Why is a post-event feedback strategy critical for boosting participation?

The benefits of alumni reunions can be reaped by schools long after they’re over. Reunions offer alumni the chance to look back at the good old days and also act as a golden opportunity for making lasting relationships with their alma mater and fellow alumni. 

While alumni reunions are clearly awesome, ‘when’ you choose to organize your reunion plays a pivotal role in its success. 

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After observing over a hundred schools organize successful alumni reunions, we’ve finally settled on the end-of-the-year/holiday season as the best time for high school alumni reunions. 

When are high school reunions usually?

High school reunions usually happen in the of Summer (June - August) or towards the end of the year (September - November). What works best for your alumni may vary from school to school but we'll make our case on why we think you should consider the latter part of the year.

Why is end-of-the-year a great time for high school alumni reunions?

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Whether your alumni live in another state or halfway across the world, the end-of-the-year/holiday season is when they come home for homecoming and to spend time with their friends and family. It is therefore highly likely that your alumni will be in town to be able to attend your event.

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With most offices already closed for the holiday season, alumni have abundant time on their hands to socialize and are often in the mood to meet classmates and revisit fond memories.

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November (46.2%) and December (30.8%) are the most popular months for making year-end asks, but 7.7% of organizations start as early as September!
- Jeff Gordy
 Co-Founder of Z2 Systems, Inc.

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Since the end of the year is peak fundraising season, coupling your alumni reunion with a fundraising campaign can be highly effective for your institution. With the holiday season ringing in and alumni meeting up with old friends, there can’t be a better time to ask them to donate toward your cause.

If you're already prepping for your end-of-year alumni reunion for your school, here are some great tips on increasing alumni donations during the event.

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Conclusion

While the best time of the year ultimately depends on your alumni base and can certainly vary from year to year, the end of the year lends itself to some great engagement and fundraising strategies that are exclusive to the fall season. If you've mostly been a summer reunion school, we hope you'll give fall a try this year.

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Frequently asked questions

When are high school reunions usually held?

High school reunions are typically held 10, 20, or 25 years after graduation, often during the late summer or fall.

What month is best for high school reunions?

September or October are popular months for reunions as the weather is pleasant and schedules are less hectic.

Why is end-of-year a good time for reunions?

The end of the year is ideal because many people visit home for the holidays, making it easier to gather.

Should I plan a summer or holiday reunion?

Plan a summer reunion for outdoor activities or a holiday reunion to coincide with people’s travel and festive spirit.

Having observed over a hundred schools successfully bring attention to their alumni events and reunions via social media, we have sufficient evidence that it is one of the most powerful mediums to promote your alumni reunion successfully. A little creativity and event marketing can go a long way in making sure that the maximum amount of alumni notice and engage with your upcoming reunions.

With that being said, here are 7 tested approaches to promote alumni reunions on social media:

1. Showcase alumni experiences at past year reunions

Sharing photos and videos of previous years reunions on your social media page is one of the best ways to attract attention to your alumni reunion event. While alumni may love hearing about wonderful stories about your previous reunions, these stories become all the more engaging when they hear it from their friends or peers. Encouraging alumni to share their own experiences from previous years reunions, has proven to be highly rewarding for reunion success.

2. Ask your faculty to share their experiences

If a large amount of your alumni base is still in touch with your faculty or staff, asking faculty members to share updates about upcoming reunions or their experiences at past year reunions is a best practice you should follow.

3. Encourage alumni to take action

Another way to encourage alumni engagement and participation is by creating opportunities for alumni to take some action on your post. Here’s an example: create a simple graphic post with the tagline - “Just three days to go!! Tag 3 people you are looking forward to meeting at the reunion.”

Here’s how William Peace University drew the attention of its alumni and got them talking about their upcoming reunion.

4. Create something similar to the ‘10-Year Challenge’ on Facebook

It's generally a good idea to see which alumni event ideas are gaining traction. Take for example the widely popular 10-Year Challenge on Facebook where you can request alumni to simply post two photos, side-by-side, taken at least ten years apart. Alternatively, you can use photos from yearbooks and current profiles of alumni to create ‘10-year challenge’ posts. However, in the case of this approach, consent needs to be established before using an alum’s personal photos.

5. Evoke nostalgia with yearbook, graduation photos, and countdown posts

Instead of promoting your alumni event the traditional way, capture the attention of your alumni by constantly staying in their social media feed and reminding them of the wonderful memories they’ve had over their time spent at their school. Here’s how McCarthy Alumni Association gets this right.

6. Share Alumni Testimonials on Social Media

Create a campaign asking alumni to respond to “What's something you loved about your Class of 10 Yr Reunion?”. Share the positive feedback you receive from the campaign and from past year reunions on your social media pages, tagging those alumni who’ve provided feedback, thus ensuring a wider reach for your campaign.

7. Keep your alumni hooked with ‘Guess who is coming?’ posters

Pick images of 3-5 alumni, combine them to create a collage with question marks on top of each image, and then post it as a challenge for alumni to guess the names of the people mentioned in the post. To make it more interesting, provide hints. For example, if one of the names to be guessed is "Sarah", you can drop the letters ‘S’, ‘R’, and ‘H’ as a clue. Such campaigns not only get you visibility but also encourage your alumni to take action by responding to the challenge you’ve thrown at them.

Best social media platforms to promote alumni reunions

To effectively promote alumni reunions, institutions today have a good variety of social media platforms, each offering distinct advantages for outreach and engagement.

• LinkedIn: This platform is ideal for professional networking and reaching alumni in various career stages. Universities can create dedicated alumni groups, share professional development opportunities, and post event details directly within a professional context.
• Facebook: With its broad user base, Facebook remains a strong choice for fostering community and nostalgia. Creating private alumni groups, sharing throwback photos, and utilizing event features can drive registration and engagement.
• Instagram: For visually compelling promotion, Instagram excels. Universities can use high-quality photos and videos of past reunions, campus scenes, and alumni spotlights to evoke nostalgia and showcase the event's atmosphere.
• TikTok: To engage younger alumni, TikTok offers a dynamic platform for short, creative videos. Universities can leverage trends, showcase campus life in a fun way, and highlight reasons to attend the reunion through engaging video content.
• YouTube: For longer-form content, such as highlight reels from past reunions or interviews with alumni, YouTube is a valuable platform. Videos can be shared across other social media channels to provide a more in-depth look at the reunion experience.

Social media tips for driving alumni engagement

• Create Dedicated Alumni Groups: Establish private groups on platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook. These provide a focused space for alumni to connect, share updates, and network with peers.
• Share Compelling, Nostalgic Content: Post throwback photos, videos, and stories that evoke fond memories of campus life. Encourage alumni to share their own experiences using relevant hashtags.
• Highlight Alumni Success Stories: Regularly feature accomplishments of your alumni in various fields. This inspires pride and demonstrates the value of their alma mater.
• Host Virtual Events and Live Sessions: Offer webinars, online networking mixers, or Q&A sessions with notable alumni. Live streams can bring the campus experience to alumni globally
• Utilize User-Generated Content (UGC): Encourage alumni to share their current endeavors, campus visits, or reunion experiences. UGC fosters authenticity and broadens reach.
• Offer Value and Resources: Share content relevant to alumni's professional and personal lives, such as career development tips, job opportunities, or industry insights.
• Promote Events with Clear CTAs: Use engaging visuals and direct calls-to-action for reunion promotions, mentorship programs, or fundraising campaigns.
• Personalize Communication: Segment your alumni audience and tailor content to their interests, class years, or geographical locations for more relevant engagement.
• Engage with Comments and Messages: Respond to alumni interactions promptly and thoughtfully to foster a sense of community and show appreciation.
• Leverage Interactive Features: Use polls, quizzes, and Q&A stickers on platforms like Instagram and Facebook Stories to encourage direct participation.
• Consistent Posting Schedule: Maintain a regular posting cadence to keep your alumni community informed and engaged.
• Analyze Performance: Use social media analytics to understand what content resonates most with your alumni and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Conclusion

When it comes to promoting your alumni reunions, there’s no limit to all that you can do. Here’s a list of techniques for increasing alumni participation to your reunions that have brought success to over a hundred institutions.

Yes, we know everyone does alumni reunions. You’re probably doing it too and while you already know that alumni reunions can help you increase alumni engagement, how do you ensure that you maximize this growth?

After helping over 100 schools organize 300+ successful alumni reunions in the past two years, we did a detailed analysis of all this data and came up with actionable insights on what works best in engaging alumni via alumni reunions. Here are the 8 key findings:

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‍1. Encourage attendees to invite others in their network

Using registered alumni to influence other peers in their network to sign up has proven to be highly effective. There’s a greater chance of more alumni signing up upon receiving invites from their classmates/friends. However, a key factor here is to ensure that the registration and event-sharing process is easy. ‍‍

2. Invite faculty & staff to your event

Leveraging faculty and staff to influence high alumni turnout at reunions has proven to be an effective technique. Sending out personalized invites to your entire faculty and staff is a practice you might want to follow as this resonates well with alumni who have been looking forward to reconnecting with their former teachers.

3. Create a dedicated event page and reach out for registrations early

Ensuring you have a dedicated event page is pivotal to your event’s success. Creating an event page is important because it helps your alumni get an overview of the event you’ve planned. Also, it is always a best practice to reach out to your alumni well in advance, for registrations. Typically we’ve seen schools start reaching out to alumni 6 - 9 months before the reunion.

4. Generate buzz on social media

We already know that social media plays a pivotal role in keeping alumni engaged throughout the year. Evidence also suggests that schools have been able to drive higher alumni participation for their reunions with various approaches on social media. While providing updates concerning your reunion to your alumni is a best practice that you should follow, it is also equally important to be creative in your approach. Posting photos from previous reunions and running campaigns that urge your alumni to actively participate are some of the ways via which you can spread the word about your reunion. Here’s a list of 7 tested approaches to promote your reunions on social media.

Here’s how McCarthy Alumni Association grabbed the attention of its alumni by posting yearbook photos on their social media to promote their upcoming reunion:
https://www.facebook.com/mccarthyhighschoolalumni/posts/2073750082666696

5. Create an alumni reunion promo video

Alumni reunion promo videos have proven to be one of the most powerful methods to draw alumni attention. Personalization is key when it comes to reaching out to alumni. A personalized invitation video can be highly engaging as compared to your regular email blasts. Here’s all that you can try to make a more personal connection with your alumni:

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Shoot your video on campus

‍The best location to shoot your reunion promo is none other than your own campus. Shooting the video in multiple locations within your school campus adds a nostalgic factor to it and helps your alumni relate better.

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Choose your speakers wisely

‍Personalize it further by featuring in your video, people who are recognizable and relatable to your alumni. They could be professors, students, or maybe a more diverse set of people who your alumni might feel delighted to hear from.

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Ensure maximum reach

‍Once you’re done creating this video, the challenge lies in maximizing its reach. Ensuring your alumni don’t miss out on this video is integral. Other than sharing it on social media and emails, and encouraging alumni to share it within their networks, try to publicize this video in alumni groups, in order to reach maximum people.

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Here’s how Greater Atlanta Christian School used a personalized video to maximize participation for their Alumni Weekend 2018 event.

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6. Publish an update in school newsletter/local media

Schools have found success in bringing alumni attention to their reunions by publishing in their newsletter. Even paid advertisements in the local media have resulted in good visibility. This might be highly relevant to you if you have an outdated alumni database and a large majority of your alumni are living in the same vicinity as your school. Other than getting the word out on your upcoming reunion, this can also be seen as an excellent PR activity for your school and can help boost admissions and donations.

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North Allegheny Foundation published an article in the local media to announce alumni who would be awarded at their Distinguished Alumni Awards Gala. Check the story here.

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8. Ensure the agenda is clearly established

For alumni who might be looking beyond networking opportunities, providing added incentives such as details of speakers attending or activities that would happen during the reunion can help increase event sign-ups.

Alumni reunions are one of the best ways to get your alumni’s attention. Period. 

But, what would you say is the best way to get your alumni’s attention for them to participate in these reunions?

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Alumni reunion promo videos, YASS. 

The first peek into your upcoming event, alumni reunion promo videos are a great way to capture your alumni’s attention, evoking curiosity and nostalgia. Often, such videos are meant to be a teaser to your main event, giving away only small bits of information and hooking your audience with an incentive to reveal more soon.  

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Why do alumni reunion promo videos work?

According to a study conducted by Forbes in 2017, viewers are 95% more likely to remember a call-to-action after watching a video, as compared to 10% when reading it in text format. 

In addition to videos being the most powerful content format in the digital age, alumni reunion promo videos work because of the high level of personalization involved. A massive benefit of using the video format in your marketing plan is that it’s easy to share via social media channels and personal networks. Even if you have limited alumni contacts to send your promo video to, your alumni can further share it within their networks, influencing a much broader reach. 

While promo videos may not actually reveal a lot, they act as the perfect way to set the mood for your upcoming event. Here’s how Greater Atlanta Christian School created an alumni reunion promo video, perfectly capturing the spirit of their upcoming event, Alumni Weekend 2018.

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What makes an alumni reunion promo video awesome?

While alumni reunion promo videos sound exciting, there’s a lot of planning and prepping that needs to be done well in advance. From identifying the location of the shoot to the people who are going to feature in it, everything needs to be well thought out.  

Here are the key elements pivotal to making an awesome alumni reunion promo video:  

1. Feature recognizable and relatable people in your video
Featuring those who are recognizable and relatable to your alumni is critical to your video’s success. You could choose to feature anybody, be it professors, students, or maybe even an influential set of people who your alumni might feel delighted to hear from. 

2. Shoot your video on campus
The best location to shoot your reunion promo is your own campus. Shooting the video in multiple locations within your school campus adds a nostalgic factor to it and helps your alumni relate better.

3. Ensure maximum reach
Work doesn’t stop once you’re done creating the video. The next step is to maximize its reach. Ensuring your alumni don’t miss out on this video is integral. Other than sharing it on social media and emails, and encouraging alumni to share it within their networks, try to publicize this video in alumni groups, to reach maximum people.