How Can Alumni Relations Collaborate With Development on a Giving Day?
One of the biggest challenges for alumni relations units across the country is determining how to support giving days without a direct ask. Many schools will host chapter or regional events during their day of giving—but with that strategy, you’re almost at the peril of donation technology working at a particular venue, and you’re reliant […]
How to Track Engagement and Set Goals in Alumni Relations
I’ve been in the higher-education space for the majority of my career, but I spent over five of those years in the private sector as a higher-ed consultant. Now that I’ve transitioned to the public sector as an alumni relations professional, people often ask me how it’s different working at a university than at a company. The […]
How to Bring an Entrepreneurial Mindset to Reunion Planning
The number one thing that alumni anticipate every five years is coming back to campus. They get to reconnect with old friends, relive memories, and check out what’s changed and what hasn’t on their old stomping grounds. For many institutions, reunions are turnkey. The tradition has been present forever or it fits nicely with an […]
Here’s How Our Alumni Office Made the Switch to Content Marketing
As higher-ed professionals, we can all agree that a website is one of our strongest marketing tools. Why, then, do so many alumni relations and advancement offices continue to stick with static, out-of-date website models? Sure, static pages are helpful for alumni to find staff contact information, see upcoming events, or check in on reunion. […]
Tried-and-True Strategies for Engaging Young Alumni
Recently graduated alumni are one of the most challenging cohorts to engage in the realm of alumni relations. Not only do we have to figure out where they are and how to contact them, but we also have to talk to them differently than we do our mid-career, family audiences. So how can we tackle […]
Are Your Alumni Events Getting Stale? Here’s How to Break Out of the Cycle
Before taking the dive into alumni relations over a year ago, I worked for a direct marketing firm that helped college admissions offices. The work was cyclical in nature; every year you would get a fresh group of high school students and try out different tactics to persuade them to attend University of XYZ. The cadence […]
Bundles of Time: Our Micro-Volunteering Program at Longwood University
Finding new ways to engage your alumni base is a persistent challenge. From regional events, to on-campus reunions, to social media content, there are plenty of tactics to consider. At the end of the day, however, the goal is to get alumni to engage under the university’s banner. Here at Longwood University, our alumni relations […]
How to Get Your Alumni and Students on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a tremendous tool as we work to strengthen and grow our alumni network at Longwood University. It’s a platform where our alumni can not only connect with each other, but also endorse and recommend one another. Because of this, one of our primary goals as an alumni office is to get as many […]
