Alumni Affinity Groups
Guidelines

There are numerous ways to connect with the University of San Diego! Affinity groups are loosely defined as alumni groups with a common interest or established social groups, like sororities or fraternities. Affinity groups provide a tangible way for us to identify and engage individuals in the life of the university. USD is committed to providing affinity groups more programs and communications, and more chances to interact with us and each other. And you are a vital resource as our next volunteer leaders.

Affinity groups have the following characteristics:

  • Self-identified (you must fill out the following to initiate then go through approval process)
  • Identified in the USD alumni database
  • Alumni volunteers, at least 4, willing to lead group for 2 years
  • Have a statement of clearly identified goals

How to get started:

  • Contact the USD Office of Alumni Relations
  • Create, with help from USD Alumni Relations staff, an initial broadcast email message announcing the existence of your group, a survey of the group, and what's next
  • Establish an affinity group website with the help of the USD Alumni Relations staff. There must be an identified website administrator to populate the site. Once the site is set, we will send the initial email

What we can do for you:

  • Subscription to Torero Times, the university’s monthly e-newsletter
  • Liability insurance for approved group activities
  • Marketing support for activities via Torero Times, the university’s monthly e-newsletter
  • Data management and coding opportunities
  • Volunteer Leadership Conference
  • Training on best practices for volunteer recruitment and management as well as event planning
  • Official webpage under Alumni Communities section of the Alumni Association’s website
  • Event promotion via the alumni online event calendar & registration (2 events annually)
  • Staff support at events (2 events annually)
  • Email blasts (2 emails annually)
  • Fundraising guidance (groups not to charge membership dues or fundraise for outside organizations)

It is requested that all USD Alumni Affinity Groups follow the USDUniversity Alumni Association's standards in the following ways:

Align with the University of San Diego's mission: We engage and connect all alumni from the University of San Diego.

  • Provide programming for diverse interests and age groups.
  • Communicate with group members and potential members using only the resources provided by the USD Office of Alumni Relations.
  • Per USD's confidentiality policy, distribution lists are to be used only for USD-related business and are not to be distributed without permission from the USD Alumni Relations staff.