With Mother’s Day having just happened, we thought it would be an appropriate time to think about how you can get parents of students involved in your alumni association!

That’s right--you don’t necessarily need to restrict your organization just to alumni of your school or district. There’s plenty of space for other community members and supporters who want to be advocates for your organization and the school in general.

So how can you connect with parents of current students or recent alumni and invite them to get involved in your organization? Here are a few tips.

• Make sure they feel important: Parents of students in the district are just as critical to the health and success of a district and school community as alumni, and in many cases have even more of a role they can play. Keep the language of your communications inclusive to ensure community members also feel like they can get involved and are invited to connect with your organization.

• Have a presence in the school community: If you’re able to show up at school events and be actively involved in activities involving current students as well as alumni, this will broaden the appeal of your organization and allow you opportunities to connect with parents of existing students. These parents are already naturally plugged into the everyday events and goings-on of the district, so if they frequently see you in and around the school, they’ll be more likely to take an interest in your group.

• Target your communications: Target some of your communications directly to parents of students in the district, especially at the high school level. You may be able to work with your school or district office to get parent contact information to send them information about your organization and how they can get involved.

These are just a few examples of some of the strategies you could employ to get more involvement from parents of current students in the district. Get out there and broaden your membership!