uni'alumni 2012_ENG

The Russian State University for the Humanities in Moscow is building up an alumni organization. University officials initially invited representatives from a top American university to seek advice. How- ever, it soon became evident that the de- cades-old alumni culture in the USA with an emphasis on fundraising cannot cur- rently serve as a model for Russia. The university thus looked for a model in Eu- rope – and found one in Freiburg. In April 2011 Rudolf-Werner Dreier, head of the Office of Public Relations and member of the board of directors of Alumni Freiburg, flew to Moscow to present Freiburg’s concepts for alumni relations to representatives from univer- sity governance, ministries, research ­institutes, and foundations. His speech emphasized the fact that former students can support their alma mater financially but also with their ideas – for instance by helping graduates find internships and jobs or by participating in mentoring pro- grams. He used the phrase “friendraising comes before fundraising” to character- ize the method of binding students to the university for life and building up a net- work by way of information, clubs, services, and events. Freiburg has evidently be- come known for this concept: The univer- sity has been in demand for years as a participant at seminars and lectures on alumni relations, both in Germany and abroad. Matthias Kuta » www.alumni.uni-freiburg.de/­ ueber_alumni The Russian State University for the Human- ities sought advice from other universities in building up its alumni organization. ­Photo: Russian State University for the ­Humanities Rudolf-Werner Dreier presented the con- cepts of Alumni Freiburg in Moscow. “Friendraising Comes before Fundraising” Alumni Freiburg 20 Alumni Network uni'alumni 2012