Madak

5 min read

When Rugby Alumni Step Up, Teams Rise

October 16, 2025
Adam Lejeunekopp

Strategic insights from our CEO

Sign me up for weekly or monthly communication

Contact Details

By subscribing you agree to with our Privacy Policy

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Share

When Rugby Alumni Step Up, Teams Rise

Every great rugby program is built on more than just talent and hard work — it’s built on support. Alumni, coaches, and players all play a role in what happens both on and off the field.

But passion alone isn’t enough to sustain growth. Without structure, communication, and clear direction, even the most dedicated alumni associations struggle to keep momentum.

That’s where the Jumpstart Program comes in.

Turning Passion into Progress

We’ve spent years working with collegiate rugby programs and their alumni foundations, and we’ve learned that growth happens when three key pillars are in place:

- Organization: Alumni boards need systems, not spreadsheets. When leadership has clear structure, goals, and roles, progress stops depending on a few motivated individuals and starts becoming repeatable.

- Communication: Consistent updates and clear storytelling connect alumni to what’s happening today. When your community understands the effort happening behind the scenes, they want to be part of it.

- Funding Strategy: Short-term fundraising can cover what’s needed today — but long-term growth comes from a sustainable plan. That includes recurring donations, major gifts, and even endowments that set the program up for years to come.

When those pillars align, everything off the field starts to run smoothly — and that changes what happens on it.

How Off-Field Systems Improve On-Field Results

We’ve seen it time and again. When alumni programs have a real plan and consistent action behind it, the coaching staff gets to focus where they should: developing players and building a competitive culture.

In the past five years, rugby programs that partnered with Madak have seen remarkable results. Teams climbed national rankings, raised over $400,000, and built stronger, more unified alumni communities.

It’s simple — when players feel backed by their alumni, they play harder. When coaches aren’t worried about budgets, they coach better.

A Framework That Builds Lasting Impact

The Jumpstart Program gives rugby alumni associations a quarterly roadmap with dedicated guidance, accountability, and systems that keep the momentum going all year long.

It’s about building something that lasts — a structure that grows with your program and keeps alumni connected, engaged, and proud to be part of the journey.

If your rugby alumni program is ready to go beyond passion and start building real, measurable growth, the Jumpstart Program is where it starts.

Related Blogs

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostru.

Design Thinking

How do marketers, product designers, business strategists, and everyone else in your organization make decisions? There are a lot of different ways to come up with product ideas, generate marketing campaigns, and make executive business-altering decisions. Perhaps you use mountains of data to make the most statistically informed choices, or maybe you gather customer feedback and get advice right from the source. Though these methods have their merits, they can be drastically improved when you implement design thinking.

Graphic Design

‘Google My Business’ Best Practices

When using any tool, you want to employ the best practices to get the optimal use out of it. GMB is no different, there are several things you can do to rank higher in local search results and get more attention from potential customers.

Marketing

5 Reasons Why You Should Stay On Top of the Latest Marketing Trends

Like many things in the fast-paced world of business, the market changes frequently. This means that marketing trends change frequently as well. Though this has been true for as long as businesses have been marketing to customers, the relatively new addition of the internet to mainstream culture has caused marketing trends to come and go faster than ever.

Marketing

Reimagine Your Digital Impact

Transform your website, pitch decks, sales collateral and more, all with transparent, upfront, pricing.