It’s summertime and it seems like everyone is on vacation–but you. How do you keep your fall reunion on the minds of alumni during the lazy days of summer?

It’s all about generating the buzz. Send your alumni interesting e-newsletters personalized to each  class to keep their upcoming reunion in the forefront of their minds. This will result in alumni talking about the reunion during the quiet summertime months. Talking about the reunion creates momentum. Momentum causes alumni to take action–to register,  donate, and pick up the phone to cajole a classmate to do the same.

How I Know It Works:  Reunions Reinvented consistently sets alumni attendance records, and alumni emails and newsletters prepared by Reunions Reinvented average a 42 percent open rate!

Create newsletters following these three simple principles, and watch your attendance increase:

1. Memories.  Anything that brings alumni back to their school days and creates nostalgic sentiment is very compelling. Stories, photos, videos, music. It makes your alumni feel younger and carefree. This particularly works well with alumni of professional schools, such as law schools. After all, everything is relative– who knew in law school that we were carefree?

2. Classmate Updates.  Have you ever been caught glancing at the entertainment magazines at the check-out lines?  Alumni want to know about their classmates’ lives, if they turned out as expected, and where they are now. Profiles of classmates from different walks of life generate discussion and connections and also encourage other classmates to share their life experiences.

3. Humor.   Every bit of humor helps, particularly with professional alumni.  Anything slightly quirky or unexpected will catch them off guard and capture their attention. If your communication brings smiles to their faces, they will likely open your next one. It will also cause them to reach out to classmates and talk about the reunion.

With these principles in mind, you can create newsletters that evoke interest in your fall reunion. Consider the quiet summer months as a time for alumni to write their own profiles, search through albums for old photos and school memories, and read and enjoy the newsletters you send them.