With the internet, no matter where you live, you can still feel like you are part of your alma mater.  Why stay in touch?  Although you’ve probably paid thousands if not hundreds of thousands for your education there are some compelling reasons to stick around:

1. Rankings–The more you donate to your school, the better off they’ll be–ultimately increasing the value of your degree.  (This is of course if your school is fiscally responsible)  However, it’s not about the size of the donation it’s your schools alumni participation rate:  your participation directly impacts your schools rankings.  If a lot of people had a good experience at your school, they’ll stay in contact and donate–it means they got a lot out of their experience–and looks good for schools rankings.  You may have even graduated from a school that you wouldn’t have had a shot at getting into today–when the value of your degree increases, you sure look smart.
2. Networking–maybe your 40 years removed from your school and haven’t heard from anyone since.  It doesn’t mean all is lost.  Chances are you’ll be able to find people like yourself who attended your school and could open up some serious doors for yourself.  Attend regional alumni events–if they don’t exist–start one.  Call your schools alumni department and they’ll get you a contact list no problem.  Do a search on facebook or linkedin and start a group.  Head back for homecoming, alumni weekend or just organize get togethers with your old college buddies–you’d be surprised what they are up to these days.  Join your schools alumni directory to stay constantly updated and even to be contacted by old friends.
3. Career Development–your schools career development most likely will help you no matter what stage of your career you are in.  Many schools have alumni pages that allow alumni to upload their resume or have searchable databases of jobs.
4. Sports–who doesn’t feel good wearing college merchandise cheering on the team you committed 4 years of your life to.  Purchase a sweatshirt and support the team.  This year my school went Division I, now people who had never heard of Bryant University will see them on the bottom line on ESPN.
5. News–don’t care about what the rest of your classmates are doing? They’ll probably still care about you!  Get your recent accomplishments published in the alumni bulletin, quarterly magazine or online.  There’s nothing wrong with some good press.  Set your homepage to the schools URL and subscribe the newspapers RSS feed.
6. Give Back–you were once like the students in the classrooms today.  Think of those who took a vested interest in seeing you succeed and try to pass it forward.  Go back and speak to students, give internships, jobs, shadow programs, mentorships.  If you can’t give money, better yet–give time.