Engaging Our Alumni
I recently embarked on an ambitious alumni engagement tour, travelling to Halifax, New York, London, and Hong Kong. Some 30,000 kilometres later, my jet-lagged self is grateful for the time spent with alumni from multiple decades. They remain, as always, proud Crescent brothers deeply committed to the school’s past and present.
Each city stop had a similar format: small focus groups of four to six alumni, one-on-one meetings, and larger gatherings over drinks, dinner, or both. The last time I ventured this way was before crafting the School’s previous strategic plan in 2019. I was eager then, as I am now, to validate the School’s current thinking relative to the insights and perspectives of former students. After all, our main objective as a school of character is to prepare boys for life so they can make meaningful and positive contributions to the world as good men—not solely to prepare them for university studies as smart men.
Our most recent CAIS accreditation completed last spring highlighted the school’s strong culture of philanthropy, particularly within the current parent community, showing sector-leading annual giving participation and a robust major gifts program. However, alumni engagement and giving were identified as areas of opportunity. This June, Crescent will celebrate its 50th graduating class from the Bayview campus. The future is indeed bright as we seek creative ways for our alumni, across decades, to contribute to the school of tomorrow through their time, expertise, or financial support. Today’s alumni are truly global, and we require a globally-minded alumni program to leverage one of our most valuable resources.
We have been exploring how we might achieve this goal. To this end, our Advancement team recently commissioned an alumni survey through Lookout Management, a market research company specializing in the independent school sector. We distributed a comprehensive questionnaire to all 4,000 alumni in our database. Through carefully chosen questions and rigorous analysis of the responses, we hope to gather feedback that can guide our decisions about the future. It has been too long since we asked our alumni questions such as how the School can best engage with them, their reasons for not being engaged, what they most value about their time at Crescent, and what, if anything, they hope to give back.
As one alumnus recently told me, “I live the furthest away from the school, yet I choose to stay involved because it changed my life. The teachers helped me when I needed it the most. They cared for me deeply.” As we approach the end of another calendar year, I am grateful for these encounters with good men shaped by our fine school. My wish this season is for all of us to turn toward others in kindness—the way in which our students are cared for and what our alumni most recall. The world needs that kind of character, perhaps more than ever before.
