4 Tips to Use Your University Website to Engage Alumni

Last year was disappointing for many, especially milestone classes longing for reunion programs and special events to commemorate their grad year. However, many institutions mitigated the situation by pivoting to virtual events so their members could connect from wherever they were. Going forward, many institutions plan on focusing on virtual and hybrid events instead of going completely in-person, given the flexibility they offer — alumni can choose to attend in person or hop on a call no matter where they are.

If you are looking for ways to engage your alumni in 2024, consider the following virtual and hybrid event ideas, we have got your back. Let’s dive in and discuss some virtual and hybrid alumni engagement events you can plan for your alumni.

1. Speaking Event with a Famous Alumni

Organize a speaking event involving a public figure or influencer who is an alumnus. This event can be entirely virtual or hybrid to create a homecoming experience for those interested in attending in person. When choosing the event speaker, consider an individual with a strong personality who can pull the targeted crowd of alumni and use their platform to publicize the event. Your team may need to book your famous figure early. It’s best practice to reach out to the potential speaker about six months in advance to lock down a date with them.

Consider compiling a list of upto three key people and contacting those of top priority first. Once you’ve secured a speaker, other event logistics such as securing a virtual event platform or mobile event app can follow. Consider also allowing the speaking event to be an opportunity for networking and fundraising.

2. Alumni Webinar Series

Bring the expertise of industry-leading professionals to alumni in a virtual setting. These webinars are ongoing alumni engagement events that are geared toward the professional development of members. They could be monthly or bi-monthly, but they must cover a variety of topics that delight attendees. The content related to alumni’s career and personal well-being can be delivered as live webinars, pre-recorded streaming, or uploaded as on-demand content.

To have interactive webinars, use a virtual event platform to host these webinars so that attendees can connect and contribute with their profiles and continue to engage with one another on the platform after the events.

3. Homecoming and Reunion Weekend

A homecoming or reunion weekend is an opportunity for alumni to connect with faculty, students, and staff. This annual event usually features a variety of programs such as:

• Live and on-demand faculty lectures
• Moderated panel discussions
• Celebrations of special classes and milestones (50th, 40th, 30th, 20th, etc.)
• Virtual alumni breakout chats
• Sharing moments from their journey at the university
• Drive-in movie premieres which your team can also stream online
• Special artist performance
• Special awards, honors, and dinner
  

When organizing a homecoming alumni event, focus on content strategies that will provide meaningful engagement opportunities for all attendees. Make event sessions, offers, and experiences contextual to create personalized experiences for attendees.

Homecoming and reunion events are the best fit for hybrid experiences. Therefore, you should put considerable effort into engaging online attendees in every aspect of the event. It is critical to choose a versatile event platform and app that can provide the required engagement level.

4. Alumni Variety Night

Create a fun experience for your alumni to connect, network, learn and give by organizing a virtual or hybrid alumni variety night. As the name implies, you can be creative to include anything that offers fun engagement and fosters interactions among members. Consider the suggestions below:

• Fireside chats on matters of common importance
• Dinner, in-person and virtual
• Networking sessions, in-person and virtual
• Special honors and awards
• Fundraising gala with silent auctions

You can also make the variety night a fundraising gala with silent auctions that target wealthy alumni groups. The auction items should be distinctive and enticing to encourage bidders. You can make them more special by getting famous alumni like renowned scientists, celebrities, and athletes to sign the items that are up for bidding.

The auction can also involve naming rights to a building or facility within your institution’s campus so alumni can secure their legacy at the school.

5. Game Events

Another way to engage your alumni is by organizing game activities as stand-alone events. You can do this virtually and include some fundraising elements in the games as well. We suggest the games below for the best event possible:

Picture Zoom

Present alumni with zoomed-in images of popular places on campus and ask them to guess what the full image is. To organize this game, gather some pictures and create a quiz slide with the zoomed image included. Then have players guess where the photo was taken. Set a time limit and award points based on speed and accuracy of answers. After the quiz is taken, show the whole image in the quiz leaderboard slide and display the top winners.

Scavenger Hunts

A virtual scavenger hunt consists of individuals or group hunters racing to find items or solve challenges. The event host creates challenges that members can complete within their homes. For example, the host can ask members to hunt for a list of items that connect them with their alma mater and set a time limit to find them. The host approves the items that are submitted and determines the winners.

Alumni can play the game in groups based on alumni classes and each group can assign tasks to the other groups in succession to make the game more fun.‍

Mini Balderdash

This game is about putting up an uncommon word from the English language and asking your members to guess the meaning. You will likely get different, fun guesses.‍

‍Melody Match‍

Select a collection of tunes that your alumni can relate with and play each for about 10 to 20 seconds. Ask members to identify the song and the artist to win. ‍

Most likely to...‍

This game is suitable for smaller rooms with a class of alumni who know their fellow mates well. Name some “most likely to” scenarios and ask participants to vote on who's most likely to do or get involved in a particular thing, whether good or bad.

There are other games and fun activities like virtual jeopardy, virtual yoga, and endurance exercises that you can plan for your alumni. During game activities, encourage members to put their webcam on to make things more exciting and interactive. With an effective virtual event platform and mobile event app, you can host all kinds of alumni engagement events within a calendar year. It will make planning future events easier because you’ll now be able to measure your ROI and engagement success as you begin hosting events.

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The holiday season is just around the corner. As the festive season brings your alumni home to visit their loved ones, it also presents one of the best opportunities for your institution to connect with your alumni on a deeper level and lay the lego blocks for lifetime relationships.

The festive spirit is high in the air but the 2020 holiday season is one-of-a-kind in its truest essence. The pandemic might have affected several segments of your alumni differently - confining some to work tirelessly from their homes while balancing their social lives, exposing frontline healthcare workers to massive risks, robbing some of their jobs and even near and dear ones due to the virus. At a time like this, it's particularly important for your institution to support your alumni and deliver the highest value.

So, how do you best leverage this holiday season to drive more alumni engagement? After observing hundreds of schools driving success with their alumni network over the years, we've found these top 5 strategies that can help your school, college, or university boost alumni engagement rates this holiday season: 

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1. Conduct Professional Networking Events 

2020 has already set a landmark record for one of the highest unemployment rates in the United States. The alarming numbers projected by the US. Bureau of Labour Logistics is a clear indicator of why your alumni need your support now more than ever. 

With the pandemic resulting in the worst job market since the Great Depression, your younger alumni are at an even larger risk as they lose their on-campus jobs, internships, and are already witnessing dwindling job opportunities.

Amidst all this chaos, professional networking events are one of the surest ways to provide value to your alumni and help them in these dire times of need. Corporate jobs respect recommendations, and applicants actively seek social connections and support. Leverage your existing network and motivate influential alumni to help their peers out in these dire times of need. 

Your alumni network has a wealth of knowledge that your current students and graduates, both can benefit greatly from. Get your community together for webinars, discussion panels, podcasts, workshops, and much more to lead the way towards professional growth for your alumni. 

Here's how Fordham University's Alumni: Help A Ram Today campaign supports Class of 2020 graduates by encouraging alumni to hire these young grads for a full-/part-time job or an internship.

2. Host a Virtual Holiday Party

What are holidays without holiday parties? The landscape this year might look somewhat different due to the pandemic but that shouldn't rob your alumni of the opportunity of connecting with long-lost peers, toast to each other's good health, and ring in the holidays from the comfort of their homes.

A great alternative to continuing with the tradition of hosting holiday parties this year is to do it virtually. Holidays are the perfect time to get your alumni together over a couple of drinks and celebrate over an e-party. A surefire way to grab more alumni attention and drive attendance is to create themes like 80′s retro or a Christmas Character Party. To make it easy for you to manage and even easier for your alumni to participate, host your virtual party over Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or another common video conferencing tool. 

Here’s how Tufts University Foundation celebrated the holiday season virtually with its alumni at its New England Virtual Holiday Party.

3. Raise Funds to Support Your Community 

With the pandemic leading to forced furloughs, students having to drop out of schools, and many small businesses shutting down, your constituents need your support now more than ever. Make the most of the holiday spirit and find ways to fundraise for your community.

Riding high on the giving spirit this holiday season, also urge your community to come in support of your institution’s cause by helping with emergency needs and in bracing the impact of the pandemic. 

Planning your annual holiday drive to raise funds for academic continuity or to support your community are perfect examples of fundraising asks for this year. 

See how Germanna Community College helped support students’ critical needs amidst with $500k in donations during the holiday season of 2020.

4. Send Seasons Greetings E-Cards

A simple gesture such as sending creative e-cards is a great way to express festive greetings, gratitude, and acknowledgment for your alumni network's contribution to your institution. Include this as part of your yearly holiday activity to drive engagement and foster lasting alumni relationships.

The example from the University of Westminister works as the perfect inspiration here. The school rolled out 30-second animated e-cards to wish happy holidays and thank their alumni for their ongoing support. 

5. Leverage Social Media Platforms to the Fullest

Social media is a dominant tool today and has a lot of potential for alumni engagement. Young alumni especially spend considerable time scrolling their feeds daily. 

If your institution has an online presence on these platforms, use them to encourage higher participation. If you’re unsure about where to start, you can consider looping in student volunteers to ramp up your social media presence and start driving engagement with your alumni online. 

Drive more engagement online by conducting live chats, contest giveaways, and posting yearbook pictures to evoke nostalgia and create a buzz amongst your alumni community. You can even encourage alumni to post their 'throwbacks' with the right hashtags and repost them on your channels. 

Ugly sweater contests have also become a yearly trend, with universities and other schools creating innovative rules and giveaways to attract greater participation. Take cues from Boston University's Annual Ugly Holiday Sweater Contest to create one for your community this holiday season.

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Make the Most of This Holiday Season 

With the holidays arriving soon, there are many opportunities to express unconditional support and boost alumni relations and engagement. 

Your alumni are your family and the holidays are the perfect time of the year to showcase solidarity. 

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If you’re someone handling alumni engagement for your school, you know that engaging recent graduates is one of the most challenging aspects. So, before diving right in, let’s take a closer look at why young alumni need to be engaged and its long-term impact.

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Why is it important to engage young alumni?

Young alumni have the potential to turn into future major donors. But, they must be approached the right way. Billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s first donation to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, was at the age of 23 and the amount was $5. Since then, he has donated close to $1.8 billion to support research, teaching, and financial aid at the university. 

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Yep, that’s accurate. 

Why should young alumni be approached differently in comparison to older alumni?

Chances are this segment of your alumni population won’t respond to your fundraising asks for the next few years. They are just starting a career and personal financial problems such as paying off student loans or relocating to a new city for college are likely to get prioritized over donating to or engaging with their alma mater.

While young alumni may not be the biggest contributors over the next few years, they can be of great help to your school by offering you their valuable time, in the form of volunteer work and internships. 

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Here’s a look at the 6 most effective strategies employed by schools to engage their young alumni. 

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1. A mobile-responsive alumni website

While this is something that is recommended irrespective of whether or not your school is catering to young alumni, having a responsive alumni website is especially great for capturing the attention of the younger generation. As the younger generation is more inclined towards using mobile devices, being able to easily access all the websites and their resources on their devices helps provide more opportunities for them to engage with their alma mater.

Take a look at Nicholls State University’s up-to-date and easily accessible mobile-friendly website below.

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2. Value in the form of workshops, jobs, and networking events

As recent graduates, your alumni already have a lot to worry about. The key to building a lasting relationship is to address these issues and provide them with valuable support. This could be in the form of workshops, job prospects, mentorships, social networking mixers, or even emotional support. 

3. Alumni surveys

A time-tested technique for finding out what your young alumni would be most interested in, alumni surveys are great at saving time and effort. Creating a short survey asking alumni what they would like to hear about from their alma mater is an effective way of grabbing attention and delivering value. There are various tools such as Typeform and Survey Monkey that can help you create short surveys. For example, The College of Idaho took a short survey that revealed ‘Financial Planning’ as the most pressing concern for a majority of young alumni. Based on the results of this survey, the college organized a free workshop on Saving Money & Paying Off Debts, as a way to support its young alumni.

4. Targeted email campaigns

Instead of the usual marketing email blasts, focused emails targeted at specific segments of alumni are bound to yield better results. The most effective way to keep young alumni engaged with emails is to provide them with consistent value, right from the start. If you are trying to engage alumni who recently graduated, targeting them with emails that showcase relevant job opportunities is the best way to do it. 

Take a look at how T. Howard Foundation, a non-profit organization based out of Silver Spring, Maryland, shares job opportunities with its young alumni via emails.

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5. Creative use of social media

According to a recent study published by Broadband Search, 79% of college graduates use at least one social media site. 

Social media is a great tool for engaging young alumni not just because of its high accessibility and adaptability but also because of the flexibility it provides. There is no limit to how creative you can get and that’s what resonates the most with young alumni. Incorporating more video content and trying to create campaigns that urge alumni to take action are ideal components of a great social media strategy. Here’s how William Peace University drew the attention of its young alumni and got them talking about their upcoming reunion.

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6. Focus on in-person interaction

While having a digital engagement strategy in place is pivotal, completely depending on it is not recommended. In-person interaction is a fundamental part of fostering lasting relationships with young alumni. Here’s how our customer, Charlotte Christian School got this right.

As a way of extending support to young alumni, Charlotte Christian School sent out a video featuring beloved teachers wishing alumni good luck ahead of their exams and conveying to them how much they care. The video also acts as a special appeal for alumni to come back to school for a wonderful time with their teachers and friends.

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