Level of difficulty: Intermediate
Cost to attend: Free

Project: 7 Yale College Classes (2005-2011) together sponsor  joint regional events in major cities. The events target alumni who are ~10-20 years out, and intended to spur cross-class engagement. 

Lead time: 1-3 months, depending on the regional event
Date of event:  This series of multiple regional events took place on several dates during the year (primarily Nov-Dec): 11/16/2018 (Boston), 5/10/2019 (NYC), 12/3/2019 (LA), 12/4/2019 (SF), 12/9/2019 (NYC).
Ongoing

Resources:
3 “core” volunteers to help organize events, plus
class officers from 7 classes.

Each “core” volunteer spent ~6-12 hours per event  (surveying, venue research / booking, preparation of marketing materials, solicitation of class co-sponsorship, etc. plus outreach).
Class officers spent ~1-2 hours to help coordinate outreach.

Permissions required: Each event required finding an affordable venue in a central location.

Funds required: Each co-sponsoring class would contribute $200-$300 to each event.

Results:
300+ attendees across four different US cities on both coasts among one of the hardest-to-access parts of the Yale alumni demographic (Yalies 10-20 years out)

Why a success?
Alumni 10-20 years out are at a point in their professions and their family lives where they have very, very little time to engage in Yale events. Getting this many of these alumni to attend in-person events is very rare in a group often underrepresented in alumni efforts.

Details: 7 classes participated (though organizational efforts were led by the Class of 2008). (Note: this contingent of alumni is neither served by BOLD programs nor by the self-funded classes 20-30+ years post-Yale.) Key lessons include:

• Start early!
• Work with peer class leadership to organize and find volunteers for events.
• Find various channels to notify classmates (e.g., e-mail to classmates in a given region, FB posts / advertising, etc.).
• Give plenty of advance notice to invitees (at least ~3-4 weeks).
• Find venues offering private rooms with no room rental fees, low F&B minimums, and where classmate drink purchases can count toward F&B minimums to keep costs low and to avoid the need for registration fees.
• Follow-up with classmates after events to thank them for attending, to obtain survey results, and to share photos from the events … this all helps with attendance for subsequent events!
• Realize that some of the most essential alumni groups to engage are the ones that are the toughest to engage and that are rarely seen at other alumni events … and work hard to make sure these alumni feel reconnected with the Yale experience.

Possible improvements: Use post-event survey responses, pre-event Doodle responses, and other insights to optimize scheduling. Because of the extreme time constraints if this group of alumni, scheduling events that work well for as many alumni as possible (in each region) is both critical and difficult – and will vary from city to city and year to year.