Six Degrees of Togetherness

Advancement administrators at the University of North Texas have come up with a nifty way to use the "six degrees of separation" principle to connect alumni, supporters, and friends. With the public research university's "Six Degrees of UNT" program, constituents will be contacted via e-mail invitation and asked to forward the invitation to former UNT classmates, faculty, staff, and supporters. Subsequent e-mails ask each invitee to provide current contact information.

Officials hope to wind up with clean print mail and e-mail addresses for more than 190,000 people in a contributor relations database when all is said and done. But it's not all about getting a good solicitation list in an efficient manner -- the contact info will be used for programs such as the North Texas Alumni Association's online community to keep people involved with the university and with each other. "It's just as important to keep alumni and friends connected with one another as it is for us to keep in contact with them," says Derrick Morgan, executive director of the alumni association. "We need to make it easy for them to engage and conduct business together." The program is a partnership with The Pursuant Group, a Dallas-based online fundraising firm.

Now, just one question remains for six-degree principle fans: How is Kevin Bacon connected to UNT?