UConn shutting down the Alumni Association

[UConnNick]

I received the letter, too. Translated, it basically states that if UConn want to be considered a B1G boy University, the measly $400 million endowment needs a massive cash infusion. As the Alumni Association did not appear to be helping, time to try something new. Fingers crossed in my opinion.

As a FYI, the average B1G endowment is $2.9 BILLION with the smallest being Rutgers at $783 million.

I agree, but as I indicated before, you can't compare UCONN's endowment to schools that have several times larger alumni bases to draw from, and almost all of the Big 10 schools are huge enrollment institutions with at least three times more alumni than UCONN has, with the exception of Northwestern. Schools like Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State could get $10/year from every one of their alums and they would dwarf anything we will ever get. Comparing ours to Rutgers is somewhat valid, although again they have far more alums than we have.

We are putting regional representatives in locations nationwide for fundraising purposes. Herbst is also currently on a nationwide speaking tour to reach out to alums in other parts of the country. We will see if that has any beneficial effect.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

The UCONN Foundation is also an independent 501(c)(3), with its own board of directors. That's what Herbst doesn't want anymore, two independent non-profits working at crossed purposes. I agree with that, but the way she's trying to implement the change is what I and a lot of other alumni are not happy about. There's no plan of action currently in place, or even in writing.

I do think you're correct that it's a device to get rid of the alumni board of directors, for sure. It could have all been fixed without the rancor if there had been any attempt at effective communication between the association and the university administration long before this decision had to be made. Also, the Director of the UCAA is a paid state employee, not compensated by the organization she runs. Who do you think she owes her allegiance to?

Good point. Any know how other, preferably state flagship universities, alumni/foundation groups are structured?

 

[DogPoundSr]

I have read that most universities put their Alumni relations and development staffs together. The organizational model that the UCAA, Foundation, and University follow is confusing and rooted in old times. UConn today is not the university that it was when the UCAA was founded, let alone 20 years ago. And with a goal of moving up the ranks, alumni relations have to get better. And that's an investment.

UCAA is privately funded and does fundraising to maintain its own existence. The Foundation does fundraising for the University. So who does an Alumni donate to - both? And anyone who does fundraising knows that it starts with relationships. It may take decades to a generation before one donates.

A model where all UConn Alumni are members of the Alumni Association makes a bundle of sense to me. Most alumni I talked to thought that they were members of the UCAA anyway, yet paid no dues. So the UCAA didn't have enough money to do the job the way it wanted to.

It sounds like a big plus over the long run. Making the change will have its challenges.

 

[UConnNick]

I have read that most universities put their Alumni relations and development staffs together. The organizational model that the UCAA, Foundation, and University follow is confusing and rooted in old times. UConn today is not the university that it was when the UCAA was founded, let alone 20 years ago. And with a goal of moving up the ranks, alumni relations have to get better. And that's an investment.

UCAA is privately funded and does fundraising to maintain its own existence. The Foundation does fundraising for the University. So who does an Alumni donate to - both? And anyone who does fundraising knows that it starts with relationships. It may take decades to a generation before one donates.

A model where all UConn Alumni are members of the Alumni Association makes a bundle of sense to me. Most alumni I talked to thought that they were members of the UCAA anyway, yet paid no dues. So the UCAA didn't have enough money to do the job the way it wanted to.

It sounds like a big plus over the long run. Making the change will have its challenges.

The UCAA is partially subsidized by the university, so it is not completely privately funded. That's what triggered this action on the part of the university administration, due to budgetary shortfalls. They don't want to continue funding it. The UCAA doesn't solicit alumni donations to the school. They collect dues from the membership, and they make money from the licensing of various school logos on things like credit cards, etc. They also offer various discounts from vendors for the membership.

The UCAA owns the Alumni House building and the land it sits on, which also means it owns the sports museum. They have about 6 million in assets and the real estate is probably worth another 2-3 million. All of those assets get turned over to the university when the UCAA folds. The stated plan is for the Alumni House to continue to be used for the same purposes.

 

[J187Money]

For so many reasons this was the right move. It shouldn't have come to this. But the UCAA couldn't save itself from itself.