How to Engage Alumni

History and tradition are a big part of wrestling. Engaging alumni—those who have built that history and those traditions, is important for high school and college wrestling programs.

Alumni can serve as volunteers, resources, mentors, and motivators. They can help sell and promote a program, connect with community members, and help contribute to the overall growth and well-being of a program.

The foundation of a strong alumni program is developed while future alumni are still competing.

"Creating a strong alumni group starts with treating kids good so they leave with memories of what the program did for them, and want to continue to be a part of it," said Dan Struck, head coach of the Jeffersonville High School (JHS) wrestling team in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

It then continues well after they are gone, through a variety of engagement strategies. It can be as simple as marketing the program. This is the 60th year of wrestling at JHS, and a team poster to be released this spring features the 1957, 1967, 1977, 1987, 1997, 2007, and 2017 JHS teams. The entire community will see this poster throughout town.

“This connects the past and present,” says Struck.

Active alumni can be extremely important to the vitality of any athletic team or program, says Jon Goldman, founder of a non-profit organization that uses a crowdfunding platform to connect teams, alumni, and fans to simple-to-use fundraising opportunities.

"When alums show up for a game or a practice, athletes light up and get inspired," says Goldman. "Suddenly, they have a sense of history and a desire to show the alums how hard they are working to keep their program’s traditions intact.”

Engaging alumni at the high school and college level starts with creating a culture that people want to be a part of, says Dr. Coyte Cooper, an All-Amercian wrestler at Indiana University, who, as a college professor at the University of North Carolina established research in the areas of branding and vision.

"It's important to give people a reason to care," said Cooper, who is also an author, speaker, and performance coach. "When you get coaches and athletes on the same page with a culture they are excited about, this helps build an energy that can be contagious."

Creating a communications mechanism to connect with alumni near and far is a must, adds Cooper. With email marketing and social media, it's as easy—and inexpensive—as ever, to provide consistent program updates.

"When you do a great job with branding, this gets them excited about the program and makes them feel more involved," says Cooper.

Don't just use social media to share results and successes of current team members. Celebrate alumni accomplishments, says Struck. If an alum has a baby, recognize it. If someone joins the military, earns an award, accomplishing something in their professional life, mention it. "Anything worthy of spreading, we celebrate it," says Struck. "Alumni like it, they feel a part of the program, and the current wrestlers know that being one of our wrestlers means success."

Mike Clayton had over a decade of college wrestling coaching experience, including seven seasons at Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, New Jersey), before coming to USA Wrestling to lead its National Coaches Education Program.

Using the right technology—and timing—is crucial to engaging alumni, says Clayton. Start a database and email list that includes alumni. "Ask the office of development to consider sharing contact info with your program to help their efforts for alumni engagement," says Clayton.

Then, be sure to reach out to those on that list, such as through a quarterly email newsletter to start. But do it strategically.

"Don't put what you want to read in it—put in what the alumni want to read," says Clayton. “At my last college, our biggest week of donations was after we had 10 wrestlers on the President's list, including the school's valedictorian. That's what grabbed the eye of our alumni.”

When connecting with alumni, focus on the friendraising aspect of the relationship, not just the fundraising opportunity. Inviting alumni to team events, pre-match socials, alumni nights, post-season banquets, to speak at summer camps, and be recognized in front of fans and community members is part of friendraising—developing a relationship, that ultimately can help with fundraising.

“Alumni can be a great resource, if that relationship is nurtured correctly by the coach and program,” says Goldman.

When alumni do donate, send them hand-written thank you notes. "Include a short story and/or photo of where their money went,” says Clayton. “Alumni that like where their money goes are likely to give again."

Kirk Diehl is the Director of the Varsity ‘S’ Club at Penn State University, an organization comprised of former varsity student-athletes that provides the opportunity to foster and maintain relationships across different sports, generations, and geographical locations.

“The number one responsibility I remember every day is keep them engaged," says Diehl. "Our Varsity S office is the alumni athletes’ portal to their University and their programs.”

When engaging alumni make them feel like they are valued.

“It is important that you go out of your way to create events that make alumni feel like they are a part of something special,” says Cooper.

Today's busy coaches know the importance of engaging with alumni.

"Our alumni are the lifeblood of our program," said Troy Nickerson, head coach at the University of Northern Colorado. "They are the examples that are already set for our current student-athletes. Not only do they help us financially, but they also help us mentor our student-athletes, help them find jobs down the road, and help us with recruiting. Many of our alumni here at UNC are current high school coaches and they help to promote our program by bringing their student-athletes to duals and competitions. We try to stay in contact with them at a very high level through events, newsletters, and other functions year-round."

There are many other ways to keep alumni engaged, including these strategies below:

15 ways wrestling programs can engage with alumni

Alumni night: Recognize alumni before matches and events. Host a pre- or post-match social if possible, where they can connect with other wrestling supporters.

Alumni spotlights: Feature spotlight articles on an alum who is going above and beyond. Reach out to alumni to ask for information, says Cooper.

Alumni database: This is a must. To get started Struck went through every year book compiling names of every former wrestler. Colleges can reach out to alumni networks for assistance. Consider adding others who were involved too—managers, cheerleaders, statisticians.

Coach of the night event: Ask a former wrestler/alum to sit in the corner with the team as the featured coach.

Live day with alumni: Every Wednesday is go-live Wednesday at JHS. This is when alumni can come to practice and wrestle live with current wrestlers the last hour of practice. As many as five to 10 wrestlers at a time have come back on Wednesdays. "Since our current high school kids know every Wednesday is live day with alumni, they grow up knowing that when they graduate every Wednesday they are invited back for this practice."

Military recognition: JHS has 27 former wrestlers serving in the military. They honor veteran alumni through an annual military night during the season. They join the color guard for the national anthem, and any other person in the crowd who is a vet comes out and takes a group picture. Struck also invites alumni who are in the military to run special military-style boot camp conditioning practices in or out of season.

Offseason participation: Struck invites all alumni to participate in the annual wrestling-sponsored 5K run. "These guys don't always want to wrestle after graduation, but a nice trail run as a massive group is something that draws them back," says Struck.

Speaking opportunities: During the state tournament, Struck invites alumni who were state qualifiers to the tournament. They talk to wrestlers, and they also try to show video of their state matches to the team. "This is really taking off," says Struck.

Special invitations to out-of-town events: Reach out to alumni who are spread throughout cities where you compete. If a high school team travels to an out-of-town tournament, invite alumni who live in that area to the event as a special guest. Make them feel a part of the program.

Summer camps: Alumni can serve as camp counselors, clinicians, or speakers at team-related camps or clinics.

Technique sessions: Many alumni like to watch practice. Struck takes it a step further, and asks any current college wrestler to instruct the team on something they learned in college. "We stand them in front of the team and have them tell a story," says Struck. "We applaud them. This makes our current wrestlers want to be that guy one day."

Text messaging: Struck created a JHS Wrestling Alumni texting group, and uses remind.com—a one-way messaging app where he can send messages but others can't respond, to "remind" alumni of upcoming events or volunteer opportunities, among other messages. 

Youth programs: Seek alumni who want to coach in the local youth club. Before that though, get members of the high school team to instruct a middle school or youth practice. Don't just send the varsity. JV kids could make great coaches—give them the opportunity early, to get involved in coaching.

Volunteers: Ask alumni to volunteer at tables when hosting home meets, tournaments, or sectional/regional tournaments.