L&AD: Alumni, Parent and External Engagement

Goal

F&M will ignite a strong culture of philanthropy, service, and rewarding engagement, inspiring alumni, current and prospective families, and stakeholders to join and advance a transformational and inclusive community.

Objectives & Activities

1. Articulate and cultivate a sense of lifelong belonging in student recruitment, the student experience on campus, and family and alumni engagement.

   1. Launch a presidential working group on alumni engagement.

   2. Enhance the visit experience for alumni, current students/families and potential students/families.

   3. Create programs that involve incoming students, current students and families, alumni, and regionally-based staff.

   4. Establish a comprehensive presence in key markets. Engage with more alumni in recruitment markets, and expand recruitment and advancement staffing regionally, on location.

   5. Identify ways to engage alumni by supporting and establishing new alumni affinity groups.

   6. Engage more students with the alumni network (through in-person and virtual events, mentoring, etc.).

   7. Develop and promote traditions that engage students and alumni and serve as a shared connection to place and to each other.

   8. Create and implement a lifelong-learning program for local and remote participants.
       

2. Advance and sustain a community-wide understanding of the power of philanthropy and its overarching importance to the College’s mission.

   1. Create educational initiatives (workshops, presentations) for faculty and professional staff about the annual fund and the endowment, and incorporate this information into new-employee orientation.

   2. Increase participation of faculty and professional staff in the advancement of alumni engagement and philanthropy; engage faculty and professional staff in developing bold ideas and opportunities for philanthropic support.

   3. Capture and enhance interactions with alumni outside of advancement and alumni relations through better coordination and communication.

   4. Celebrate the completion of the “Now to Next” fundraising campaign and communicate how it advances the institutional mission.

   5. Lay the groundwork for the next campaign.

   6. Build upon the success of the first two annual “Day of Giving” events in future years.
       

3. Expand and coordinate the F&M community’s efforts to recognize and celebrate alumni, parent/family, donor, and external stakeholders’ contributions to the College and to society.

   1. ​Identify and utilize vehicles for recognition and celebration on campus (e.g., Common Hour, Commencement).

   2. Identify, celebrate, and publicize alumni achievements through digital platforms and identify more ways for alumni to inform College staff of those achievements.

   3. Develop one or more awards and other recognitions for a particular alumni achievement/category, and cast a wider “net” for alumni achievements.

   4. Inspire local alumni to connect with campus, with Lancaster, and with each other through existing F&M programming and local alumni-specific events.
       

4. Strengthen the connections among members of F&M’s international community of alumni and current students/families to one another and to the College.

   1. Conduct focus groups with recent international alumni and current students to continue outreach that began during the pandemic.

   2. Engage international alumni in recruitment.

   3. Develop communications and programming specific to current international families.
       

5. Enhance coordination and communication across the College to increase knowledge of and more effectively engage, the external community’s talents, resources, and connections.

   1. ​Create programs that involve external stakeholders in preparing students for life after graduation.

   2. Coordinate faculty and professional staff collaboration with advancement in engaging potential prospects, and embed advancement goals in departments, programs, and offices.

   3. Develop FPS ambassadors for external engagement.

   4. Convene Lancaster Leaders Forum with local CEOs and F&M partners.

   5. Engage more actively with the families of prospective and current students as valued constituents and partners in their students’ personal development, academic success, and career prospects.