Starting a Chapter
or, Connecting with Badgers Near You
Whether in Kansas City or Kyoto, alumni chapters have one thing in common: They connect UW grads and friends to their time on campus and to each other. Plus, they love to wear red, even in hostile territory. Successful chapters support the university and foster connections among graduates through programs such as social outings, scholarship fund-raising, cultural events, and Founders’ Day celebrations. Although many of you are already leaders of well-established chapters, below are the steps a new leader should take to get things going.
Find Other Badgers. Begin by searching WAA’s online Alumni Directory at uwalumni.com to find out how many alums are in the surrounding area. Call your WAA staff representative if you need more information about accessing the system.
Initiate Contact. Send e-mails to people to see if anyone is interested in helping out. (we don’t recommend going at this alone — it can quickly become a lot of work.) Again, the WAA staff representative can help you send out a broadcast e-mail. Once you have a handful of people, get them together to decide what type of a kickoff event you want to plan.
Plan Your Kickoff Event. We suggest you keep your first event simple, inexpensive and, most of all, fun. Many chapters have started out with happy hour events, game-watching parties or brat picnics. Happy hours work because you don’t have to pay for the food or drink, and a smaller number of alumni will show up. Brat parties or picnics are a good way to get a bigger crowd (after all, who doesn’t like brats?), but they may require some up-front money.
At the Kickoff. At this first event, we recommend you have name tags to help people get to know each other, use a registration sheet, and encourage people to wear their red and white. Use some of the suggestions about how to get people involved found elsewhere in this manual. Bring along a short survey to gauge interest in future events and identify folks who are willing to serve as a chapter leader. WAA can send spirit items, such as red balloons and table tents to create a festive atmosphere.
What Happens Next? Determine a primary contact person, someone who is readily accessible by phone and e-mail. Forward his or her name, address, phone number and e-mail to WAA. A WAA representative will contact that person and take him or her through a new leader orientation session. If more than one person wants to be a chapter leader, great!
Initiate Contact. Send e-mails to people to see if anyone is interested in helping out. (we don’t recommend going at this alone — it can quickly become a lot of work.) Again, the WAA staff representative can help you send out a broadcast e-mail. Once you have a handful of people, get them together to decide what type of a kickoff event you want to plan.
Plan Your Kickoff Event. We suggest you keep your first event simple, inexpensive and, most of all, fun. Many chapters have started out with happy hour events, game-watching parties or brat picnics. Happy hours work because you don’t have to pay for the food or drink, and a smaller number of alumni will show up. Brat parties or picnics are a good way to get a bigger crowd (after all, who doesn’t like brats?), but they may require some up-front money.
At the Kickoff. At this first event, we recommend you have name tags to help people get to know each other, use a registration sheet, and encourage people to wear their red and white. Use some of the suggestions about how to get people involved found elsewhere in this manual. Bring along a short survey to gauge interest in future events and identify folks who are willing to serve as a chapter leader. WAA can send spirit items, such as red balloons and table tents to create a festive atmosphere.
What Happens Next? Determine a primary contact person, someone who is readily accessible by phone and e-mail. Forward his or her name, address, phone number and e-mail to WAA. A WAA representative will contact that person and take him or her through a new leader orientation session. If more than one person wants to be a chapter leader, great!
