Alumni Relations supports the development process of the institution by offering different ways in which for alumni to connect with each other and the institution. In the “Fundraising Fundamentals, Section 1.2” CASE lists seven ways in which alumni relations plays an integral part in the fundraising and development process by fostering engagement with alumni.
- Alumni are an institution’s most loyal supporters.
- Alumni are fundraising prospects.
- Alumni generate invaluable word-of-mouth marketing among their social and professional networks.
- By engaging alumni, an institution can continue to benefit from their skills and experience.
- Alumni are great role models for current students and are often well placed to offer practical support to students as they start their careers.
- Alumni are often in the position to engage the expertise of the institution in their professional lives.
- Your alumni are your international ambassadors. They take their knowledge of your institution to their hometowns and countries and into their professional and social networks.
Alumni are influential to the progress of the institution in a variety of ways. They do everything from word-of-mouth marketing to acting as ambassadors, to providing fundraising opportunities. It’s no wonder that we continue to find ways in which to engage them and keep them involved with their institution.
When we provide alumni with events and interactions of value, we do so with the end goal of providing value to the alum so that his/ her affinity grows stronger to the institution.
For years, alumni relations has been about creating ways in which alumni can gather under the banner of their school. We are constantly thinking of different ways to gather, clubs, events, volunteering opportunities…. The focus has been around groups of alumni gathering. But what about the individual alum who reaches out- whether it’s to inquire about an event, connecting with an old friend, taking advantage of the benefits offered to alumni (online tools, library resources, volunteer opportunities etc.) how are we servicing them? And are we doing a good enough job of recognizing the initiative they took to contact us? To raise their hands and say, “Hey! I have a question, I want to get more involved…” Or, “I just moved to a new area, how can I connect here?” These are the one-off emails that our office receives which amount to close to 5,000 emails a year.
Are we doing enough to recognize that our alumni are thinking of us in their life transitions? And when we do, how well are we doing at keeping them involved and connected?
Some points of data that might be useful to consider is of those who have told us they’ve relocated, are they getting involved in their local network? How quickly are we responding to them, to congratulate them on their move and provide some resources for getting connected? What about for those who inquire about an event, are they attending the event after contacting us? After interacting with our help desk, do they continue to stay engaged year over year?
If you’re not recording your interactions with alumni, then it’s time to start, these individual interactions are too important to neglect. At my institution, we have about 43,000 alumni attend about 1,000 events a year. About 9,000 alumni take the initiative to contact our office a year. How are we measuring their engagement, and more importantly making their affinity to our institution stronger?
