A good alumni network provides a closely-knit community to all graduating students to reconnect and reap benefits of the great legacy of their college. To nurture such a good alumni network requires a good alumni association. And for an association to function properly it requires funds.
Funds and donations are an integral part of all associations.
There are broadly 2 major sources of funding for the alumni association:
Donations from alumni
Annual or a lifetime subscription fee that an institute or the alumni association might charge from all alumni.
However, with this inflow of money comes the responsibility of handling the funds that come in the association.
Here we shall discuss at length about, the purpose of those funds and the key decision-makers involved in the same. We shall go through the financial models of the alumni associations of some of the best universities and finally, we shall end it with some recommendations of the best possible ways of handling funds of an alumni association.
To begin with, who is the treasurer of an alumni association?
“Addition and Subtraction. She’ll Do The Transaction.”
The treasurer is that one person who is the key decision-maker in anything and everything related to funds.
"There could be multiple ways of appointing a treasurer. She could be elected, nominated or directly appointed."
Let’s take a look at how some top universities from the world overdo this.
1. Princeton University: The treasurer is elected just like all the members of the alumni council in elections held in every odd year. There is no rule regarding who can be and who can’t be a treasurer in Princeton.
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: The President of the board appoints the treasurer and fills all the other posts in the alumni association. And the president is elected from the alumni members.
3. Amherst College: The treasurer is appointed by the Executive Committee of the Alumni Council after the conference by the Committee or a member or members thereof with the President of the college. The treasurer is appointed here as opposed to the other members of the Executive Committee who are elected. Here the treasurer is appointed in consultation with the college President.
4. Williams College: The Treasurer of Williams College shall be ex officio treasurer of the Society. The other members are nominated and then appointed whereas the case is very different for the treasurer’s post here.
5. Dartmouth College: The treasurer is selected through nominations just like all the other officers of the alumni association.
6. IIT Kanpur: Both the secretary and treasurer are nominated by Patron who is the director of the college. The treasurer and secretary will be from among the employees of the college.
7. IIM Ahmedabad: The Director of the institute shall appoint the Chief Administrative Officer of the Institute to act as Treasurer of the Association.
This is how the treasurer is appointed for some of the best universities and there can be pros and cons of each of the ways that have been followed, but some generalizations and recommendations can be made on the basis of this information. All the recommendations have been clubbed and put at the end.
How do alumni associations of top colleges manage their funds?
1. Princeton University: The Treasurer, under the guidance of the Executive committee, has the entire custody of the funds collected by the alumni association. The director helps him in dispensing off his duties.
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: The MIT Annual Fund Board works in complete sync with the Institute and sets goals for the MIT Annual Fund.
The MIT Annual Fund is operated in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Institute. The solicitation and collection of the MIT Annual Fund is the only general solicitation of funds from alumni/ae on an annual basis.
Contributions to the MIT Annual Fund are considered contributions to the Institute which are handled at the Institute’s discretion subject to donor designation.
3. Amherst College: All funds of the alumni society are in the care and custody of the Treasurer of Amherst College.
The Alumni Council is specially charged with the responsibility of developing and increasing the Alumni Fund of Amherst College.
Any specified gifts form a part of the Principal Fund can be invested by the Trustees of Amherst College. The title to the Alumni Fund is in the Trustees of Amherst College. The Alumni Council also has to assume responsibility for developing and increasing all gifts to Amherst College.
4. Williams College: Under the direction of the Executive Committee, the chair has a general charge of obtaining gifts and contributions to the Alumni Fund. The chair reports to the Executive Committee from time to time on all such matters.
Gifts and contributions to the Alumni Fund are devoted to general purposes of Williams College as the President and Trustees of Williams College shall determine.
5. Dartmouth College: The Treasurer shall collect the dues and receive, have charge of and securely keep the money of the Club and to this end shall deposit and/or invest said monies in such a manner as the Executive Committee directs.
All treasury funds remain the exclusive property of the Dartmouth Club of South Florida.
6. IIM Ahmedabad: The Executive Committee shall have the authority to invest the funds of the Association.
Contributions and donations may be solicited from the alumni and any other person or organization for the purpose of the Association under the direction of the Executive Committee.
All funds of the Association shall be used exclusively for the purposes of the Association.
However, it may be noted that the executive committee of the association is appointed by the Director of the institute.
There are 2 broad categories in which we can divide the usage fundamentals:
1. Some of the associations who appoint their treasurer just like all other leadership positions.
2. Some of the institutes where the treasurer is appointed from or through the college administration.
Some best practices and recommendations here:
After carefully analyzing the financial aspects of alumni associations of numerous top universities, we can clearly understand that the Treasurer is the key decision-maker in terms of funds. But the involvement of college in the financial decisions varies across universities.
Here are some inferences which can be made:
A lot of associations go hand in hand with the institute while managing funds. Their interests are aligned to the institute. The treasurer of the association could be the same as that of the treasurer of the college or he could be elected by the association but in both the cases, the funds largely are at the disposal of the institute to utilize.
In a lot of associations, the treasurer is directly appointed by the director of the institute. This is a major point of contrast as generally more people are involved in selecting or electing the treasurer in most abroad universities with best alumni networks.
In some cases, though the treasurer is appointed by the director of the college, the funds of the alumni association are considered as an independent property of the association.
Some associations list down the 'collecting and enhancing funds to the alumni association for the usage of college' as their primary aim.
The above are the most distinguishing differences in the functioning of the financial part of the alumni associations across the world.
“In all aspects of our lives balance is they key. Everything in moderation is the secret!”
The same is the case with the balance that needs to be instated in an alumni association. The college and the alumni association need to work in perfect sync in order to enable a strong alumni network.
Let’s take a look at some recommendations based on the models of the best alumni associations from the world:
The institute and alumni association must share similar interests and should be bound together in bye laws such as the same is maintained.
Just like the institute needs funds from the alumni network for better overall development, the alumni association also needs funds for proper functioning, overall growth, and for carrying out events and activities. Due to this, there has to be a strong balance wherein both parties are stakeholders in funds coming from the alumni network.
The purpose of an alumni association should be to self sustain itself and nurture the institute with the remaining funds. The association should strive to get more donations to the association fund.
The treasurer of the college could be the treasurer of the association too so that the financial interests of both the college and association are aligned. Otherwise, she could be appointed or nominated by a joint decision of the college President and the alumni association council. Giving both parties a say in this matter would help in building good trust and laying a strong foundation for the future.
Having a financial committee to support the treasurer in her duties could also help in maintaining a sound financial system for the association.
The treasurer should prepare a report and present it to both the college President and the association council yearly in order to maintain a clear transparent financial system.
To sum it all up, for the smooth running of the alumni association and for the better development of the college, having a good flow of donations from alumni helps a lot. If the college and the alumni association are in good sync, more alumni are able to come forward and support their Alma Mater.
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