Reaching out to the older Alums

[KRAM1]

I think you and JRock are completely missing the target demographic.

90% of older females could give 2 S's about college athletics. Did they see a Mean Green shirt and have some fond memories of college? Sure. We're any of those memories associated with athletics? No.

Just sayin...

You may be correct, but this discussion goes way past simply athletics.

[Green Mean]

I think you and JRock are completely missing the target demographic.

90% of older females could give 2 S's about college athletics. Did they see a Mean Green shirt and have some fond memories of college? Sure. We're any of those memories associated with athletics? No.

Just sayin...

It's not necessarily just about athletics. If they get reconnected with the university and get more involved then that's all we can really hope for and ask for. If they get involved there may be something involved monetarily. Maybe joining the alumni association which isn't free. Once they join, then may be can organize or attend alumni events where they live. In this case it may be somewhere in Michigan. While Athletics is important, this type of outreach is all inclusive in regards to UNT.

[JesseMartin]

If you want to try to get some of the people who aren't into sports back onto campus, it's good to know what else is available. Remind them that there are always performances around campus (including the Murchison), gallery shows, dance/theater performances...and while the Union is being rebuilt, is there somewhere fancy to eat on campus? It's nice to have that available. Good cafeterias and a cool food court help, but having a decent restaurant can do wonders for having alumni meet up or just spend a day on campus.

[oldguystudent]

is there somewhere fancy to eat on campus? It's nice to have that available. Good cafeterias and a cool food court help, but having a decent restaurant can do wonders for having alumni meet up or just spend a day on campus.

Have you never heard of The Club at Gateway Center?

Good food, cheap prices, support students aspiring to work in hospitality.

2013 Fall Menu

[Ibleedgreen]

UNT90, that's a stereotype. You would be surprised how many members of Gomeangreen.com are women.

[UNT90]

UNT90, that's a stereotype. You would be surprised how many members of Gomeangreen.com are women.

There are always exceptions to the rule.

Doesn't mean the rule doesn't apply.

[JesseMartin]

Have you never heard of The Club at Gateway Center?

Good food, cheap prices, support students aspiring to work in hospitality.

2013 Fall Menu

Thanks, I didn't know when it opened so it's cool that it's there now. Nice that they try so many different things. Not as fancy in terms of menu as I'd hoped, but definitely sounds above average. I'll have to check it out on my next trip back...and I'll be sure to tell other alums I run into about it too!

[ragpicker]

Remember, if they are old grads they still read the newspaper and listen to the AM radio. Some sort of "Come back home" or "Come back to campus" promotion could do wonders if it done well. I'm thinking of the old Wolf Brand Chili ad: "How long has it been since YOU came back home to UNT? Well thats too long." Not that exactly, of course, but along those lines. Getting old grads back here is going to take some effort, expense, and creativity, but It can be done and will pay dividends.

[untjim1995]

Some of you may have seen some of the ad campaign from earlier this year that the Catholic Church did that was basically, "Come back home--if you've been away from the church, know that you will be welcomed back with open arms." It has brought back many former Catholics, while opening the door to their families and friends, too.

An ad campaign by the university that covered all facets of what we offer and what we are striving to do would certainly go over well. And it can't be half-assed, either. For athletics, I'd be on every sports station and in every sports page once this season ended, promoting the idea of a welcome back for the UNT alum who now has a team that is good and a facility that is just terrific. Maybe even offer an introductory season ticket price for someone who joined the alumni association recently, but has been graduated for more than 10 years. The folks that got to school in Denton between 1979 and 1995 got very little reason to care about UNT Football, mostly because the administration and the BOR barely funded it. Those people are your target--they are in their late 30s to their early 50s now. If you can salvage anything from this group, it'd be worth every penny you spend in getting them back. And the cold reality is that many of these people are a lost cause, that they came here because it was cheap, close to home, and gave them a chance to get a degree that could be very useful in DFW and beyond. That's the problem with being a "value" school--you are aiming for people who want to have nice perks for little cost or effort. Our

University's endowment is clear proof of this. It's hard enough to get decent alumni contributions from teachers, since their pay is low. But your business school and your research school should have those alumni that feel connected enough to give back, since they are filled with folks who have higher incomes. It's only going to get tougher on the university as those alums from that timeframe get older, if we don't reach out vigorously to them soon to tell them we want you to come back, to see our teams play, to see our art exhibits, and to see our performing arts facilities and concerts.

[Greenrex]

"...an economy that ranks number three in the world, after the United States and China. It’s got more than 100 million consumers generating $7 trillion a year in goods and services. They’re generally better off financially, with special interests in health, exercise, leisure travel, Internet shopping and digital gadgets. Every year, their numbers and buying power expand.

This is the 50-plus population in the United States..."

I don't know anyone, man or woman, in my age group who is not an avid sports fan!

Read the article:

http://pubs.aarp.org/aarpbulletin/201311_DC?folio=36#article_id=352655

[SilverEagle]

Some of you may have seen some of the ad campaign from earlier this year that the Catholic Church did that was basically, "Come back home--if you've been away from the church, know that you will be welcomed back with open arms." It has brought back many former Catholics, while opening the door to their families and friends, too.

An ad campaign by the university that covered all facets of what we offer and what we are striving to do would certainly go over well. And it can't be half-assed, either. For athletics, I'd be on every sports station and in every sports page once this season ended, promoting the idea of a welcome back for the UNT alum who now has a team that is good and a facility that is just terrific. Maybe even offer an introductory season ticket price for someone who joined the alumni association recently, but has been graduated for more than 10 years. The folks that got to school in Denton between 1979 and 1995 got very little reason to care about UNT Football, mostly because the administration and the BOR barely funded it. Those people are your target--they are in their late 30s to their early 50s now. If you can salvage anything from this group, it'd be worth every penny you spend in getting them back. And the cold reality is that many of these people are a lost cause, that they came here because it was cheap, close to home, and gave them a chance to get a degree that could be very useful in DFW and beyond. That's the problem with being a "value" school--you are aiming for people who want to have nice perks for little cost or effort. Our

University's endowment is clear proof of this. It's hard enough to get decent alumni contributions from teachers, since their pay is low. But your business school and your research school should have those alumni that feel connected enough to give back, since they are filled with folks who have higher incomes. It's only going to get tougher on the university as those alums from that timeframe get older, if we don't reach out vigorously to them soon to tell them we want you to come back, to see our teams play, to see our art exhibits, and to see our performing arts facilities and concerts.

As an "older alum", I think this has merit. I graduated in the 70's and the general population at North Texas had a slightly different view of sports than "well, they aren't serious about it, so I won't bother". Many of the late 60's to mid-70's (or later) general population students were a bit of the counter culture mind set....even though they weren't (like me) actually immersed in the counter culture. By this I mean that they were resentful of anyone that got (or appeared to get) any sort of special favors or special recognition. There were more than a few "letters to the editor" on this subject as well as a few editorials in the NT daily. In fact, it was after reading some of these "letters" whilst riding back home on my regular commute, that I turned to one of my friends and coined the "wrinkled $100 bill" analogy.

It could be that many of these alums (assuming they went ahead and graduated instead of spending all their time bitching about something) have changed their minds about sports, and would respond to the kind of "come-back-to-the-Catholic-church-type" overture that is suggested in the post above.

Edited November 16, 2013 by SilverEagle

[southsideguy]

Do we offer TWU students any deals to attend the Football games? Maybe they would like to come see the games.

[oldguystudent]

I wanna see a bunch of silver haired alumni sitting behind the visiting bench with signs that say, "Get off our lawn!"

[JesseMartin]

The folks that got to school in Denton between 1979 and 1995 got very little reason to care about UNT Football, mostly because the administration and the BOR barely funded it. Those people are your target--they are in their late 30s to their early 50s now.

To me, this is HUGE. This is the age range most likely to purchase season tickets, start re-visiting campus, donating to non-athletics related campus funds...those older than that age range are likely to have been doing so for a while, but this is the key time to get the ones you mentioned involved. The fact that it coincides with the down period is sad, and will make it harder, but those are the ones we need to push for now, because if we can't get them reinvolved then we are looking at 10-20 years before we can really see a nice boost in donations and involvement.

[ragpicker]

Have a promotion that allows free admission to a game with an ATRAIN ticket stub, and,yes, the TWU idea might just work.

[Proud North Texan]

Do we offer TWU students any deals to attend the Football games? Maybe they would like to come see the games.

Love your idea!! Thanks