Preparing the Class Agent Letter

Your classmates depend on you for news of the college and your classmates. Your commitment to this program has made the program so successful that other colleges seek us out for assistance when starting a class agent program of their own.

Remember, for each class agent who does not write, there are dozens to hundreds of classmates who have empty mailboxes. Don’t let that happen to your friends. If you have a problem getting a letter out, please let us know and we will work with you to provide a solution.

1.) Write your letter. Your letter may be handwritten, typed, or e-mailed to the Alumni Office. We will take it from there. Let us know if we are to scan your signature onto the letters and mail from here or if we are to mail them back to you, with addressed and stamped envelopes for your personal signature and notes.

2.) Send us your signature (in black ink on plain white paper) if we do not have it. We can then reproduce your signature on your letters.

3.) Let us know if you wish your letters to be personalized or addressed to “Dear Classmates”.

Please mail the Fall letter to us between October 1 and October 31 and the Spring letter between March 15 and April 15 each year.

We have selected this time frame to better facilitate processing in our office. We will work to get your letters out on a timely basis. We will format your letter and proof it. We proof for spelling and grammatical errors but generally do not change the style. Then your letter will be mailed to your classmates ASAP.

4.) Use the Class Honor Roll of Giving (see Appendix C.) to help you ask your classmates to support the college financially. They like to know where they stand compared to other classes. Let them know why you support Cornell. To assist you with class fund appeals, you will find Five Options for Giving (see Appendix C).We will include a pledge card with a return envelope with one of your letters each year.

5.) Encourage matching gifts. The matching gift program is a great way to really increase the impact of a contribution to Cornell. Many companies will match their employee’s gifts to higher education; some also match contributions of employee spouses and retirees. Encourage classmates to contact their office of human resources for a matching gift form to complete and send with gifts.

6.) Cornell College News (see Appendix D) will be printed on the news update letterhead and included with your class letter unless you indicate that you wish to incorporate the news into the body of your letter. To make that easier, you will find the college news on the Class Agents Web page at www.cornellcollege.edu/alumni . Simply copy and insert the news you wish to share into your letter.

7.) Please forward to the alumni office (by mail, e-mail or fax) all updated life information (name, address, career changes; marriages, births, deaths, etc.) and any class notes that you receive from your classmates. We will update our database and include a hard copy of the update in their file. Class notes will then be shared in a future issue of the Cornell Report, if permission was given. Any class information received by the alumni office will be mailed to you prior to Sept. 15 and March 15 each year.

8.) We will include an update postcard addressed to the Alumni Offiice each class letter.

9.) Those classes having reunions at Homecoming 2010 (1960, 1965,1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005) will also have a Reunion Postcard included with your letter asking for those classmates who would be willing to help plan the reunion by conference call, and/or willing to contact classmates about the reunion.

10.) Appendix A in this manual has samples of class letters. Feel free to incorporate ideas on wording and/or format into your own letter if you wish.

A word about Deadlines...

Alumni enjoy receiving class agent communications on a regular basis. If something has happened in you life what makes writing your letter difficult or impossible by the deadline, please contact the alumni office and we will send a letter from an alumni board member or work with you to find a solution. Thank you for your cooperation.