0:00:06.3 BROOM: Hi, I'm Cheryl Broom, CEO of Graduate Communications. The Higher Education Coffee and Conversation Podcast is dedicated to exploring issues of importance to staff and faculty who work in community colleges and universities. This month, I got to reconnect with one of my past colleagues who is an incredibly talented graphic designer and director, who recently started an Alumni Association at his college from scratch. Alex Karvounis, along with two other college employees, volunteer for the daunting job to develop a new organization that would bring together alumni and grow alumni relations. In just six months, they went from having one person sign up as their charter member to having more than a thousand members and now, three years into the Alumni Association, the numbers of participants and the subsequent donations to the college just keep growing. For community colleges, alumni associations are uncharted territory, and there is just So, much potential to create authentic connections with your graduates and for universities, these organizations have been around for a while, but there's always the opportunity to take it to the next level and rethink how to fund raise. Alex gives invaluable tips on what's worked well and how they have overcome the challenge of COVID to continue to grow their Alumni Association.
0:01:28.0 BROOM: So,, let's get started. Well, good. But you're ready to go. Let's just jump right in to it. I'm really excited that you agreed to do this. Let’s just start off by telling me a little bit about who you are and where you work and what you do for community colleges.
0:01:48.4 KARVOUNIS: Yeah, I'm alumni, and I work at MiraCosta college, the community college in Oceanside, California, which is halfway in between Los Angeles and San Diego, a beautiful coastal town, in Ocenaside. So, I work in their public information office, I've been there for just over seven years as of last week, So, the time flies. I oversee graphic design and photography and videography for the college, mostly for enrollment marketing, but as many of us know in the community college market, we do work for many of the departments, and that they know how to work for the theater and arts departments, and a lot of the career education work, So, it's quite, very mostly overseeing design and photography.
0:02:37.2 BROOM: And for those people who are listening, I actually hired Alex seven years ago.
KARVOUNIS: That you did. The best decision you ever made it.
BROOM: It was... And you are just So, creative, and I'll never forget your portfolio that you've brought to the interview just blew everybody away, I think I might still have a copy of your portfolio.
0:03:05.2 KARVOUNIS: To have the same one I made you copies that for that trip from Las Vegas where I moved from... I make too, becauseI was... So,, it was the first time I had ever compiled all of my work into one concise portfolio for this interview, and I said, If I'm going do what I'm going make to popes, I print it out to four copies of this... It was like a 70 each down portfolio, I was pretty impressed and happy with it.
0:03:30.0 BROOM: It was very impressive. I think I might have given it back when I left MiraCosta, that I remember thinking that I wanted to keep it.
0:03:38.6 KARVOUNIS: I remember the interview clearly, I remember where I went that day to stall, which mean meetings and meeting with the President Francisco at the time. I was pleasantly surprised at how similar the job was to what I was doing at the Casino in Las Vegas, which was employee communications, So, I felt very comfortable being into the interview...
0:04:02.6 BROOM: Well, you did really well, clearly, and now you've been there seven years and you're very talented designer and creative director, but the reason that I actually asked you on the podcast is because So, many community college professionals... You have other duties as assigned. And one of them is really fascinating and has resulted in something really special for the college, and that's the creation of an alumni association. So,, how did the Alumni Association land in the lap of the college’s creative director?
0:04:57.3 KARVOUNIS: I think it was a long time in the works. When I first started it, it was conversations that had occurred, I believe years before I had a team about what an Alumni Association would be at a community college, I never went forward at the time, for whatever reason, I don't know. And then it was resurfaced about five ago. It might have been when you were still there, Cheryl, maybe after you had left, I don't recall the initial conversations, but regardless, the conversation became about... In the foundation office, because we were talking about the support coming in to financial support, realizing that Alumni Association was a constituent group that was never tapped in the community college market. So,, there's a couple of us, who also had interest in looking into it, what would it take to have an Alumni Association, and So, we sort of added it on to our job to meet and they said, We'll see what you can do. Let's do some research on it, and then we'll have to do a pitch to make sure that everybody's on board to say, Let's move forward this... So,, it began with us just looking into what an alumni association would mean, keeping in mind, we're not a for-year college, a university, So, it would be different than what we might expect. I graduated from NYU, and I know what I was getting pitched on a daily basis, and was that going to be the same kind of information that a community college would offer to their graduates? So,, we spent, I don't know, a two months researching...
0:06:19.7 KARVOUNIS: That was the biggest part of it, was researching what it would be, and the biggest part that we figured out was, Yes, we're looking for revenue to come in for scholarships and support, and of course, the other part we actually for the graduates to make sure that they had a place to continue to connect with the college actively left.
0:06:39.1 BROOM: Yeah, it's interesting because I had done some research on alumni associations before you and I had this conversation just to kind of get my arms around, well, what is an alumni association? What does it mean? So,, to educate myself a little bit more before we talked. I saved this little bullet point from an article I read. So,, there's two initial requirements to start an alumni association, and the first one is the enthusiasm and willingness of several individuals who are willing to take on the organizational initiative, So, you three were willing, you were the... Willing and enthusiastic individuals.
0:07:21.0 KARVOUNIS: Yeah, and I'm glad all three of us had that kind of desire and that drive to want to do it, because looking back on a two and a half years later, it wouldn't have happened if we weren't fully invested in it and our minds were there to really want to get this thing started. I'm not sure even why the two of us, some public information, more than Tory who was in the foundation, she had a direct call, which was, Let's bring in some more money. But France and in the Public Information Office, just had a real interest to it, to make sure that students could connect after graduation. France, being a graduate of the college, I could understand why. And I just had my interest from you, I really appreciated the alumni association reaching out to me constantly, and So, I would tell anybody who's listening, it does take a lot of work, we... Initially put down all the things that would need to be done in order to launch it, and as we thought maybe would be a couple... A couple of different bullet points ended up being in a long list of things that had to get done before we could even launch the Association, talking about...
0:08:31.3 KARVOUNIS: Who's going qualify to be a member of the association? How do we house a database, what kinds of events are going have? What kind of donations are we going request? How do we communicate with them? How often do you communicate with them? Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. And that list kept growing and growing and growing, So, there was anxiety on the outset... Well.
0:08:50.0 BROOM: It sounds like you didn't just jump in and be like, we're going have an alumni association, it sounds that you are like... You actually did a lot of planning.
0:08:58.2 KARVOUNIS: Yeah, and again, we researched other universities and colleges, the biggest difference between all of them, because if you think about the information provided, it's still going be student stories or alumni stories, talking about events that the association might be holding ways to donate. So, all that stuff is really kind of similar across the board, what was different and we had to make a real decision about and talk with the upper management was, Do we charge for the association? There were many who said there were some who were free and some of this, So, there's a yearly fee or a lifetime membership, and it could go either way. So, that was the biggest contention point for us early on, also we want to charge... This is the first way to get money, are you willing to pay 39? 49, 59. As a yearly membership. To support your coach. And then we had to go back, well, if we make it free, will we get more people involved? And that's the key thing, is getting people to sign up, if we get up to sign up and they're in there getting all the information, the quality information we can send them, then we can ask for the year in donations and maybe get more money that way.
0:10:07.5 KARVOUNIS: So, ultimately, we decided, of course, decided we're going to go free and it's free to sign up or were never going charge for an association fee yearly fee, and we're going to rely on donations as our way to raise membership.
0:10:22.9 BROOM: It sounds like. That is a smart way to go, because part of an alumni association is to build pride, So, you definitely want to get donations and to have funding, but you also want that connection, that long-lasting connection to continue indefinitely. So, perhaps in 10 years, somebody who's been in the Alumni Association for free, who's been getting information about the college now, maybe they have a great job or a doctor or a lawyer, or biotechnology wizard, and now they'll come back and make a major gift.
0:10:59.4 KARVOUNIS: Because they had been involved for So, many years. I think that was the biggest challenge, Cheryl, building that affinity. We hear over and over, we love the college, I'm very close to change my life, yada, yada yada over and over and over again, but what really was missing was the entity afterward. You think about the home that you built at a university. My experience, I really felt that was my home for four years because you were living on campus, you at on campus, you slept in the dorms, everything was on campus. Well, the community college like MiraCosta you’re kind of transient, you live at home, but you come to campus to take in classes and you most likely leave. So, we really had to focus on how do we build the affinity? To us, it was the information we continue to provide, some may be association free, which you continually give information out to remind them, You are part of this community for the day you were starting to college, after you graduate, and as you move on to your career is real?
0:12:07.1 BROOM: So, who did you go to first? When you first, you got done with your plan and you pull your database and had your first publication, what audiences you... Did you go out and ask to join...
0:12:21.0 KARVOUNIS: So, our easiest of biggest were students who were ready to graduate that year, and we said, How do we reach the most amount of people right away who are going to be alumni? And So, during commencement was the first one, we realized we have 500-600 people walking. What a great way as they're waiting to do the procession through commencement was to get on the sign-up, and it was very easy to convince some... First of all, many people to know what alumni association was, quickly explain it to him, remind him it's free, just sign up on the iPad. So, we would track that, and now it's been two graduations since that, any time you ask somebody to sign up for free and give them an iPad, we see a huge spike in numbers, it's obvious. So, that was our quickest way to reach what I call initial is a 1,000 people that sign up. So, first, as the current students, then of course, we had our database on admissions and records, we reach out to anybody who had graduated, we didn't care or 2012, and alumni was an alumni. It was harder to reach the older generation, I guess, who had graduated years ago, because many of them still weren't comfortable with email, So, we had to figure out, do we mail them hard copy post cards.
0:13:36.1 KARVOUNIS: What's a good way to reach them? Thinking that those are also people who may have had a career or currently late in their stage in their career and had the funds to donate, we reach out to any of the new graduates for your email and newsletters. So, a key component for us was constantly figure out what kind of information we could send out, we found it very interesting that at first we were stuck on, what are we going talk about? It was hard to get information, and then we realize, Wait a minute, the college already had student success stories, and then we label them as former student success stories underneath the current success stories. We saw that list, I said, that there's our alumni right there. So, we pull all of the former stories to the alumni page, and we've had a populated website with a lot of nice stories, So, it's a real quick transition to be able to send out stories weekly on different students who had accomplished something in their career with a new business.
0:14:34.6 BROOM: Really interested in that, you require people to sign up, like you didn't just say, Oh, everybody's an alumni. They're all signed up.
0:14:41.5 KARVOUNIS: Yeah, we talked about that and he said, Well, get... See if you get the list of admissions record, just keep sending it out , but we wanted to make sure that they were involved, that they signed up, those a little more interest and then they open an email. I think we made the right decision. It's been successful for the last year and a half since that first-year launch, So, I think them actually making...pushing the button and signing up gave us a little more involvement from them, and
0:15:11.3 BROOM: I think that just theoretically from a communication point of view, whenever you ask somebody to participate, they're much more likely to participate than if you just auto-enroll them
0:15:23.0 KARVOUNIS: In without a doubt. And we've seen that
0:15:26.4 BROOM: And you took what a great opportunity to... I think that's such a great statement you made about graduation because people are excited, they're there excited, they've got their leis, their mortarboards are all decorated, their families there, what a perfect opportunity to get them to sign up to be in the alumni association. Yeah.
0:15:46.8 KARVOUNIS: And many of them didn't even think about it, again, this was new, So, there was no alumni association, but they didn't know what alum was. So, during commencement asking them to sign up. And then we had a video that was presented, a two-minute welcome video, So, to speak, that you are now an alumni of the college, So, we've cemented it in their mind, one, you're efficient, you walked across that state and receive your diploma, you're an alumni, and we're welcoming them that day into the Alumni Association. Reminder, the fact that it's free. It was very easy to get them to sign up. We aren't asking for any money, just sign up, you'll get an email that the next day... Welcome to the alumni association.
0:16:31.7 BROOM: Well, that's great. And were those like every time somebody signs up to get... They get this welcome email.
0:16:36.8 KARVOUNIS: Yes, So, we and our web developer at the college offered to help on the website for the Alumni Association, which is great because that means we had a lot of insight and access to the databases to be able to create automated bid emails to go out. And that's a key thing for us, being that it was the three of us who had full-time jobs working in the alumni association part-time, to be able to have the resources that we've already put in place through for other programs that we're working on was a gold mine, to be able to make use of all those tools.
0:17:12.4 BROOM: That's amazing. And I heard you say that your first goal was to get a thousand people signed up... How long did that take?
0:17:19.5 KARVOUNIS: I want to say it took six months, I have a... I'm looking at my screen here, So,... Yeah, it was six months from January. It was a January launched. The 2017 commencement was in May. We were up to... So, that's five months. We were up, then commencement, and then after we received a list from admissions and records a few weeks after, sent out that next email, a couple of hundred more people, I want to say with by mid-summer, that we had 1000 people. So, our goal is really, really quick, and that really helped for support in terms of staff and faculty buy-in, and I should have mentioned this earlier, but the biggest thing for us was to get everybody on the College who work there to understand that this association had launched under the foundation and what our goal was, because the more miles we had talking about it, the better for us, and it was easy for a faculty or staff member in their classroom at the beginning of class for the semester, don't forget if you haven't... Another thing to look into is the alumni association, here are the benefits for you, and it's free, please sign up.
0:18:27.4 KARVOUNIS: So, we had a lot of people working for us, So, to speak, on the back end to make this happen...
0:18:33.2 BROOM: Well, I'm sure I know from working at MiraCosta myself for a decade, a lot of alumni work at MiraCosta, a lot of people on campus who are probably really excited to join, So, you had an audience already probably ready to go.
0:18:48.0 KARVOUNIS: Yeah, and another way to get more income for the... The initial request was this alumni had been there working for 10-15 years, what a great way to give back, and we were at miracle, we had a really high rate of staff and faculty with the Annual Giving... Paycheck-giving, I think you call it. So, now they can actually choose to donate to the Alumni Association as well.
0:19:14.3 BROOM: So, apart from communication and pride, like you're in the alumni association, what other things did you start... Did you do any events or get-togethers.
0:19:26.3 KARVOUNIS: When this is pre-COVID. Our key thing was events, yes, how do we get alumni on to campus, because I can get them on the campus, it relies... And this is where you... This is where you started, and then where you moved on from... The first thing we as wanted to do a gala, the galls would be the big event, our annual events as we would eventually have to raise money, meaning on-site tables and chairs, entertainment, live, open online option. And also to be able to raise funds. The thing for us, which really worked out well as we pitched it, that this is the inaugural, and if you don't make it to the inaugural, there's only one, So, you're going miss out if you don't come to it, and we ended up selling out the inaugural event, which is a beautiful I've had on campus and raised almost $15,000. Nobody expected it. We didn't expect it, it turned out to be a fantastic event and use that information to raise more money afterward and get more sign-ups saying, look what you're missing out on by not being part of the alumni association.
0:20:35.5 KARVOUNIS: The second thing we did was made sure that because we had limited human resources, just the three of us, is how do we involve other campus events and tack our name on to it. So, for instance, building opening and cutting for had the new dance building that was built on campus... Really, this was not our event. It was there that they were going have the ribbon cutting, and we said, Hey, we'd like to bring by... We'd like to donate a $100 to put our name onto it, we’ll get an alumni to come speak, and what does it mean to them that this new dance building is here for current students and future students, and it was a really nice way to connect the community and bring an alumni and really show that, Hey, you did something for these students, and now they want to talk and give back, and So, a key thing for us to say, I find any other events and tack our name onto it, let them do the heavy lifting. Yeah, we can show that we're still part of the entire community this way.
0:21:36.1 BROOM: How... Congratulations on that gala. I had no idea how successful that was...
0:21:41.4 KARVOUNIS: It was amazing. Yeah, if I could talk enough anymore, I would and... We were So, happy with the way it turned out, Cheryl, everything fell into place. And the best thing was it felt like the community, this had never happened before, to bring back alumni to the campus for a reason. So, it really made the community feel whole bringing back everybody and meeting with current students, we had speakers up there, we had check donations, a big check like a big Publisher Clearing House check. So, we got to hold that up, big photo opportunity. There were donations from the community, So, we had alumni who have, let's say, one of them had an embroidery company, past student, we had them make alumni merchandise,
0:22:42.2 BROOM: Actually, it's really what I find most interesting, and I think because I was at MiraCosta, I remember when, and this is prior to you coming, the foundation used to hold these wonderful galas and I loved them because you got to get dressed up. One year, we were at a big hotel in Del Mar. And it was formal, and I was invited and all the big donors were there, and it was just like, Oh, I was So, swanky, and the foundation director at the time ended up canceling the galla because it was so, much work with her to put on and not enough return, like the donations that they got from the gala didn't justify the amount of staff that was being spent and resources being spent to put on these swanky events. People were disappointed because people like me, I'm like, I want to go to these events. Like they're fun. And I love that the Alumni Association event, your... Obviously, your goal is to raise money, but it's not like the foundation where the number one goal is to raise money, the goal is really to build that affinity about loyalty, that love, and...And you raised $15,000.
0:24:01.3 KARVOUNIS: That's right. Well, after looking back at it, it shows me we hit 100 members on top for it, and think about this, I said, what are the other groups on campus in terms of numbers. The faculty group… 500 faculty, classified staff is 500 some employees. And now we're the largest affinity group on campus, alumni, and it was that fast in year one, So, now I imagine year two, year three, from 1,000 to 1,500 to 2,000 members, we all of a sudden have become the powerhouse group, and of course, it makes sense. If you have 15,000 enrolled students and you have 2,500 graduating in a year, you get half of them to sign up, you're going work somewhere, they all sort of... They love their college. And So, this is a big power house group that will continue to grow for years and years to come, and obviously, and hopefully we'll bring in a lot of money for student support scholarships, etcetera.
0:25:02.1 BROOM: Well, and it reminds me to the saying that success begets success. People want to be affiliated with something that is successful and positive, and you were able to create that...
0:25:13.9 KARVOUNIS: Yeah, put the piece together. And, alumni associations have been out there as we know, but for a community college who still do, So, I would just have that we can put the pieces together. Knowing that we did have the piece is the right pieces and make it work for our college.
0:25:27.9 BROOM: Now here we are a couple of years later, and you aren't able to have events, how has the association and pivoted... Are you still active?
0:25:37.3 KARVOUNIS: The alumni association still is going on. The hardest thing I think right right now is how to keep people engaged, we can't have the on-site events. So, how do we get people to tell us their stories? A lot of times, we get these stories by sitting with people and talking with people and hearing from them, and we ask, did you just say you open up a business, or you just got a loan, now these were turn into stories that we could convey to our members, but without being in person, how do we do that? So, how do you get people to submit and tell us what's going on, that's not easy, it's easy to send an email out and let people read and they close their email, but to ask them to turn around and write something back to us or to reach out to us, because there's something to be told that's not easy to do, So, I think that's going be the biggest challenge, at least for the next six or nine months moving forward...
0:26:29.2 BROOM: Yeah, it's difficult right now with not being able to be face-to-face, and I think it's hard for everyone, it's hard for colleges, it's hard for recruitment, but I can definitely... It being difficult for an Alumni Association, because that's one of the reasons why people do join, is to network and meet new people and meet other graduates, and COVID has made that really difficult.
0:26:53.1 KARVOUNIS: Yeah, and it's also hard to plan because we could say, we started working on the inaugural event, it was January for a summer event or August event. So, we could say right now, let's plan for the second annual event for August of 2021. Well, honestly, we don't know what's going happen August 2021, so, do we put in all the effort, start planning, knowing that it can easily be delayed or canceled again, So, how do we think outside of the box to events that are not on-site related, we can look for volunteer opportunities, internship opportunities, nobody wants to do another Zoom, So, that's kind of off the table. You say virtual performances, we find speakers, performers who are alumni or something that might interest alumni and have that presented through some sort of digital interface, I don't know, but these are all the questions I think, like any business has to ask, how do we move forward?
0:27:50.0 BROOM: Takes a lot of creativity but... If anybody has creativity, it's you. You've got it in spades.
0:27:58.0 KARVOUNIS: It is, it really is true though, think... Think outside the box, and how do you pivot in a point like this, you have to... Or you can't sit there and just wait. As we know in a here in nine months, I've already gone by since we haven't been on campus since March, So, you can't sit... We have to pivot, we have to know what... We gotta look at all the options moving forward.
0:28:19.2 BROOM: When you do your... To alumni, is there a lot of direct asking for money or is that kind of... Ancillary.
0:28:27.0 KARVOUNIS: Yes, we're always asking for donation, if they put the button on every newsletter, have multiple times in different places, and we had to come up with unique ways to ask for money as well, something that'd be a little more specific, a little more intriguing. So, we started to chart our membership drive, the charter membership, drive a limited number of people who are willing to donate at least 500... What is that? It makes you special... You are part of the initial group that help fund the initial scholarship, the alumni scholarship and endowed scholarship, You can become a charter member, you get to choose your ID member, you get a special black metal membership card, and you feel special, you get invited to specific events with the president that you wouldn't normally get to the invite until you get special discounts for its merchandise. So, we make it a whole another club, and that was just a different way, The history. So, I think I'm not fearful to ask for money, people know that's why you're calling, that's what we need to make sure that our students have all the support that they need, and if they remember many of them who had scholarships and any sort of financial help that to help them get through the school, and they're willing to give back.
0:29:53.3 KARVOUNIS: And So, it's a good thing.
0:29:54.6 BROOM: I love that idea of a charter member, remember everybody wants to be first. Right. Part of a special club. Did you get... How was the response super people into that?
0:30:05.0 KARVOUNIS: Yeah, I think... Well, first of all, we had the initial charter member before we actually launched it. We had the initial charter member ready to go 500 dollars at the inaugural event. We announced that we're going be starting a charter membership. The hand went up in the audience. That started the ball rolling. So, the first membership went to one of the staff members, see, no offer, and as soon as she did, another gentleman who was his price city, Aaron Byzack said he wanted to be a part of it, So, he got in at number two... This all happened live during the inaugurated, what a great way to start the ball rolling with the excitement. Now, I think we're up to is a 10-12 members, but... Yeah, it worked. And it will continue to work to get to that endowment.
0:31:01.7 BROOM: Wow, that's really smart. That's a really great idea. So, many good ideas. I think I have been asked over the last couple of years, as I've worked with colleges across the nation about how to start an alumni association, I think that a lot of community colleges have this on their wish list, but it's so, overwhelming, they just don't know how to go about doing it and really talking to you, you make it sound like, you know it wasn't that hard for simplifying it, but you took the time, you researched it, you came up with some unique ideas, came up with a plan and you just went for it.
0:31:41.8 KARVOUNIS: I think the plan is the biggest one, I have no doubt that any college will have the support from their board, the foundation board, from faculty and staff because... There's no reason to say no to it. The hardest challenge is the time is finding the time, making sure you have the people who are willing to put in that extra time. We were very thankful to have the three of us to put in a lot of extra hours for it... My key thing for anybody looking to do the same would be, as I relate to it, to my food photography background. Make sure you have all the pieces in place.
0:32:47.5 KARVOUNIS: So, we did have to reach out promotion event, we could grab the things we needed that were appropriate for that event for those people and take it and run, and being prepared like that, same does... It happened all the time, new places to reach out to, and we were compared for...
0:33:05.7 BROOM: Now, the three of you, didn't you present at a conference on how you put this all together...
0:33:12.5 KARVOUNIS: Yeah, it was 2018, I guess 2018 at the case conference in San Diego and is one of the seminars was what does it take to launch and allow my association... And we spoke for an hour and a half about it, I heard a lot of good response that this is what people wanted to hear, to know that what pieces and parts were needed to actually launch an association...
0:33:39.0 BROOM: I remember talking to you right around then, and you had said that you were putting together this presentation and that once you put the presentation together, you were kinda overwhelmed by it all, like, Wow... We did all of this.
0:33:51.0 KARVOUNIS: Yeah, I look back on it now. I'm actually have the presentation in front of me, I know as we're talking, and it's still overwhelming when you look at the list, and this is just the PowerPoint, which summarize what we did, right. It's not every little detail on it, it is a lot of work, and to think that that was done six months it... This thing launched, I look back now and I'm not sure how we did it, but I am reminded that there was a lot of people would help... If you ask your colleagues, they are more than willing to pick up a piece here and there, and with 500 staff, it's not hard to get the right people to help out at the right time. You get the right piece.
0:34:31.1 BROOM: Well, and that's... In the beginning of the podcast, I had said that there were two requirements to start an alumni association, and first one was enthusiastic and willing individuals, which you clearly were, and then the second one is having a nucleus of alumni and friends who will participate, So, I think that's the two things. You know that, that we're on this, how to start an alumni association blog, I read, and clearly those are the two things that you've had on that have made you the most successful in creating and sustaining this organization.
0:35:04.2 KARVOUNIS: Yeah. Okay, sustaining is going be the next challenge, I think. How do you continue to offer interest? And what is that? One is making sure the stories are told, the alumni story untold, because that's what it inspired me, knowing that this person graduated and is now doing this amazing thing at another company, we launched a business. Is a great story to hear. But keeping this going is going be the challenge. Money will come. I remember hearing from another alumni association director, how many years at top before somebody done somewhere in the Jersey, New England somewhere. It took the moment 12 years to get this one person to donate, but when they did, it was a million-dollar donation. So, that's that kind of the cultivation over time. You don't have it yet, you don't have it yet, but we're still talking to you because you're important, and eventually that money will come around and then you'll get the donation that you've been working so, hard for years, and now the foundation, our foundation of the board had asked about what we expect to get and when, and I kept reminding, this is the long-term, we can't look at what next year is going to bring.
0:36:23.1 KARVOUNIS: It's the long-term goal. What are you doing in 10 years from now.
0:36:26.4 BROOM: Keep your eye on the prize. It is the long-term goal. I think that is... You have to keep in mind that things take time, relationships take time, and that results aren't always immediate, and I think if I go complain about anything, working with community colleges, and this is my soapbox right now. So, many great ideas and so many hard-working people, and they just don't give things enough time to become successful...
0:36:58.0 KARVOUNIS: Time and consistency, right? Time and consistency.
0:37:01.4 BROOM: That's right. If you also... If it works. Well, keep doing it. Don't stop...
0:37:07.6 KARVOUNIS: You can't stop the advertising... Right.
0:37:10.2 BROOM: To go on, and I love your comment about stories too, because we used to put together the amazing magazine, Transforming Lives, which you still do, and we'd meet these alumni that were amazingly successful, and you're like, Wow, these people are wealthy, or they've invented something amazing, or they have a fashion line, or they've done research that has impacted something and they all come from a community college, and we need to tell those stories, not just to engage alumni, but to change the perspective of community college being lesser than a four-year because... Amazing things have amount of community colleges.
0:37:50.9 KARVOUNIS: Yeah, and you made a key point, I maybe think about... One of the things we've learned, these stories are everywhere, and we just had to open our ears and listen because you'll find them when you least expect it, it's in a casino walking with my mom or in a festival. I met someone at the Avocado Festival, selling t-shirts. I started talking to her and she wait a minute you're a MiraCosta alumni. Yeah, I am great. Take a photo on the spot with her and her merchandise, throw it up on our social media, sharing up a ton of likes, and I didn't even know that existed because I listened and I heard it just by chance, and the Avocado Festival in Fallbrook and here is a new story on an alumni who has a business, they're out there everywhere, especially as we know, community colleges, like the majority of our graduates, they stay in their home town, they don't go far away, they like they want to work in the community where they were, So, they're all around us, and we just have to listen and then tell those stories.
0:39:02.6 BROOM: I love it. You're always working. You're always on like that. Dedication, I love it on. I'm going now hunt this lady down because I've got an avocado theme going for my niece, for Chrismtas. And luckily, she's 11, so, she's not going listen to this podcast. When I'm getting a whole guacamole avocado-themed Christmas. It’s been so, wonderful to talk to you. I think people... there’s so much to take away from the conversation. And really, my last question to you is, I think that when people listen to this, they may want to talk to you or to see your presentation or to take a peek at your plan, and would you be okay with me putting you in touch with anyone who's interested.
0:39:56.0 KARVOUNIS: Yes, that's absolutely fine. You can include my macros email somewhere in that link or whatever might be...
0:40:01.4 BROOM: Excellent.
0:40:06.5 BROOM: And I think that once these conferences are up and running again, that you need to come back and do another presentation...
0:40:15.6 KARVOUNIS: Yeah, that'd be terrific. Either CASE or NCMPR, the ones to be hit that... Alright.
0:40:21.8 BROOM: I'm going hold you to it. Yeah.
0:40:23.5 KARVOUNIS: Thanks, Cheryl, for hiring me seven years ago.
0:40:27.5 BROOM: It is one of the best decisions I made. Now, I wish I could hire you again, I'm not... Hopefully your new boss doesn't hear that part... I actually went on a walk with Kristen a couple months ago, and when we were parting, she said, You better not hire Alex away from the... Great, alright, well, thank you So, much and for people listening, please reach out to me and I'll put you in touch with Alex or go to the MiraCosta alumni association on the website, and you can find this information that way too, So,... Thank you, Alex. Always a pleasure to catch up.
0:41:04.4 KARVOUNIS: Take care. Thanks everyone.
0:41:06.2 BROOM: Thank you for listening to the Higher Education Coffee and Conversation podcast. If you like the podcast, please leave me a five-star rating and to discover more great higher education related, make sure to visit us at graduate communications dot com. And with that, I'm going say thank you for listening, thank you for the hard work you do for students each and every day.