Year In Review: 5 Best Virtual Alumni Events of 2020

Alumni are the backbone of any institution and maintaining consistent alumni engagement is crucial to building a great institution and ensuring continuity.

While alumni engagement has come a long way from traditional direct mail campaigns and annual student reunions, we've witnessed a tremendous shift in the way alumni relations has evolved. While advancement teams will still continue to engage alumni via traditional channels in 2024, the previous year has shown us enough evidence to suggest that institutions can no longer be restricted to them.

2024 is undoubtedly going to be a challenging year, given the evolutionary phase that alumni relations is currently in. However, where there are new challenges, there are also new opportunities. Alumni engagement this year will offer tremendous possibilities for universities to engage with their alumni on a deeper and more meaningful basis – even in these times of uncertainty and chaos.

Here are five alumni engagement trends for 2024 that you should watch out for to achieve your alumni engagement goals. 

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1. Event strategies will evolve

As the pandemic made it impossible to host in-person events in 2020, we witnessed a host of creative virtual alumni events by institutions, big and small. While the COVID-19 crisis doesn't seem likely to die down any time soon, recent reports indicate that social distancing guidelines are going to be further relaxed in 2025. 

Alumni event strategies this year are set to evolve depending on COVID-19 state regulations. Some schools may continue to host all alumni events virtually, while some may open up their campuses to in-person events. Either way, advancement teams in 2025 will need to take a hybrid approach to keep their alumni engaged.

2. Alumni will be at the heart of all alumni engagement

For a majority of institutions, alumni engagement has been restricted to monthly newsletters, traditional events, and yearly fundraising appeals. But, the pandemic has prompted advancement teams to look for creative solutions to penetrate a wider segment of their alumni population and maintain consistent engagement year-on-year.

The past few years and its unprecedented challenges have allowed institutions an opportunity to review and rebuild their alumni programming with alumni at the core of it. This year, advancement teams will find a way to provide more value and on-demand programming to build meaningful relationships with their alumni. Schools, colleges, and universities will work towards creating easily accessible programs to maximize outreach, facilitate greater flexibility, and enhance alumni relations. 

From focused workshops to career networking and mentoring programs, institutions will ensure the easy availability of all these programs to all alumni.

During the pandemic, William Peace University launched a Virtual Book Club focused on professional development and career advancement for the university students and alumni. The group helped set and realize career goals for all participants. Via this initiative, the institution made valuable resources and knowledge easily accessible to alumni and students from the comfort of their homes during a crisis. Read more → 

Thus, focusing on alumni needs is the key to forging strong, meaningful relationships in 2025.

3. Measurement of engagement data will be more streamlined

Traditionally, alumni engagement data has mostly been limited to measuring event attendance and fundraising revenue. However, these metrics failed to provide any insights during the COVID-19 pandemic, when institutions had to cancel all in-person events and dial down on fundraising asks. 

The past few years have provided advancement teams with an opportunity to identify massive gaps in alumni engagement data and work towards creating a better structure for alumni engagement reporting. 

As a result, engagement data today can do so much more – from social media interactions, email engagement, mentor-mentee engagement, to volunteer participation and a lot more. Digitization of all this data will offer advancement teams the essential knowledge they need to make the right decisions and develop stronger relationships with alumni.

4. We will see an increased focus on mid-level donors

2020 set a landmark record for one of the highest unemployment rates in the United States. This alarming trend directly affects institutions as a lot of their major gift donors have taken a huge hit on their fortune. Studies indicate that 88% of all funds donated to schools come from 12% of donors, and these donors constitute major gift donors. 

Fundraising in 2025 is going to be largely different from what we have saw back in 2020 and 2021. Institutions will shift their focus towards mid-level donors, working towards converting them into long-time donors. Additionally, advancement teams will also be on the lookout for creative ideas to expand their current donor base and drive up engagement with more diverse alumni segments.  

5. Career networks will continue to be integral to alumni programs

The importance of alumni networks for professional networking and career growth has only increased in recent years. With unemployment steadily increasing in the US, institutions have stepped up to provide an additional resource for finding and pursuing career opportunities.

Additionally, these career services also foster alumni engagement by allowing them to provide opportunities while simultaneously tapping into their alma mater's fresh talent to nurture an ever-growing community.

Why alumni engagement is essential

Alumni engagement is a crucial part of advancement and alumni relations efforts for a reason. An effective alumni engagement strategy:

• Inspires loyalty by providing a sense of belonging from your alumni to your institution. An alumni that doesn't feel engaged will obviously be less interested in events, fundraising opportunities, or helping current students or programs. It also means that your efforts need to convey a genuine attempt to kindle and maintain a human connection.
• Attracts giving as engaged alumni not only feel more compelled to give but feel confident that their generosity is going to a worthwhile cause. A heartfelt and personalized email sent to the right segment might just be the final nudge that a dormant alumni needs to provide their first gift.
• Promotes lifelong learning by making your alumni feel more likely to get involved in providing mentorships and career opportunities.
• Increases your reach exponentially as alumni who feel appreciated and want to give back eventually become prominent voices to champion your cause and amplify your outreach efforts.

Winding up...

2025 is likely to witness advancement teams rebuilding their alumni engagement programs to cater to the evolving needs of their alumni. This evolving alumni relations landscape calls for the adoption of more modern, technology-driven strategies for effective alumni engagement.

With the amount of changes that alumni relations has gone through in the past few months, we've already witnessed some amazing new trends emerge in the last few months.

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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Engaging alumni has been a critical part of your alumni programming but, the bigger question here is - how many of these initiatives are truly accessible to every single one of your alums? 

Traditional alumni engagement initiatives include organizing local mixers, career networking events, and workshops on campus but 2020 has put an end to all of these in-person activities. While these initiatives will continue to be an integral part of your alumni program in the longer run, the one downside that has become evident in these past few months is that they’re not accessible to everyone. 

If your programming involves quarterly class reunions on campus or Friday night happy hours at a nearby club, alumni who live far away are most likely to miss out. Also, some of your busier alumni might not have enough time to come to your in-person event and some may not see enough value in providing their services as a mentor. Various factors such as location, time, and the right value are crucial in defining how accessible your alumni programming is. 

As advancement teams increasingly need to think out of the box in order to penetrate wider segments of alumni, institutions have found the perfect way to make their alumni programming more accessible to everyone - On-Demand Alumni Programs. On-demand alumni programs are services that any alum can access from anywhere, ideally anytime they want.

As 2020 throws one curveball after another, here’s a closer look at how your peers are fighting these challenges by implementing on-demand alumni programs. 

1. Virtual Events

Events have and will always be at the forefront of your alumni programming. However, the pandemic has completely transformed the way alumni events are now being hosted. An increasing number of institutions are choosing to include virtual events in their alumni programming owing to strict social distancing measures in place. 

Virtual events allow more flexibility and that’s also a major reason behind this format seeing a huge traction over the last few months. As your alumni mostly stay confined to their homes, time and location are no longer a constraint when it comes to participation. Moreover, events like social mixers and happy hours hosted virtually are also helping institutions provide their alumni with some much-needed respite in the face of rising anxiety and stress due to isolation. 

2. Career support networks

Career support networks offer incredible opportunities for alumni and students to interact with one another, increasing the chances of students landing job offers, internships, and finding the right mentors. For your alumni community, a career support network acts as a great source for professional networking opportunities and helps alumni make valuable connections to further accelerate their careers.

With unemployment an ever-looming problem on the horizon for students and alumni alike, career support networks have become even more relevant in 2020. As alumni and students count on their peers and alma mater respectively to navigate the tough job market, career support networks should be a mainstay feature to your alumni programming in 2020. 

While traditional job fairs or in-person networking sessions are currently on hold due to the pandemic, institutions have switched to the virtual format to host these events.

3. Alumni Business Directory

Alumni business directories are a great way to empower businesses owned by your community members. These directories are perfect for showcasing your solidarity with budding entrepreneurs in your community and help uplift their efforts by leveraging the power of your alumni network. Not only do these networks help promote local alumni businesses, they’re also super helpful in building avenues for collaboration between alumni business owners. 

According to data from Yelp, a platform used widely by local businesses to advertise their services in the US, nearly 66,000 businesses have folded since March 1. Researchers at Harvard believe that the rates of business closures across various markets are likely to be even higher. (Information source: The New York Times)

If the above data is to be believed, investing in an online alumni business directory for your alumni may no longer be an option but a necessity in 2020. 

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4. Continued learning programs

If your institution believes in providing value to alumni and foster lasting relationships, you have to find ways beyond the traditional. Continued learning programs are a great way to ensure that your alumni stay actively engaged with you long after they’ve left campus. 

While you may already have monthly guest lecture programs or seminars where your notable alumni come to campus and share their experiences with invited community members, just imagine the impact of doing all of this virtually. If you share the same resources in an educational webinar, podcast, or video format and live-stream it, or just publish it on your alumni website, your alumni community will be able to access all this information anytime they want, at their own convenience. More importantly, they can always come back to these resources and even re-share them with their own networks, helping you tap into a wider network of alumni. 

The best way to identify what learning resources your alumni find valuable is by asking them. You could start by conducting a short survey to gauge their interest in different topics ranging from professional to personal development. 

Take inspiration from Fielding Graduate University’s Alumni Association that did a phenomenal job of providing on-demand learning resources to their alumni community in the form of webinars, virtual workshops, and learning guides amidst COVID-19. Head over to Fielding Graduate University’s alumni website to learn more.

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5. Online Mentoring Programs

From increasing meaningful engagement to facilitating professional development for your alumni and students, a mentoring program is a great addition to your alumni programming. While some of you might already have this in place, how much of this is truly accessible for every single one of your constituents?

Do you have a mentoring program where your alumni have to visit your campus to talk to students or answer their questions, even if it is for a couple of days in a year? What if this process could be completely moved online adding more flexibility? Digitizing your mentoring program means increased flexibility for both alumni and students as they get to avail the benefits of this program right from their homes at their own convenience. 

How to leverage your alumni network

Now that your alumni program is accessible and easy to engage for all your alumni, let’s look at some of the things you can do with it.

1. Alumni engagement and community building

Alumni programs readily lend themselves to alumni engagement strategies. Your emails, newsletters, social media posts, and online communities all combine to keep your alumni engaged while providing a sense of community. What sets an accessible alumni program apart is its ability to provide personalized, two-way communication channels that make alumni feel valued and, therefore, willing to support.

💡Check out how Almabase empowers your alumni relations efforts

2. Fundraising & Philanthropy

Alumni who are actively part of your program are more likely to have a personal connection and sense of loyalty. Nurturing these sentiments is a huge part of any institution’s fundraising strategy. An accessible alumni program should also help you nurture first-time donors and turn them into loyal supporters.

💡 Check out how we helped Boyd-Buchanan School turn alumni engagement into fundraising success.

3. Events & Reunions

Alumni programs provide a pool of well-nurtured contacts and probable volunteers for upcoming events such as your homecoming and reunions, among others. These programs become increasingly important for hosting affinity reunions or special events meant for a specific segment of alumni.

4. Mentorship and Career Services

Your alumni should be able to easily see opportunities to help your next wave of graduates, either by providing mentorships or sharing career opportunities. A well-functioning and accessible alumni program reinforces a sense of lifetime partnership between your institution and your alumni to motivate both alumni and current students to get involved.

5. Curriculum and academic involvement

Alumni are not only stakeholders and supporters but can also be organic partners in shaping your educational programs. Your alumni program could either invite feedback or have a formal structure through, say, an **alumni advisory board** for specific departments or courses. Thesis assistance, curriculum enrichment, and extracurricular assistance are some other avenues through which your alumni program can become a valuable pool of educational partners.

Conclusion

An accessible and well-run alumni program naturally develops into a long-term partnership with a body of loyal supporters and advisors who share a common educational and philanthropic goal with you.  

Today, there are a lot of tools and platforms out there that will help you build that partnership and nurture it. If you’re looking for a platform that integrates with your CRM, springboards your engagement, and streamlines your fundraising goals, why not give Almabase a try? 👇

Pandemic or not, nothing stops advancement teams from coming up with the best ideas to engage alumni virtually and support them.

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So, with the current state of things prompting schools and universities to digitally engage their constituents, one trend that’s picking up is virtual events. 

Having observed over a hundred schools and universities host successful virtual alumni events in the past three months, here’s the list of the top 10 trending ones being adopted by advancement teams in the US.

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1. Virtual Alumni Reunions

While nothing replaces the feeling of reuniting with old friends at a class reunion, strict social distancing measures are leading to an increasing number of institutions adopting the virtual format to host their reunions. 

Translating these large constituent gatherings into an online celebration is a great way to drive more attendance as constituents from all over the world, irrespective of their geographical location can join, granted they have a good internet connection. Whether it’s a short social mixer or a longer event spread over the weekend, effective planning is the key to hosting a successful virtual alumni event.  

In lieu of social distancing measures, Brenau’s Office of constituents and Constituent Engagement hosted its Constituents Reunion Weekend online, bringing its community together to connect and catch up during these challenging times.

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2. Virtual Commencement

Commencement is a milestone in every student’s life and deserves to be celebrated with grandeur. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 crisis has led to many ceremonies being called off leaving students around the world in a state of despair. 

If you’re concerned about your Class of 2020, use this opportunity to reach out to leaders in your alumni community and urge them to reach out to your young graduates. As an alma mater, this is the time for you to boost their morale and foster leadership skills needed to navigate the new world. 

In a grand gesture, high school students, educators, and world leaders came forward for a television special Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020 on May 16th, 2020, to honor those high school graduates whose graduation ceremonies and proms were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show included a variety of commencement addresses, celebrity performances and inspirational speeches.

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Another great virtual commencement ceremony that deserves a shoutout is by the University of Pittsburgh. The first-of-its-kind in the history of the university, degrees were awarded to nearly 8,000 undergraduate, master’s, professional and doctoral candidates. Students were emailed a “virtual” diploma immediately after the ceremony.

3. Virtual Race

With everyone confined to their houses, forced to work from home, schools closed, and limitations on social interactions, physical fitness and well-being is getting deprioritized for a lot of people. Virtual runs/walkathon events are a great approach to bringing your alumni community together, driving more conversations and most important of all - creating an avenue for them to make time for their well being.

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4. Virtual Happy Hour

Virtual happy hours are the perfect approach to helping your alumni relieve stress and overcome the fear of isolation as they open up to their friends over drinks. Create a dedicated event page for collecting RSVPs and lay down all the details on this page. Ask your alumni to grab a beverage of their choice, join the meeting link, and drink away the night!

St. Thomas University School of Law created a dedicated event page for its first-ever Young constituents Virtual Happy Hour and promoted the event via social media.

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5. Virtual Dance Party

It’s going to be a while before your alumni can go out to their favorite club or invite their friends over for a crazy dance party but don’t let that stop you from bringing the experience home to them. Host a virtual dance party to bring out those crazy moves.

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Antioch College roped in their alumni DJs from across generations and got 400+ registrations to its Virtual Div Dance Party event in just 11 days! The college set up a dedicated event page on its alumni network, laying down all the details needed for alumni to be able to participate and extensively promoted the event via Facebook.

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6. Virtual Fundraising Events

While many institutions are still in a dilemma of whether or not to make a fundraising ask during an ongoing global crisis, the recent #GivingTuesdayNow saw some super creative virtual giving campaigns. 

As schools and universities face a desperate need to maintain their revenue streams especially in the face of a looming economic crisis, many institutions are opting for student emergency campaigns and online auctions. 

The French American International School anticipated a need for an increase in financial aid for next year as it provides support to its students in the form of tuition, books, lunches, and to every family that needs help during these tough times.

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7. Seminars and webinars to help your alumni navigate the crisis 

Support your alumni community with vital resources required to deal with the coronavirus via a virtual webinar or a seminar. As the world deals with uncertainty, fear, and anxiety amidst this crisis, bring health experts, career coaches, and your university leadership to come together and disseminate helpful information.

In response to COVID-19, University of Washington’s Department of Global Health initiated a weekly virtual lecture series featuring UW researchers who are coronavirus and pandemic preparedness experts, covering topics from testing and response measures to vaccine development and social & economic impacts.‍

Read more about UW Department of Global Health’s “Exploring and understanding the COVID-19 pandemic” seminar series here. 

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8. Virtual Book Clubs

With the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, your alumni now have the time to catch up on that old classic that they never got to complete and even reconnect with their long-lost reading groups. 

Create virtual book clubs and target interested audiences with invitations to join these exclusive communities where they can connect with like-minded peers and have fruitful conversations that stir every book lover’s soul. Share a reading schedule allowing members time to read the book, participate in the discussion, and allow them to choose if they want to participate in the next reading session.

William Peace University, a liberal arts college in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, launched a Virtual Book Club focused on professional development and career advancement for the university students and alumni. The group acts as a community that collectively sets and realizes career-related goals.

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9. Virtual Gaming Night

A virtual gaming night can be a great way to de-stress and relax with friends. Bring your alumni community together for a fun night of online poker, charades, or pictionary to inspire a healthy sense of competition amongst your alumni. You could even get some of your favorite staff members to make a special appearance to spruce up the night. 

Here’s how Samueli Academy brought its alumni community together during COVID-19 with Social Distancing Gaming Night over Zoom.

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10. Virtual Yoga Session

With the rising stress and anxiety levels owing to COVID-19, now’s the best time for your school or university to start a virtual exercise or yoga program for your alumni. Organizing virtual exercise or yoga sessions for your alumni community during these tough times can help them deal with stress, depression, anxiety, fatigue, and motivate them to work towards their overall physical and mental well-being. 

Get certified Yoga practitioners/trainers from your community to lead these sessions to help their peers become fitter and better. 

William Peace University roped in its former Alumni Board President, Alli Leggett '01 to organize a virtual yoga session for alumni to join from the comfort of their home.

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