Class Reunion After the Event: Thank-Yous, Photos, and Handoff

Day 1 (Sunday or Monday)

• Send the thank-you email with photo gallery link
• Post photos to the class Facebook group
• Confirm photographer's delivery timeline (most produce within 1-2 weeks)

Days 2-3

• Pay outstanding vendor invoices
• Settle the venue final bill
• Update the contact roster with new emails, addresses, marriages, etc.

Days 4-7

• Treasurer reconciles the bank account
• Publish a one-page financial summary to the committee (and optionally the full class)
• Set up the next-reunion seed fund

Week 2

• Send post-event survey (4-5 questions, ~3 min)
• Write the "lessons learned" doc
• Archive every committee document (Google Drive, Reunly)
• Send the handoff package to the next committee chair

Month 1

• Committee thank-you dinner (yes, you all earned it)
• Final close-out of the bank account or transition to next committee

Sent within 24 hours of the reunion. Captures the moment, surfaces the photos, sets up the next reunion. Use this template:

Subject: Thank you — photos are up

What a night.

A few highlights:
- 87 of us showed up
- 6 traveled in from out-of-state (Sam Chen from Tokyo wins longest distance)
- We raised $420 for the Lincoln High scholarship fund
- The dance floor was full from 9pm to last call

Photos from the night are here: [photographer gallery link]
Slideshow we played: [Google Drive link]
Class group photo: [direct image link]

If you took photos on your phone we didn't capture, drop them in this folder: [link]

A note: we want to do this again. Sign up here to be on the planning committee for the 35-year: [link]

Thank you all for showing up — see you in 5,
The Reunion Committee

Why this works: it's personal, it's specific (real numbers, real names), it surfaces the photo gallery (the most-wanted post-event content), and it plants the seed for the next reunion. Send within 24 hours; engagement drops sharply after.

Set up shared galleries

• Photographer's gallery — the professional photos. Usually delivered in a Pixieset or SmugMug link. Share publicly within the class.
• Attendee upload folder — Google Drive or Reunly shared album where attendees drop their phone photos. Becomes a community archive.
• Facebook group album — for casual sharing. Most engagement happens here.

What to do with the photos

• Upload professional photos to the class Facebook group within 1 week
• Tag committee members and identifiable classmates (helps Facebook surface the photos)
• Save the high-resolution files in long-term storage (Dropbox, Google Drive)
• Make sure the next reunion committee can access them in 5 years

Treasurer's checklist

1. Pay every outstanding vendor invoice. Most have NET-30 terms. Don't let any drag past 2 weeks.
2. Settle the venue final bill. Often includes overage charges or service tips not in the original quote.
3. Refund any pre-paid amounts that weren't used (e.g., headcount drop from 90 to 85 with the caterer; some refund the difference).
4. Reconcile the bank account against the original budget.
5. Publish a one-page financial summary. Total revenue, total expenses, net surplus or shortfall, what the surplus is being used for. Share with the committee (or the whole class if you ran tiered tickets or fundraising).
6. Transfer the surplus to the next-reunion seed fund or the scholarship fund.
7. Close the bank account if no further activity expected, or transition ownership to the next treasurer.

The financial summary template

Class of '95 30-Year Reunion — Final Financials

REVENUE
- Ticket sales (87 × $125)               $10,875
- Sponsorships (3 sponsors)               $1,200
- Optional donations at checkout            $420
TOTAL REVENUE                            $12,495

EXPENSES
- Venue rental                           $1,800
- Catering + service (87 guests)         $4,200
- Two-drink ticket                        $1,044
- DJ (4 hrs)                                $650
- Photographer (3 hrs)                      $600
- Name badges + QR codes                    $120
- Decor, signage, table tents               $250
- AV + slideshow setup                      $200
- Online RSVP/ticketing (Reunly)             $39
- Postage for paper invitations              $90
TOTAL EXPENSES                          $8,993

NET SURPLUS                             $3,502

ALLOCATION OF SURPLUS
- Lincoln High Scholarship Fund            $420 (already designated by classmates)
- Next reunion seed fund                 $2,500
- Final committee dinner                   $400
- Operational reserve (carries forward)    $182

Signed,
[Treasurer name]
[Date]

Send 7-10 days after the event. Short — 4-5 questions, under 3 minutes.

The survey

1. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the reunion?
2. What was the best part? (Open text.)
3. What should we do differently next time? (Open text.)
4. Would you attend the next reunion in 5 years? (Definitely / Probably / Probably not / Need more info.)
5. Would you help plan it? (Yes / Maybe / No.) Optional — but recruits the next committee.

This is the single most under-done post-event task — and the single highest-leverage one for future reunions. The next committee shouldn't start from scratch.

The handoff package

• Updated contact roster — including all the new contacts gathered during this reunion's search
• The full vendor list — venue, caterer, DJ, photographer, with notes on what worked
• The financial summary — so the next committee knows where surplus funds are
• The lessons-learned doc — "what we'd do differently"
• The committee meeting cadence — what worked, what didn't
• The email templates — your 9-email arc, adapted
• Slideshow source files — so the next slideshow can include retrospective photos from this reunion
• The Reunly account login — if continuing on the same platform
• The Facebook group ownership — transfer admin to a continuing classmate

How to find the next committee chair

Ask the "would you help plan" survey question. Reach out personally to the "yes" respondents. Recruit one chair, then let them recruit their own committee — don't pre-stack it.

Hand off within 90 days. Contact info goes stale; momentum dies; the longer you wait the more the next committee has to rebuild.

The committee worked for 12 months. They deserve a celebration that's just for them.

• Committee thank-you dinner — paid for out of the surplus, 4-6 weeks after the reunion. Casual, the kind of dinner where everyone has a few drinks and tells the stories that didn't make it into the recap.
• Individual thank-you notes from the chair to each committee member. Handwritten if possible. Names a specific contribution.
• Public thank-you at the reunion itself (during the welcome speech) and in the post-event email (with names listed).

The committee remembers being thanked. The next committee remembers seeing this committee thanked — which is how you make recruitment easier in 5 years.