Regional Clubs and Programs
Guidelines for Volunteers
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STRUCTURE:
The structure of a regional club depends on the number of alumni, parents and friends of Wesleyan in the area, whether there is an established Wesleyan presence or one just developing, and whether the club is in a large metropolitan area, medium–sized city, or smaller region. Some Wesleyan clubs function best with a planning group or steering committee in which each volunteer has a “specialized” role; other Wesleyan clubs function best with a small core group of volunteers who work with a variety of areas and programs. Some clubs will have regularly scheduled meetings; others will meet on an as-needed basis. Regardless of the club’s size or structure, it’s important that current volunteers continually reach out to engage new volunteers and involve them in the activities and events offered by the club. This ensures that there’s a broad representation of viewpoints, resulting in a program of activity attractive to a wide range of alumni, parents and friends of Wesleyan.
LEADERSHIP
Planning Committees (also called Steering Committees) consist of a core group of volunteer leaders who plan the program of activities offered by the club, identify and recruit new volunteers, and generally take the lead in shaping the local Wesleyan presence through outreach and events. Staff members from the Office of Alumni & Parent Relations serve as staff liaisons to regional Wesleyan clubs, and work closely with the leaders of each regional club to assist in facilitating the planning and presentation of club programs and initiatives.
Club Chair:
- Primary contact person for the regional club.
- Works closely with and maintains regular contact with staff liaison.
- Calls and leads planning meetings, takes meeting minutes, and distributes to attendees (in coordination with staff liaison)
- Delegates organizational responsibilities to club volunteers and follows up.
- Attends club events and assists with welcoming attendees, tracking attendance, handing out nametags, and introducing speakers. If unable to attend, delegates another volunteer to take on the responsibility.
- Recruits volunteers, especially successor, and ensures smooth transition of leadership at completion of term.
- Strongly encouraged to attend annual Volunteer Leadership Weekend on campus.
- In some circumstances the role of Chair is shared between two volunteers, known as co-chairs.
- Generally serves a two to three year term, with transition taking place during the last six months of term.
Club Vice Chair:
- Assists the Chair/Co-Chairs with planning and managing club programs and activities.
- Leads steering/planning committee meetings in the absence of the Chair.
- Follows up with fellow club volunteers when necessary.
- May be asked by the Chair to manage particular projects.
- Regularly attends club events.
- Recruits volunteers, especially successor, and ensures smooth transition of leadership at completion of term.
- Strongly encouraged to attend annual Volunteer Leadership Weekend on campus.
- Succeeds the current Chair upon completion of their term of office.
- Generally serves a two to three year term, with transition taking place during the last six months of term.
In addition to the main core leadership positions explained above, some regional clubs may also have volunteers who serve as regional liaisons to the following areas:
- Career Resource Center [CRC]
- Wesleyan Alumni Admission Volunteer [WAAV]
- Wesleyan Annual Fund [WAF]
- Black Alumni Council [BAC]
- Latino Alumni Council [LAC]
- Asian Pacific American Alumni Council [APAAC]
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Alumni Network [LGBTQ]
- Graduates of the Last Decade [GOLD]
These volunteers work closely with the club chair and staff liaison to plan regional programs that center on these specific areas (i.e. career networking receptions, GOLD parties, WAF Phonathons, and cultural celebrations such as Kwanzaa and Lunar New Year).
REGIONAL PROGRAM AND EVENT IDEAS:
- Presidential Receptions
- Lectures featuring faculty or local alumni and parents (WESeminars on the Road)
- Community Service Projects
- Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) Gatherings
- Museum Exhibits, Concerts, and Theater Productions showcasing the talents of local alumni and parents
- Cultural Events (Kwanzaa, Three Kings Day, and Lunar New Year celebrations)
- Sports Events
- Welcome Events for New Wesleyan Students and their Families
- Career Events
- Book Clubs
- Book Talks/Signings
- Wine Tastings
- Dinners/Happy Hours
- Family Oriented Events
- Multi–College Events
EVENT PLANNING GUIDELINES:
Club officers should keep in touch regularly with their staff liaison to coordinate planning for local events, but the tips listed below should help you create effective programs in your area.
Plan Ahead — plan a schedule of events for a semester, or even a year, at a time.
Consider Your Audience — schedule a variety of events in different locations that will appeal to various groups of people.
Share Responsibility — while the club chair has significant responsibility for guiding club activities, he/she should delegate responsibility for various events to other volunteers and utilize the staff resources available.
Take Advantage of Knowledge, Expertise, and Connections — become familiar with the history of your club; get to know former volunteers and ask their advice on what worked in the past and why. Seek out alumni and parents in your area who have special talents or expertise they can share as speakers, panelists, or performers for local events, or who may be willing to host events or have access to space for events. Reach out at each event for new volunteers.
Keep Useful Records — with assistance from your staff liaison, build a roster of sites for events, caterers, and special alumni and parent connections. Attendance lists should be submitted to your staff liaison after each event.
Make Meetings Meaningful — meet with your steering committee often enough to make good long-range plans, but not so often that volunteers become unwilling to devote their time (i.e. 1 to 3 times per year, depending on size of club)
Ask Good Questions When Selecting a Site for an Event — whenever possible, sites for local events should be secured well in advance. Always consider where your audience lives and works, and pinpoint areas where alumni and parents are concentrated. Weekday events may be more successful in a downtown area while weekend events may be better attended in residential areas. When securing a site, consider the following questions:
- Is there a room rental fee? Does it include use of furniture, linens, centerpieces, set–up, and takedown?
- Is a deposit necessary? Refundable? When due? Negotiable?
- Can we use an outside caterer or must we use an in–house caterer? (compare costs)
- Is alcohol allowed, and is a bartender included in caterer’s costs?
- What is the gratuity requirement?
- What is the cost of a cash bar, open bar, or self–serve wine and beer? (compare costs)
- Is there a table for nametags and a greeter?
- Is there audio visual equipment available? Does it need to be outsourced? Costs?
- What security procedures are necessary? (E.g., guest list, doorman, security guards)
- What parking facilities are available? What is the cost? Can parking tickets be validated?
- Is the site handicap accessible? Access to restrooms? Where are the restrooms in proximity to the function room?
- When must we give a final number of attendees? Is there flexibility after that date?
- Do we need to provide an insurance certificate?
- How early can we arrive? How late can we stay?
- Will the contact person at the site be at the event?
Request a written contract or a written confirmation for major events in public or private spaces. Many events will not require such elaborate procedures, but most of the above questions are important to ask when planning a major function.
REGIONAL CLUB COMMUNICATIONS:
Newsletters — clubs offering many events in a given time period are encouraged to create newsletters to share Wesleyan University news, to inform alumni and parents of the activities and issues concerning their local club, to announce upcoming events, and to report on past events. The newsletter can also be a good vehicle for recruiting new volunteers. Text for newsletters should be drafted by local volunteers whenever possible and should be submitted to your staff liaison for editing, design, and printing. For consistency in all materials mailed from Wesleyan, staff may make edits based on standards set forth by the University’s Office of Communication.
Invitations — depending on the type of event, paper invitations are sometimes necessary to promote a specific event. Flyers, postcards, and formal invitations can be printed when necessary. Because of the higher cost of producing and mailing individual invitations, please consult with your staff liaison to determine if this is the best option.
E–Mails — working with your staff liaison, events can be announced through mass e–mails to alumni and parents in your regional area.
Telephone Trees — all clubs are encouraged to develop phone trees to call local alumni and parents to encourage them to attend events.
FINANCING CLUB EVENTS:
The Office of Alumni and Parent Relations maintains a limited budget to subsidize regional events. Events should be planned carefully to minimize expenses and volunteers should work closely with their staff liaison to determine the most cost–effective way to organize the event. In some instances, guests may be required to pay a fee to attend the event in order to offset costs of space rental, catering, and other expenses.
RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO CLUB:
VOLUNTEERS
The Office of Alumni and Parent Relations is committed to serving clubs and the volunteers who make regional activities possible. Staff liaisons are available to provide information, assistance, and guidance including:
- Providing lists of alumni and parents by regional area including a breakdown by affinity group and occupation.
- Taking replies (by phone, e–mail, or through the staff maintained on-line registration system) for events and producing the attendee list and nametags
- Designing, editing, and coordinating printing and mailing of newsletters and invitations
- Drafting and sending e–mail announcements
- Updating club web pages and University off–campus calendar of events
- Sending post–event assessment and compiling summary from returned assessments
