A Critical Hand-Off

You can see it repeated thousands of times across the country every spring. A pack of runners pounds down the track, their outstretched hands carrying batons which they will pass to their teammates in a relay race.

Each relay runner has two jobs, run as fast as possible and pass the baton smoothly. Every practice session the runners work on both jobs. Races are won and lost on the smoothness of the hand-off.

The relationship that starts between a student and InterVarsity is meant to last for more than four years. Students in InterVarsity are equipped with skills for a lifetime. But InterVarsity also wants to maintain contact with students after graduation.

Maintaining contact is dependent upon a smooth hand-off between campus staff and the alumni department. The good news is that InterVarsity campus staff are managing the hand-off better than ever. InterVarsity’s senior vice president and director of collegiate ministries, Jim Lundgren, sees a major benefit to campus ministry in continuing alumni connections.

“The more we make alumni a part of our ministry by keeping them in touch with our work through prayer letters and direct contact, the more they are involved in praying for our ministry and supporting our ministry. And where appropriate, they are volunteering for our ministry,” he says.

In the last five years, InterVarsity’s alumni connection has been selected and strengthened as one of our Strategic Initiatives.

• Our database of known alumni has grown by 36 percent, from 67,973 to 92,204 in that period.
• In 2002 only 39 percent of new graduates were identified as alumni; last year 76 percent were identified as alumni.
• Five years ago alumni gave $10.5 million but last calendar year they gave $16.2 million.
• Alumni giving to student ministry in the fiscal year 2007-2008, compared to five years ago, averaged $537,000 more each month.

Alumni director Doug Nickelson can highlight a number of chapters with strong alumni relations. One example is the small chapter at Christopher Newport University (CNU), in Virginia. In early April, campus staff members Eric and Beth Gamberdella held their first alumni gathering, with over 70 in attendance.

Due to improved alumni contacts over the past five years, CNU alumni donors have increased from two to 25, and annual giving by alumni has increased from $1,300 to almost $10,300 (as of the end of 2007, before the alumni gathering).

Two more important facts about alumni from a recent InterVarsity donor analysis:

• Twenty-three percent of non-institutional donors were alumni; they gave 36 percent of the donations from individuals and couples.
• The average annual alumni gift was almost twice that of non-alumni at the end of last fiscal year.

“The alumni connection is vital for staff and vital for the future of InterVarsity,” Jim Lundgren says. “When staff see that it can make a difference in their work, the impact can be huge.”

Now, at the end of the school year, staff are ensuring that there’s a smooth hand-off so InterVarsity connections continue in the lives of students after they leave campus, and thus pave the way for more student ministry in the future.

Alumni who want to reconnect with InterVarsity should contact Dawn Van Hook in the alumni office, at 608-443-3719.