With commencement ceremonies right around the corner, we’ve got to thinking about creative gifts to give your graduating class. You certainly don’t want your recent grads walking off campus without feeling the love from their alumni association. So, while we still appreciate the tried and true commencement gifts, we wanted to share a few unique gift ideas:
Keep Alumni Connected:
For the past few years, the University of Rochester has given their grads an engraved business card holder with a “keep in touch” card inside which includes links to their Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. Graduation is an amazing time to drive newly minted alumni to connect with your social presence. We recommend using CardMunch to make sure that all business cards are converted into a mobile rolodex in your smartphone. Alumni can use this app to expand their professional networks by connecting on LinkedIn.
Green Gifts for Grads:
Encourage your alumni to go green and show their school pride by gifting them with eco-friendly swag. Reusable grocery bags featuring your schools logo and alumni association is a great gift for those heading to a local farmers market! Alumni that are relocating can use Locavore to find farmers markets in their new neighborhood. Mugs, tumbler cups, or travel coffee mugs are also great gifts that encourage alumni to skip the disposable Starbucks’ cup and show off their school swag instead.
Capture the Moment:
Graduation day is always a time chock-full of photo opportunities. Launch an Instagram campaign and encourage grads to share their best photos of the day using a graduation day hashtag. Make it a contest where the ten users who entered photos that received the most likes will be sent a framed photo of their picture using a service like Printstagr.am (in a frame engraved with your school name and logo, of course)!
Another option is to consider contracting with a local photo booth company (like this one in Boston) for one of your senior events. You can brand the border of the photos and ask alumni to share their favorite shots on your graduation Pinterest board or enter it in the Instagram contest.
What is your alumni association gifting this year graduation? Let us know!