Alumni Chapter Honor Points
Chapter Honor Points will be totaled from October 1 through the following October 1, with points turned in each year two weeks prior to the Alumni Leaders Conference. Chapter Honor Points submitted to the Alumni Relations Office after that deadline will not be eligible for Alumni Chapter of the Year.
Chapters have the chance to earn points for membership, but final membership numbers will be calculated at the end of the calendar year giving chapters a chance to earn a “membership bonus”.
Chapter Honor Points:
- Baldwin Bronze: $100; 200 Points
- Kirk Silver: $250; 300 Points
- Pershing Gold: $400; 400 Points
- Paino Platinum: $500; 600 Points
- Alumni Chapter of the Year will earn an additional $200 at Homecoming. If there is a tie, the two chapters will split the $200. Click here for the Honor Points Worksheet.
- Membership Bonus: Will be awarded at the end of the calendar year for meeting membership goals. Chapters that have reached their goals will earn an additional $100; $150 for 110% of goal; $200 for 120% of goal.
Chapter Honor Points Breakdown
*Chapters must complete all requirements within each point category to receive full points, including turning in event request forms in a timely matter.
Chapter Board Meetings are worth 5 points and can be awarded a total of 4 times throughout the calendar year (20 points total). These meetings must consist of at least two chapter officers and result in chapter progression and planning.
- In order to receive points for officer meetings, minutes need to be circulated to the chapter board and Alumni Relations Office within two weeks of the meeting.
- An additional 5 points will be awarded for chapter representatives who participate in chapter officer conference calls (Presidents call, Treasurers call, etc.) to be scheduled by Alumni Board committees.
Treasurer’s Reports should be submitted to Alumni Relations at the end of each quarter (March 31, September 30, December 31 and June 30). The first three reports are worth 5 points with the end of the year report worth 10 points. All reports must be submitted to Alumni Relations within two weeks after the end of each quarter for the chapter to earn points.
Formal Chapter Events are worth 20 points. These are events that take a little more time to plan and require more involvement from Alumni Relations. Formal Chapter Events include banquets, golf tournaments, panel-led networking events, etc. *Event attendance must be submitted to Alumni Relations within two weeks of the event. *Note: If an event has to be cancelled due to weather or other unforeseen reasons, points will still be awarded to the chapter. Additional points for attendance may still be earned if event tickets were sold. To earn all 20 points:
- Event form needs to be submitted at least 6 weeks prior to event. If forms are submitted late, the event is worth 15 honor points. (Exceptions will be on a per case basis, i.e. athletics playoffs, President Paino is in town, etc.)
- 10 percent of previous year’s chapter membership needs to be in attendance (if your chapter has 100 members, 10 people need to be at the event to earn points).
- Chapters may earn an additional 10 points per event if 20 percent or more of last year’s chapter membership attends an event (if your chapter has 100 members, 20 people need to be at the event to earn points).
- Chapters may earn an additional 5 points if there is a service incentive. (See Service/Student Events below)
Informal Social Gatherings are worth 10 points. Involvement from Alumni Relations is optional for these events. Informal social gatherings include happy hours, smaller networking events and other flash events. *Event attendance must be submitted to Alumni Relations within two weeks of the event. *Note: If an event has to be cancelled due to weather or other unforeseen reasons, points will still be awarded to the chapter. Additional points for attendance may still be earned if event tickets were sold.
- With Alumni Relations involvement: Event forms need to be submitted at least 3 weeks prior to the event if you want the Office of Advancement to design and send out your email. Event forms given less than three weeks of notice may only have one email sent out prior to the event.
- Without Alumni Relations involvement: Events should be promoted through social media, emails sent by chapter officers, word of mouth, etc.
- Chapters may also send out a text email to chapter members by requesting email addresses from Alumni Relations. Content must be approved by Alumni Relations. All email addresses need to be Bcc’d or final email needs to be sent by Alumni Relations.
- If sending out a text email, chapters need to provide any unsubscribes or bounce backs to Alumni Relations within a week of the send date.
- Chapters may earn an additional 5 points per event if at least 10 percent of last year’s chapter membership is in attendance.
- Chapters may earn an additional 5 points if there is a service incentive. (See Service/Student Events below)
Service/Student Events: Chapters can earn points if chapter members volunteer at events such as Homecoming, college fairs, accepted student events and other events that are fully sponsored or put forth by the University (including campaign events, receptions and other events where you are representing Truman Alumni).
- No event form is required; please contact Alumni Relations if you are participating in a service or student-related event.
- Each member in attendance is worth 5 honor points with a maximum of 30 points per event.
- Fundraisers, volunteer activities (food bank, animal shelter, etc.), care package assemblies will be treated as a formal/informal chapter event with an additional 5 points awarded for service.
- Chapters may earn an additional 5 points by giving gifts to students in their chapter areas at graduation. Gifts need to be paid for at least one week after graduation. Letters to students must be submitted to Alumni Relations two weeks prior to graduation. Chapters can earn 10 points for graduation gifts annually (May and December Commencement).
- Chapters can earn an additional 2 points by sending personal letters and packages to alumni, chapter members and students (2 points per letter/package). This includes congratulations cards, thank you notes, and other correspondence that creates engagement with the University. Chapters need to contact Alumni Relations within one week of sending, or cc/bcc Alumni Relations if it is an email to receive points. A maximum of 50 points
Chapter Newsletters need to be submitted as a text document, with high resolution photos attached. 15 points will be awarded per newsletter, up to three times a year.
- Requests for newsletters must be submitted at least two weeks before preferred send date.
- Newsletters must be spaced 90 days or more apart and cannot conflict with preplanned events. *If newsletters conflict with chapter events, the Office of Advancement will hold the newsletter until a later date.
- Content must be written by a chapter member. Content must be timely and of value to earn the full 15 points.
Social Media: Alumni Relations needs to be admins on all chapter pages. Chapters can earn 10 points per month or 120 points total. Points can be earned by:
- Chapters can receive 5 points per month by sharing Truman-related posts.
- Chapters can receive 5 points per month by creating original content that promotes engagement and membership, i.e. event photos, increased number of page/group likes, etc.
Membership Mailing needs to be completed by December 1 to earn all points, except for the membership goal which needs to be submitted prior to Homecoming. Chapters are encouraged to increase their membership goal by 5 percent of the previous year’s goal unless otherwise discussed with the Director of Alumni Relations. Membership goals need to be approved by the Alumni Board Executive Committee.
*Membership letter should be original and not just an update from the year prior.
- Membership Letter from the chapter president: 25 points
- Tentative Event Calendar: 15 points
- Updated Slate of Chapter Officers: 15 points *with contact info! Mailing address/email/phone/etc.
- Membership Goal (turned in two weeks prior to Homecoming): 10 points
Points for Membership: Chapters can earn Honor Points if they have reached at least 80% of their membership goal by Oct. 1.
- 80 percent of goal: 10 points
- 90 percent of goal: 20 points
- 100 percent of goal: 30 points
- 110 percent of goal: 40 points
- 120 percent of goal: 50 points
*While Chapter Honor Points run October through the following October, membership will continue to be per calendar year. A chapter can earn points based off of their membership on October 1, but will have a chance to earn a “membership bonus” at the end of the calendar year. Membership bonuses are not related to Honor Points and are solely based on the chapter’s membership on Dec. 31 and the chapter’s membership goals for that year. Chapters that end the year with 100% of their goal will earn an additional $100; $150 for 110% of goal; and $200 for 120% of goal.
Denise L. Smith Volunteer of the Year Award: All of our alumni leaders put in so much time and effort with planning events and serving the University. Chapters can earn 20 points by submitting a nomination for the Denise L. Smith Volunteer of the Year Award. Nominations must be submitted using the online form and completed by September 1 each year.
Alumni Leaders Conference and Board Retreat: Chapters are invited and encouraged to have representatives attend the ALC and Board retreat on their behalf.
- Chapters can earn up to 40 points (10/person) for those attending the Leaders Conference over Homecoming weekend. (Points may also be earned for volunteering over Homecoming weekend. See Service/Student events above.)
- Chapters can earn 10 points for having a chapter representative attend the Alumni Board Retreat.