High School Graduates – Will They Give Back to Their Old School?

So will high school graduates give back to their alma mater? Maybe after college and paying back the student loans. LOL. It is rather a good idea. Though I imagine staying connected with graduates could be a challenge.

While alumni relations has always been of importance to colleges, a development professional from Hawaii believes this could be an excellent strategy for public schools:

“There should be a lot more private giving for the local high schools,” said Kelvin Shoji, director of development for University of Hawai’i athletics.Shoji notes that often when people are asked where they graduated from, they’ll name their high school rather than their college.

“There’s a tremendous amount of affinity for your high school, so you’re looking at your alumni,” he said.

Alumni associations can do more than just track former students down for reunions. They can encourage the alumni to give private gifts, fund scholarships or make annual pledges.

Foundations across the nation focus on building affinity with people who have benefited from their programs and encourage them to help provide the same opportunities to others, Shoji said.

Here’s the full article: Public school fundraiser? Try alumni

I really like that this is a long term strategy. Though I think that it would take a lot of staff and school board commitment to accomplish. Traditionally schools don’t have a funds development department or even one person. Private K-12 schools do of course. So it sounds like public schools should take a cue from private schools and colleges.

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