Alumni Engagements – Cupid’s Campus

In honor of this amorous holiday, we thought we would take this opportunity to look at #alumnilove a little bit more seriously.  When I receive my alumni magazine, one of my favorite things to do is look at the wedding announcements section.  I am always in awe of how many Bowdoin couples end up marrying each other.  I remember touring the college and hearing that 50% of Bowdoin alums marry another alum.  Fifty percent?! This statistic seemed shocking, and it was—later being disproved when I checked with my alumni office that estimated only 9% of Bowdoin alums were married to one another.

Swarthmore College is known as the “Quaker Matchbox” for its ability to match fellow alums.  The once all male college has 19,474 living alumni.  Of this alumni population, 2,602 (about 13%) of those alums are married to one another, further validating the matchbox moniker.  These statistics only include alumni who have reported their marital status to the college.  My suspicion is that this number, at both Bowdoin and Swarthmore is actually higher.

This past weekend one of my best friends from college, Kaitlin, got engaged to another fellow Polar Bear.  One of the first things she told me was, “You are responsible for bringing the Bowdoin banner to the wedding”. I can already picture the photo of the huge group of Bowdoin alumni at the wedding—friends who all watched Kaitlin and Peter’s relationship blossom on campus.  I asked Kait to comment on whether she feels being in a relationship with a fellow alum influences her ongoing relationship with our alma mater.  Her response: “Being engaged to a fellow alum helps us both stay more connected to Bowdoin and our friends there.  It is a really important shared experience for us that helped to shape our relationship.”

In 2010 The Princeton Alumni Weekly took a closer look at alumni “engagement” statistics.  While they were unable to track down an exact number of Princeton couples, the resounding trend was that the Ivy League campus is a veritable love nest, not only forming couples while they are studying at Princeton, but often far after, with couples meeting at alumni events and through friends.

The article quotes a Princeton alum and psychologist, Julie Anderson, who says, “Sharing common experiences, intellectual pursuits, and friendship circles are among the many aspects that can strengthen relationship bonds.”  Both college and high school are times when people are learning new things about themselves, meeting new people and actually “growing up”.  This is a perfect environment in which to foster and grow a relationship.

At EverTrue we all pride ourselves in being active and involved alumni and true to form, we have two members of our team who have embraced #alumnilove.  VP of Alumni Engagement, Jesse Bardo, takes his title to heart following his engagement to a fellow Andover alum.  I asked Jesse’s fiancé Courtney about her alumni engagement.  She said, “I have always been obsessed with Andover, but now [being with Jesse] I am even more crazy about the school and being a loyal alum.  It’s a big part of each of our lives that we can share.”

If you want to read more alumni engagement stories, both Cornell University and Georgia Tech share some great ones both here and here.

Happy Valentine’s Day from team EverTrue.  Remember to spread the #alumnilove!

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Interested in how mobile can help increase your #alumnilove? Take the EverTrue tour in mobile.

EverTrue Awarded by MassChallenge!

EverTrue is excited to announce that we were chosen as one of 17 winners from a pool of over 700 applicants in the MassChallenge startup accelerator contest.  We were honored by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, and Bert Jacobs, CEO of Life is Good.

On October 24^th, thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, media, technology and start up supporters, gathered at the Boston Convention Center for the awards ceremony.  The event, along with great food and company, afforded the 26 finalist teams to give a one-minute pitch to the thousands attending.  This pitch was the last of many that both Brent and Eric gave throughout the course of MassChallenge.  In addition to introducing MassChallenge participating teams to some of the best and brightest mentors from around Boston and the start up community at large, the start-up accelerator program lead the teams through rounds of pitches to CEOs and investors—pushing the companies to perfect their cause, as well as widdle down the teams that eventually would be awarded prize money.

Our team was awarded $50,000 to further invest in the growth of EverTrue in the form of a four-foot long check!  We had a great time participating in MassChallenge, are excited to celebrate our achievements and look forward to the next accomplishments together.

To read more about the 17 teams that were awarded, check out BostInnovation’s coverage of the competition here.  For pictures of the MassChallenge awards ceremony, check out this link. Thanks everyone for your continued support.  EverTrue!

What Women Want – Social Engagement!

Last week, Brent, Jesse and I traveled to the Dana Hall School for a breakfast discussion  featuring alumni relations and development officers from area Independent Schools.  The  conversation covered a variety of topics from Alumni Boards to Reunions and allowed for  sharing of best practices.  As I learn the ropes here at EverTrue, it was fun to talk about  alumni engagement with such a knowledgeable room full of people.

After reflecting on that meeting, I thought this week I would take a look at all girls schools and the  social media being used to engage alumnae in hopes of continued support of  their institution.

The National Coalition of Girls Schools releases yearly statistics supporting the value of a girls school education. These stats highlight that girls schools alumnae are more likely to attend college than their counterparts at coeducational schools.  Girls school alumnae are three times as likely to become engineers as alumnae from single sex schools.

But what about girls schools and their alumnae engagement?  Do the traditions and values that girls schools promote endure beyond graduation?  Are alumnae networks stronger at girls schools as they continue to promote mentorship and a powerful female presence?

Each year the National Association of Independent Schools releases data about its member schools.  In the chart below I have compared given trends of alumni from all schools relative to girls schools alumnae only.

Wow! Girls school alumnae are giving more when they give, either annually or as a capital gift, than their coeducational alum counterparts. Nationwide, Alumni Offices work tirelessly to engage their alums–but these numbers would suggest that girls schools might be doing something special.

Social media has been a natural outlet for development offices to engage their alumni with.  National Cathedral School has an active Facebook fan page with 790 likes.  From an alumnae perspective, this page is working in a variety of ways:  A 2003 NCS graduate posted an internship opportunity (see image below), the development office posts articles about cool professional endeavors happening with NCS alumnae, as well as current events on campus.  The NCS Facebook page even has two additional tabs- one for Alumnae and the other for the Black Alumnae Association, both with their own announcements and the BAA’s with alumni profiles.  This is a great place to make alumni specific announcements. 

Dana Hall School also has an incredibly active Facebook page with over 1,500 “likes”.  They also have a LinkedIn group directed to Dana Hall School Alumnae with just about 300 members.  The networking opportunities available instantly through LinkedIn are stretching  far beyond the typical boundaries of an alumni office.  It should also be noted that Dana Hall has a plethora of resources available to alumnae on the alumnae section of their website.  Another great example of a Facebook page that is working is the Miss Porter’s School page with 1,884 likes.  Miss Porter’s has a decent number of alumnae posting on their wall (such as the post below) suggesting there is an openness and willingness of Porter’s alumnae to continue to participate virtually with the school.  Is this a sense of community ingrained in girls school alumnae before they graduate?

Some girls schools have chosen to create a page dedicated solely to alumnae such as The Winsor School did with their Alumnae Association page (currently at almost 500 likes).  Emma Willard School, with a vibrant Facebook presence (almost 2,000 fans!), directs visitors on their page also to their also thriving Twitter and YouTube feeds and grants visitors to ability to donate instantly through a page tab.

From working on this post it is clear to see even with just these few examples that the connections girls school students create, only continue to blossom after graduation.  Alumnae offices are doing a great job to keep their online communities abreast of school happenings and exciting alumnae news.  What else are you seeing from girls schools specifically as Development Offices continue to engage alumnae?

Ever True!

Courtney