This year or last year?

June is a month of transition. Campuses have, for the most part anyhow, completed the academic year - the majority of commencements are over and done, recent graduates headed out into the world with a degree and for at least some, a job. Others are returning to campus, yours or another, this fall to pursue a further degree. For the majority of us, our fiscal year is coming to a close at the other end of the month and if you don't yet have your final push in place, there is still time (albeit not much) to make a difference in your final numbers. Assuming that many of you are similar to me, you are also 50 or 60% in next year at this point, working on appeals to go out either over the summer (or if your year is like mine, this month which is month 1 rather than 12 out of the year) or early in the fall.

There is another group that you may not have considered yet but perhaps we all should be, it is a whole group of students you have not met yet; incoming freshman. They are beginning the final process of getting ready for school - there will be tons of excitement in their households about your institution and anything and everything that goes to them is read and digested.

Have you considered reaching out to them and welcoming them? For the majority of us, they are our alumni once they set foot on campus regardless of graduation status. The opportunity to set up a relationship with them from the start can be a powerful and meaningful step forward toward building a culture of giving.

Challenges to doing so are often campus based - connecting with admissions, gaining development access to the admitted students, crafting, producing and sending a communication that has meaning.

Consider what you can do and do it. Step at a time. These are your alumni, currently in a student role, but your connection and responsibility for them lasts for a lifetime, nobody else on campus owns the relationship for more than 4 years - make sure that the rest of your campus and your students are aware of that!