How to Start a High School Alumni Association

As high school fades further and further into the rear view mirror, there's often a sense of nostalgia about the "good old days." Graduation was 10, 20 or even 30 years ago and some of your "best friends forever" have gone on to bigger and better things. They've gotten married, had kids, changed jobs and lost touch with the gang that said they would never part. Starting a high school alumni association is a way to keep up with old friends and can be the foundation for reunions and other events.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Contact the high school you graduated from to let the school administration know you plan on starting an alumni association. It's a good idea to talk to them in case you plan on holding any type of reunion event at the school. Hopefully you left high school on good terms with the principal or superintendent and they will be open to the idea.

2. Develop a list of your graduating class to start with. It's natural to start with the people you spent the most time with in high school. If you've kept your high school yearbook, this would be a good place to start (don't get depressed when you look at the pictures though). Another source of high school contacts is the website Classmates.com. There you can find other members of not only your graduating class, but the entire school for certain years.

3. Contact members of your graduating class. Using Classmates.com or other social networking sites (Facebook, etc.) you can join a network that has your high school in it. Write a short email to your class asking if they would be interested in helping you start or become members of an alumni association. Hopefully they'll be just as enthused about it as you are! Once you've received feedback from your classmates, contact other members of the school with an eye on generating even more buzz and interest.

4. Designate association officers. They should have the time and interest to contribute to the association to make it successful. As interest increases you can have informal "meetings" by email to discuss the purpose, organization, events and other activities of the association. A president (probably you), vice president, treasurer and secretary are the basic officers needed. The president and vice president work together to keep the association on track, the treasurer (if the association becomes dues-paying) will monitor incoming and outgoing funds and the secretary will keep track of meeting minutes and write/answer any correspondence.

5. Create a website to highlight your alumni association's upcoming events and activities. As you contact prospective members of the association, you can ask if there is anyone with website development experience who can work on this project. This website can be used to stay in contact with members of the association and as a place where new members can find out what's going on.

6. Hold the association's first event. This event can either be a reunion or a simple meet & greet at a local restaurant. Obviously if many of your classmates have moved away it wouldn't be practically to have them fly in just for drinks, but for the local members, it's a great way to stay in touch, network and reminisce.

Resources

• Classmates
• Facebook