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Diaspora Associations and Alumni Groups

Finding the right group, a sound constitution, register and bank account, committee and AGM routines, welfare for members, fundraising and money sent home with receipts, events from the gala to a reunion back home, and succession.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for Diaspora Associations and Alumni Groups, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

201

Starter tasks

🌴 Caribbean Life & Diaspora

Diaspora Associations and Alumni Groups

Joining or running a diaspora association or old scholars group: membership, events, fundraising for home, governance and keeping members engaged.

  1. Mapping the associations open to you
  2. First year as a new association member
  3. Reading and refreshing the constitution
  4. Officer roles and handover file
  5. Membership register with consent recorded
  6. Association bank account with two signatories
  7. Charity or nonprofit registration decision
  8. Year planner of meetings, events and deadlines
  9. Group chat and mailing list rules
  10. Event insurance and risk check
  11. Monthly committee meeting routine
  12. Treasurer's monthly books and dues check
  13. Quarterly members' newsletter
  14. Annual membership renewal drive
  15. Annual general meeting cycle
  16. Bereavement and welfare support for members
  17. Welcome call for every new member
  18. Quarterly call with the school or home community
  19. Minutes and records archive
  20. Volunteer rota for events
  21. Chairing a meeting that ends on time
  22. Minute-taking that settles arguments later
  23. Treasurer skills for a volunteer
  24. Hybrid meetings across time zones
  25. Fundraising rules for raffles, tax relief and receipts
  26. Writing a fundraising appeal people answer
  27. Safeguarding for events with children
  28. Choosing a membership and payments platform
  29. Dues levels and membership categories review
  30. Agreeing a project with the school before raising money
  31. Sending association money home with a paper trail
  32. Three-year plan for the association
  33. Settling a committee dispute by the rules
  34. Working with other chapters and an umbrella body
  35. Member survey on what keeps people coming
  36. Annual dinner and dance
  37. Summer family day and alumni cricket match
  38. Founder's day or school anniversary abroad
  39. Class reunion or jubilee homecoming back home
  40. Hosting the principal on a visit abroad
  41. Online fundraising campaign with a fixed target
  42. Using an island association to settle in a new city
  43. Young alumni wing for recent leavers and graduates
  44. A small role for a member with two hours a month
  45. Taking an officer role in retirement
  46. Staying involved after moving back home
  47. Starting a new chapter in a new city
  48. Grants, employer matching and corporate sponsors
  49. Restricted fund or endowment for a long-term gift
  50. Leadership succession and the next chair

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

Mapping the associations open to you

Most Caribbean people living abroad qualify for more groups than they realise: a past students' or old scholars association for their secondary school (many schools call their alumni old boys or old girls), a national association for their island, a village or parish group, church and professional networks, and university alumni chapters.

First tasks

  • Write down your secondary school, island, parish or village and any university you attended
  • Search for each one's association or chapter in your city and note the contact
  • Ask your consulate or high commission for its list of national associations
  • Message the membership officer of the group you want to join first

First year as a new association member

Walking into a first meeting where everyone already knows each other from school is awkward, and many new members pay their dues once and vanish. Planning the first year, with the meetings and one event you will attend, a small job you will offer to do and a few people you will get to know, turns a membership card into a group you belong to.

First tasks

  • Fill in the membership form and pay the first year's dues
  • Put the next two general meetings in your calendar
  • Ask the secretary to introduce you to your year representative
  • Offer to help with one job at the next event

Reading and refreshing the constitution

Plenty of associations run on a constitution typed decades ago that nobody has read since: it may name officer roles that no longer exist, require a quorum of 40 at meetings that now draw 15, or say nothing about online meetings and votes. Reading it against how the group really works, and putting amendments to members, prevents an election or a spending decision being challenged later.

First tasks

  • Ask past secretaries for the signed constitution and every amendment
  • Mark each clause the association no longer follows in practice
  • Ask the agent to draft plain wording for online meeting and quorum clauses
  • Circulate the proposed amendments with the general meeting notice

Make it yours.

Install Diaspora Associations and Alumni Groups, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.