In the ANU’s 2020-2023 Strategic Plan, an ambitious philanthropic project focussing on increasing Alumni involvement in the university’s community and funding streams was announced, and this has manifested in the recent creation of the Alumni Working Group by ANUSA, which will focus on creating “new alumni opportunities, developed as part of an enhanced Alumni Strategy.” . 

As per the Strategic Plan, the university is working towards “creating further opportunities for the wider community to make philanthropic contributions to our university that have enduring impact.”  Many alumni contribute philanthropically to the university, and the ANU acknowledges that they have “been slow in creating new opportunities for them.” The working group will concentrate on inspiring a renewed philanthropy strategy that will “grow engagement with the university’s supporters, existing and new.” Due to social distancing measures and new meeting protocols on campus, the group has yet to meet, but the group has been formed and communication between stakeholders has begun.

ANUSA Treasurer Maddy Wang said that “the goal of the working group is primarily concerned with looking into how the ANU is contacting and engaging with their alumni for alumni funding. Given that it’s currently difficult to communicate with alumni directly, this will be the focal issue for the committee. In the future, we will also look at alumni funding models (think, the likes of Harvard or Oxford) and seeing how we can adapt that to ANUSA.”

It is still unclear how the new revenues raised by the Alumni Sponsorship program will be put into use, as ANUSA is unsure of how much revenue to expect, but Wang reiterates that “like all funds, they’ll be put into a budget and passed at an OGM.”