2017 Best Practice Sharing by Officer Role Taken Directly from the FY2017 Class Activity Report: Fellow Officers Share Their Thoughts

2017 Best Practice Sharing by Officer Role Taken directly from the FY2017 Class Activity Report: Fellow officers share their thoughts

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Class Presidents Class of 1946

We are looking for other Class activities. Class of 1954

1. Under chairmanship of Steven Mullins, we formed a three man committee to reinstate the Class of 1954 Award to honor classmates who might have been overlooked under the previous program. (More than 60 Awards were presented under that program). The committee met once in person and many times over the phone and by email. We have identified up to a half dozen possible deserving candidates. One award was presented at the annual Class holiday luncheon in New York in December 2016 to Wayne Weil. We anticipate the presentation of at least two awards during 2017.

2. We have created an internship endowment chaired by

Don Berlin currently valued at over $165,000 to continue annual funding of student internships into the future with a goal of at least $300,000 by our 65th Reunion.

3. We have created a Widows Program under the guidance Sue Bastian (widow of Bryce Bastian D'54) to initiate and sustain communications with class widows and to encourage participation in class activities. Class of 1955

• We conducted successfully a class survey to assess “connected” to the class/college. Conclusion: Most feel connected especially through the NL, DAM, and DAM class notes. Also noted instances of connection reduced by health and mobility concerns due to age restricting travel Class of 1957

We have developed several funds over the years, including a Travel Fund at the HOP, an Erich Kunzel Fund with the Music Department, and our legacy fund, the Class of 1957 Fund for Great Issues Innovations at the Dickey Center. I found that it was possible to use the Funds to create a bridge between recipients of the Funds and my classmates, to allow them to be more involved with a part of the college, and one another. Because of the Travel Fund, we joined the Dartmouth Wind Ensemble and HOP Dance Ensemble on their trip to Costa Rica, making it a mini reunion for my class. We cooperated with Steven Swayne, the chair of the Music Dept., to have Kunzel Award winners join the class at our Homecoming dinner, and either perform or talk about how they used the award. We had a lunch in the Global Village at Homecoming that included my classmates, Great Issues scholars, and some Dickey Center staff. All of this activity was very successful, allowing alumni and students who would not otherwise meet, to get to know one another and interact. Class of 1958

Nothing this time around. Just stay the course!

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Class Presidents Class of 1959

• Redefine “newsletter”

• 59 single-subject e-letters have been sent this year from several officers.

• Subjects include (1) classmate stories/news; (2) upcoming class and College events; (3) passing of classmates; and (4) feedback from class-sponsored students (either in our class projects or scholarships through the DCF).

• We eliminated formal newsletters (The '59 Line), since we are sending 50+ e-letters a year and have significantly upgraded our website to include more information and images / photos on a timelier basis.

• Select media that are preferred based on the use of technology:

• Within our shrinking class size, the 20% of the class who do not have e-mails are not as well-informed as those who have e-mail addresses. They will not be not receiving hard copies of former quarterly newsletters.

• We are in the process of 'cleaning up' this list which has already been reduced from 120 to 95!

• We will continue to publish the Year in Review in hard copy to all classmates.

• Coordinate communication better to better informed classmates

• We are making communication simpler - covering only one subject, at a time when possible. As our society “speeds up,” more people do not read thoroughly or retain information sufficiently. Single-subject communications increase the odds for being well-read/seen and more informative. This approach replaced the quarterly newsletter which is usually outdated. One message a week becomes the de facto newsletter.

• When announcing an event, activity, newsworthy item, etc., we coordinate the message simultaneously in as many of our preferred media as possible. Some classmates read one medium, but not necessarily all. To increase the probability that the item is read/seen, this “simulcast” tactic helps increase the probability of effective readership/viewership.

• This approach suggests that classes should consider a “Communications Chair” who coordinates ALL class communications.

• His / her committee would include managing their Internet presence (webmaster) and publishing newsletters digitally and/or in print (newsletter editor).

• The chair ensures that all communications consistently reinforces the class’s key message and other visual or text content.

• As we rely more on digital communication, the lower the operating cost(e.g., printing, handling and mailing of materials.)

• Continue the successes of the Class of 1959 “Women’s Initiative Network (WIN)”

As a male-only class, the Class of 1959 pioneered the active engagement of the distaff members of the ’59 family during our 45th Reunion.

• Mission - “Wives and widows of the Class of 1959 connect, and stay connected, to each other and to the Class of 1959”

• Plan 3

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Class Presidents • Support one another in person, in writing and in spirit

• Keep the women of the Class of 1959 informed on all activities and decisions of the Class

• Solicit and encourage women to provide feedback and ideas in all phases of Class activities

• Participate in activities, including travel, all reunions and other class gatherings

• Recent WIN Accomplishments, Programs and Activities

• 2014: Helped orchestrate programs that focused on the Arts from a visual as well as a literary sense. Toured the major exhibition, Witness / Art & Civil Rights in the ‘60s, at the Hood Museum. We shared thoughts about the recent best seller, Boys in the Boat, at the Howe Library.

• 2015: An exploratory book discussion when all shared her or his favorite book of the last six months. Already have 85 book titles and authors (in an Excel file) that classmates and wives/partners submitted.

• 2016: WIN adds to its list of classmates’ preferred book titles

• 2017: Helped add 7 wives / widows as FY2017 dues payers for the class. Class of 1960

No special secrets. Inclusiveness. Interesting agendas at Homecoming, Annual Meeting(heavy on the students the class supports) and Birthday Party every five years (KW in Feb., 2018) Class of 1961

• Developed from scratch an extensive and detailed ‘61 Class Communications Plan, which the Alumni Office stated was “an excellent document” and has referred to other classes seeking a reference guide.

• Achieved 77.1% classmate participation in DCF, the highest of all Dartmouth classes and more than double the overall participation rate for the college. Used a highly effective “swat team” approach in the last two months that brought in 65 contributors in the last 14 days of the campaign.

• Continued to build Dues Participation to 59.38%, third highest of all Dartmouth classes and 28% above the average of all classes.

• Despite the passing of one co-chair’s wife and the life threatening illness of the other co-chair, gained 6 BTS participants.

• Continued to build the Class of 1961 Legacy for the Performing Arts endowment to $1.22 million, which annually funds $50,000 of Hopkins Center programs. The class contributed $2,300 and classmates contributed another $4,423 to the Legacy.

• Funded two Student Academic and Arts Projects totaling $6,000 and contributed $1,500 to Athletic Sponsors Program.

• Total class project expenditures of $9,800 represented 55.5% of dues collected. Also set aside $40,000 collected from classmates for our newly approved endowed class project.

• Held our first (and Successful) ’61 Virtual Reunion on the 61st day of 2017.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Class Presidents • Planned, and Class Officers approved, the creation of a major new Class Project, to be endowed at $100,000, of which $40,000 of class funds collected from classmates have already been set aside, that will annually award support to two Dartmouth undergraduate student projects.

• Monthly meetings of Class Officers by telecon, one actual class officer meeting at COW (attended by 10 class officers) regular class communication via iModules emails, regular website updating and one class meeting.

• Maintained an expanded Obituary Archive, with info on deceased classmates and spouses posted on line, in class emails as well as personal letters and/or telephone calls going out to the spouse/significant other of each deceased classmate, and beginning this past year to each classmate who lost his spouse/significant other. Also, the Class makes a contribution of $100 to the ’61 Class’ Performing Arts Legacy fund in memory of each classmate who passes away during the year.

• Established a Class of ’61 Archive of all Class Awards and class recognitions by the college plus all awards received from the College by individual classmates during the past 56 years since graduation.

• Established a ’61 Distinguished Classmate Awards Program and Committee to recognize individual classmates who have distinguished themselves within the Class, the College and society in general. The initial recipients of the recognition have been selected and will be recognized at our next class mini-reunion in October.

• Expanded and strengthened the ’61 Women’s Initiative Committee, whose three co-chairs are now formally recognized as class officers. [Editor’s note: class volunteers, not officers] Class of 1962

We have had a great reunion, reunion project, mini reunion and a wonderful website. Class of 1964

We continued to expand our Leadership program and our support for DP2 and DL2; our 75th Birthday in Scottsdale was a success. We hope to have a joint project with the 2014's in the coming fiscal year. Class of 1965

1. Our first winter trip mini from the 1965 cabin was a tremendous success -- featured on the College alumni www site.

2. We expanded the regular, monthly Hanover micro mini's to include FL during the winter months - so, total number of micro-minis increased to 15

3. We raised $300k for the naming rights to a conference room in the new Ravine Lodge -- $10k from Class funds and the balance from Classmates

4. We kicked off a $100k fund drive for the maintenance fund for that conference room.

5. Class meetings via conference call have 20-30 Classmates on the line

6. BTS membership increased by 6, putting the Class in the top position among the 5 neighboring classes

7. Attendance at Fall mini increased when we added the Class of 1964 to our Saturday tailgate party and evening dinner

8. Continued our successful CarniVail mini's in Vail CO -- 2017 featured presentations on ski safety 5

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Class Presidents 9. We have scheduled a kick-off conference call on July 31 to develop a communications plan (only 1 newsletter issued in 2017) -- webmaster, newsletter editor, secretary and president to develop the plan Class of 1966

Actually, we'll start with hats off to a couple of the newer classes that proved out the birthday greeting model. We adopted it, made it a monthly rather than a daily effort (to cut program administration), and have had great success. Class of 1967

Have 50th Reunions more often -- they really bring a class together.

Seriously, consider totally separating the Class financial operations from the Class Reunion operations -- large reunions have such complicated financial activities that it is very difficult for one treasurer to do both. Class of 1968

We have an extremely active array of mini-reunions throughout the year and throughout the country and the world including a number of repeat performances and several one-offs. Repeats: 70th birthday Napa Valley, Bandon Dunes golf, western ski (Jackson Hole this year), eastern ski (Okemo). One-offs: Danube River cruise, Grand Canyon descent/ascent.

We have conducted a number of special programs within our annual DCF campaign including Set the Record Straight (allowed classmates to act to achieve Ripley Society), We Want You Back (incentive for participation from long lost classmates) as well as more standard challenge programs. Class of 1969

Our Class Connections program with the Class of 2019 has been enormously successful and highly gratifying. Last fall, as part of its Connections Perspectives Program with the Class of '19, the Class of '69 presented career discussion programs for the '19s on medicine and education, with '69s from various professional settings serving as panelists. In the spring, we hosted the second annual Trivia Night for the '19s. This fall, as the '19s prepare to interview for internships for the following summer, the '69s will present a program on how to market oneself to prospective employers. We look forward to collaborating further with the Dartmouth's Center for Professional Development to establish co-sponsorships of Connections events with key affinity groups on campus.We strongly recommend to other classes that they pursue this opportunity when it presents itself. Our co-chairs Dona Heller and Norm Jacobs would be happy to share best practices here. Class of 1970

Expand mini-reunions by increasing methods and techniques of reaching out to classmates regionally.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Class Presidents Class of 1971

1) Inviting the Class of 1972 to join us in our Class Connections Program adopting the '21s will make their adoption process of the '22s smoother.

2) We raised $50k for a second Class of 1971 Endowed Scholar and it gave additional motivation for classmates to give to Dartmouth, who might post reunion not have given.

3) We used our 1971 website to post a class video we commissioned of our 45th Reunion in June - good tool to drive people to class web site.

4) We used Dartmouth's Travel Program to organize a risk free international class trip to Machu Picchu in June 2017 - planning is now underway for next year's trip to the Danube. Recommend a class committee to plan with idea that they would provide the necessary core of attendees to achieve critical mass. Do not be discouraged if the first year is a tiny #, the key is to put in place a low-risk template that will grow into an annual program.

5) National Mini-reunions this year were held in Sonoma, the American River in California and in Naples, Florida. Cannot overstate that despite the SUBSTANTIAL work to organize these, the value this has in bringing previously unknown classmates back to the class and in getting them involved with class projects/ philanthropy. Not everybody can get to Hanover. Attendance ranges from 20 - 50 classmates over the 2-3 day reunion. The CarniVail program we joined 10 years ago which is a 3 day program organized by the Dartmouth Club of the Vail Region is also highly recommended as an easy introduction to mini-reunions. It is currently running on autopilot within our class and we have had 10-25 people attending over the years.

6) Engagement tool - our classmates are creating two films, one dealing with Alzheimer's and the other highlighting the pioneer '69-'73 exchange students and their role in coeducation at Dartmouth. Students are being used to produce the films and once again previously uninvolved classmates from our class and shoulder classes are coming forward to fund or participate in these films, which each have a $25,000 budget.

7) Appoint a 'class bootlegger' living in the Upper Valley to get to know the manager of the NH Liquor Store - he will alert them to sales on popular beverages which you can then store in your 'class wine cellar'.

8) To use this above 'cellar', create a class award to be presented annually to honor classmates who have made substantial contributions to their class, home community or Dartmouth (ideally all three). We have a Class of 1971 Kemeny Award for domestic and community accomplishments and a Dickey Award for International accomplishments.

9) Class of 1971 Cares Initiative: David Edson created a committee of 9 classmates to provide counseling or special advice to classmates. Members include medical doctors, ministers, trust and estate specialists and experts on aging issues. They were individually highlighted to classmates in a 2 page spread in our June

2017 class newsletter. Class of 1973

Our class theme is about re-connecting. The most powerful vehicle we have for that is the DCF campaign, where we involve more and more classmates as volunteers.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Class Presidents Class of 1975

Acknowledge key anniversaries related to events during our undergraduate years. For instance, we sent out an email recognizing the 45th anniversary of convocation during our freshmen year. It generated a high number of very positive responses. Class of 1976

At the conclusion of 11 years as Class President, I initiated the inaugural Class of 1976 Presidential service awards for sustained commitment & effort on behalf of the class. Three recipients were acknowledged with a personalized plaque and recognition at our reunion's Saturday night dinner. Class of 1977

Generate class excitement through: 1. A good Newsletter with classmate news, fun photos and coverage of class events and projects, 2. Getting as many people involved as possible on the Reunion Committee, as Class Project Liaisons, and through the xxth Day of the year virtual and other mini-reunions 3. Doing surveys for major events like the Reunion or a class birthday mini-reunion. At the same time, ask for volunteers. Class of 1978

For the third year, we do Virtual Reunions on the 78th day of the year. This allows D78s to email photos of themselves with a placard and provides great content for a followup newsletter. These have been very well received. Class of 1979

On the historian front, we wrote and posted In Memory columns for Charlie Rowe, Karen Knudson and Carrie Garfink. We also wrote and posted the history of the class from 2009 to 2015. Class of 1980

The class supported two new projects based on Exec. Comm review on selection, which was guided by our Class Mission Statement. There was a healthy discussion around both proposed projects, resulting in a decision to support both.

The class held it first class dinner post the Homecoming football game. Previously our only homecoming event was a pre-game tailgate and the class was unable to generate any momentum towards a post game gathering. Thanks to a classmate generously volunteering his home we were able to have over 30 classmates gather for a nice dinner. We hope to continue this tradition on a grander scale this year. Class of 1981

Highlight:

Our Major-mini-reunion with the Class of '82 was a huge success in our eyes, and while it involved many moving parts, enthusiasm ran high throughout the planning season and of course during the weekend-long Homecoming event.

New best practice initiatives started this past year:

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Class Presidents The creation of an active Communications Committee among newsletter editors, secretaries, webmaster and more. The initiative has helped us avoid redundancy and share information across our various communications platforms. It's also streamlined efforts to provide an array of communications options to classmates.

• Adoption of 'tracker' spreadsheet (see Meetings section below)

• Former presidents are now EC Members at large

• Began use of surveys to generate more engagement and fun, and to provide content to newsletters.

• Added a Gift Planning chair to our officers. Class of 1982

Highlight:

As Class President, I'm happy to share news of our once-in-a-lifetime joint reunion with the Class of 1981. Collaborating with the '81 Leadership Team was a lot of fun and produced a wildly successful merger of our classes, through an innovative joint newsletter and reunion over Homecoming '16 that included:

(i) a combined energetic presence in the Alumni Parade,

(ii) a weekend reunion tent that anchored us and served as (1) a venue for two casual, welcoming breakfasts, (2) the site of a lively Saturday tailgate party featuring potluck contributions and many re-connections, (3) a launching point for joint off-site activities, including an '81-'82 hike, run and yoga class, and (4) a quiet area for an organized service and memorial reflections on Sunday morning honoring classmates we have lost too soon,

(iii) an '81-'82 Reunion Smackdown Row and a reunion of '81-'82 Dartmouth swimming, football and hockey teammates, and

(iv) the highlight of the weekend -- a cocktail party on Saturday night at the DOC House that included hearty appetizers and comfort food and, by our estimate and records, over 200 attendees over the course of the evening.

We recorded that at least 135 classmates came back to campus for this joint reunion. I received feedback from numerous (and less frequently heard from) classmates expressing their appreciation. Many classmates noted that it was their first Homecoming since graduation! This chance to reunite helped fill the void created by our staggered 35th major class reunion (as we will celebrate on the 36th year this coming year).

This joint reunion first required authorization from the Executive Committee which voted to commit up to $5000 to support the event. Next, its success required coordination and collaboration accomplished through regularly scheduled conference calls among class leaders. It also required the Class President to (i) reach out to classmates in an organized fashion to generate participation, calling upon classmates who would work to ensure broad attendance, (ii) rely on our reliable class communication strategy starting with emailed announcements, social media outreach and, ultimately, pressing for the joint newsletter, and (iii) convene a committed group of class volunteers who helped secure the reunion tent (no easy feat), lead reunion activities (Parade, rowing, yoga, and the memorial service) and provide a high percentage of the potluck contributions to keep costs down.

We were very lucky to partner with the dedicated '81 Co-Presidents and their team.

Best Practice: 9

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Class Presidents We developed a protocol for communicating class-wide about a classmate's illness. We learned through FaceBook that a classmate who is single without children suffered a stroke. We wanted to preserve her privacy, but support her. We developed a protocol for securing her permission to share her news. We will be able to use this protocol for similar outreach for other classmates in the future. Class of 1986

Our survey was a success. We learned a lot about how our class thought of dues, how they felt money should be spent, and some insight into how they would like to be communicated to. Class of 1987

Our classmates like lots of pictures so we try to come up with ways for people to share - virtual reunions on Facebook for example. Our newsletters always includes many photos. Even our website streams photos across the top of the main page. Class of 1988

First, we’ve added a lot of different activities/efforts that we believe serve to bring classmates together in different ways – and, importantly, allow us to bring in new volunteer leaders. We feel the efforts bring in classmates who might not want to participate in our “traditional” mini-reunions or who live far away. Importantly, we don’t want to have the “usual suspects” leading class efforts so we have specifically sought out new volunteers to help. The added benefit is that this all keeps content “fresh” for our classmates.

Second, we cross-communicate in all channels so that we reach everyone – we don’t want people to feel that they have to be part of our Facebook group to participate in class activities. We communicate in 3 channels: (1) paper (typically newsletter because we can add graphics), (2) emails to class and (3) social media.

Examples of what we’ve done (and more is elaborated on in the various sections):

• March Madness and Oscar virtuals/games

• mega 50th birthday celebrations held in nearly 20 cities. We recruited new faces to serve as co-hosts on the invitation to drive broader attendance.

• interactive games on our private Facebook group – e.g. Guess the ’88 from our ‘shmen book. Give a hint (don’t reveal name)

• Launch of “88 Hearts & Hands” compassion committee to foster a community that supports the health and well-being of our classmates by offering our emotional and professional support during times of stress, personal loss and life changes. Led by co-chairs Steve Cook and Michelle Stowe Ong, both new class volunteers, the goal is to build a network that can support every classmate as we age, in a confidential, safe and respectful way. We support each other on issues such as health, grief (support), aging or caregiving, adoption and legal challenges. Val Robbins Price, also a new volunteer, designed a meaningful logo with yin and yang symbolism representing giving and receiving. Class of 1989

One theme for this year was reaching out to classmates who have not been engaged. We did this in two ways; we sent a small incentive item (Dartmouth pen) to classmates who have never given to Dartmouth, or who are five year plus 10

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Class Presidents lapsed givers. We received 16 donations from lapsed givers and two donations from never-givers. We also sent a Dartmouth magnet or Dartmouth lip balm to thirty randomly selected classmates who have not recently submitted news to newsletters and who also have not attended the most recent major reunions. We received some immediate response and are hoping for additional response when we put together the next newsletter next month. This year we also tried to tie our 50th Birthday year theme into various efforts, having 50th birthday themed mini reunions all year, and also using that theme in DCF communications and our DCF audio message, which was recorded by one of our head agents. We continued our annual summer survey, which takes place every July, and we use our survey answers to make positive additions to our class activities; this year, for example, based on a survey question, we now include newsletter faculty updates of favorite faculty members that '89s named in our surveys. We also continued our Spotlight Series in our newsletters, where we choose an '89 who may not have been in touch recently and provide a full spotlight piece on that person in our newsletter. Our 89 Cares committee continues to offer assistance and outreach to '89s going through difficult times. We send a card whenever we hear of a loss in the immediate family of an '89, and we source that information via social media and committee members' knowledge of classmates. We have an 89 Cares Network comprised of fifty '89 volunteers who offer confidential support and assistance on topics ranging from serious medical issues to personal life situations such as learning how to be a step parent or loss of spouse. This year we helped seven '89s through this network and also helped connect an '88 who was in need. Finally, we published a history of our class officers on our website, which was completed after newsletter announcements, research through Dartmouth, and making connections with '89s who have served since graduation. Class of 1990

The survey is an excellent way to engage the class and solicit guidance on priorities from outside the Executive Committee. Class of 1992

Our success in revising our class officer structure, which increased the number of classmates interested in leading the Class of 1992. Continued excellent classmate engagement in 92nd Day virtual mini-reunion and success in recruiting classmates to serve as DPCS mentors. Class of 1995

Keep your communications with officers and ExComm frequent, consistent, and through a variety of methods. It can be challenging to get everyone on a conference call, but soliciting updates and news via email and then publishing a brief Class Check-in to share with others goes a long way in keeping people in touch and engaged with their duties and responsibilities. Class of 1998

Using the open/click data tracking feature on iModules really helps you learn how successful different email communications are, so you can learn from that for next time. Class of 2000

I think our 200(0)th Day Celebration event shows promise if we can use photos from this year's event to promote increased participation next year.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Class Presidents Class of 2001

Our highlight from this year is the revising of our constitution. It took a bit of effort, but it was well worth it as now we have a modern constitution and one that should work for us for hopefully decades. We instituted online voting and also used that for our first election, for Alumni Councilor, which went well. Class of 2002

We also have a second project, Distinguished '02 Award, which recognizes outstanding '02s for their achievements in the public or private sector, on an annual basis. This project has been running since 2009. Nominations are collected from the entire class, and the Executive Committee votes on a winner, who receives a small commemorative gift and is recognized in the class newsletter and on the class website. Class of 2005

We are very proud to be the youngest class to create an endowment. We also created a Compassion Committee to help classmates in need. Class of 2007

We communicated the same message across Facebook, Instagram and email. It reinforced the message and was hopefully more successful at reaching classmates. Class of 2008

Our reunion planning was excellent and the reunion well attended! Class of 2009

- The Class of 2009 has set the Dartmouth College Fund participation record for classes eights years out with 43% participation. Our class has set a new DCF participation record every year since graduation, demonstrating our commitment to the College and Class of 2010

We had gone two years without dedicated webmasters + newsletter editors; I wish I had done it sooner, but I finally solicited the class for volunteers - we now have both a quarterly newsletter and a new website underway. My advice would be not to be shy to contact your alumni classmates to ask for more hands if the need arises. Class of 2014

One of the best practices as a class president is effectively communicating with the Executive Committee and ultimately the greater class. It's hard to get all of the Executive Committee members on a call so what I do as President of the Class of 2014 is reach out to the different teams that make up the committee individually- from Mini Reunion chairs to the Class treasurer every month to check in with them and see how they are doing with their role/offer support. I call it touch points- checking in frequently to keep each member of the committee engaged and accountable. In terms of communicating with the class, it's important to be transparent so the more emails and website/social media updates the better. Spread the word about how kids in our class are doing to get our everyone excited about the class of 2014 and 12

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Class Presidents the college! Also- enthusiasm and encouraging words go a long way. Treat your committee members with respect and cheer them on when they do a good job with something and support them when they are having a tough time. We are a team, and it's important that we work closely and effectively with one another!

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Treasurers Class of 1953

Communicate about Dues with Classmates at all reasonable opportunities - not just in formal communications. Class of 1957

Focus on projects of greatest interest to the maximum number of classmates; stick with the project(s) for many years; let the College have all excess funds by adding to class endowments or projects (they’re better at investing it than we are). Class of 1958

For best practice, make sure you have at least three (3) dues solicitation mailings per fiscal year with an additional LYBUNT mailing in May. Class of 1961

The personal attention to dues payments and classmate comments gives the Treasurer an overview of what the attitude of members of the class is to the college and to the class. Attention to increasing dues participation gives the class more options in activities and projects. Class of 1964

Reconcile cash receipts to Quickbase each month.

Make Paypal transfers at the end of each month and enter in Quickbase in the same month. Class of 1966

A five-year plan was prepared following our 50th Reunion and approved by the Executive Committee. It became the basis for our F 2016-17 Budget, including setting up reserves ($12,500 in 2016-17) to cover classmate fees for our 55th reunion in 2021.

We also continued as a Wheelock Plan participant saving us fees from The Ledyard Bank. Further, we closed all accounts at Ledyard and opened up both Money Market and checking accounts at Citizens Bank, which has branches in Hanover and near the home of the Treasurer in PA. As a result, fees (PayPal only) were only 44% of Budget and investment income was about $200 ahead of Budget. The added income and savings allowed us to fund an additional project, offering students and/or faculty $1000 for an event at either the Class of 1966 Lodge or the Class of 1966 Bunkhouse. Class of 1976

A thank you note/email goes out to every classmates who contributes to the class - regardless of the amount. Each note is somewhat personalized with an inquiry about what they are doing, what trips are planned, etc. Class of 1978

Targeted emails and engagement with Class projects definitely enhanced yield and participation.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Treasurers Class of 1979

After Jan 1, emailing unpaid classmates (with a link to pay online via paypal) proved very successful. Class of 1980

It's simple. You have to believe in the mission, and you have to ask for dues. Also, acknowledge and give thanks to all the givers you can. Class of 1981

For the first time we enrolled in electronic bill pay with Ledyard Bank. This free service makes it possible for the treasurer to pay bills anytime, from anywhere. Additional benefit is the added level of security and reporting provided by the bank. Class of 1982

As with much of the data universe in which we live, I have found the role of Treasurer to be very well served by detailed data collection and data analysis, well beyond Quickbase.

As we are collecting multiple year dues, a critical success factor is excellent systems and record keeping. To keep my systems sensible and managed, we offer either single year or multiple years reaching up to our next reunion. So this starts as five year dues, down to four years and so on until we only offer one year dues the year building up to our reunion. Classmates become paid through reunion, whenever they opt for a multiple year payment. We will then launch again a five year dues campaign for 2018-2023.

This serves many purposes. First, with over 300 classmates becoming accustomed to paying one time every five years, we start each year with 30% dues participation. Second, we are not spending resources for letters and dues collection for 60% of our dues. Huge savings in time and funds.

The success of this hinges on very accurate tracking. Many times I will receive a mail from a classmate saying they just paid something a little while ago... I can very quickly look back to find the month and amount paid reaching all the way back to 2000. This just builds confidence in our classmates that the records are accurate and they are not throwing money in advance only to get billed again later. Most often, I find classmates want to be consistent and loyal, but cannot remember if they paid, when they paid. I HELP them to keep track and remind them. And I am most often thanked for this.

Because I have built up 15 years of records, I can offer classmates to fill in any gaps they may have from past years to achieve a perfect dues record (since 2000). This creates something like a Hal Ripley '29 Society for our class dues. At this time, we have 328 classmates with 100% perfect dues record. Astounding. Great indicator of class cohesion and character.

Finally, in addition to accurate dues payment records, I have invested the time to enter ~300 classmates emails into my personal gmail. This allows me to copy and paste and personally email messages to remind classmates or follow up on overpayments or clarify an error. This took a bit of upfront investment of time, but now I am able to correspond on a personal level with the bulk of active dues payers. I most often customize the note with a short comment on a family member or if I do not know them well, even just a mention of Pittsburgh or Vermont. This small extra effort very often triggers a short exchange or a thank you for the reminder. This is one of the reasons that I really enjoy being treasurer 15

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Treasurers for my class - I see 50-60% of my classmates' names every year as I am tracking payments and have the opportunity to have a short mail exchange and thank them for their support for our class. Class of 1984

Providing more specificity around what Class Dues is used for was helpful in our solicitations. Class of 1986

We established a more comprehensive budgeting process which takes into account our plan to set aside funds to: 1) keep the cost of our 35th Reunion affordable and 2) provide scholarships for classmates that may need additional support in order to attend. Class of 1988

It is important to pre-plan our expenses and try to keep to the plan, especially in a year that fundraising is important.

Also we put significant effort into soliciting feedback as to which class project our classmates wanted to pursue, as well as into coordinating fundraising efforts to not conflict with DCF fundraising activities. With efficiency of fundraising being a priority, we felt it was important to understand and track the associated bank fees. We communicated this information to our classmates . As a result, we significantly reduced the associated fees,. We are pleased that we yielded substantially more funds to support our special class project.

We create an annual budget every year and review trends on an ongoing basis throughout the year. This is an important tool for both short-term funding decisions as well as assessing longer term projects. Class of 1989

Consistency year after year in asking for dues makes a real difference. Class of 1992

Recommended Best Practices

• Invest dues collected in ways that will increase class engagement. The number of classmates that pay dues reflect their level of engagement and so investments that increase class engagement lead to increases in dues collection.

• Look for cost-effective programs to fund that increase Class engagement (it doesn’t have to cost a lot) – we fund costs of small mini-reunions, caring committee for Classmates going through difficult time (e.g. loss of spouse or child), Engage 92 which encourages Classmate to participate in community service in the month of April, NCAA basketball tournament online pool with small prizes for the winners.

• Work with DCF to coordinate and co-promote dues and DCF contributions. We contiunued a promotion where classmates received a commemorative Dartmouth Class related photo if the paid both dues and contributed to DCF. In addition to our 3 dues request letters highlighting the promotion, DCF sent our 2 written letters and an e-mail highlighting the promotion. Through our joint communications, we are able to more clearly articulate the difference between what dues are used for and for what the DCF contributions are being used.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Treasurers

• Do all 3 dues letter solicitations in combination with dedicated e-mail dues solicitations. Our experience is that the 3rd physical dues request mailing still has a very positive contribution well above break-even. E-mail solicitations are free; treasurers just need to balance the frequency and timing relative to the physical dues requests letters.

• Don’t just use dues request letters to ask for money. Use them as communication opportunity for treasurers to highlight class accomplishments and how the class is investing the money

• For example, focus dues solicitation messaging on (1) Class Projects being funded as a way of connecting the Class with specific students currently at Dartmouth and (2) highlight specific programs you are funding with dues that increase Class engagement

• Send out thank you e-mails to all dues payers at the end of the year highlighting any Class news – dues payers who pay after the first letter don’t get the benefit of seeing information on subsequent dues letters

• Maintain a webpage on Class Website showing who has paid dues for the current fiscal year – then in dues solicitations you can direct Classmates to check this page if they aren’t sure they’ve paid their dues for the current fiscal year or not

• Consider switching to Ledyard Plan if you are Wheelock Plan – we switched and it freed up a significant amount of time for me to think more strategically about Treasurer function Class of 1995

For the first time this year, we had a few classmates direct employer matching gifts to us. Publicizing this option could be a way to increase dues revenue. Class of 1998

We saved nearly $2,000 by issuing the third and final edition of our class newsletter in digital form, rather than as a printed-and-mailed paper document. Class of 2002

Classmates who make sponsorship payments are recognized on a Class Sponsor Honor Roll page on our class website, which is updated monthly. This also lets our classmates easily check whether or not they've already made the payment this year.

We take every opportunity to remind our classmates the value of sponsoring the class and clarify where the money goes. Class communications referencing a project that is paid for by class funds (newsletter, our Distinguished '02 Award, etc.) mention that This was paid for by your class sponsorship funds or similar language. Class of 2008

It was a reunion year for us. We did something unique where we emailed the class and offered a discount off their reunion fee if they paid dues by March 1. The discount was equal to the class dues amount ($30). About 100 classmates (or 10% of our class) paid dues before the March 1 deadline (about 70 during the promotion period in late February) and then I emailed the dues payers a discount code, which alumni relations helped create for us. I think this helped spur dues participation and gave folks a reason to pay dues. The folks who gave were mostly those who usually pay anyway and would have attended reunion so it was a nice plus for them. I'm not sure if it caused folks to come to reunion who maybe wouldn't have nor if we got anyone to pay who usually doesn't. 17

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Treasurers Class of 2009

The '09 Executive Committee has decided to start a Sponsorship Honor Roll on our class Facebook page and website. We are excited to be able to publicly recognize classmates who contribute to the class treasury and hope that it encourages others to contribute.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Secretaries Class of 1957

Keep plugging, don’t get discouraged. Class of 1958

Combining the Secretary and Newsletter Editor roles works well for us. Class of 1960

A friend who owns the COOP who is also a classmate gave me 100 D postcards and the DAM sent me address labels for all known classmates and I write to selected random targets to post a post card to. So far it's working. Class of 1961

- The more involved you are within your class and College leadership structure, the easier it is to obtain info for the bi- monthly DAM class articles about both class and classmates.

- Important to develop a formal class communications plan. Class of 1962

Get your column in early or on time and make it readable and interesting if you can. Contact friends if you need more information. Class of 1963

Try to attend as many events as possible or delegate someone else to cover for you; respond to every query Class of 1964

I contact individual members of our Class to interview them for Class Notes. It signals to other members of the Class that we are interested in what they are doing and avoid the appearance that Class Notes contain only information about a small group of Class members. Class of 1966

Highlight was coverage of our 50th Reunion which renewed interest from many classmates.

I personalize each email I send to cladssmates asking for news -- both in the subject line and the note itself. Class of 1967

Our 50th Reunion Memorial Service was enhanced by a complete and vetted list of our deceased. Class of 1968

Respectful persistence is the best practice. In addition to emails and facebook communication, the DCF phone calls served as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone: encouraging annual donations and soliciting classmate news.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Secretaries Class of 1969

Keep reaching out to classmates not regularly participating in class events. Class of 1971

Monitor significant class projects and seek input from project leaders. Class of 1973

If you pick a theme and have a few leads on who to contact, more often than not you will get some good responses. Class of 1974

It is easier to get responses from shared-experience groups than from individual requests for info, e.g., fraternities, band, glee club, sports team and even dorm. This year I started a practice I will continue, which is to seek out groups who shared the same foreign language/foreign study abroad experience (location, term). One can feature members of the same group in a class notes column. Class of 1976

Regular phone calls with class treasurer who hears from dues paying classmates as well as with our newsletter editor helped with information sharing and spreading the coverage of classmate news without duplicating information. Class of 1977

I am new to the position as of last year, and am still learning. Class of 1978

Our class considers it vital to reach out to people who don't come to reunions and don't normally share news. That is always a priority for us. Class Secretary Rick Beyer works hard to reach out in person or by email to such classmates. One method is to simply scroll through the class list and try to find someone who has a personal connection, but has not been in touch with in a while, and send an email. Class of 1979

BEST PRACTICE: Most of our classmates have a milestone 60th birthday this year, so (recognizing a good thing when we see it!) we took a page out of the ’82s book and developed several email templates which have been used since May 1st to wish every ’79 a “Happy Birthday” on his/her special day. There is no ask for money, no call to action; only an expression of bonhomie that has generated both goodwill and, on occasion, news for future Class Notes columns while furthering our mission of enhancing classmate engagement with the College, the executive committee and fellow ’79s.

HIGHLIGHT: Two of our six Class Notes this past year were guest columns written by highly engaged and dedicated adopted classmates, including one from Bob Whalen, Dartmouth’s head baseball coach. The guest column has become a popular feature of our annual Class Notes columns, one that we fully intend to carry on well into the future. Our guest write-ups are great examples of how we protect the integrity of our Class Notes by focusing on quality over quantity— our aim is not to populate each column with lots of bolded names, but rather to go deeper with more robust shares

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Secretaries from fewer classmates in the limited space allowed. The guest column serves two important purposes: Variety (a nice change of pace from the traditional column format) and Depth (long form storytelling from one or two classmates in place of edited down sound bites from the handful of contributors who can reasonably be fit in our 500-word limit). Class of 1981

In an effort to engage shy/less active classmates, we have tried to be inventive in our outreach, for example by sending out group emails to classmates who appear on the same book of the Freshman Book, same team, dorm, etc. We have also dug further into classmate news found on social media, with a view to providing more personal commentary on achievements/events, by contacting the classmates in question by phone or email; we do our best to write about classmates whose names have not appeared in the DAM over the past 5 years, with mixed success Class of 1982

With our daily birthday e-mails, the class co-secretaries continue to actively reach out to our classmates. The co- secretaries alternate months and always copy each other and our class biographer and class president on these daily birthday e-mails to classmates. We wrote six class notes columns for the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine this past year that listed a total of 61 different classmates, including 18 classmates who had not previously been mentioned by us in the class notes columns. We have created columns with themes such as classmates who are teachers. This column received positive feedback from the teachers in the class and others, several noting their appreciation that we were not focusing only on the CEOs in the class. This was rewarding because we have worked hard to dispel the notion that we favor an in crowd or classmates who meet some traditional measure of success. We have made a concerted effort to avoid putting the names of the same classmates in our columns. We created a chart that lists all the classmates ever mentioned in our class notes columns along with the date of the DAM issue. We have reached out to classmates who are not as connected to the College as others. We use Facebook and other internet search engines to look up classmates (and find good e-mail addresses) and we use our class Facebook group to both gather news about classmates and try to locate lost classmates. When we get a response from a classmate who received a birthday e-mail (usually thanking us!), we check our chart to see if that classmate has ever been mentioned in a class notes column. If not, we respond back and open a dialogue and gather news. Many of the responses to birthday e-mails generate e-mail chains that are both humorous and informative, with lots of interesting topics and the occasional mention of yet another classmate. It really fosters class cohesion. We have really worked to provide a tone in our columns that makes ALL of our classmates feel included as well as informed as to class activities from mini reunions to class projects.

Our class biographer assists the class co-secretaries with obituaries and the In Memoriam pages on our class website. We have received positive feedback about these pages from classmates and surviving family members. We are hoping to add the ability for classmates to post comments and pictures on the memorial pages.

We work closely with our class newsletter editors to avoid duplication of news and names and make sure that we report about as many different classmates as we can. We take our roles as class secretaries very seriously and are glad to be the primary facilitators of contact between and among classmates. The class notes column is just a small part of that task. Class of 1984

Whenever we meet with classmates in person, we also ask them for news from classmates and we get their contact info.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Secretaries Class of 1986

I love hearing about classmates meeting in far off places, or gathering for small informal reunions. Class of 1987

One of our best practices involved emailing a small group of classmates and requesting information/updates that could be shared via DAM. These more personalized emails appear to generate enough content. Class of 1988

• Tracking mentions of classmates, unique or otherwise. Information is tracked along with class newsletter to ensure that we feature new, different classmates.

• Building columns around a theme; most of this year’s columns were built around the theme “What did you do to celebrate your 50th birthday?”

• Striving to have updates from classmates that are balanced and unassuming – make it very clear that we welcome all news, from the “over the top” variety to the most mundane Class of 1989

Start early, maintain multiple threads of ideas. Have the next column saved so you can add notes to it along the way vs. trying to do all the week of the deadline. Class of 1990

Asking specific questions (favorite music from their era at Dartmouth, the impact the College my have played on them, fondest memory of school, etc.) has engaged a larger portion of the class. Class of 1992

Create Google Alerts for your class (I have them for Dartmouth 92 and Dartmouth 1992). It's like the clipping services from back in the day. You'll receive a real gem every once in a while. Class of 1994

Used class list supplied to me to email classmates, going through it alphabetically by last name, soliciting news. Through the personal request for news, received about 20%-40% response. Class of 1995

When the news of EBAs closing spread like wildfire, we asked classmates to share their favorite memories of the pizza place, filling a fun, nostalgic column. We also are beginning to think about our 25th reunion and we asked classmates what advice they would give their first year selves on the 25th anniversary of our first year at Dartmouth. We got a lot of thoughtful answers.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Secretaries Class of 1998

Getting class notes from classmates takes effort! While I used to think my e-mail in-box would be flooded with information from classmates, the reality is very few people reach out with news on a frequent basis, and when it comes time to write the bi-monthly Class Notes for DAM, I find myself reaching out a lot! So I would say that my best advice is to be very proactive and don't just sit back and wait for the news to come to you! Class of 2001

I try to solicit information based on theme as a means of getting new people write in. Some months it works better than others Class of 2005

Keep asking for news and eventually you shall receive. Class of 2006

Using the email-blast feature works best and most effectively as a means of soliciting news. Earlier the better. Class of 2008

My main best practice: before you write, think of what you would like to read. Be playful, be funny, and have fun writing it.

In addition to standard solicitations for class notes, we have special segments that have driven great results. I continued the successful “Facebook Stalking” class notes, where I cull social media for updates on class mates - from major life events to random musings. This year I added in “Truth and a Lie” class notes, where I took classmates’ submissions and added fictional stories as a possible alternatives - this encouraged classmates to reach out to each other to find out the real story. Class of 2009

We began tracking unique classmate mentions in the class column this year. Class of 2010

Tact and regularity with email solicitations for notes; the secretary has never missed a bi-monthly email solicitation. Class of 2014

I have taken to soliciting feedback from classmates as soon as they post (or as soon as I see) exciting news on Facebook or interesting images on Instagram. (Turning my usual mindless scrolling into research for the notes!) This has proven really helpful; it allows classmates to feel pride and know they will be celebrated by their peers offline as well! Class of 2016

Not at the moment.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Newsletter Editors Class of 1953

We provide all of our newsletter by Internet on .pdf formatted messages which allows for more frequent communiques, many pictures, and an easy platform to reply with more news. It is also less expensive avoiding the printing and mailing costs, though we do at least two mailers a year to reach those few without Internet communicatins. Class of 1954

Name as many class members who submit news of themselves or of other class members as possible in each issue.

Encourage Class members to record their trips and excursions to far away places citing places visited and experiences described.

Send print copy of Newsletter to each class member in addition to email version to encourage Class enthusiasm and participation in Class Reunions and Mini-Reunions. Class of 1957

38 total pages; We held our 60th reunion this year and gathered many addresses.

We took advantage of the four $400 subsidies from Alumni Relations during major reunion years, treating two of our mailings dealing with our 60th reunion as Class Newsletters, thus saving money on printing. As an all-male Class, we have enlisted two classmates’ wives to act as editor and publisher of the Newsletters, with great results. Class of 1958

Our pre-election poll of last October drew heavy responses. Class of 1959

Also, in most e-letters, we solicit stories, information, etc. is solicited.

• The best practice or highlight to share from this year is to adapt single-subject

• e-letters at least one a week. Class of 1960

Denny Goodman has been Newsletter Editor for 21 years and has written 92 NLs. He has earned a rest; Rory Mullett will be taking over. Denny has used humor, inclusiveness, numerous photos, and clear writing to distinguish his NLs. Class of 1961

More than half our classmates have opted to receive our electronic notification of on-line publication rather than a printed copy. We post two versions of every newsletter, an HTML version and a PDF version. The HTML version provides a link to content by classmates' name and by section. In addition, the HTML version is formatted in a single column for easy reading on computers and other readers. The PDF version is in the same format as the version mailed to classmates

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Newsletter Editors and provides an easy way for anyone accessing the online version to print out a hard copy. For the past year, we have been using color for our mailed version.

We maintain a very close relationship between the newsletter editor and our webmaster who is responsible for formatting both HTML and PDF versions.

83 class members were cited at least once in the Newsletter issues. Class of 1962

Our newsletter ranges from 15-30 pages in length, averaging about 20 pages each for a total of 60 pages a year. We include a large number of pictures, about one per page on average. The college prepares and prints our newsletter, with two versions, a colored picture version which is then sent out to our classmates via E mail and posted on our website. A version with black and white pictures is then sent out in the mail to those who have not opted out of receiving this hard copy version. About 150 of our classmates have opted out. Our classmates have been excellent is sending in info for the newsletter, and the college has been excellent to work with. Class of 1963

Feature as many classmates as possible and make sure each issue comes out on time. Class of 1964

Focus on matters of substance at the College which also relates to the class. Class of 1966

Our coverage of '66th Night festivities around the country expands every year, along with the number of locations...... this year, classmates were encouraged to send in photographs of their local gatherings in 24 cities around the country Class of 1967

We used the Class Newsletter as our primary medium to build attendance for our 50th, encourage fundraising for our two major class projects, and build classmate written contributions for our 50th Reunion Yearbook. The success of all of those programs was in no small part generated by a great newsletter. Class of 1971

1) Class surveys allow us to put our finger on the class pulse and to engage classmates in planning both activities and in providing feedback to Dartmouth. The comments and wit add extra authorship and vitality. Topics included Personal Questions about Aging, You and Dartmouth Today and The Presidential Election.

2) We had so many spectacular pictures and activities from reunion that we went to a 12 page newsletter. It is a great tool as the Newsletter documents our class history and 8 pages would have not done it justice.

3) We worked with Angela Stafford to realize some cost-savings.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Newsletter Editors Class of 1974

Offering the opportunity - and encouraging the opportunity - to classmates to write or to send longer notes or stories, and to use the newsletter as an opportunity for more in depth profiles. Not everyone chooses to respond with detail, but many classmates say that these longer portrayals enrich their sense of what classmates are up to. Class of 1976 standardized features in newsletters Class of 1977

Have a silly competition - we found out who was the youngest in the class and had several people write in who had never done so before. Class of 1978

We continue to garner enthusiastic engagement from the Virtual Reunion celebration of our 78th Day.

This is where, in advance of the date, a separate poster (and exhortation to participate) is sent out in the newsletter. Then, on the 78th Day, classmates utilize it in taking a take a selfie (or they use whatever photo they’d like) and these pictures are then posted on our class Facebook page or emailed to me, and then appear in the next newsletter issue.

We’ve had three of these annual mini-reunion photo fests, and I intend to continue it as an ongoing class tradition; doing so encourages broad participation in a fun and unifying class-wide event, regardless of whether someone feels that what they are doing is particularly *newsworthy* in the traditional sense.

I have chosen an informal magazine-style format with recurring sections that facilitates the ease and enjoyment of reading the newsletter.

In addition to the wordier notices and status updates on class and college items, I also use as many pictures of classmates as possible, because people really do like the “seeing and being seen” aspect of keeping current with everyone. Class of 1979

Three newsletters (total of 28 pages) were published this year.

==== November 2016 (12 pages) ====

>>> Homecoming 2016 - 41 classmates with photos and stories

> Save the date section listing upcoming reunion & mini reunion dates thru 2020. This is a new INNOVATION for us and should help increase classmate engagement in events.

> DCF 2016 Detailed Update and a Big Thank You to the Class (i.e., Most participants of any Dartmouth Class for 17 out of last 18 years).

> Article on the book The Confluence written together by seven classmates about Fly-Fishing & Friendship in the Dartmouth College Grant 26

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Newsletter Editors

> Obituaries of five (5) classmates written by our Class Historian, Ben Riley. Always sad news, but still a celebration of life and living.

> Classmates updates including U.S. Senator John Hoeven and the new President of Cornell University Martha Pollack.

> News on CVN-79 the new US Navy aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy scheduled to be commissioned in 2020 in time for our 40th Reunion in Hanover.

> News and photos of the New Moosilauke Ravine Lodge (location for part of our 60th Birthday party in Fall 2017)

>>> Pay yours dues with QR code links. INNOVATION. This allows cellphones to scan QR codes and directly link to appropriate websites.

> Facebook group information also with easy QR code links to website.

> Announcement of a project and invitation to submit: The History of the Dartmouth Class of 1979 in 79 Objects.

==== May 2017 (8 pages) ====

>>> Major announcement of a Class of 1979 60th Birthday party and Mini-Reunion to be celebrated at Homecoming Weekend 2017 (October 5-8, 2017) including a stay at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge theThursday night before. Invitation and registration details including group hotel reservation information.

> Traditional classmate updates including photos from several 79th day micro reunions.

> TV show Jeopardy and Dartmouth College.

> Save to Date section for class events through 2020: this will be in every issue of the Class Newsletter from now on to allow and encourage classmates advance planning to attend class events.

==== June 2017 (8 pages) ====

>>> Major final month push and reminder for DCF participation including website, phone, text, and QR code information to make gifts.

> Help Wanted (Daniel Webster) advertisement to recruit more contributing Newsletter Editors for the class newsletter.

> More traditional classmates news and updates.

> Some samples collected already for our History of the Class of 1979 in 790 objects to encourage more submissions. Class of 1981

-very helpful to have two editors for the layout of the newsletter.

-formed a class communications committee composed of co-presidents, newsletter editors, webmaster, Flickr account administrator, FB administrator, and secretaries, to improve collaborati Class of 1982

We had good results with themed newsletters. In celebration of the 100 anniversary of Natl Parks, we asked classmates to send in a photo (new or old) of them at any park. Our second theme was music Focusing specifically on amateurs,

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Newsletter Editors how were classmates pursuing their interest in music. By targeting specific areas as compared to asking generally for news, we are able to get more- not necessarily previously responsive- classmates to engage.

We also produced a joint newsletter with the class of '81. Again, by asking specifically for stories of our classmates and an '81, we got some great responses and pictures. Our request for stories about a favorite '81 generated renewed interest from classmates we haven't heard from in a while. This particular newsletter worked as a key marketing tool for the '81/'82 reunion at Homecoming. Collaborating with another class on this publication also gave us access to new, best and alternative practices.

The music and 81/82 issues also helped us work efficiently and get good contributions from our two contributing editors. When each of us on the newsletter team gets a couple of paragraphs from 2-3 classmates, we reach a more diverse cohort and create a more visually appealing package, without one editor having to write the whole piece. Class of 1983

-Sharing links to classmates in the news

-Sharing pertinent college news of things that would be of interest to our classmates

-Links to giving Class of 1987

Strong focus on mini-reunions, virtual reunion (87th Night) and social media resulted in more activity from classmates, and captured more photographs for use in the newsletter. Produced five newsletters totaling 56 pages. Class of 1988

Focusing each issue of our printed newsletter around a particular theme is a highly effective way to elicit contributions, particularly from classmates who have not been featured before. This past year we had a ready-made theme in that most of our classmates were turning 50. In coordination with other class officers, particularly our Vice President of Community, each issue of the newsletter publicized the dates/locations and then celebrated the 19 50th birthday mini- reunions around the world that the class organized, including a big bash held in Hanover during Homecoming Weekend. We also featured photos and stories from ‘88s about how they celebrated their birthdays. This collective celebration of the big 5-0 gave the newsletter the opportunity to feature a larger and more diverse group of ‘88s than ever before.

We also published two electronic newsletters during FY 2017. These are intended to be fun and short – readable in 88 seconds or less – and communicate timely information about class activities. We published “What We Would be Tweeting if We Were Tweeting” that included screenshots of actual Tweets from our Class of ’88 Twitter feed. In the winter we published our annual “Virtual Mini Reunion Edition” designed to generate interest in our 3 virtual minis: Oscars Pool, March Madness, and 88th Day of the Year. The format works well for our virtual mini reunions because it allows us to provide links to the information about the specific events and links to class officer emails if people want more information.

We mentioned a total of 425 mentions in our 3 newsletters – representing 283 classmates. 71 have not been featured since 2010 (our 20th reunion) when we first started tracking this statistic.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Newsletter Editors Class of 1989

With multiple co-newsletter editors there can be a disconnect as to printing and mailing instructions for the various newsletters. It is advisable to arrive at a set of instructions to provide the printing office and share them among the editors to ensure consistent delivery. Also, we continued to email a unique and themed question to the entire class a few weeks before submitting the newsletter, in order to get class participation and news, which has continued to work well. Class of 1990

Themed issues continue to be good ways to create content -- last newsletter focused on food (memories from Dartmouth or current food interests, recipes, etc.) and the next issue focuses on travel (memories from Dartmouth or recent travel experiences). I ask for contributions via Facebook and a class email, and this generates great contributions and photos. Class of 1992

Continue Year in Review paper newsletter, with updates and pictures from classmates shared during the 92nd Day virtual mini-reunion. Class of 1995

Our newsletter workflow is rather nascent. We are building it from the ground up as we have not had a newsletter since we graduated. (Eeek!) One best practice - although it's rather obvious - is to give people working on the newsletter very direct tasks. Class of 1996

Our Spring 2017 had a theme to it, and our classmates responded very favorably to it! We are going to try to have a theme to each newsletter going forward. Class of 1998

The things that have worked best for the newsletter include:

1. Having classmate-generated repeatable features.

This year we added an additional short essay feature called A Few Words More for updates that don't fit neatly into a few sentences, but for folks who don't want to be as in-depth as the 20 Questions feature.

These two features guarantee 4-5 pages of content and have been very popular. I rarely have to go fishing for participants - folks either volunteer or are nominated by others.

2. We also plan our publishing schedule around our mini-reunions and class events.

The Fall newsletter includes COW and Alumni Council updates, summer mini-reunion updates, an intro to new exec committee members responding to our question of the year (this year was What are you looking forward to with Reunion in 2018 and the year before was How will you celebrate your 40th Bday?). We also do a Save the Date in Fall for our April event (98th Day of Service). And have the features. 29

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Newsletter Editors

Winter/Spring includes more details on the 98th Day event, and recently more plugs for the 20th Reunion. Plus the features.

Summer includes the report out from the 98th Day, end of year officer reports, Alumni Council again, mini-reunion notes, and the features.

3. Recent College photos

If you're not already using them, the Dartmouth College and the Dartmouth Alumni Flickr pages are amazing resources. High quality, high res photos. Just remember to credit the photographer if one is listed. Class of 2005

Don't overthink the content and don't be surprised what a little humor does for readership and class engagement. Class of 2009

Experimenting with social media group (closed and for class members only) to post PDFs of shorter, photos-heavy posts on Facebook. Class of 2010

We do not have a best practice to highlight from this year, but the good news is, we have assembled a team and look forward to publishing the class of 2010 newsletter over this next year! Class of 2014

Google drive works great for working with other editors across states/time zones. Class of 2016

Getting classmates involved in the content is a great way to keep people engaged.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Webmasters Class of 1953

Our focus on the website has been placing a priority on the many memories of this marvelous class including recordng of our Spring Hum in 1953, many class major reunions, maxi mini reunions, and some special features that recognize our consciousness of those thngs that have given us an extraordinary bonding. Those are things like patriotic stories and music, pictures a great events like Winter Carnival. Photo of classmates decades ago, nostalgic kinds of things. Not only do the classmates enjoy these, but at a time in our cycle of life that many of or friends are departing, we have found the families have taken comfort in things that we have included on the site. And, once it is on there, IT STAY THERE. IT IS A MEMORY. Class of 1957

Succession planning is important if a long-term webmaster is ready ;to step down. After the 40th reunion, it is especially important. By the 60th, it is a problem with too few applicants for the position. Class of 1959

• Our best practice from this year is to keep the site current as often as possible.

We use the Help Desk to post content (text and/or photos). Because no one in the class is web proficient and/or willing to learn, Alumni Relations has been extremely supportive in having the Help Desk be a very responsive resource.

They have been very helpful and quick to act. Class of 1961

Our treatment of Obituaries, Newsletters, and Identification of current information is noteworthy.

Obituaries: We have complete obituaries, generally including photographs for all of our deceased classmates. We have recently begun to include obituaries for spouses of '61s. Because we maintain our own obituary files, we are not limited by the restrictions on length and content required for inclusion on the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine files. We do have a link from the DAM obit section to our website. Recently, Sean Plottner, Editor, Dartmouth Alumni Magazine commented on our obituary practice, I find the Class of 1961 approach to be just fine and dandy, and I commend you for it.

Newsletters: For each class newsletter, we create two versions both of which are posted on the website. One is an HTML version that includes links to every '61 mentioned and to major sections. The HTML version is formatted as a single column to permit easy on-line reading. The second version is a PDF copy which is identical to the version mailed to the half of our class who have not opted out of a mailed version.

What's New: On our home page, at the top, we list in reverse chronological order the newest updates. For the last year, updates have been posted about once a week on average. Class of 1962

Regularly updated open access map of classmates (City, State or Province, and Country) and sending of .kml files for uploading to Google Earth of more complete information on each living classmate (see '62s Around the Globe under Classmates); Dartmouth Songs and Videos (Songs/Videos) including some no longer considered politically correct; and 31

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Webmasters new page on 55th Reunion Healthcare Survey and Presentations (under Reunions/Projects) that may be of interest to other classes. Class of 1964

I like the banner option at the top - people should be aware that they need to use the right proportions or the photos will be distorted. Class of 1966

We published a Supplement/update to our 50th Reunion Yearbook. It is currently being distributed. Class of 1967

For an older class, our response to email increased significantly this year and we had very few issues related to online registration for the 50th. Class of 1969

Drupal provides MUCH better web functionality than iModules that is basically a marketing and brochure tool with no community-building, collaborative or interactive functions. Class of 1971

1) Attaching a class video of our 45th reunion to the website front page has increased the number of visitors - people like to see themselves!

2) Attaching a link to our 45th Class Reunion Book has been very helpful for classmates seeking addresses, emails and other information not easily available Class of 1977

I posted both the Freshman Book and our class Aegis yearbook. The Rauner Library scanned the Aegis for me and delivered it in digital format. Class of 1978

I cam currently filling the webmaster a temporary basis in addition to my duties as class secretary. We are excited to have made a transition to the Imodules platform so that we can integrate our content with content supplied by the college. We believe that video is a key component of communications, and have created custom videos to use on the website, including multiple videos on the Class of 78 Bunkhouse project. Class of 1979

In the process of moving all images from Shutterfly [a Flash-based site] to SmugMug [HTML5-based] so slide shows can be viewed on mobile devices

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Webmasters Class of 1980

Switched from Alumni Media site to iModules . Much better for Dartmouth news links, but still trying to figure out how to link Facebook and photos viewers. Class of 1981

We were able to post the digitalized recording of our Commencement in its entirety on the Website.

We are in the process of posting a copy of the Freshman Book on the Website

In the process of creating class specific Flickr link. Class of 1982

The website must be supported with other communication tools, such as (depending on the age of the classmates) snail mail, a dedicated Facebook page, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and e-mail. The more channels used for a particular communication, the broader the reach and the more times a classmate is likely to see your message. Class of 1987

We instituted a View from my life video project which featured a rotating video on the home page and linked to another page with all of the videos. Class of 1988

A key goal is that we want classmates to feel that they have access to the latest information – and they don’t have to be part of our Facebook group to be “in the know.” Our website is always up-to-date with information about upcoming mini-reunions and photos. We often provide live links in our e-mails/e-newsletters that lead classmates to our website.

We do use social media and the website together to reinforce visits to each other. We often will use the website to serve as a repository for photos, documents, etc. related to online activities (e.g., DCF Masks or Money, Oscar pool, etc.) and then promote, organize, and run them on other social media – particularly our Facebook group.

With the help of our class steward, we continued to prioritize memorializing classmates who have passed away with a meaningful tribute on our website. This year we made great strides on this project: 16 of 24 tributes are written (a 100% increase year-over-year). We have 12 finished/posted to our website and four where we are just in need of photos to be complete. We will continue to work the list and are thinking ahead to a streaming slideshow for the website, and a special memorial service at our 30th reunion, where we will promote our work on thoughtfully memorializing classmates with personal tributes and memories from classmates. Class of 1989

This year we posted our current newsletters as soon as they were mailed to classmates, so that we could offer classmates the opportunity to read each newsletter online before receiving it in the mail. We were able to track significant response to that effort.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Webmasters Class of 1992

Keep both design and content simple and navigable.

If your site is hosted on iModules, use mobile-ready content modules such that the design is as responsive as possible, ensuring site content is presented in a manner that suits the dimensions of the device or browser window used to view your site. Class of 1994

Utilizing Facebook as another communication tool Class of 1996

Keep it simple and connect all social media accounts to your site. Class of 2001

We updated some of our functionality to add more DCF resources (link to DCF, class honor roll, etc.) as well as an online submission portal for information for the class notes in the DAM. Class of 2009

- We created and rolled out a new private Facebook group for Dartmouth '09s. Approximately one month in, we have over 300 members.

- Took the first step in revamping our website by removing clutter from the stock iModules website Class of 2010

Note: the above check boxes indicate what we are incorporating into our website, as we are building a new one at the time of submittal of this report. Class of 2016

Not at the moment.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Mini Reunion Chairs Class of 1953

Holiday luncheon was held at Kendal at Hanover where many of us now reside. We supplemented with attendees from the shoulder classes of '52 and '54. Class of 1957

Our minis were held in Lebanon, NH (9), Hanover (2 – 1 was new), Naples, FL, Costa Rica, the Berkshires (new) and Basin Harbor, VT(new). Two were spawned by class projects (Great Issues Fund in Hanover, Hopkins Center Touring Fund in Costa Rica). Two were held before and after out 60th reunion. Class of 1958

As we approach our 60th reunion, the total number attending mini reunions is impressive. Class of 1959

Ensure that the local planner is organized and a good communicator. Class of 1961

Our first Virtual Mini-Reunion was conducted on March 2nd, the 61st day of the year. 40 classmates (including 10 class officers) participated along with 9 spouses, significant others and a few grandchildren. Several reported in from the ski slopes of Utah and Colorado, which is impressive based on the age of our classmates. Others reported in from the beaches and swimming pools of Florida, which is a more age appropriate location. One classmate (Hop Holmberg) even reported in from a foreign country. All of the responses and pictures were posted in a separate folder accessible from a link on our class website. Class of 1962

The Boston and Hanover group have regular luncheons. It takes one person dedicated to setting them up. Once or twice a year we have one in Northern CA and once a year in Southern CA. Washington DC used to have one yearly. A few scattered ones occur in CA and other places. Class of 1964

Getting local support from classmates living in the area in which the mini-reunion is being held is critical to the success of the effort. Class of 1965

Our first annual winter trip mini from the Class of 1965 Cabin was outstanding.

Bob Murphy copied the Hanover micro-mini program in FL for snowbirds -- worked well.

Great presentation re ski safety issues at CarniVail.

At the Homecoming mini we successfully included 1964's in our tail gate party and evening dinner reception.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Mini Reunion Chairs Class of 1966

The Class of 1966 has been very successful in holding “66 Night events. We gather on or about the 66th night of each year (March 6, or March 7 in leap years) in multiple locations, including overseas. Chuck Sherman has taken the lead in finding host classmates in various cities and publicizing the event each year. We started in 2008. These mini reunions have grown steadily each year. In 2015 we had 14 locations, with 139 participants (including 89 classmates); in 2016 we had 17 locations, with 87 classmates participating; and in 2017 we grew to 23 locations with 168 participants, including 105 classmates. Chuck and Ben Day created a helpful tool to assist classmates “find” other classmates: a Google Earth Map populated with the location of each classmate. You can click on your location and zoom in or out to locate nearby classmates.

We have been successful in maintaining two traditional, annual small mini reunions: golf and skiing. Each winter we schedule a golf mini. We shift venue to provide variety to our loyal golfers, and to attract new ones. In recent years location included: Palm Desert CA, San Jose CA, Scottsdale AZ and Charleston SC. The ski mini is hosted by Tim Urban and draws 6-8 hearty classmates to Colorado each March.

Finally, we will be having our third overseas mini reunion cruise in September 2017—Danube River Cruise. We have alternated years and provide ample leadtime for planning and signup. Brad Stein, who enjoys organizing overseas cruises, has taken the lead in doing surveys to evaluate interest in different venues, then researching options and costs. Class of 1968

Conduct a mix of traditional recurring mini-reunions and new experience mini-reunions. Both are very effective in reconnecting with classmates. And milestone birthday mini-reunions are most effective of all! Class of 1969

We employed a maxi-mini format for two of the reunions, having a two full day reunion with events on either side. This allowed a greater variety of events and allowed more people to participate, at their leisure. Local classmates helped arrange the events in coordination with the chair and other interested students. At the end of each mini reunion, relationships developed and friendships deepened. Class of 1971

We continue to host 3 multi-day mini-reunions: Naples FL, West Coast, and Hanover for Homecoming. In each case we have a core group of classmates attending. In each case we worked hard to expand the core group. We were successful with many first timers attending each event. This success was due in part to our outstanding Newsletter, targeted emails, and word of mouth. Class of 1973

We held a very good reunion in Hanover that included classmates in the area and others coming in for Homecoming. Class of 1977

As before, we had a virtual mini-reunion for the 77th day of the year. We received postings from classmates from Klosters to Kuwai, Bolivia to Bozeman, and Hanover to Harbour Ridge. It was a good way to see who was coming to Reunion in June and to gin up additional interest. 36

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Mini Reunion Chairs Class of 1979

Maintaining a shared, google docs spreadsheet to log events as you go. Class of 1980

At 2016 Homecoming our class started the first post football game dinner. This was a great gathering and was a important community building event in Hanover. Class of 1981

Highlight was our major joint mini-reunion with the Class of '82. We normally would never have a reunion with them. We held it over Homecoming weekend and it featured a big Saturday night party at the DOC House, daily tent activities, and more. Approximately 250 people came -- both classes combined.

Mini reunion activities that provide new experiences to our classmates such as an interesting restaurant they want to try or a hard to get ticket to a new museum will get classmates who are less active in class activities to participate. Even if they might feel they would not know anyone, the activity itself is of sufficient interest that they would show up. Class of 1982

Our virtual Mini-Reunion on the 82nd day of the year (March 23rd) continues to engage new classmates who may not have participated in any class function in prior years. This year over 130 classmates posted or participated in the posting of photos and notes on our Class FaceBook page. Our theme, The more things change, the more they stay the same, allowed classmates to reconnect with college days while celebrating and sharing their present lives. Of the many positive comments received about the event, this one stands out: Still love this event each year. The comment illustrates that we're creating a meaningful tradition/annual event that is now an integral part of the culture of the Class of 1982.

We also had great fun joining the Class of 1981 for a fall reunion weekend filled with fun events across campus, from the DOC House to the football stadium. The Classes of 1981/1982 have many common experiences, friendships, and even business partnerships and marriages that align the two classes, but we are not on the same reunion schedule so don't have the opportunity to share reunion weekends with each other on a regular basis. Collaborating for a fall weekend reunion in Hanover on an off year (not a major reunion year for our class) was very successful and brought 135 classmates back to Hanover due to the unique opportunity to spend time with the Class of 1981. The feedback reinforced that the fall reunion was a terrific warm-up event for our 36th major reunion in 2018. Class of 1983

We started a first Friday of the month luncheon in New York City for all '83's in the tri-state area, as well as those who might be traveling through on that day. It has been very successful, and folks now know that it will take place, and even if they can't make it one month, they'll try for the next. Attendance is now running about 10-15 classmates per lunch. Class of 1984

It is challenging to arrange mini-reunions by class -- organizing events with multiple classes seems to generate more interest (for example, Homecoming). The spontaneous events also seem to work better -- with everyone's busy schedules, it is difficult to get people to commit far in advance and to reserve locations.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Mini Reunion Chairs Class of 1986 best part was reaching out to all invitees whether they could attend or not to see how they were doing, spread the Dartmouth energy. Great to connect even if just via email in a personal way Class of 1987

Our virtual mini-reunion for the 87th day was very successful with 99 classmates posting on Facebook. This number is included in our total # of 181 classmates attending mini-reunions this past year. Class of 1988

We had an incredibly successful year as we made a big deal of our “collective 50ths” across all channels: paper newsletters, DAM, Facebook and word-of-mouth. Our success for our 50th mega birthday bashes rested in the fact we included a broad range of co-hosts, 82 in total, including mostly names. Smaller cities jumped in and we hosted our first overseas mini in London!

Our broader goal with our Mega 50th birthday celebration was to hold events that were accessible - geographically and financially - to all. We felt this would “set the tone” and help pave the way for our 30th reunion. We’d done research about a “destination” event between our 25th and 30th but it had mixed reviews. So we put our efforts into creating events ‘round the girdled earth that were inclusive. Plus these are more effective at encouraging people who are “on the fence” and not typical mini-reunion attendees to casually stop by.

The mini-reunion chair facilitated the process for the new co-hosts by creating a single evite template with vocabulary that was consistent for each event despite the fact each reunion was different. Each city and group of co-hosts decided what would make the most sense for their area and their ‘88s – venue and vibe. The mini-reunion chair was the point person for communicating with the invitees.

Best practices included:

- using evite.com and following up with emails to individual addresses.

- in smaller communities, personal outreach from the co-hosts included emails, texts and phone calls. This personal touch clearly drove attendance.

- Our class officer team approved a $10/’88 attendee contribution, which is higher than typical. While this rarely covered the full cost for any event, the team felt this goodwill was important for this 50th birthday celebration.

- creating an invitation template so language was consistent and key details were conveyed (e.g. how finances would be handled around food/drinks, inclusion of sig others, etc.). We’ve found that this information has inadvertently been overlooked by new volunteers – which then creates confusion about finances especially. Class of 1989

We focused on our collective 50th birthday as a theme for mini-reunions this year. We had good turn-outs in Hanover, New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco. We also had a very successful virtual reunion with over 200 '89s checking in and many new participants who never have come to an actual or virtual reunion. We had postings come in over Facebook, Linked In and E-mail. It was a great success.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Mini Reunion Chairs Class of 1992

As we approached reunion, we hosted mini-reunion/DCF events in New York and Chicago. They were well attended and increased attendance at reunion by providing a soft entry to classmates, ensuring they would know fellow classmates at reunion. Class of 1995

1) For events that have no fee (especially those on a weekday night), plan for 30% attrition.

2) Partnering with class clusters (94's and 96's) helps boost attendance.

3) Mini-Reunions are a good way to engage attendees in other class initiatives (e.g. Empathos Committee) and to remind people about the 95 Acts of Kindness.

4) People enjoy having Dartmouth swag at the events.

5) Dartmouth trivia questions were used as a party game in Washington DC, and can be shared with other hosts. Contact the Class of ’95 for Tim’s Trivia Questions! Class of 2000

No mini-reunions held this year. Class of 2005

We promoted mini-reunions as well as Dartmouth sponsored activities by sending out city specific Paperless Post invitations to classmates living in those specific geographies. We had particular success promoting the Dartmouth Service Day and are looking forward to a large group at the Dartmouth Football game at Fenway Park. Class of 2006

Who remembers BFAB?! My roommate and I tried to host a brunch event as a nod to Breakfast for a Buck generally held in first year dorms. This idea likely only resonated with fellow UGAs -- despite low attendance, I'm glad we could share some nostalgia with a guest and also engage in deeper conversation about healthcare and education in the intimate setting. These events are still a success! We'll keep trying new ideas!

Also, our master document for mini-reunions is a google doc that we add a new sheet to each year. We now have one collaborative file with several years of information. Highly recommend this organizational approach! Class of 2008

We did a mini-reunion marking three months to the 5 year reunion with the 7s and 6s in NYC, Boston and SF. That was a great event and very well attended. I recommend other classes to have that type of lead up.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Mini Reunion Chairs Class of 2009

We sent out a survey in the past few years asking specific questions on feedback and interest in mini-reunion activities. We are still reaping the benefits of those answers and incorporating them into our mini-reunion planning. It's helping us direct mini-reunions to cities that may have fewer '09s, but to which '09s from other nearby cities would be willing to travel. Class of 2014

This year we hosted a very successful multi-city reunion event. Since our class has now made it halfway from graduation to our 5 year reunion, we branded the event as the Class of 2014 2.5 year Reunion. We created email and fb collateral to help groups advertise the event and hosted in multiple cities over the course of 1 weekend. We are looking forward to doing more events like this in the future!

We also used a survey to solicit information from our class (updated addresses and emails) and encourage them to update their data in the alumni directory. This was also a good opportunity to engage the class on ideas for future mini- reunions. Class of 2016

Getting finances in place early on - schedule an event early and coordination with the treasurer to get funding.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Reunion Chairs Class of 1957

We tried to keep the cost low ($400 per participant), offered financial aid to those in need, and focused on classmate presentations rather than outside speakers. We ended the reunion with a musical presentation featuring a classmate on the clarinet, another providing commentary, and a Dartmouth professor on the piano – all focused on music from our early years. We tried to make it fun for all, and it worked. Classmates were universally happy with the final banquet and overall reunion experience. Class of 1962

109 classmates and 88 guests guests attended our 55th Reunion, co-chaired for the third time by Dick Brooks and Bill Pierce with the able assistance of Treasurer for Life, Charlie Balch. We had great weather, great times and good memories!

The overall success of our reunion was made possible by the Dartmouth Alumni Relations Office, with Angela Stafford and her ever helpful associates who went out of their way to be of help even with off the wall and last minute requests. We used Dartmouth Dining Services for all of our meals who provided us with excellent service and varied menus. Once again, the Student Workers were a highlight especially for those of us running things, giving us a chance to get to know a diverse group of current students.

Our three sponsored programs were interesting and well attended. Developments in health care, legacy of class giving and an up date on Dartmouth sports with Harry Sheehy engendered enthusiastic discussions. The College sponsored program on anthropology in South Africa with Prof. DeSilva and colleagues was raved about.

Several observations:

We used DDS for all of our meals including breakfasts at 53 Commons. Dealing with one provider simplifies matters and they always do a great job. All of our meals were within walking distance for all with the exception of the DOC House where we used buses. New venues included McNutt and Blunt lawns and Tuck Drive, all of which worked well and people enjoyed being close to the Green.

We did not have a tent for the first time but used Brace Commons in lieu for registration and socializing. With a few decorations and lights, it worked well and, at our age, not too many were interested in after dinner socializing. It also saved money.

Due to the efforts of our sharp penciled Treasurer, we ended with a surplus of close to $13,000, $6,000 of which we donated to our class effort, the Portfolio Initiative, with the balance to the Dartmouth Alumni Fund. Class of 1967

The total number of Reunion guests was 407.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Reunion Chairs Class of 1976

Beginning 10 months prior to reunion, we invited 40 classmates to sign up to greet classmates for one hour during reunion. We designated them as Bear Huggers complete with t-shirts and selected them from all different affinity groups. We publicized this list of classmates as attendees early on and said they would be there to meet and greet. This created buzz and touched various groups to make them feel included from the very beginning of our recruitment effort. During reunion weekend, this practice of greeting classmates as soon as they walked towards the tent set a tone of inclusion. Other highlights: a kick-off party in a private home on Thursday night brought a lot of people into town early and was extremely well-received; the Saturday night Idols on the Green with pyrotechnics is unbelievable for bonding, fun, and college spirit; cluster lunch on Baker Lawn with alumni acapella groups was well-received. Attention to food and beverage selection was important. Reunion survey results show that it had a significant impact on the high NPS our reunion received. It is also important to make the tent an attractive and welcoming venue. Classmates playing live music in the tent was a special addition to the weekend, as were the programs that were planned that were class based. Highlighting and celebrating the unique qualities and accomplishments of our classmates was very successful. A thoughtful and meaningful memorial service was an important component as well. Having some physical activities - golf, hiking, biking - was a great way for many to kick off the weekend. We may have over-scheduled activities just a bit given the survey comments, but overall classmates were pleased with their experience. Class of 1977

Start planning with a team of 3-4 key players 18 months in advance and get your Committee of 30-40 organized 12 months in advance. We found it useful for the key player team to basically run the show, with monthly calls with the full Committee to get participation and help with special events, like the Pop-Up Arts Celebration and the IMAGINE Panel.

The Hanover Inn was the surprise and stellar caterer. We had a few issues with them 5 years ago, but they have new management and handled our lunch for 1,000+ on Baker Lawn with great food and service, as well as tasteful and elegant buffet tents and table decorations. [Editor’s note: Congratulations to the Class of 1977 for setting new classmate and total attendance records!] Class of 1978

We take issue with the populated data. The June 19 post-reunion spreadsheet from AR had the 78s with 259 classmates and 387 total guest. While we did not beat the 77s for attendance we did succeed for two important reasons - steady and consistent messaging beginning in fall 2016 using postcards, letters, emails and social media, and tiered pricing to insure that classmates with limited resources could still attend. We had 45 classmates pay the Angel rate of $450 pp and only 14 pay the Scholarship rate of $175 pp. We also 'comped' 2 classmates and 3 guests. [Editor’s note: Class Activities recognizes & congratulates the class of 1978 for breaking the previous classmate record – bravo!] Class of 1987

Define your goal- For us it was inclusivity, passion and paths since college, highlighting unsung classmates. Keep track of your goal!

Keys:

Broad reach out- set up an equivalent of a phone tree to reach out to all.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Reunion Chairs

Scholarship program- language in the letters to class is important to ensure that all take advantage of this and that those who cannot afford to come back ask for help.

Catering- using several over the four days adds logistical complications, but is more fun and people are happier- great meals make the reunion just sing.

Alcohol- work the class to see what connections you can use to get beer and wine at cost or donated, the better quality- people are happy and stay in tent longer and again accomplishes the goals of the reunion.

Student workers: BE ORGANIZED and prepared with spreadsheets and lists before you arrive, then they can help you to the max, have tips ( cash or venmo) ready.

Tent: splurge here if you want your classmates to stay in tent! examples: dance floor, soft seating, varied tables (wooden farm tables), cool old photos, games (pool, foosball, etc). Set it up with many places to hang, dance or play, makes it more attractive to stay in tent and visit.

Swag- we did soft shell vest. Be adventuresome- more fun, more work, worth it. If clothing, order and check on sizing and quality beforehand.

Entertainment: Try a silent disco, do the work to set up TEDs by classmates (takes time to troll for who is doing what, looking for great success, great failures, great stories- and the moderator is key), use gospel choir for Memorial and lastly recruit old classmates for music jams- this was a highlight for us. Also, yoga, wine tasting, art talks, stretching - all by classmates.

Committees: ASSIGN HEADS First!! then let them pick their committees using both new folks to engage more classmates and experienced to help with flow of planning Class of 1992

Find unique things from your time on campus and find a way to incorporate them into your reunion. Important parts of our reunion that gave us a chance to bond again included opening our 25th year time capsule that we created during our senior symposium; filling our 50th year time capsule; doing a mini-bonfire as ours did not fall during our first year; having a band of our classmates perform one night at the tent. It gave us a chance to reminisce and to enjoy each other as we are 25 years later. We also had a private photographer who was there on Friday and Saturday; having him there and his photos available to us after really let us see other parts of reunion that were going on. We had classmates from the singing groups lead us in the Alma Mater at Saturday night dinner on Baker Lawn that was a great way to bring part of reunion to a close since some people left Sunday a.m. before breakfast. Logistically, start at least one year or more in advance; have a great communication plan that is coordinated with your class secretary, head agents and class newsletter editor; have great sub-chairs for catering, treasurer, memorial service, beverages, events, swag. Use social media including pictures from past and present to generate interest. For our class, we wanted it to be about our connections to each other and the College and we tried to program around our theme of Standing Together, which was inspired by lyrics of the Alma Mater as well as our Standing Bonfire which we affectionately called the bonfire that would not fall and which became our class newsletter title.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Reunion Chairs Class of 2007

People remember the food and the gift, so make those great! Have a wide variety of activities now that people have kids. Half of the success is building excitement for reunion, so make sure to have a great communication strategy! Get a wonderful group of volunteers together to help plan. Class of 2008

We had such a blast at reunion! Housing was an issue for us this year as more alumni wanted to come than the college had housing for. Send out plenty of emails to remind people to sign up for on campus housing early!

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Head Agents Class of 1953

The key to participation is the phone follow up at the end of the campaign. Class of 1958

Never get complacent about your larger givers and take them for granted. We had a 6 figure giver who became ticked at the college and its attitude towards a fraternity, and he cut his annual gift by 75%. Big blow. Class of 1959 o Speak with classmates by phone - it is the most effective method of soliciting support for the DCF. Personal contact enables agents to discuss the possible negative feelings a classmate may have and to emphasize the many positive aspects of Dartmouth - rather than writing a message that does not allow for ‘face-to-face’ dialogue. o Provide assistance to agents who are VOLT-averse - help them track and contact prospects, as appropriate, so as to maintain and increase donations. Class of 1960

Year after year, the Class of ’60 outperforms virtually all other classes when all three key components – participation, dollars raised and 1769 Society membership percentage – are considered.

We attribute our success to these factors:

- Strong basic organization: Depth - 62 class agents (11.1% of class base), Leadership – 3 Head Agents, all past class presidents, Support – superb support from Sophie Cary, with assistance from Chris Remmel.

- Relentless SWAT effort: A five-week all-out mop-up effort by a team of seven fearless classmates.

- “Restricted” list solicitation: We actively solicit classmates on the “Restricted” list who are still considered reasonable prospects, securing 16 such gifts in FY17 (2.9% of class base).

Playing the “Class Loyalty” card when necessary: When we encounter strong resistance to giving to Dartmouth, despite having presented the strongest case possible, we prevail upon class loyalty to secure a gift. FY17 results: 44 gifts of either $60 (16) or $19.60 (28), mostly from people who probably wouldn’t have given otherwise. This translates to an additional 7.9 participation percentage points Class of 1961

We updated all of our class agents with an iModules email weekly from the end of December through June. The updates included the status of class efforts, suggestions for solicitation approaches, and VOLT ideas. In addition to statistics, we included graphical representations of the Cash and Participation progress for the current and previous year.

This year we added a weekly honor roll of agent performance. Agents were ranked by summa cum laude, cum laude, etc. according to their percentage of prospects contributed. Weekly improvements were lauded and identified.

We encourage all agents to use VOLT; our agents were divided into three groups with follow-up by a co-head agent to explore and train in VOLT.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Head Agents

A key factor in our campaign was an all-out effort with a 6-person SWAT team making telephone calls in the last 60 days of the campaign. Calls and emails from this SWAT team resulted in adding 65 contributors in the last two weeks of the DCF campaign and collecting all pledges. Class of 1962

Will save for Fall meeting Class of 1963

Some of our best practices would include:

• Keep in touch with the issues involving fraternities that always attract classmate attention and work with those fraternity agents to mitigate those issues

• Emphasize that a DCF gift is a proxy for the value each classmate places on his Dartmouth experience.

• Continue to recruit, train and retain strong DCF volunteers Class of 1966

Individual phone contacts by classmates islikely ore conducive to stimulating giving than blind calls from the Green Team Class of 1968

One unique aspect of this year’s 1968 campaign was the Participation Challenge between April 3 and April 21. For every gift made during that window, a group of three classmates pledged to contribute $68. Members of the Class of 1968 responded enthusiastically, as they typically do to such a challenge, ultimately making 49 gifts during the Participation Challenge window. Each of those gifts earned an additional $68, thereby adding $3,332 to our final dollar goal.

The Class of 1968 is fortunate to have 87 distinguished members of the Ripley Society. The Harold C. Ripley ’29 Society was formed in 2009 to recognize alumni who have made a gift to the Dartmouth College Fund every year since graduation, and our Ripley Society members continue to set a standard of perfection and excellence in giving during each year’s campaign. The names of our Ripley classmates are listed on our class web site – www.dartmouth68.org.

The Class of 1968 also has another distinguished group in our membership: classmates who, as of the 2017 campaign, have given 40 or more years to the Dartmouth College Fund. The names of these 88 Men of Dartmouth are listed on a page enclosed with a thank you email going out to classmates this Summer. We think it is important to recognize these dedicated classmates, without whom our DCF efforts would fall short each year. Class of 1969

As commented in this report last year, the best practice of all is to have multiple co-head agents. More can be accomplished, and the camaraderie among us is terrific.

The VOLT system is a great tool, and I found it enormously more useful by having a tutor session with Kim Hoyt of the DCF office — the filters, the use of the “last cash in” field, the refined ability to report by various affinity groups, all was enormously helpful.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Head Agents Class of 1971

We will be using several letters from prominent Classmates, who have been never givers until our 45th Reunion, in targeted mailings to elapsed givers and never givers in the coming year. The Class continues to focus on rebuilding relationships with disengaged and alienated Classmates through a growing number of social activities around the country. We have a small team of Classmates focusing on capturing email addresses and other contact information on disengaged Classmates. Class of 1973

Best practices for us this year:

1) involvement in the closing weeks of a team of five head agents and a handful of regular agents - continuous contact with prospects,

2) systematic use of text messages focused on LYBUNTs and others who have given regularly in the recent past. Class of 1976

Outreach to classmates who attended reunion and had not yet given was effective in raising both participation and dollars. Class of 1977

We found that a matching challenge during the campaign can really help. We have done ours around the 77th day of the year (e.g. give between March 1 and March 18 (the 77th day of the year). This year the challenge was:

Make a gift of $77 or more between March 1st and 18th, 2017.

Increase your pledge between March 1 and 18, 2017.

For each gift or pledge increase, an anonymous group of classmates will add $77 to the Class total.

For those who haven’t given in 5 years or more, the match will be $177.

During that challenge we had 173 donors raising $225,493, including from donors who had never given in 40 years, lapsed donors and some who gave a second contribution. Class of 1978

Every communication with our classmates, particularly via our newsletters, must note the opportunity and mechanics of making a gift that will benefit future generations and reflect well on our Class. I prefer a low key solicitation approach, where we listen carefully and empathize with any concerns, yet remind classmates that we should always maintain pride in our Class and the importance of supporting our College like family. Having a SWAT team in place is essential near the end of the giving year in getting classmates to give. In connection with the Bunkhouse project one very creative strategy employed was our volunteers contacting those who had been on the same freshman trip back in fall of 1974! Class of 1979

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Head Agents

Our Rocket Raffle was a great motivating tool for both agents and prospects. We got three classmate authors, two classmate vintners and two classmate coaches to provide 18 raffle prizes. We used this successful promotion to jump- start our crucial final three months of giving, with prizes serving to support 1) givers prior to 3/31; 2) givers every two weeks in the final quarter; and 3) agents. We will continue to expand this raffle award program in 2018 and keep it fresh by adding new prizes to the mix.

We had a goal of 100 1769 members this year. Our efforts to accomplish this included the following tactics: (1) Personalized thank you notes to 2016 members; (2) Identification of 70 potential new members in August, 2016, followed by personalized solicitation letters sent to them in September featuring two calls to action: (1) a match of $1769 for all new members and (2) an invitation to the 2016 and 2017 Receptions. These efforts garnered five new members prior to 10/31/16 and a total of 20 new members by the end of the fiscal year. We expanded the match to include all members with < $50,000 contributions after June 30 and this led to a $50,000 match, including five classmates we nudged into the group post-June 15, 2017, with increases of $500-$1,500.

We had monthly calls of our Leadership Team to stay on top of conversations with our top 100 targets. These calls took the place of our weekly Crew Calls. In addition, to help us get gifts earlier in the year, we communicated with agents via a monthly newsletter that kept them up to date on class promotions and College initiatives and activities worth sharing with prospects. We also surveyed our agents in September, 2016, to learn what they liked and did not like about being an agent. This led to creating Agent Recognition Awards, greater support of agents most in need of assistance and switching prospects assigned to certain agents to make their assignments easier/harder depending on their orientation.

We had 75 agents, which turned out to be quite useful when we had agents step back for personal/work/health/family reasons…but then were able to step back in during the final months of the campaign. Our push to build up our number of agents has helped, but we still have much work to get more of them involved in using the VOLT system. Increasing the number of VOLT users beyond the 28 that made VOLT comments this past year will be one of our key challenges in the new fiscal year.

Our year-end email to calendar year givers helped us get ahead of our prior year giving trend by 23/15% by year end. We had our second year using a Google doc to highlight LYBUNTS and update the communication status with them in real time aside from/in addition to VOLT notes. We added 150 contributors after June 19 this year, an increase of 34 over the prior year. Another important innovation was development of a six-year Variance Report that allowed us revisit the cause of successful growth periods in prior years. Class of 1980

1. Get started early.

2. Get your agents lined up

3. Keep an eye on gift timing and target your messages to people who usually give at a certain time.

4. Work with your EC on engagement - the more classmates engaged, the higher the chance of giving

5. Work with your EC on giving - 100% should be the goal (like a BOD in a non-profit)

6. Work closely with staff to ensure that we are reaching all major gifts people in a personal way; look at innovative ways to ensure consistent giving over a number of years. Also try to ensure that a DCF gift is part of a restricted gift ask.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Head Agents

7. Start to engage agents several years before reunion

8. Set a stretch goal based on analysis - NOT gut. You know your class. Class of 1981

One mailing from which we got good response was one highlighting what's going on at the campus and Dartmouth alums in the news. Class of 1982

Our Class ran a participation challenge towards the end of the fiscal year which appears to have helped us obtain late fiscal year donations and to come close to meeting our participation rate for FY16. Class of 1984

We strongly believe that Alumni want to support identifiable projects generally, and the students specifically. Promoting “blank check” giving to the College (or to any philanthropic institution) arguably is a dying tactic. Hence, we have been promoting the DCF Scholar program and are gearing our entire Reunion Giving effort to a lofty goal focused on the current students - raise $3 million, which translates to funding 100 DCF Scholars. Although the DCF Scholar program is predicated on individual donations of $30,000/year/donor, we believe targeting a class-wide effort may have significant traction based on our prior (successful) effort to fund a 1-2 DCF Scholars via our Class Gift at our last Reunion, and recent surveys of our class which imply that the DCF Scholar program is the preferred target for a class gift at our upcoming Reunion. Class of 1986

We let our solicitors take a break after a highly successful 30th reunion year. Class of 1987

The personal touch works best. Class of 1988

• Set a general plan and stick to it. Never give up. Tweak small strategies but never principles. Let your plan evolve over time, and never let short-term milestones eclipse long-term goals.

This year proved to be more challenging than expected in terms of dollars and participation, and there were many occasions to try to force bigger numbers this year at the expense of goodwill. However, opted to stay true to our long- term goal to build a strong class foundation on trust and authentic outreach, with an atmosphere of fun and respect. We remain confident that our patience will be rewarded with a healthy and enthusiastic class base during our 30th reunion.

• Increasing our number of agents (over 80) allowed for stronger, more meaningful personal engagement with more classmates. This resulted in more gifts from multi-year lapsed donors.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Head Agents Class of 1989

We did an incentive mailing to never-donors and five year-lapsed donors which included a personalized letter from Lenora and Patrick with a Dartmouth pen. From that effort we received 16 five year-lapsed gifts and two gifts from never-donors. Class of 1990

We did our best to personalize DCF communication to the class. Our approach leveraged the standard communication from the College, personal email communication from the Head Agent team, personal emails from Hal Ripley Society members and a series of DCF-related posts on Facebook (See section on Why I Give above.)

Approach: Our communications strategy was single-focused on those who were likely givers (but we typically sent the emails to all in the class who had yet to give this fiscal), and shared heartfelt memories and simple reminders to give.

Timing: We weighted our DCF Communication at the most likely times classmates give: calendar year end and fiscal year end. We hoped to get more classmates to give earlier in the fiscal this year. Having three emails in December helped do just that (we had more givers in December 2016, than in December 2015).

Content: We continued to mine the 25th reunion book for meaningful content for our DCF communication. We also looked to Hal Ripley Society members to share their stories about why they give to the DCF. Having a range of classmates share personal, heartfelt explanations about why they give to Dartmouth was a way to both deepen class connections and raise money for DCF.

In addition to the DCF’s standard communications, the Class of 1990 sent out an email on December 28, one on December 31, one in April, one in May, one snail mail at the beginning of June and four email reminders at fiscal year end.

The last four email reminders of the fiscal year leveraged messages from both head agents and Hal Ripley Society members:

• The first borrowed heavily from Jake Tapper ‘91’s commencement address

• The second and third were from Hal Ripley Society members, Jonathan Weatherly ‘90 and Walt Palmer ’90, who shared great stories about why Dartmouth is important to them and why they give to the Dartmouth College Fund

• The final email reminder was from head agent Julia Lazarus ’90 and was inspired by her trip back to Hanover in June for her husband’s 30th Reunion. Class of 1992

The Class of 1992’s treasurer continues to work with the DCF to coordinate dues/DCF mailings.

The Class launched the “Make it Happen in May” campaign for the DCF. By supporting the Dartmouth College Fund at any level, we sent a classmate their freshman photo in digital form while matching their gift by $199.20 in honor of our 25th Reunion. We received more than 100 gifts in May.

The Class of 1992 had the most Centennial Circle members of all Classes (17 alumnae who made a gift of $100,000 or more to the DCF)

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Head Agents Class of 1994

This year, we used mailed postcards, personalized emails and phone calls to reach LYBUNTs at both the end of the calendar year and the end of the fiscal year. We heard from donors that they appreciated the postcards and the personalized touch. Class of 1995

There were headwinds this year which challenged our ability to reach our fundraising goals, which headwinds are not going away. We recognize that direct personal contact, with an informed pool of agents, is the best solution. Class of 2001

There is no substitute for phone calls and texts. 9 days of calling at the end garnered 94 gifts. Emails are generally not read. We also are lucky to have 3 head agents to share the responsibilities for our class; this helps to avoid the fundraising efforts from stalling if one person is busy, so I'd recommend 3 head agents, or two at the very least. Class of 2005

Gmail has a feature that allows users to customize mail merge campaigns which allowed me, as the Head Agent, to reach out to specific sub-groups of classmates with reminders that felt more personal than a formal DCF email, but also easier than individually copying/pasting each new message. Worth looking into for Head Agents looking for communication options somewhere in between the personalize contacts and the broader DCF email campaigns. Class of 2008

An active volunteer base coupled with healthy competition seems to engage our class. Given where we are in our careers it has not always been easy to ensure participation from all of our volunteers, but through diversification we have been able to identify those that are most interested in helping and focused our efforts on bringing them on board. Class of 2009

(1) The Class of 2009 has set the Dartmouth College Fund participation record for classes eights years out with 43% participation. Our class has set a new DCF participation record every year since graduation, demonstrating our commitment to the College and setting an example for all the classes that graduated after us.

(2) I think the most motivating factor is whether someone is part of the Hal Ripley Society. At this point, having given every year since graduation, most people do not want to lose membership.

(3) Our biggest hurdles include:

- Dartmouth's fiscal year: Most people don't realize the FY runs July 1st through June 30th and therefore think they have already given

- Reduced interest/attention in non-reunion years (especially when there is a six year gap between major reunions as is the case for the '09s)

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Head Agents Class of 2010

We had ten classmates present to call classmates at the Granite Challenge this year. While we came in second in our bracket of years, the presence and participation of fellow classmates who were not head agents helped us greatly on the final day of the competition. We would recommend casting as wide a net as possible in situations such as these. Class of 2014

An engaged volunteer base willing to cold-call is key, but we found that more mass emails had no effect. Class of 2016

We used our volunteers from the previous year, which was a huge help. We need to restructure that a bit, of course, but having a team of 6-8 people was really important to regularly rely on. We realized that you don’t really need a team of 40 people who aren’t as committed so make sure have a solid set of people.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Gift Planning Chairs Class of 1957

Newsletter: 12/1/16 and 6/27/17

Website – twice, (incl. info prepared by Shari Boraz 6/27/17)

Alumni Magazine: Class Notes (don't remember issue)

Class letter: full list, fall 2016

Personal: several of each, when 'leads' or sub-groups were suggested

Other: Emphasis on being able to use the Gift Calculator without having to reveal personal information. Also, personal calls or emails to class officers and other college supporters who look like likely candidates, etc Class of 1958

See above. Co-chairs spread the work load and relate to different classmates then one chair is able to. Class of 1959

• The following process has been in place for several years and through FY17:

• “What I have learned as Gift Giving Chair is that the examination and evaluation of my personal financial plans for the future were just as important to me as the specifics of my ultimate gift to Dartmouth. (Bill Sweet, former '59 Chair)

• Here is what we accomplished in FY17:

• With Gift Planning Representative, we were in frequent contact with '59s.

• Presented Bartlett Tower Society story at our Class Meeting in Oct. 2015.

• Sent two letters and one e-letter to the class about the BTS.

• Increased total BTS '59 memberships to 55, which is on a par with '58 and '61. [Class of 1960 is an anomaly, with a disproportionately high number of '60s creating sizable estates in the short time period, resulting in a spike in its BTS class memberships.

• Encourage Class Agents to be alert for potential interest in legacy gifting via the Bartlett Tower Society and other personal gifting. Class of 1960

See the explanation of other above. Most of those who have been added to The Class of 1960 BTS roll have been added as a result of this process. Class of 1961

Despite the passing of one co-chair’s wife and the life threatening illness of the other co-chair, added 6 new participants, which ranked 6th highest of all classes.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Gift Planning Chairs Class of 1962

Working with the College and sending out letters can help. Class of 1968

The prospect of full credit for old farts like us is very exciting and will be a huge emphasis in our upcoming 50th reunion campaign. Class of 1969

As Head Agent for the class, I am afraid I have been unable to find the time to simultaneously carry out the responsibilities of Gift Planning Chair. My recommendation is that all classes be sure to have two separate people take on these jobs. Class of 1970

The best practice has been to work closely with the Gift Planning Staff and personal contact with prospective BTS members. Class of 1971

This may seem minor, but wear your BTS pin to class events, it is amazing how many people comment on it and ask how they can get one - you are halfway there. Class of 1976

June 2017 was our 40th reunion. Dartmouth suggested I send an email to class BTS members who planned to attend reunion reminding them to bring their BTS pin. I decided it would be much better for me to ‘re-pin’ BTS members at reunion, using this as an excuse to thank them again for joining. Dartmouth was out of official pewter BTS pin but then decided to make round green and white “BTS” buttons for Gift Planning Chairs to hand out. These buttons were a big hit. BTS members were pleased to be thanked and ‘re-pinned’; classmates who didn’t have one asked those who did what they were… great marketing! The class BTS membership goal was 40 members by our 40th reunion. We had 45, setting a new 40th reunion record. We were at 46 members by Dartmouth’s fiscal year end of 06/30/17. Class of 1977

The class of 1977 set a record for new members in one year -- 16.

The board was a great idea. However, Buildings and Grounds removed it on Sunday morning before Gift Planning got to it. As a result, at least one person who signed the board was lost to BTS. This prevented us from formally reaching our stated goal of 40 members by the 40th reunion. Since we had 40 names on the board, it was, at least, a moral victory. Class of 1979

The Class of 1979 added one new member to the Bartlett Tower Society (BTS) this year, bringing our total class participation to 31 BTS members. While we did not meet our goal of 7.9 new members, our class team spent this year methodically planting the seeds to increase class BTS membership. This year-long planning and outreach involved

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Gift Planning Chairs engagement and participation from our Gift Planning Co-Chairs, class DCF leaders with great experience in class communications, and outstanding support from college DCF and Gift Planning staff. Our Gift Planning activities included identifying classmates who would be receptive to taking actions to become BTS members, sending personalized letters and cards (spread out over the year), which correspondence was followed up with personal calls and emails engaging classmates to talk about and consider including Dartmouth in their estate plan. The gift planning team, with support from active DCF leadership, also sought and found opportunities to discuss the BTS during some mini reunions and class gatherings. We believe our thoughtful and respectful communications this past year will reap benefits in the coming year, and help the Class of 1979 to encourage more classmates to take the often simple steps necessary to become BTS members and support College programs for the long term.” Class of 1980

I suggest using the expertise of the Office of Gift Planning which has helped ’80 efforts to produce holiday cards for BTS members, welcome letters for new members, and class appeal letters with customized letters to those who have recently inquired about planned gifts. A highlight was reaching 40 members this year. There’s nothing as effective as showing up at Dartmouth events wearing the BTS pin, as a conversation starter Class of 1981

I just joined my Class Exec. Comm as the Gift Planning Chair, so I am learning the ropes. My best practice to date is that the Dartmouth staff offers terrific support and assistance. Class of 1982

Interviews from new BTS members in the class newsletter reflecting on their personal reasons for joining and emphasizing how easy it was versus rewriting whole estate. Class of 1984

In talking to some classmates, consideration of an estate gift may not be at the top of their list of things to do at this time.

While that may be the case, reminders of what Dartmouth was for classmates, as well as its mission now, especially for those that give to the College regularly, are a way for classmates to perhaps start thinking about and considering a legacy gift if they have not already. Class of 1987

Our Gift Planning Chair was only appointed in early June so we do not have any best practices to share as of yet. Class of 1988

In early February, we sent a targeted letter and 88 menu of opportunities personalized to the (total) 62 Executive Committee and Hal Ripley Society members. Later in February, we sent a letter to all members of the class (minus BTS and HRS members).

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Gift Planning Chairs

In March, there was a follow-up email blast to all members of the class of 1988 for whom we have valid email addresses; and in late April, an email was sent to all those who had not opened the March email. We felt this was an effective campaign.

With one year remaining to accomplish our 30x30 goal, we are pleased to have added three BTS members in FY17, bringing the total number in our class to 22. Class of 1989

Two members of our class who recently joined BTS agreed to say a few words about why they included Dartmouth in their estate planning. I want to keep doing this because I think a series of appeals from various members of our class will be more effective than a series of appeals always from me. My network only spans a limited number of people and this approach taps into many different networks within our class. Class of 1992

It may help to think about which estate planning vehicles are most age appropriate and focus on those.

N/A

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Project Coordinators Class of 1954

Our Class sponsored three student internships. All international

1. A project engineer working on volunteer projects in Haiti.

2.Helping as a teaching volunteer of English in Shanghai, China.

3. Working in DC as a research analyst on political and military developments in Iraq.

The Class will sponsor a women's lacrosse player paying for her visit to Hanover as a prospective incoming freshman athlete (chosen by the Athletic Department.

The Class funds the placement of a memorial book in the library for each deceased Classmate. Class of 1957

Find something that most classmates can relate to – in our case, the Great Issues course we all took as seniors 60 years ago. Then, stay with it for a number of years rather than bouncing around from one project to another year after year.

Apparently, some classes build up their treasury over a number of years. We see no reason to do that. Instead, we created four endowment funds over the years and give all our excess receipts each year to these funds. The College is better at investing the funds than we are. Accordingly, we bring our bank balance down to $1,000 or so at year-end, depending on outstanding unpaid commitments at that time. Class of 1958

Class is supporting incoming veterans by providing each one with a book by Jim Wright. Books that have been provided include Those Who Have Born the Battle and Enduring Viet Nam

Class has and continues to support Center for Professional Development. Our funds help to support a student during an off campus internship. Feedback from recipient students including visits at class meetings have been very positive and reinforce the positive understanding and impression of today's undergraduates with our alumni.

Class provides funds to the library for purchase of book in memory of a deceased classmate. Funds set aside are adequate until all members of the class have passed on.

Class is funding a Class of 1958 Scholarship and has worked with Gift Planning Office to put in place a unique agreement with the College to permit the long term funding of the scholarship.

Class is one of twenty supporting Dartmouth Partners in Community Service. This has been a worthwhile project to help support students working off campus with some alumni interaction.

Supporting Athletic Sponsors Program has generated meaningful encouragement from a broad cross section of the class. Class of 1959

1. Arts@Dartmouth

2. Athletic Sponsors

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Project Coordinators

3. Dartmouth Partners in Community Service (DPCS)

4. Senior Thesis Grant

5. Summer Enrichment at Dartmouth (SEAD)

6. Strategy: All five projects reinforce our quest to stay connected through our support of student efforts and learning curves. We do not “do” trees or chairs or non-student funds. Our projects are student-focused.

7. Funding Sources:

8. Strength of the appeal of each of the five projects

9. Sufficient finances in the Class Treasury plus any supplemental contributions above and beyond Class Dues designed to support each of the five class projects, as needed.

10. The decision has been made to allocate any incremental funds among all five projects on an as-needed basis. Class of 1960

We have four Projects supported by Class Dues: Dorm Art-$4,000.,Athletic Sponsors-$2,000., Dickey Center intern- $4,000., and Black Visual Arts interns-$3,000. We have SEAD as a Dues check off for $4,000. or so. These have rolled over for a number of years. Our scholarship fund has a plus $600,000. principle and generates five scholars on campus at once. Class of 1961

• Continued to build the Class of 1961 Legacy for the Performing Arts endowment to $1.22 million. The Legacy funded $52,769 of Hopkins Center performing arts programs this year. The class contributed $2,300 and classmates contributed another $4,423 to the Legacy endowment this year.

• Funded two Student Academic Awards totaling $3,000 for student academic projects.

• Funded two Student Arts Projects totaling $3,000.

• Contributed $1,500 to Athletic Sponsors Program.

• Total class project expenditures were $9,800 and represented 55.5% of dues.

• Planned, and Class Officers approved, the creation of a major new Class Project, to raise an endowment of $100,000, of which $40,000 has already been raised and set aside, that will annually award support to two Dartmouth undergraduate student projects. The Class of 1961 Robert Frost Literature Award will be administered by the English Department and will encompass a minimum award of $2,000 annually (increased year to year by growth in the endowment). The Class of 1961 Arts Initiative Award will be administered by Hopkins Center and will encompass a minimum award of $2,000 (increased year to year by growth in the endowment).

What are your goals for projects for next year?

• Continue to build the Class of 1961 Legacy for the Performing Arts endowment and solicit classmate planned giving commitments to support it.

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Project Coordinators

• Continue to fund the three existing annual class projects at $1,500 each.

• Complete the necessary formal arrangements with the college to administer the endowment, with our classmate participation, supporting the Class of 1961 Robert Frost Literature Award and the Class of 1961 Arts Initiative Award. Continue the fundraising campaign to raise the remainder of the $100,000 endowment. $40,000 is already raised and set aside. Class of 1962

We have 3 phenomenal class activities, all of which support teachers, teach students how to write and speak, and help students to construct portfolios. Class of 1964

Make sure that the projects being pursued meet with the general approval of Classmates. Class of 1966

We began our sponsorship of Dickey fellows about 25 years ago and this program has become the centerpiece of our project portfolio. This year we rounded up our contribution to account for increased costs at the Center. Having our two scholars as guests at the Homecoming dinner and hearing them speak about their experiences has become a valued tradition.

This year we expanded our giving to the scholar/athlete recruitment program to cover two individuals, and we contributed funds to the DOC for student/faculty programs at the '66 Bunkhouse and '66 Lodge. Class of 1968

We have an ongoing project to raise a fund to endow the freshman trips. Over the years, we have raised $1.4 million for this purpose to be turned over at our 50th reunion in June 2018.

We also annually fund the athletic sponsors program and the entrepreneurial network. Class of 1969

This is an ongoing program whereby each year the Class of 1969 grants funds to student groups to provide philanthropy to the community in such a way as to also develop philanthropic skills and inculcate a life-long love and practice of philanthropy. Class of 1971

1) Raising our 2'nd Class of 1971 Endowed Scholarship ($50,000) allowed us to raise money from classmates who might not have otherwise given,

2) Finely tuned programs like sponsoring Rockefeller interns (we donated $5,000) help get thank you articles and physical presentations from the students i.e. at Homecoming to stimulate further class philanthropy,

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Project Coordinators

3) Expanding the definition of class projects, 1971 has supported a classmate who is afflicted with MS by promoting a spring walk for MS Research where our Team Zrike raises $26,000 while boosting class spirit and enjoying a mini- reunion.

[Editor’s note: Class Projects are defined as those that directly support college programs or spaces. We do however appreciate this generous show of support for a dedicated fellow class officer… and bonus that it was also a mini reunion!] Class of 1977

We had 6-7 projects, each supported at a level of $1000-$4000 for a total of as much as $13,500. We dropped one this year but expect to add something in its place, so total was $9500, with the difference being applied to our Reunion. The advantage of having a number of small projects in a wide range of topics from student art, athletics, research, Winter Carnival, the outdoors and community service, is that we get a diverse group of classmate liaisons and material for the Newsletter that attracts interest from a diverse group of classmates. Class of 1978

The Class of 1978 has had three projects, each with connections to D78 classmates, since FY '11-'12. We have allocated roughly 25% of our class dues to these three projects, roughly $7800 per project per year. Class of 1979

Among the many worthy Class Project opportunities, none has come close to engaging our classmates with undergrads like Dartmouth Partners in Community Service (DPCS). As our primary Class project, the Class of 1979 has not only been a primary financial sponsor but last year supplied 9 alumni mentors to DPCS interns throughout the US. This has been a great opportunity to engage alumni who were otherwise disengaged and several of these mentorhips have continued beyond the undergrad internship off-term. Class of 1980

The Executive Committee reviewed the published wishlist and put forth project ideas for debate and approval.The discussion was guided by adherence to our Class Mission. In the end two were selected for equal funding. Class of 1981

We focus our project funds purely on endeavors that provide direct support to current students. We did our own legwork seeking out organizations that provide opportunities for student internships. Class of 1982

Emma Hartswick just finished the second year of her fellowship with Upper Valley Social Entrepreneurship (UVSE) class project, working with the Public Health Council of the Upper Valley. She managed to combine her efforts to reduce alcohol abuse by young adults in the Upper Valley with her senior capstone thesis in Sociology, merging first-rate academic research with community service. Her supervisor at the Public Health Council was so impressed with Emma that she has secured an Americorps/VISTA worker to continue with her work. Emma’s closing quote to the UVSE Advisory Board was, “UVSE was the most educational part of my education at Dartmouth, no question.”

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Project Coordinators Class of 1983

We completed an initiative with the CPD to fund an intern to promote non-traditional career paths.

We began an intiative to provide stipends to students involved in non-profit and public policy internships overseen by Gail Gentes and Dan Parish. Class of 1984

We continue to sponsor a Class of 1984 Scholar We continue to donate library books in honor of deceased classmates Class of 1987

Keep the class updated on the status of the project. We mention our projects as often as we can. Class of 1988

In advance of our 30th reunion, we spent much of this year planning for our Reunion Gift. We provided the class with a survey to both determine the size of the gift and the program that we would fund. Nearly 25% of our class weighed in and the class determined that a $30,000 gift was appropriate. The winning project was the First Year Student Enrichment Program. By determining the gift in the fiscal year prior to our 30th, we provided ourselves enough time to fully raise the needed funds.

We also asked for volunteers to help the fundraising effort. Many of these volunteers have not been active in class leadership, and this volunteer effort is a good way to bring new blood into our leadership as we begin to create a slate of officers for the next 5-year term.

We also requested that volunteers and Class Officers help the fundraising efforts by providing matching funds. Most of the volunteers and Class Officers generously donated to the matching fund pool, making our fundraising efforts that much easier. Class of 1989

Keeping to a small number of projects is helpful as a way to focus class interest Class of 1992

We featured all our class projects at a 25th reunion panel entitled What Your Dues Can Do: The Impact of the '92s. Administrators of our class projects and two students who have benefitted from them were panelists. Class of 1994

For our class, it was important to support a student which is why we decided to support a FYSEP student. Class of 1995

We have contributed to DCF and the Rockefeller First Year Fellows program for several years and feel these are wonderful ways for our class to contribute to Dartmouth students. However, we found that many of our classmates were not aware of these efforts. As a means to improve class engagement and guide our efforts to increase the scope

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Project Coordinators of our projects, we created a survey for classmates. This was circulated by email and social media, and will be included in our upcoming newsletter. Early analysis of the results indicates that we are on the right track, and we now have some excellent feedback about the directions we should take moving forward. Class of 1996

This year the Class of 96 participated in three class projects.

First, we donated to the Dickey Center in furtherance of the Winter Break Mini Grant program. Our $1,000 contribution will help support a student’s global education pursuits this December, fulfilling President Dickey’s mandate to “make the world’s problems our problems.”

Second, the executive committee chose to make a $1,000 donation to the Center for Service to support the hiring of a student director to provide leadership and support for service and education programs. Student directors and civic interns work closely with DCS staff and other students to plan and implement programs. Immersion in all aspects of the work of the Center for Service helps students to develop leadership abilities and skills in such areas as advising, communication, marketing, program assessment, and research.

Finally, in the wake of the passing of our classmate Maribel Sanchez Souther, the class officers investigated opportunities to support funds established at the College to honor fallen 96s. The class donated $250 to each fund as a second class gift. The funds are listed below, demonstrating the diversity of our classmates' interests and continued support to the College:

The Sarah M. Devens '96 Memorial Fund was established in memory of Sarah, a tri-varsity athlete in ice hockey, field hockey and lacrosse. Named a captain of all 3 teams, Sarah died in July before our senior year. This endowment is designed to help decrease barriers to seeking treatment for Dartmouth students with mental health issues.

The Jeremiah D. Thompson '96 Fund provides current use support to the Dartmouth Ski Team. Jeremiah, who had put off college for a year for a spot on the U.S. Ski Team, later served as captain of the Dartmouth ski team. He died in September 2005.

The Maribel Sanchez Souther 1996 Memorial Scholarship Fund was established to remember Maribel, a standout member of the Big Green women’s cross country and track & field teams who later returned to Dartmouth as a cross country coach. Maribel died on 12/31/16 after a long battle with cancer. This endowment will forever support financial aid at Dartmouth, in Maribel’s name.

The John Higgins '96 Dartmouth Athletic Endowment was established to remember John, who played Rugby at Dartmouth and died in August 1998. The fund supports the College's comprehensive athletics and recreational programs with a preference for Intramural Sports.

In our newsletter and social media we worked to combine this concept with support to the DCF, noting that gifts can be made to the DCF “in memory of” or “in honor of” a classmate. We are currently formulating how these concepts can work in conjunction with marketing of planned giving. Class of 2001

We are really proud of our Class Project participation. We collected approx $4k in dues and another $2k that was specifically Class Project contributions, so our Class really values the opportunity to contribute to the project. We also

CAR – Best Practices Report – FY2017 Project Coordinators increased our class project contribution amounts to $15 ($50 total), $40 ($75 total), and $65 ($100 total), and this probably helped increase the total that was contributed for the project specifically. We find that offering people a way to give money to the project when they pay their dues increases contributions, and increasing the default amounts doesn't seem to have decreased participation. Class of 2002

We have raised funds for DPCS every year since we first took on the project in FY13. The project is baked in with our dues collection process; when classmates pay class dues (or, as we are calling them, class sponsorship), they can choose from different dollar amounts; any funds above a certain minimum are allocated directly to the class project. Class of 2008

Our class projects continue to be DOC trips and the DPCS. Class of 2010

We believe we had a successful year in terms of class project/partnership. We chose to commit to partnering with the Class of 1960 (who are also the class 50 years ahead of us) to gradually assume financial responsibility of the Dorm Art project that they currently sponsor. We are excited about this project for a number of reasons: It directly promotes the work of undergraduates in a department with a more opaque path to careers, it supports the arts, and it allows us to interact symbolically with the class 50 years ahead of us. We are excited to have been able to accomplish all of these things through this partnership. Class of 2014

After nearly three years of trying, we finally found a project that fit our class’ parameters in terms of footprint, budget, and long-term impact. That was largely due to persistence, creativity, and continued outreach to class members in search of a worthy and workable project for a young class like ours. Although it’s difficult to take one tangible lesson away from our experience, we’d like to think that it speaks to the importance of a class’ organization and leadership. We were constantly in touch with one another and had the continued support of our class president and treasurer, without whom we wouldn’t have been able to make the Moosilauke project materialize as quickly as it did.