National Alumni Association of Arkansas Baptist College
NAA / ABC Priority Needs
National Alumni Association of Arkansas Baptist College Priority Needs. Our vision starts with a stronger National Alumni Association of Arkansas Baptist College (NAA / ABC). We are seeking support in stages so the people, systems, and resources behind our alumni community can grow into a more sustained source of support for Arkansas Baptist College.
Protect the connection between faith, learning, and opportunity.
Arkansas Baptist College was founded in 1884 to strengthen African American ministerial education. Supporting NAA / ABC’s capacity to reconnect alumni and coordinate help is one way to carry that responsibility forward. A gift to the Association supports the Association’s stated work; it is not automatically a gift to the College.
Help NAA / ABC respond where support is needed most.
Keeping alumni connected takes dependable resources. Support for the Association’s priority needs can help sustain essential operations, reconnect former students, improve communication and records, and build the systems that make continued support for the College possible.
Keep the work moving.
Help maintain administration, financial records, volunteer coordination, and donor follow-up.
Reconnect our people.
Help locate alumni, renew relationships, and invite more people into the Association’s work.
Build the ability to do more.
Help improve practical technology, grant readiness, and the capacity to organize approved College and student support.
Before you give: confirm with the office that your gift is to National Alumni Association of Arkansas Baptist College, Inc., and whether it is general support or an accepted restricted gift. General support gives leadership flexibility within the Association’s charitable purpose; accepted donor restrictions must be honored. These examples describe proposed uses, not expenditures or results already achieved.
A home for connection. A place to grow our future.
At 1510 Martin Luther King Drive in Little Rock, the Alumni House represents what alumni and friends can accomplish together. Our future vision builds on that foundation: care for the headquarters, preserve our history, and develop more ways to connect and serve.
The Association’s January 2, 2025 Partners for Growth letter records that its board voted in August 1994 to purchase an eight-room duplex at this address for the national headquarters. A July 2025 letter describes a debt-free building made possible by alumni and friends. Those records also describe the ongoing work of maintaining the headquarters and preserving artifacts, historical documents, and photographs.
A future vision for the Alumni House.
We envision a well-kept, welcoming home for alumni activity, with improvements developed in stages as resources and plans are approved. The first opportunity is to assess the building’s needs and explore fresh exterior paint, lawn care, landscaping, and a more welcoming arrival.
Connect and coordinate.
Explore space and tools for alumni meetings, volunteer outreach, class connections, and welcoming returning graduates.
Preserve our story.
Plan for organized photographs, documents, oral histories, and artifacts that help new generations understand the College and its alumni.
Make room for service.
Explore mentoring, professional skill sharing, and conversations with churches and community partners, matched to the building’s capacity.
How to help: offer painting, landscaping, maintenance, design, accessibility planning, archival, or technology expertise. Contact the office to discuss materials, services, or financial support before arranging a gift or work at the property.
Future improvements and expanded uses are proposed. No building addition, construction budget, work schedule, or new program is being announced. Scope depends on an assessment, leadership approval, funding, and applicable property and use requirements. The 2025 purchase and debt-free statements are historical descriptions, not a current title or debt verification.
Location: 1510 Martin Luther King Drive, Little Rock, AR 72202. Please contact the Association before visiting; this is the alumni headquarters, separate from the College’s main office.
History drawn from the Association’s January and July 2025 fundraising letters. These historical records establish the story; current needs and arrangements are coordinated through the NAA / ABC office.
Three stages. One shared mission.
Explore every stage below, including Stage 3: our $1 million vision for lasting capacity and job creation.
These are successive total fundraising milestones toward a $1 million vision, not three separate amounts added together. They describe goals, not funds already raised. No campaign progress total is being reported here.
Reliable operations, connected records, practical automation, grant sourcing, and supervised student support.
→
02 / $500,000 total
Employ & expand
Grow funded student roles, professional coordination, alumni outreach, and partnerships.
→
03 / $1 million total
Sustain & strengthen
Develop lasting jobs, career pathways, and greater capacity to support the College.
Experience → career connections → engaged alumni → a stronger Association → stronger support for ABC
A proposed development path. Hiring and expansion depend on available funding, approved budgets, supervision, and demonstrated needs.
Aligned with our missions
One purpose. Two connected responsibilities.
NAA / ABC
The Association’s stated purpose is to encourage members and friends to work unselfishly for the good of Arkansas Baptist College. Its website materials connect that purpose to alumni unity, student support, service, scholarship, and stewardship.
How these stages serve it: build a dependable organization, connect more alumni, put professional expertise to work, and create the capacity to follow through for students and the College.
Arkansas Baptist College
The College’s mission connects academic scholarship and liberal arts education with social responsibility, Christian development, service, and preparation for employment in a global community.
How these stages support it: offer students practical, paid experience; build mentoring and career relationships; and expand alumni-led resources for approved College and student initiatives.
Build on alumni commitment by strengthening the operating base that keeps our work consistent. Stage 1 puts the systems, automation, and grant-sourcing program in place to pursue continuing support for the Association’s mission.
Potential priorities
Day-to-day stability: essential administration, coordination, and operating needs.
Alumni reconnection: updated contact records, outreach, and renewed connections across generations.
Modern systems and practical automation: connected alumni and donor records, website improvements, communication tools, giving setup, and routine follow-up that reduces manual work while preserving human oversight.
Grant sourcing and funding development: establish a program to identify grants that fit the Association’s mission and eligibility, build a funding calendar, organize required documents, prepare applications, and track follow-up and reporting requirements. Combine practical automation with qualified review to support a continuing funding pipeline. Grant awards are competitive and are not guaranteed.
Student employment foundations: plan and, where funded, begin supervised paid support roles in administration, records, communications, and technology. Define training, responsibilities, and supervision before hiring.
Planning and continuity: leadership support, volunteer coordination, and an appropriate operating reserve.
The aim is a dependable Association that can organize its people and follow through, strengthening its ability to serve the College.
Stage 2 / Toward $500,000 total
A wider circle. A stronger ability to act.
With a more stable operating base, the next stage envisions broader engagement and greater capacity to turn shared commitment into organized support.
Potential priorities
Wider alumni participation: chapter development, outreach to younger alumni, and engagement across regions.
Sustained fundraising: donor relationships, business and church partnerships, sponsorship development, and grant readiness.
Paid student roles and job creation: expand funded positions supporting alumni outreach, administration, events, communications, and technology, with mentoring and practical work experience.
Reliable execution: funded professional coordination where needed, volunteer training, and improved communication and reporting.
Student connections: mentoring, career introductions, recruitment support, and scholarship initiatives where approved and funded.
Longer operating runway: resources to maintain the Association’s work as participation and responsibilities grow.
The aim is a broader, better-equipped alumni network capable of providing more consistent support to ABC.
STAGE 3 / $1 MILLION TOTAL GOAL
Create lasting jobs. Strengthen ABC’s future.
The longer-range vision is an Association with the capacity and relationships to support the College across generations.
Potential priorities
Sustainable job creation: develop ongoing, funded Association positions and student-to-career pathways where continuing revenue can support them. Potential roles include administration, finance, donor relations, alumni engagement, and technology.
Career and employer partnerships: connect students and young alumni with mentors, employers, internships, and employment opportunities, without guaranteeing placement.
Durable alumni capacity: sustained operations, stronger reserves, and reliable systems for continued service.
Long-term student opportunity: scholarship or endowment development, subject to appropriate fund structures and approval.
Strategic College support: approved student, educational, or institutional initiatives coordinated with authorized College representatives.
Partnerships with lasting value: professional, community, church, and business relationships that bring resources and opportunities.
Stewardship that grows with the mission: reporting, oversight, and evaluation to guide responsible decisions.
The aim is an Association that can sustain meaningful work, create paid opportunities, and bring stronger resources to ABC. Association jobs are distinct from College employment; College roles and programs require the College’s own authorization.
A vision with room to respond
Clear purpose. Responsible flexibility.
These stages describe how we currently foresee the work developing. The examples are potential priorities, not fixed allocations or guarantees of particular projects. Leadership will determine timing and uses through approved budgets, available resources, organizational needs, and applicable requirements.
Unless a specific purpose is accepted in a written gift agreement, support is sought for the Association’s mission and operating needs. Any accepted donor restrictions will be honored. The Association and College are separate receiving entities; a gift to the Association is not automatically a direct gift to the College.
Property and professional services can strengthen this effort, but are not automatically counted as cash toward these goals. Gift acceptance and any campaign credit must be confirmed by the Association.
All inquiries and donation arrangements go through Bobby Hannah Willis, Administrative Assistant to Alumni Leadership while electronic giving is finalized.
Help our alumni stay connected and involved. Your support fuels stronger connections, greater capacity, and sustained support for Arkansas Baptist College.
After sending your reconnection email to the office, help someone else find their way back. Share through your own social accounts, email, or messages. NAA / ABC does not need a social media page for you to invite your network.
Only the public invitation and reconnection link are shared. Your form entries, membership status, and contact details are never included. Nothing posts automatically; you choose the recipient or audience.
Share the public invitation link with classmates and friends. Review your message before sending.
Arkansas Baptist College was founded in 1884 to strengthen African American ministerial education. Supporting NAA / ABC’s capacity to reconnect alumni and coordinate help is one way to carry that responsibility forward. A gift to the Association supports the Association’s stated work; it is not automatically a gift to the College.
