon a larger goal for JMU. This means infusing your events with some information about JMU, whether it be updates about new buildings, programs, or staff, or trivia about the history. Incorporating a service component is always good too. Second, you and your chapter are to promote a positive image of the University through your events and communication efforts. This means not endorsing certain things on social media through the use of chapter pages, and being sure to separate your personal issues from any chapter communication efforts. We recognize that you are all individuals with your own opinions, but the chapter is a place for everyone and should remain that way. Third, we want you all to plan meaningful events that appeal to a wide array of constituents in your area. This means planning happy hours and family picnics, and working with our office to include all generations in your programming. Fourth, we want fundraising to be an active and thriving part of all chapters. All chapter leaders are asked to make a financial gift to the university (big or small!) and to participate in the chapter challenge, our annual fundraising competition. This is an area that we partner with the Office of Annual giving on as well. Lastly, this should be a fun and meaningful experience for you as a chapter leader. Please consider taking on a role that appeals to your personal and professional interests, and have FUN!

Alright so what did we cover? First we looked at the mission vision and values of the JMUAA, and the corresponding goals of the chapters. Second, we walked through the resources provided by the Alumni Office. Third, we did an overview of the areas of chapter maintenance and how they align with a volunteer position, and lastly we covered the expectations of chapters and the volunteer leaders.

We want to thank you for taking the time to go through this training, and for you commitment to taking on your new role. Be sure to look at the other resources provided on our website and reach out with any questions you may have. Thanks again… and as always GO DUUUKES!