Reunion Volunteer Resources
The College Alumni Programs Office of the Harvard Alumni Association has prepared the following resources for College Reunion Committee members and leaders based on the experiences and feedback from past reunions and volunteers. In addition to browsing the individual documents by topic, you can view them all in one combined handbook.
Be sure to read the Reunion Year Overview document first, followed by the Support of Reunions and Volunteers and Reunion Committee Roles and Responsibilities documents, and then the others in any order. These documents outline your reunion year, share best practices, and include information about how the College Alumni Programs team will partner with you and support your work. These are living documents; if you see something missing or that you would like to add, please let us know.
Volunteers for the 5th and 10th Reunions should also visit the Recent Graduate Volunteer Resources page for more information about entering and exiting the 5th and 10th Reunion years, initial tasks, and communications, in addition to the information below.
Reunion Year Overview
This document contains key information for the year including which offices will support your work, an overview of College Reunions, the timeline, reunion committees and class committees, the Reunion Leaders and Roundtable, and general and staff contact information.
Support of Reunions and Volunteers
This document contains information about the staff and teams that will work with reunion volunteers and support the reunion program and events.
Reunion Committee Roles and Responsibilities
This document contains information about recruiting reunion committees, expectations for committee members, the role of the Chairs, the role of the Reunion Treasurer, the role of the Class Report Chair, and the roles and responsibilities of members of subcommittees like communications and outreach, website and social media, programming, memorial service, and merchandise and favors.
Outreach and Engagement Best Practices for Reunions
This document contains information about communications, the strategy and process for class-wide emails, peer-to-peer outreach and lost classmates, websites, social media, postcards and mailings, logos, and the text messaging program. Additionally, please be sure to review this document, which outlines the HAA broadcast email service including how to get started, what content is needed, and the timeline for sending emails. This third document outlines best practices for third-party email clients.
For information about email communication preferences (updating your email address or subscribing to certain communications) please view the instructions on this page.
The HAA has also created sample language for you to use as you create class-wide emails.
Pre-Reunion Events Overview and Best Practices
This document contains information about planning regional in-person pre-reunion events, including questions to consider before planning, how the College Alumni Programs team can help, and other things to keep in mind.
Reunion Virtual Events Overview and Best Practices
This document contains an overview of virtual events and information about virtual reunion events best practices and norms, virtual event platforms, faculty outreach, social mixers, House events, affinity group meet-ups, alumni panels and guest speakers, Glimpses or classmate TED-style talks, roundtable discussions, and virtual book clubs.
Reunion Class Surveys Overview and Best Practices
This document contains an overview of class surveys and information about best practices and approaches for the presentation of results.
Reunion Merchandise and Favors Overview
This document contains an overview of merchandise and favors and informaton about merchandise stores, reunion favors, and gifts.
Reunion Memorial Services Overview and Best Practices
This document contains an overview of memorial services and information about memorial service planning, honoring deceased classmates, and recommendations for music and readings. For those in the 25th Reunion and above, you can also view memorial program template examples and example memorial service prayers and hymns.
Leadership and Motivation Best Practices for Reunion Leaders
This document contains information about volunteerism at Harvard, resources for reunion volunteers, meeting norms and best practices, managing reunion committee members, psychological safety and productive dialogue, and motivating committee members.
Reunion Budgeting Process and Best Practices
This document contains an overview of the budgeting process and best practices, including planning the reunion budget, the expense categories (University-subsidized vs. class-covered expenses), making purchases and signing contracts, pricing categories, pricing tiers, the budget creation process, financial assistance, and the Reunion Subsidy Program.
Reunion In-Person Events Overview and Best Practices
This document contains an overview of the planning for the in-person reunion events taking place in Cambridge in June, including planning the schedule, different types of class programming, venues, catering, faculty outreach, other event logistics, housing, registration, and checking in at Reunion Headquarters.
25th Reunion: Chief Marshal Overview
This document contains information about the Chief Marshal for the 25th Reunion class, including an overview of the Chief Marshal role, the volunteer Chief Marshal Nominating Committee, and the nomination and election process.
Post-50th Reunion: HAA Crimson Society Overview
The HAA Crimson Society is the organization of all Harvard College and Radcliffe College alumni/ae starting the year after their 50th Reunion. As members of the Crimson Society, these classes will still have the traditional 55th, 60th, 65th, and 70th Reunions, while also providing annual opportunities for fellow classmates to come together from all classes and celebrate the Harvard community. The HAA Crimson Society events will be held annually in addition to milestone reunions.