May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor
Photo by Bianca Berg on Unsplash
Move from Engagement to Alumni Empowerment
How are you signing off these days…Stay Safe…Stay Well…Stay Strong? While most of us try to figure out how to be affirming and realistic at the same time, colleges and universities are graduating a class who came of age with the valediction: “May the odds be ever in your favor.”
The odds may be more of a factor in the lives of the Class of 2020 than ever before, and those odds have not been this unfair since Vietnam.
Generation C and the Class of 2020
Before the first COVID-19 college closures, underemployment was a reality for young alumni. Inside Higher Ed reported, “About 41% of recent college graduates…are working in jobs that don’t require a college degree.” And now, graduating into an economic downturn, “The Class of 2020 could feel the effects of a recession well after the recession has ended,” earning “10% less the first year” after graduation with lingering effects for the “next seven years,” according to The Conversation.
“We’re going to see a whole bunch of college graduates and people finishing graduate programs this summer who are going to really struggle to find work.”
- Elena Conis, The Atlantic (April 13, 2020)
Moving Toward Alumni Empowerment
These stark realities compel development presidents to rethink the fundamentals of alumni development. In my career, department titles have changed from Alumni Records to Alumni Relations to Alumni Engagement. These models were already waning in relevance and now are obsolete.
I’ve sold bricks, lugged equipment and boxes of contact cards to phone-a-thons, and recruited class agents. I’ve said the words “Give Back” more than I care to admit. With my best Kennedy accent, I now challenge universities everywhere: Ask not what your alumni can do for you but what you can do for your alumni.
Nationally, alumni provide just over 22% of the $50 billion given to colleges and universities each year, according to the 2019 VSE. Colleges can’t afford to lose this base of support over time, but our approach to securing it must change from engagement to empowerment. Start your Alumni Empowerment program with the Class of 2020. Here’s how.
Stop chasing alumni participation rates. The most inefficient money spent in development offices – next to galas and auctions – is on alumni participation rates. US News and World Report sparked a fetishism for a metric that weighs very little in their overall score. Not even Sisyphus had the frustration of trying to make percentage point gains with an endlessly escalating denominator. Increase the number of alumni making gifts - sure, but forget about percentages.
Focus on building capacity. Rather than overinvesting in development efforts to increase inclination among those who have very little capacity, it’s time to build capacity in those who have a natural inclination. Now is a great time to launch reskilling and upskilling programs for your alumni and to make good on your viewbook’s promise and provide the infrastructure for lifelong learning. If alumni attribute their own prosperity to your institution’s unending support, they will be the ones writing thank you notes.
Spark economic independence. We don't know when or how jobs are coming back. Don’t underestimate the acceleration in technology and the likelihood that companies will reshape their workforce. Traditional career placement rules may no longer apply. Rather than simply helping graduates enter today's shaky economy, help them shape the future. Move beyond the fads and dig into what it truly will take to help them start profitable businesses and innovative, world-changing ventures. It may be a pathway to independence, entrée into the gig economy or fuel for an even stronger employment portfolio.
Meet the Moment
At most schools, the Class of 2020 has already left campus. You're wondering how to assign grades for their senior semester, and you’re about to make them click on a link for graduation. All of these extraordinary responses met the moment to keep them and our society safe. Now it is time to help them and our society prosper. Meet the moment for them and for your institution.
If you truly empower the Class of 2020 to succeed through this crisis, they will never forget.
“But I'll tell you how I survive it. I make a list in my head. Of all the good things I've seen someone do. Every little thing I could remember.”
- Katness Everdeen
Do a good thing now.
When you’re ready to empower the Class of 2020, call me.
In the meantime, Download: 3 Things Every College President Should Know About Fundraising.
With over 25 years of senior-level education leadership experience, including as president and vice president for advancement, David Rowe is a senior consultant with AGB: Association of Governing Boards, executive coaching and mentoring practice lead for Registry Advisory Services and the CEO of The Development President.