A guest post from Joe Patterson. This rant was first posted to SigEp-Talk and Joe has graciously consented to allow is to post it here as well.
First, I want to say that I appreciate everyone who donates to the Educational Foundation and, especially, Tragos for making the "Quest to Greece" possible.
But did anyone else read the following line in the press release regarding the Quest??
"And...as a Mentor...you get to pay for the experience."
Basically, I think this line basically describes what I think to be the biggest problem in the Fraternity.
Our Fraternity is great in so many way, but the way we treat our alumni is so atrocious.
At HQ's, we have a Director of Health and Wellness, Director of Balanced Man Initiative, Director of Volunteers, etc.... but we don't have a Director of Alumni Relations (or something to that effect). I am sure all the Directors do their job... and this email is in no way to shoot down their jobs! It simply questions where our motives are as an organization.
I'm assuming the Educational Foundation relies heavily (if not entirely) on Alumni donations. Most of these people are probably volunteers, too. But some alumni want to get involved- but don’t necessarily want to be volunteers. For example, they want to meet up with old buds, see how the active chapter is doing, etc. We get more volunteers and donors after these relationships and connections are reestablished with the chapter.
I just think we are setting the wrong tone- we center ALL of our alumni functions around being a volunteer. For example, volunteer training sessions. Well, my question is this, how do we get volunteers if Alumni aren't interested?
I'm sure it is part of someone's job to work on Alumni Relations (or I hope). But we should dedicate a position ENTIRELY to this - and they should work hand in hand with our Director of Volunteers. Believe it or not - there is a difference, and they are equally important.
Even in the scenario that alumni don't want to volunteer- they just want to feel a connection to the Fraternity- my guess is that this will help our Fraternity overall. It will let us know, and emphasize, that once we graduate there is still a SigEp around. It might even make people more likely to join.
I am thankful that our Grand Chapter and Grand President made a dedication to this in Tennessee. I hope it works out. Because right now, I think Alumni are shocked to hear that there are opportunities to volunteer- but that HQ's does not provide substantial support in retaining our alumni relations
Again... my guess is that Alumni who travel to Greece can probably afford to be a mentor... but perhaps our Fraternity would ultimately better be served if the focus was changed just a little bit. Volunteers are good... but they mostly come from Alumni- who we lose daily.
VDBL,
Joe Patterson
The key point - general alumni relations are not the same as volunteer relations. After all, before you get a committeed volunteer you need to have an interested alumnus.
