Leadership Assembly 2012 Thursday, October 25 – Friday, October 26

TAKEAWAYS:

Three universal messages emerged from the three dinner discussions:

1. The Barnard community is part of your life forever, so take advantage of it

2. You can connect anywhere in the world to your fellow Barnard alumnae; when you travel for work or leisure, find out what Barnard events may be happening, i.e. a book club or faculty member lecturing, by checking the website

3. The College provides many opportunities to stay connected: 1) Volunteer, including mentor a student, fundraise, plan class and club activities 2) Comeback to campus, including audit classes, use the library, and attend Reunion 3) Participate in Barnard activities, including book clubs, class mini-reunions and regional

events

Class Leaders Dinner

What compels alumnae to come back and get involved?

How do you use social media to connect alumnae with one another?

How do you convey the message that Barnard is there for life?

Milestones • Have meetings every year, mini-reunions running up to reunion year • Emphasis on giving back time, not necessarily money, for increased participation • Organize events around classmates who have skills to share • Quarterly newsletter (print or email), more in-depth than magazine class notes • Concentrate on “middle group”, i.e. between those who are very involved and those who are

totally disinterested 50s

• Need for improved communication about events • Improve Web site to make it easier to find information • College-wide Barnard Reads: Groups can meet to discuss books

• Increase instruction and encourage use of technology 60s

• Improve Web page to make security less stringent; Facebook page is better • Send email before you call classmates during Reunion outreach; better feedback • Send mailing: “5 reasons why you should come, 5 reasons why you don’t think you should

come (but you should)” • Trips might entice people to come and be associated with regional clubs

70s • Invite class members to give presentations, performances (5-year reunions), more social and

classmates based • Advertise Barnard activities on LinkedIn; use LinkedIn groups

80s • Each person who gets involved promise to get someone else involved • Offer more information to encourage alumnae to get involved in specific committees at the

College • Disseminate better information about what alumnae have access to because of Barnard

affiliation (i.e. magazine, ticket discounts etc.) • Alumnae Magazine in print; problems with online version

90s • Suggest developing Barnard Pride Campaign- spread word about Barnard beyond alumnae

network • Message: “Only at Barnard” distinctive attributes

2000s/2010s • Want to see more Barnard telecast lectures (by professors, guest-lecturers, etc.), have more

access to Barnard via the web • Don’t charge for events • Professional networking events • Other ways to get involved besides committees; innovative ways • Email from classmates are more likely to be read (class representative’s name in the “from

field” vs. someone from office) • Use social media to fundraise (Bryn Mawr’s menu of creative giving opportunities; from $5-

$1,000, reminds them of positive memories from campus) • Columbia Giving Day- offered great incentives to get people to donate on one particular day

(constant updates, positive competition) • Get past embarrassment of giving small donations • Better exploration of national PR about famous alumnae • Bottom-line message: Barnard is family and community

Leadership Assembly Regional Leaders Dinner

• The importance of interacting with other regional clubs and/or other Seven Sisters clubs and Columbia College clubs

o Columbia clubs seem to in all major cities, but there is no easy way to find out about their activities

o San Francisco has strong collaboration with Columbia Club, coordinating communication to advertise events, Young Alumnae Happy Hour (co-chaired), which seems to be due to the presence of young alumnae in area

o Dorothy Denburg mentioned the relationship w/Columbia is complicated, plus the purpose of clubs is to strengthen connections with Barnard

o Member from Hong Kong said Barnard club sends a rep to sit in on Columbia College club’s monthly meetings to pick activities in which they will be involved

o Celeste said the regional reps at Columbia only know what is going on in each Colleges’ clubs to the extent that they are told: better communication between the two institutions’ clubs is a “work in progress.” Club leaders can facilitate open communications by reach out to one another directly

o Joint Barnard-Columbia events are seen by members as networking opportunities: Both sides want to get something out of the relationship

• Marketing regional clubs for driving and maintaining membership o How effective are articles in Barnard magazine? Using social media?

List info on websites (some clubs have websites) and in the Magazine o Has any club considered using Facebook or LinkedIn to create a page?

SF has LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, its own email account – everything, basically – this reaches younger alumnae, but a paper newsletter is also essential for older alumnae or those who don’t use an online service. People often feel a paper invite/ mailing is more “real”

DC club suggests an internship for Barnard students to come to DC and educate older alumnae about new types of technology

o Take more pictures at regional events and share them o DC club: paper newsletter comes out several times per year

Email blasts go out more frequently o After a successful event, how do you keep up attendance?

Follow-up email that describes how great a recent event was: personalize correspondence

• What events are most popular? o CT club: most events occur on weekends (example: event for incoming students and

parents) o DC club: informal potluck brunch is always successful

SF club has begun to parallel College traditions : Midnight Breakfast with two seats of 100 people each with announcement upfront about fee and donations; other traditions include Big Sub, Founders Day

o NY club does monthly events (example: Warhol exhibit at the Met with docent)

o South Florida events update: South Florida has Barnard book club; try to have brunch at book fair. Barnard collaborating with Columbia alumni Association on Art Basel Miami Beach (in December) for the first time.

o Expensive events don’t work: $75+ o For clubs in New York area, contact Alumnae Affairs to book in advance College

campus spaces such as Diana Center or Vagelos Alumnae Center • Quarterly calls

o Last one was held in June; schedule for this year’s calls to be announced in early November

• Club finances and hosting events w/Barnard administrators and lecturers o College does not fund clubs, but we do two print mailings per fiscal year for each club;

the main way clubs get funds for themselves is charging for events College also supports clubs by sending administrators/professors/lecturers to

clubs for programming • Keep Celeste in the loop: send her calendars in advance, be specific

about what professor/type of event you want, what events are being held for tie-ins

o NY club: charges dues to cover costs of mailings etc. • Cultivating and maintaining relationships w/other Barnard clubs

o How do we combat the time zone issue for members in California and across the globe for events like webinars so that all may participate?

o Dorothy: Mary Gordon’s regular webinar is 8PM EST, which works for CA participants

o Dorothy: Does it help people feel connected to the College when administrators or lecturers host regional events throughout the country/world? Alumnae are arguably most interested in having Debora Spar or Dorothy Dean Avis Hinkson came to event, which made all feel connected to the

College, especially since she’s a relatively new face in the administration • What are 5 keys to increase and maintain membership?

o SF: showing the value of clubs to students while they are still students o DC: offer something that’s seen as a good value – providing opportunities that alumnae

cannot get without the clubs o Events HAVE to be at night or weekends o Are spouses/partners encouraged to come to events?

Don’t turn anyone away DC: invite neighbors for fun/to mix it up, plus, people want to have

conversations w/intelligent women • Other concerns that have not been covered

o DC got a scholarship fund going for their club that is now nearing the $100,000 mark (2 big gifts of $25,000 started the fund, raised the rest at 3 events over several years) Have a big goal in mind, like DC’s endowment, because it builds a sense of

community and excitement

Fundraisers Dinner Questions asked: 1. What are the obstacles to giving that volunteers encounter when talking to classmates about giving

and what are positive responses to those obstacles? 2. How does one get a gift from an alumna who has never given? 3. What are other ways to reach out to classmates beyond letters, emails and phone calls? Alumnae ideas

a. Emphasize participation and continuity from both young and mature alumnae no matter what the monetary value is

b. Understand individuals' financial circumstances and other financial limitations. c. Explore alternative methods to recognize donor participation beyond the annual honor role. d. Access our competitive nature; share how Barnard giving compares to other schools;

Columbia (Columbia Giving Day), other Ivies and women's colleges. Have information available to fundraisers and donors.

e. Make personal, motivating, exciting connections to Barnard "then and now." Strive for one-on-one connections.

f. Networking among peers. i. Emphasize strong Barnard community. ii. Mini-reunions; write personal letters to classmates before calling. iii. For younger alumnae use social networking: You Tube, Facebook, online

yearbook. iv. Reach out to alumnae abroad through travel and write personal notes. v. With help of the College take advantage of faculty and Barnard students to

engage with alumnae for events. g. Educate donors on where their funds go and how they have an impact.

i. Discuss how Barnard provides a wonderful learning environment--"intellectual fire."

h. For alumnae who did not have a positive experience tell them how the College has grown and improved since their time. "You chose Barnard. You're going to put it on your resume for the rest of life.”

i. Begin to teach First Years that philanthropy is important. Educate graduates who do not have a background in philanthropy, or who are the first generation in their families to go to college how important it is.