William Peace University was faced with a dilemma when mid-way through their first-ever Founder’s Day of Giving, the university had to send students home and cancel all campus events in the wake of the Coronavirus crisis. The university’s Office of Advancement had to think on the go to adjust to this new normal and the team decided to complete its first-ever Founder’s Day of Giving online, raising over $42,800 in 24 hours.

During a year when universities could no longer rely on traditional in-person alumni engagement initiatives, The University of Texas at El Paso successfully brought its alumni community together digitally. By automating its database update process facilitated by Raiser’s Edge NXT and social sync, the university was able to capture updated alumni information. The University successfully drove 3X alumni membership amidst the pandemic by implementing a robust alumni engagement strategy.

Like hundreds of institutions adhering to social distancing norms amidst the pandemic, Misericordia University went completely virtual for its Annual Homecoming in 2020. Keeping the health and safety of its community as the utmost priority, the Misericordia Alumni Relations Team planned a series of virtual engagement initiatives throughout the day and also encouraged members to donate in support of their beloved students. The university successfully transitioned to a Virtual Homecoming format, finding creative ways to drive high participation from alumni.

With a two-member team handling all alumni relations functions for 49,000+ alumni, Nicholls State University has the responsibility of maintaining a strong brand image and keeping its large alumni population engaged. The institution has been successful in achieving the above by showcasing outstanding alumni achievements on its digital alumni network, monthly newsletter, and social media.

Keeping track of over 1500 contacts across 30 years was a major challenge for a single-person team at The Master’s Seminary. While the institution was collecting alumni information at events, that was inadequate to keep the alumni database updated. With Almabase’s ability to pull alumni contact information from LinkedIn and Facebook and automatically update it on Raiser’s Edge, The Master’s Seminary was able to completely automate its process of updating data.

Almabase enabled Archer Center to set up their alumni community on a digital platform. Doing so, let the team establish an up-to-date alumni database in just 30 days.

Like hundreds of schools dealing with the economic impact of COVID-19, Christian Brothers Academy is following its mission by striving to ensure that no student leaves the Academy due to financial concerns. Amidst the need for financial assistance and to bring its community together during these tough times, the school went fully virtual for its first-ever Giving Day, successfully raising over $77,000 in 24 hours.

Like hundreds of schools across the country, Greenwich Academy also had to either postpone or cancel all of their in-person alumnae events due to the pandemic. However, the school could not afford to let down its alumnae by cancelling or postponing the much-awaited flagship event - the Annual Alumnae Reunion. Overcoming the constraints of social distancing, Greenwich Academy adapted to the trend of virtual alumnae events and successfully hosted its first day-long virtual alumnae reunion.

Like hundreds of universities across the country, William Peace University’s Office of Advancement struggled to find the right way to welcome the newest members of the Alumni Association and celebrate the Class of 2020 amid the constraints of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Knowing new graduates would be unable to celebrate their commencement with traditional WPU events, but the office found a way to recognize the class and toast to their success. William Peace University launched a series of virtual engagement opportunities to toast to the success of the Class of 2020.

As the COVID-19 outbreak forced St. Francis High School to move Class of 2020’s commencement ceremony online, the school went above and beyond in ensuring that their new alumni brethren receive a warm welcome. The school’s alumni community came forward with video messages extending a hearty welcome to their new community members and brightening up Class of 2020’s virtual commencement ceremony.

French American International School sensed the economic impact the COVID-19 crisis would bring. In an effort to support itself and the families associated with it, the school successfully completed its 48 Hours of Giving campaign, crossing its goal of $200,000 by 181%, raising a whopping $362,575.

With the COVID-19 outbreak forcing colleges to put on their creative hats to keep alumni engaged, Antioch College quickly adapted to the trend of virtual events. The college hosted a 6-hours long virtual div dance party for its alumni. Antioch College was able to pivot quickly towards the digital transformation that Higher Ed is currently witnessing and successfully boost attendance at its virtual event.