News and Opinions on Alumni Relations and Communications
“America’s Best Prep Schools” on Social Media
In April 2010 Forbes listed “America’s Best Prep Schools” in an article highlighting their picks for the top twenty private secondary schools in the US.
According to Forbes, a third of the graduates that these schools produce attend ‘Top 10′ colleges including Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania and Yale University.
It would not be difficult to detail the many well known and respected alumni that these prestigious schools account for, yet in this post we take a more social look at this list, in a similar way that we examined The Independent School League.
The charts below represent the largest accounts found for each school on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Facebook
We start our examination with the world’s largest social network, Facebook.
In a dominating fashion, but while also benefiting from one of the largest alumni communities for the count, Phillips Andover takes the lead in “Likes” on Facebook Pages. Andover takes an “all-encompassing” and open approach to their Facebook Page by encouraging prospective students, current students, alumni and faculty to become involved in the conversation.
However, other schools, such as Noble and Greenough, have a more targeted strategy with their Facebook Page by creating a place geared to graduates and their families. This strategy enables N&G to focus on more alumni centric messaging.
LinkedIn
As avid users and fans of LinkedIn, we were excited to see how members of the ‘Top 20′ would stack up based on the number of members they had in their LinkedIn Group.
Again, Philips Andover and Philips Exeter made a strong showing in this category, while, Lawrenceville School, Milton Academy and Deerfield round out the top five largest groups.
Twitter
Lastly on Twitter, Andover, Exeter and Deerfield once again appear at top spots, as Groton School and Horace Mann also demonstrate their social muscle by maintaining a strong Twitter following.
School Account Totals – Weighted By Current Enrollment on a 1-10 Score
The scale below for respectively, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, is a result of size of account (number of group members, likes and followers) divided by number of current students enrolled.
Implementing a mobile strategy is an important aspect of a social strategy.
EverTrue is proud to work with 9 of the ‘Top 20′ including Philips Andover, Deerfield, Horace Mann, Harvard-Westlake, Roxbury Latin, St. Paul’s School, The Winsor School, Milton Academy and Groton School.
Congrats to all those institutions who made Forbe’s “America’s Best Prep Schools.”
What strategies has your alumni office found most effective around social media?
5 Reasons to Make Sure Your Senior Class is on LinkedIn
Recently, our team caught @edudemic tweet a great article detailing the benefits of LinkedIn for students.
After a bit of reflecting on how to get more alumni on LinkedIn, we realized that an inDay for your Senior Class could be an answer, or at least a great start! Whether you have 6,000 soon-to-be young alumni at Ohio State University or 130 seniors at Kipp Houston High School, strongly encouraging your graduating class to join LinkedIn is a simple way to align your counseling, career and alumni relations & development offices.
Here are 5 reasons you can’t let your young alumni leave campus without their diplomas – and a LinkedIn account.
1) Captive Alumni - An institution’s influence over their youngest alumni falls once they leave campus. A basic student profile on LinkedIn takes a only a few minutes to complete before walking across the stage.
2) Lifetime Connection – If you get students to engage with LinkedIn before they leave campus, they will be more inclined to maintain their profile as they advance through their academic and professional careers. This means you won’t have to worry about “lost alumni.”
3) Reunion Planning – As a bonus, get seniors to join your LinkedIn alumni group. By investing now, you can be prepared to welcome them back on campus in 5 short years.
4) Career Networking – Walk graduates through an advanced search to find fellow alumni who work in the industry they aspire to work in. Make alumni connections happen.
5) EverTrue Integration – Through our partnership with LinkedIn, EverTrue extends LinkedIn networking capabilities through mobile. Meaning, with EverTrue, your alumni have a real-time global alumni network in their pocket.
Alumni Giving Challenge: Suffield Academy
At EverTrue we keep a close eye on the fun alumni initiatives that our clients engage in to increase alumni giving. When we recently came across this compelling participation challenge by Suffield Academy in our inbox, we were instantly convinced that we wanted to share their most current campaign with our readers.
For the next 30 days, Suffield Academy aims to beat their rivals, The Williston Northhamption School and Berkshire School, in a race of alumni giving. Each day in the month of April, these schools will compete based on how many of their alumni give back to their institution.
As a team that appreciates a good rivalry, we found the simple messaging of this campaign effective: “Beat Williston” and “Beat Berkshire.” We also thought that Suffield Academy leveraged a very direct and reasonable request by telling alumni to participate with asking for a $5 gift. Beyond just using their website and an email marketing campaign to promote, Suffield went across all mediums by using their Facebook Page to get the word out even further!
Lastly, we found the video, shown below, an outstanding piece that showcased their student body getting involved in the campaign, and making an ask that we found engaging.
Good luck to Suffield, and to all schools in the midst of final pushes for alumni annual fund campaigns!
Have you recently seen a giving campaign that you admire? Let us know!
April Fools: EverTrue Launches Print Directory
Since the day we founded EverTrue, we have taken a “mobile first, web second” approach given our enthusiasm for the rapidly evolving smartphone market. While we remain focused on further enhancing our mobile alumni networking platform, we are excited to announce our newest product line: EverPrint – our print alumni directory & CD-ROM.
Although the mobile market is growing rapidly, the harsh reality is that only 49% of Americans have a smartphone. This compares to 100% of Americans who have access to print materials. After analyzing the numbers, it was clear that we needed to extend our reach to serve the entire alumni community.
We have spent the last six months repackaging our mobile platform into a beautiful print directory experience. While the New iPad claims to be “Resolutionary”, mobile and tablet devices are simply incapable of offering the tactile responsiveness of paper. Furthermore, print directories offer truly “on demand” access without the constraints of overburdened carrier networks or limited battery life. This print platform will extend EverTrue’s reach to all corners of the globe in addition to the promising lunar market.
EverTrue’s VP of Alumni Engagement, Jesse Bardo, is thrilled about the new offering noting that, “while evangelizing the EverTrue alumni mobile offering, I kept getting asked, ‘but what if my constituents don’t have the internet?’ With our new print directory product, we finally have an answer.”
Eric Carlstrom, EverTrue CTO, also stated his enthusiasm for the CD-ROM package:”When our team had the idea, I said NO WAY. It can not be done. You can’t fit an entire alumni community on *one* CD-ROM. But, then, our team got busy. What we created is nothing short of a miracle.”
We’re pricing the mobile print alumni directory on par with solutions from industry leaders including Harris Connect and PCI.
EverTrue Print Alumni Directory Pricing
Collector’s Edition (hardbound) and CD Package- $109.00 +$16.95 Shipping and Handling
Regular Edition (softbound) and CD Package- $99.99 + $16.95 Shipping and Handling
Collector’s Edition (hardbound)- $99.99 + $11.95 Shipping and Handling
CD Rom- $99.99 + $9.95 Shipping and Handling
Regular Edition (softbound)- $79.99 + $11.95 Shipping and Handling Reunion CD (2yrs prior & 2yrs post alumni class yr)- $24.99 + $7.95 Shipping and Handling
“Our objective is to connect alumni to each other and to Brown,” said Todd Andrews ‘85, Vice President of Alumni Relations at Brown University, “and even in the digital age, the print directory helps to make that happen.”
“In 2006, Dartmouth alumni purchased 6,000 print directories for $100 each representing $600,000 in revenue, so print feels like a natural extension for EverTrue” said TechStars CEO David Cohen. “Furthermore, the massive amounts of paper produced by the print alumni directory industry will help bolster the declining logging industry, which is a sector TechStars is very interested in”.
In order to support this new initiative, EverTrue is raising the price of its previously free alumni apps to $109 in the iPhone and Android markets.
“As a beta tester of both the EverTrue print directory and the EverTrue mobile application, it’s my humble opinion that the mobile app is much more user friendly and effective than the print version. Therefore, the $109 mobile app price tag seems fair relative to the utility I receive from the print version,” said Phillips Andover Academy alumnus and New York Giant Zak Deossie ‘03.
HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY FROM THE TEAM AT EVERTRUE!
How to Launch an Alumni App
Your school has made the awesome decision to work with EverTrue and create an alumni app to promote networking and keep alums up to date, all on their mobile devices. Congrats! But now the question comes, how are you going to get this app in the palm of your alum’s hands? Working with new clients, I am asked this question daily and wanted to put together a sampling of some best practices to make your EverTrue launch most effective.
Remember, promoting your school’s app is not just a “one and done” experience, but rather a process. Every time you promote the app whether in person or online, you are going to get someone new to notice and download. EverTrue works with your school for the initial launch email, a mobile friendly announcement coming from your office, but there is much you can do after the dust settles to continue promotion.
2.) Make it social! Continue to promote the app through your social media channels. Looking for an easy tweet? Throw out a reminder about the app at least weekly on those channels.
3.) Event Assists: St. Paul’s School created a banner that they bring to all their events to help promote the app. Here are Jesse and Brent posing with this banner when they crashed an SPS alumni event last fall (yes we are reunion crashers!). Also, have your development team take the app with them to all events on an iPad or iPhone. Use the app on an iPad at registration to have all alumni verify their information as they make a name tag and check in!
5.) Video: Nothing says fun like a video promoting your app! Both SPS and Wheeler School used iconic faculty and staff in their humorous video launching the app. Check it out!
6.) Make it news! When Roxbury Latin School launched their app, it was a top news story on their school’s homepage. This type of news can be attractive to all those visiting your site- a perspective student seeing how cool their alumni group will be after graduation, a perspective teacher seeing the school’s use of technology stretching outside the classroom, parents intrigued with mobile technology-all can delight in this news. Not to pit notorious prep school rivals against each other, but Belmont Hill School, included an ad for their app in their alumni magazine. A great idea for app promotion in another source of school news.
7.) Incorporate: Both Potomac School and University School development officers have added links to download their app within their email signatures. When emailing with alumni and donors all day long, its smart to have the people in your school who interact with alumni most include this reminder. While an alum might not have seen your launch email, they might notice the app for the first time when you email asking them to join at a local reception or to make a gift.
8.) Postcard: It might be a bit ironic to send paper mail about a mobile app, but many schools have chosen this type of announcement. Many alums opt out of emails so this is a good way to capture those who may not be digital diablos. Isidore Newman School, Winchendon School and Virginia Military Institute all went the postcard route.
Did your school have a great promotion of their EverTrue app? Let us know!
EverTrue!
Courtney
Raise the Rim!
This past Friday EverTrue proudly hosted “Raise the Rim,” a three on three basketball tournament at the Cambridge Athletic Club benefiting the TUGG Foundation. From small and large startups, to local VCs and international law firms, Raise the Rim witnessed a variety of players from the Boston startup scene join together for a great cause, and have fun with some healthy competition.
After four hours of sweat and tears on the hardwood, we would like to congratulate to the squad from CoachUp for taking the title in a dominating fashion.
A special thanks the the 20 teams, and over 30 organizations represented, for making this hoop dream a reality, including: Uber, UKTI, Murtha Cullina LLP, CoachUp, Hadapt, Apricot Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, Akiban Technologies, EverTrue, CampusLive, GatherEd, InsightSquared, Invup, Roof for Two, StarStreet, WordStream, Goodwin Proctor LLP, Freshtemp, SCVNGR, Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst Partners, Atlas Venture,, Flybridge Venture Capital, The Toomblr, Therapeutic Systems, Precision Slip, eHighlighter, BetterLesson, SmashFly, GaggleAMP and Avison Young!
Hope to see everyone out on the court again next year!
To see more photos from the event check out our Facebook Page – if you are a Spotify user, make sure to check out the playlist from Friday!
Unfiltered Feedback About Your Online Alumni Community
I just received the e-mail below from a loyal alumnus of a New England institution. Since starting EverTrue after serving as an alumni volunteer for 5 years, I have been overwhelmed by the support we’ve received from fellow alumni who are passionate about their school. We’ve been equally saddened by alumni frustrations with the solutions available today. It’s important for alumni associations to deploy tools that meet alumni where they live: in a world that is increasingly mobile and social.
We’ve hidden the school name, but many alumni could insert their institution in this e-mail and not be too far off.
Coincidentally, Andy Shaindlin touched on many of these points in his Huffington Post article titled “Will the Internet Obsolete Alumni Associations?”. His article was published within hours of the e-mail below hitting our inbox.
Ever True!
Brent
You will have access to many useful services, including the ability to search for classmates and contact them, join or create your own affinity groups, share photos and photo albums, post your resume, participate in online discussions and much more!
New benefits to using http://[ ].[ ].edu/ include:
- Share your news and information with Alumni Posts
- Add Photo Albums and slideshows to your profile page to show others what you’ve been up to, and view friends’ photos
- Add YouTube videos to your profile page to share with other alumni
- Create and manage Groups to connect with other alumni who share your interests
- Use the Career Center to find mentors in your career field
- Share your resume with other alumni and potential employers
- Post job openings at your company or find your next career opportunity
- List items in the Classifieds area to sell or trade with alumni
- Find classmates and add them to your personal Friends Center
- Choose RSS Feeds to give you the news you want, when you want, on your profile page
- Link your Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn member pages to your [ ] Alumni profile page
- Easily update your contact information to keep in touch with other alumni and the University
- Enjoy improved navigation and increased page-loading speed throughout site
- Protect your profile information with enhanced password-protected security
There is a “Tutorial” link near your name in your profile to learn more about the new features.
[ ] is committed to providing our alumni with an online community so that you can benefit from our worldwide network. We hope you find this tool useful, and as always, we appreciate your feedback.
5 Ways to Empower Alumni Phonathon Callers
Let’s face it: alumni phonathons are not always easy, but nevertheless, they can make a substantial difference for your annual fund, and connect alumni for an important cause.
In this post we want to highlight five ways to help empower your alumni callers on the front lines, from experiences that our team at EverTrue has had dialing away for our alma maters!
1. Show Callers Why They Are Calling
It is helpful to do more than just “tell” callers why their help is important; charge them up by having current students, and alumni, share how the annual fund made a difference in their educational experience. On early calls have callers connect with alumni who shared similar housing, activities or coursework. These calls will help improve the callers’ confidence, and remind them the importance of their work.
2. Treat Your Callers Like Gold
Your callers are the voice of your institution and your alumni association. Let them know that their work is appreciated and keep them focused by providing food, drink and a clean area to work in.
3. Provide Your Callers the Tools they Need
Give your calling team some practical advice before hitting the phones, but also provide them the tools that they need to be effective at their job. Whether it be pointing to LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google search or providing them an integrated mobile solution like EverTrue, make sure to give your participants a place of reference on your alumni community to improve their chances of making a positive connection.
4. Make It Fun!
Keep a positive environment during your phonathon. Play your alma mater and your fight song on repeat. Make the venue not only clean, but filled with bright colors and signs of encouragement. Award nevertheless those with the most calls made in an hour, and with the highest donations!
5. Get Your Participant’s Feedback
Since you have members of your alumni community together in a room, make sure to let them know that their voice matters. Once calls are over have a group conversation about their experiences as students and alumni, and see how your next phonathon could be improved!
What have you seen help motivate your phonathon faithful? Let us know!
NCAA Alumni March Madness 2012
March Madness officially began yesterday, and in less than five days prior to the big tip off, ESPN and CBS Sports alone accounted for over 20 million NCAA Men’s College Basketball brackets filled.
After our team was inspired by the annual piece by Inside Higher Ed on March Madness for Academics, we decided to take our own look at who would take the championship in this year’s tourney if the victors were determined based on alumni engagement.
Our algorithm for assessing alumni engagement uses a variety of data points including alumni-specific data from US News and World Reports, and publicly measurable alumni activity on LinkedIn. We look forward to refining this algorithm in the future, and welcome your ideas!
Here is the our ranking of the top sixteen teams in this year’s “EverTrue Alumni Madness”:
1. Davidson College
2. Notre Dame University
3. Harvard University
4. Duke University
5. Lehigh University
6. St. Bonaventure University
7. Georgetown University
8. Xavier University
9. University of Alabama
10. Vanderbilt University
11. University of Virginia
12. Belmont University
13. Gonzaga University
14. Loyola University Maryland
15. Creighton University
16. Syracuse University
Congrats to Davidson on a true alumni Cinderella story in our bracket, and to all those schools that made this year’s tourney!
Are You a Reunion Pro?
EverTrue is looking for the best reunion masters for our upcoming reunion month this May! Please join us by sharing your reunion planning experiences with other alumni organizations.
Whether you are an energetic and creative alumni officer, or a seasoned alumni relations director, be part of our effort to make May a month to reflect on, and to share, best practices around reunion hosting.
Are you a reunion pro? Interested in being highlighted in our blog, or have some valuable insights that you would like to contribute to our upcoming webinar on reunions? We want you and your insight!
Just drop us a note at marketing@evertrue.com, and let us know if your school, university or organization would like to be featured!
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