Just A Bunch Of Ideas (the first of many posts)

• When someone gives a gift, offer to place their name (or whatever they like) in a new blog post. People love being given credit. No one is truly humble. Better yet, maybe they're outrageously narcissistic.
• Oh yeah, write a continuous blog fusing with the current (pretty lame) one about what various alums are up to with traveling and careers and such. Might need to do some research on this i.e. not do too many "relating Elon alumniship with this silly link or video" and "here's an alum, there's a city, unremarkable, non conversation-inducing" clutter. This must be a unique experience for alums that sparks conversation and starts alum participation.
• Not exactly implementable: change the idea of alumni participation. A couple may have dated all throughout their time at Elon and gotten married and had 15 kids but if their connection to the university withered away years ago, then they're useless. They're not part of the fan club. Participation doesn't just mean that you gave ten bucks last year. That's almost the opposite of participation. That's nearly emancipation. Participation is constant introspective thought on the university experience and consistent external engagement with the continuing post-Elon existence. I.E. if an alum has that degree posted up on the wall in the den or the office and looks at it, constantly remembering what it took to get there and how she made it, that's the thought. If an alum utilizes something from the experience to LIVE LIFE (if there's a bloody connection!), that's the engagement. This is all very inapplicable and for the most part surreal. But it certainly does happen.
• Everyone needs to come to a realization:Phonothon callers don't sell Annual Giving. And it's unfair that they can take a rap for that. Sure someone with a pleasant voice, a friendly disposition, and practiced monologue can open some purse strings. Hell, all strippers have to do is bend over. Annual Giving is sold for four entire years. It is sold within the memories that take place during those years; it is sold during the periods of reflection that take place concerning those years; and it is sold in the continuing connection and engagement that occurs after those years.
• The alumni are the consumers. The product is the university experience. The opportunity cost is the time, the thought, the energy, and the slight tip over of the money jar. The facilitator is the gift. Phonothon callers, pledge cards, online web pages, events, etc. are the oils that lubricate the facilitator that allow the consumers to remember and understand the value of the product. Together, the consumers and the school create the product though the school must be the one that improves the product though not without the aid of the consumer.
  
• The main problem with the approaching I am taking is that although the current alums may be today's consumers, they are yesterday's graduates. They have no experience with considering these ideas and their application. All of this is based on either hypothetical or subconscious premonitions. This does not, however, excuse anyone who may be thinking that these ideas should not be implemented. The school will continue to produce alums, smarter, more affluent, and more future-orientated ones. Setting this up right now will pay dividends down the road.