Alumni Association Home > Minnesota Magazine > Past Issues > 2007 > November-December 2007	Print View

Becoming a life member is a way to demonstrate your pride in and support of the important work of this university as the state’s premier teaching, research, and outreach institution. I became a life member when I contributed to the building of the McNamara Alumni Center, and my connection with the U has grown stronger every year since. Just as many alumni reconnect with the U by attending athletics or performing arts events on campus, membership in the alumni association is also an important, rewarding gateway back to the University.

As a life member, I look forward to a lifetime of member benefits. In addition to the discounts, library privileges, and networking opportunities that come with membership in the alumni association, the UMAA’s exclusive benefit for life members is a discount on room rental at the McNamara Alumni Center. If you host a wedding or meetings in this state-of-the-art facility, your discount will go a long way toward the cost of your membership.

But one of the life-member benefits I appreciate most is that I don’t have to renew every year—and I know that my dues don’t go toward the cost of reminding me to renew. Instead, dues paid by life members are invested in an endowment fund that provides a stable source of support for the UMAA’s core activities, including legislative advocacy, mentoring, career development programs, and recognition of distinguished faculty and alumni.

If you’re an annual member, consider this: Based on current membership fees ($40 a year for a single membership), after 14 years of paying annual dues, you would start paying more for your membership than you would have if you became a life member today. Whether you choose to pay the full price of life membership right away or through a payment plan over time, you ultimately save money. (A single life membership costs $550 paid in one lump sum; $20 a month for 29 months with an electronic funds transfer plan; or $62.50 annually with a 10-year installment plan.)

Whether or not you plan to become a life member, the University benefits from your support. For instance, UMAA members are more engaged in the U and willing to support and advocate for the University initiatives. When our members speak up, state legislators are likely to listen. Seventy percent of our members are Minnesota residents, and nearly 13 percent of them aren’t even U of M alumni but are simply friends and advocates of the U.

The bottom line is this: The stronger the alumni association is, financially and in numbers, the more effective it can be. A stable and growing base of members is a sure way to make a statement as the University goes to the legislature seeking steady, adequate funding. Being able to point to our ranks of active, committed life members makes us stand out as a group interested in the long view of the University and the state of Minnesota, not just in a single issue in a particular year.