6 5 4 3 2 1 Interest Level in Camp by Age 52 CAMPING magazine • November/December 2013 Definition of Alumni To make this work for all of us in the camp industry, we should expand our definition of alumni. I was not a camper at the camp I direct; however, I would go to the ends of the earth for this program. A parent might feel the same way if their child has a transformative experience at your program. Consequently, we should all consider defining alumni of our program as all campers who attended our programs, all staff who have worked in our programs, and all parents who have had a child in our programs. With this expanded definition, not only can we reach more people, but when we later develop our plan of action, it will make us concentrate on our unique alumni constituencies who have different needs and wants. Managing the Database The next step is the most challenging part of the whole alumni outreach process: managing the database. It is not enough to have a great and well-regarded database system. We must not only have a great system, but we must utilize it appropriately. While many new systems will advise you on how to best use their services, it will still not input the constituents with all the necessary information, which will be the most tedious part of the alumni outreach journey. I can assure you this is well worth your efforts and will quickly pay dividends (and could be a good volunteer opportunity for an active and interested alum). At the outset, connecting all of your constituents with their relationships (i.e., immediate family, extended family) will seem like a tiring game of six degrees of separation. But these relationships, and their birthdays, interests, and professions, will help as you work to connect them with camp. This information will be most important when your database is well on its way and you begin to mine the database for various categories of constituents. Looking for alumni from the ’80s to host a mixer in a certain location? If you have entered the information appropriately, queries like these will begin to point you in the right direction as you begin your outreach process. This area will require an initial investment in technology and potentially another person on the team to assist with data entry, research, and queries. Figure 1. Interest Level in Camp by Age Table 1. Using Database Information Desired Result Action Taken Young alums referring great staff members / young alums making their first donation to camp Young alum “mixers” in various locations Local awareness of programs and enrollment Holiday events for all ages Future enrollment of alum kids Mailer to all alums in their thirties and forties with a “know a future camper?” card of interest to medium or high levels. You can never fully get to that moment when someone feels like a camper, staff member, or camp parent again, but what if we could spark something in our alumni that raised their level of interest during those down years? In doing so, you will never totally leave the landscape of a client’s mind, and, consequently, this will drive your performance results for years to come. When our program actively began to engage our alumni, we saw an increase across the board in our retention rates, our staff referrals, camper referrals, camper enrollment numbers, and our fundraising dollars. Further, we saw that we had increased attention levels at all ages. The well-defined wave turned into more of a ripple because we held people’s attention for longer periods of time. This success is not unique to us. Other camps are conducting the same efforts, and universities are the example of what we all should strive to attain. Colleges and universities invest millions in their alumni engagement departments, as they know that the alum is the one who will speak the best about your institution and will help to drive your results. From “Why” to “How” Since we now know the “why,” we must focus on the “how.” How can we implement a quality alumni relations program at our camp? First, it begins with your camp defining what it means to be a member of the alumni. Then, it means looking at your current database and making sure you have adequately kept track of these individuals while also continually updating and inputting data. Finally, it means developing and rolling out an outreach plan that makes sense for you, your camp, and your alums. 0 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 61 64 67 70 73 76 79 Interest Level Age
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