YAC: Organizing

With all of the hard work that members of the Youth Advisory Committee are doing, and specifically the cohort I lead, I needed to find a way to stay organized. Google docs and sheets has been my best friend!

I have recently implemented an “accountability check” among the alumni acquisition cohort within the National 4-H Youth Advisory Committee. This is a google form that tracks the participation and activity of each member. It also offers an easy way for members to determine what action still needs to be taken on their part, and the materials needed through hyperlinks to be successful. At the in-person meetings, the person with the most participation checks will receive a small prize. You can see a sample of this below…

The cohort also thought it would be beneficial to interview and learn more about our individual university alumni associations. I had the opportunity to speak with Lauren Luffy, the Associate Director of Mentoring and Engagement within The Ohio State University’s Alumni Association. Claire Badger, Director of Alumni Engagement for the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Science at Ohio State, who I also happen to work with on The Ohio 4-H Foundation Board, put me in contact with her. Networking is a wonderful thing! I learned so much from my conversation with her. Below are the questions that were developed for each cohort member to ask their association, as well as the answers I received and brainstormed.

• How do you keep recent graduates engaged in a short and long-term aspect

• How do you gather contact information and keep it up to date?

• Offer gift to update information

• Can you talk about your social media efforts?

• Social media takeover

• Humans of New York style posts

• Texting updates/newsletters to stay in contact with Generation Z

• Do you offer benefits to your recent graduates? If so, what do they look like?

• Networking

• Discounts

• Do you have any alumni acquisition projects that are unique to your university?

• Comments/Ideas

• Professional Development courses through an online Young Alumni Academy

• Pen-Pal program to connect older alumni with younger alumni in a field they are both interested in (they can set their own terms, such as how often they write)

• TedTalk online (possibly going through our National Film Fest and request that this be a category)

• National 4-H can give a scholarship to each state to award to a senior

• Offer graduation cords to each graduating senior in exchange for their contact information