Universities rely heavily on alumni for funding, and maintaining relationships with them has become a core skill. Like generous alma mater-loving university graduates, the alumni of nonprofit organizations are a valuable resource, particularly when funds are tight. In addition to donating money, these former volunteers, employees, and program participants might share their time, professional expertise, and contacts—and even perform staff work.

Some organizations are already reaping the rewards. Coro Northern California offers leadership-development programs that include job placements in government offices, businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations. Onetime participants in the program provide these placement opportunities for fellows, teach courses, and recruit and select new fellows, all for free. At the Asian Women’s Shelter, in San Francisco, former residents very effectively demonstrate the results of the shelter’s work to current clients, prospective donors, and the general public. Princeton Project 55 places its graduates in social-sector internships and relies on alumni volunteers to perform a good deal of staff work—to such an extent that the value of their unpaid activity exceeds the group’s annual budget (Exhibit 1).

Not all nonprofits, however, are equally predisposed to capture value from their alumni. In a survey of 30 nonprofit organizations,¹ we found six things that had an effect on the success of their alumni efforts: the duration and intensity of a participant’s experience with the organization, the type and selectivity of the program, and the age and similarity of its participants (Exhibit 2). Organizations that rank high in these respects engender a strong sense of community, which increases the likelihood of developing enduring alumni relationships.

Other organizations face an uphill battle. Many youth nonprofits, for instance, have been unsuccessful in launching broad alumni outreach efforts: although young people may become involved with a program for several years, most participants are likely to see it as a fun extracurricular outlet, not as a life-changing experience. The legal and logistical problems of keeping in direct contact with minors also limit the potential for alumni outreach, and youth programs serve a broad array of young people who have little in common. Such organizations should focus on particular subsets of alumni. Girl Scouts of the USA, for example, might target former cadettes and senior Girl Scouts, since programs for them are more selective, require higher levels of time and commitment, and involve teenage girls at a formative stage of their lives.

How should organizations that appear well positioned to capture value from their networks of alumni build successful programs? We found that the nonprofits with the strongest ones offer alumni a variety of social and professional experi-ences in return for their support. Often, alumni like being notified about news and events or value opportunities to stay involved and to meet people with similar interests at reunions. Professionally, they may wish to utilize job bulletin boards, professional seminars, and career-networking events. For a large institution, tailoring programs to an alumnus’s current life phase, geographic location, or personal interests can create a more lasting bond. A returning Peace Corps volunteer, for example, may feel a stronger affinity for people who served in a particular country or are now working in a particular field.

Moreover, the most successful alumni programs use technology as a tool, not a solution. E-mail, online directories, intranet sites, electronic bulletin boards, and databases can facilitate interactions among alumni but can’t replace personal contact in what remains, fundamentally, a relationship business. Face-to-face reunions, professional conferences, and social events are essential in building a robust alumni community.

Paradoxically, we also found that effective efforts to engage alumni start the day when a program participant walks through the door for the very first time. The White House Fellows Association, for example, encourages current fellows to meet former ones throughout the year, beginning with a welcome dinner and continuing with quarterly social events. By the time a fellow leaves the program, relations with the alumni network are well formed and likely to continue.

Last, the best organizations realize that maintaining an alumni program isn’t cheap, so resources and funding are essential. At Teach For America, six full-time employees coordinate relationships with the organization’s 7,300 alumni, and the vice president of alumni affairs is part of the senior leadership team. Some nonprofits also encourage their alumni to help run their client-engagement efforts. By dele-gating authority, nonprofits signal that past participants are valued peers and not subordinates—an approach that not only demonstrates to alumni that their ideas are welcome in shaping the organization but also helps tailor programs to their needs and interests.

Alumni can be a rich new resource for many organizations, but only through well-managed relationships.