We’ve made concerted efforts NOT to employ gimmicks in fundraising. But while the distinction between silly and serious is generally clear, the line between unserious and fun is a bit more opaque.
Nostalgia is another gray area that borders on gimmicky, particularly when it comes to alumni. Recollections of the past can be helpful for breaking the ice, but they should never be the terminal point of a conversation or a relationship. A strong alumni program always looks forward toward the future.
Which makes the decision to print several life-sized cardboard cutouts of faculty (in their younger days) for display at an alumni reunion a creative balancing act. Let me explain.
Alumni events are awkward enough. People of various ages who have or haven’t had much contact with your organization are suddenly put in a room together with little common touchpoint to anchor conversation…besides nostalgia. There is often silence or, worse, a temptation to relive the so-called glory days.
But the ice must be broken, after all. And it is our job to help.
So I’ve printed life-sized cardboard cutouts to serve as a shared focal point of welcome and charm. Alumni will see the familiar faces and, hopefully, engage with other alumni through them. An older alumnus can relate memories to a younger alum through a common touchpoint. In this way, institutional knowledge and culture are shared and extended to new points of interest and exchange, i.e., friendship. The expectation is that each will recognize the fun of the prop, without mistaking it for an attempt at recreating the past, which would be unserious and silly.
Alumni reunions should not be attempts to recreate the past. Nor is cardboard itself a sturdy enough material to support the weight of a yearly event. But it can be used to have a bit of fun, and support the real and meaningful work of the alumni team to engage others in conversation and thereby deliver an event worth coming to, and one which will be remembered.
(but if that doesn’t succeed…at least the event pictures will show more people in the room!)