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Advocating in Tough Times

by Michelle R. Davis

When South Carolina’s Clemson University has an issue before the state legislature, the tap of a keyboard can help school officials find out which alum was the roommate of a key lawmaker, or which graduate attends church with a critical committee chairman. Using those alumni connections, Clemson has been able to reach out to state lawmakers at budget time to safeguard state funding and save programs on the legislative chopping block, says Beth McInnis, director of advocacy for the university.

“We have this powerful database that can tell me the nature of [an alum’s] relationship, whether it’s business, personal or close professional,” she says. “I want to have someone call a member knowing they’re going to get a call back.” The university’s high-tech database of about 1,000 people has taken alumni advocacy into the realm of the digital age, McInnis says, and there are plans to push these efforts even further, while still maintaining traditional grassroots efforts.

As the economy continues to falter, colleges and universities across the country are rethinking the ways they use alumni, students, staff, parents and other school supporters to make the case for higher education funding, to recruit high-caliber students and to push for donations. It’s a tool that many say doesn’t have to cost much, but can reap significant dividends in an economic climate where every dollar counts.

“It’s not expensive and if done properly it doesn’t take a whole lot of time, but when you get into it, you find there’s a lot of grassroots interest out there,” says Alan Janesch, the director of Pennsylvania State University’s Grassroots Network. “Once you engage these people and help them understand that their voices make a difference . . . it can’t help but have a huge potential impact.”

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