One of the most important ways that alumni organizations offer value to their alumni is through events and programs. At an accelerating rate, such programs are being delivered virtually. In Cuseum’s November-December 2020 survey of over 150 alumni relations professionals, over 97% stated that they had “begun or increased their number of virtual events in 2020.” Many universities have touted the boom of digital gatherings as one of the biggest silver linings of the COVID-19 era, with countless alumni professionals citing heightened engagement, increased participation, and overcoming geographical barriers to entry as the greatest benefits of our new virtual world. As a result, many alumni organizations are planning to continue virtual and hybrid events after the threat of COVID-19 diminishes.
That being said, in 2021 and beyond, it is becoming harder and harder to stand out from the crowd with virtual events. In addition to universities, businesses, brands, musicians, theaters, museums, and more have hopped on the virtual engagement bandwagon. As the availability of virtual events increases exponentially, competition for alumni attention in this virtual world has spiked.
By the end of 2020, many alumni professionals began to experience declining registration, participation, and engagement numbers at their virtual events. This suggests that as the world becomes more and more digitally oriented, alumni demands and expectations for virtual productions will rise accordingly.
Moreover, “Zoom fatigue” is a very real phenomenon. Many alumni may already be devoting much of their time to participating in virtual meetings and classes, and they would therefore hesitate spending their leisure hours enjoying virtual programs. While online events still possess enormous potential for alumni organizations, it’s becoming more challenging to hold the attention of your audience digitally.
How do you overcome Zoom fatigue to deliver virtual value? Even in a sea of virtual meetings and programs, many alumni professionals continue to achieve high participation and engagement rates. So, what’s their secret?
Although there’s no magic bullet to overcoming screen fatigue, successful virtual alumni events have many common ingredients:
They offer holistic remote experiences, rather than just screen time
They offer unique value & connection
They respond to topical & urgent alumni needs
Let’s jump into each of these!
Offer Remote Experiences, Not Virtual Events
Many of the most successful alumni events and programs have expanded beyond the scope of “virtual events” to deliver more engaging remote experiences. What differentiates an event from an experience? In short, an experience offers more than just an on-screen event and embraces a more expansive idea of remote engagement. While a strictly virtual event may include a panel of speakers on Zoom, a remote experience often activates participants with a tangible component that provides an opportunity for deeper connection. Let’s take a closer look at some examples:
Wine Down Wednesdays at Iona College - At Iona College, Kelly Beyrer, Assistant Director for Alumni & Advancement Events, initiated “Wine Down Wednesdays” as a remote experience, which exploded in popularity among alumni. Rather than a fully on-screen event, Wine Down Wednesday participants receive a tasting flight of eight wines through direct mail. The accompanying Zoom gathering, hosted by the college, then serves as an opportunity to connect over the experience of wine tasting, where participants can learn high level wine knowledge, fun facts and wine trivia, and tips for wine shopping. Learn more on Cuseum’s on-demand Alumni Hour webinar with Iona College, Succeeding with Virtual Events & Programs.
Virtual Wellness Week at University of Maryland - The University of Maryland deployed a similar model for their virtual wellness week. To accompany four days of wellness programming, alumni who signed up received a branded yoga mat and water bottle to round out the experience: “We’re adding in a wellness week where you can sign up, and you’ll receive your yoga mat, your water bottle and other things like that. The take home piece is big for us because we have found that alumni have a larger buy-in to the event and do attend the event when they actually receive something at home that they can use during their experience.” - Natalie Ross, Senior Director of Alumni Events & Programs @ University of Maryland Alumni Association. Learn more on Cuseum’s on-demand Alumni Hour webinar with University of Maryland, Succeeding with Virtual Events & Programs.
Alumni Charcuterie 101 at Central Michigan University - CMU’s most popular virtual event has been their Alumni Charcuterie 101. In addition to offering hands-on engagement, the event participants were mailed goodies like a custom wooden board: “The virtual event that has been a fan favorite was our DIY Charcuterie 101. For alumni who registered, they received a wooden, Michigan-shaped board with the Action C [university logo] on it. Then we had one of our chefs on campus provide a shopping list in advance, and walk us through how to build a charcuterie board. That one was a success.” - Summer Sharrard, Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement @ Central Michigan University. Learn more on Cuseum’s on-demand Alumni Hour webinar with CMU, Lessons & Reflections from 2020 in Alumni Relations.
Other universities, like New Mexico State, are designing branded spirits that can be used to enhance virtual events. According to Seneca Reyna, Alumni Relations Officer at NMSU, “New Mexico State is the only university to have our own beer, whiskey and wine tailored to the university.”
In short, tangible items that facilitate connection to the university and to the online event can take your offerings to the next level. Moving forward, one of the best ways to set your virtual events apart is to holistically reimagine them as remote experiences.
Offer Unique Connection & Nostalgia
Another effective way to enhance your virtual events is to assess what you can offer that alumni cannot easily access elsewhere. In many cases, the best way to do this is to capitalize on the unique nostalgia that your alumni feel and to incorporate this into your virtual events. Oftentimes, alumni feel a special connection to their alma mater, beloved professors, campus traditions, and their college towns. Successful alumni professionals have tapped into this nostalgia to deliver highly-praised virtual events.
Truman Traditions at Truman State University - Truman State University achieved their greatest virtual success through a Zoom event focused on campus history and traditions. It also included a physical element for local alumni: “We have some great locally-known historians who wanted to do a panel on Truman Traditions. We adopted a really neat way of doing it to include hybrid elements. For local alumni, we partnered with a favorite local restaurant, Pagliai's Pizza, to deliver frozen ‘Palonzas’ [a calzone-like dish and student favorite] to alumni in the area. This was a virtual event, but it had a specific geographical tie. It was a global virtual event, but it was also very local. We made it special for our alumni.” - Stacy Tucker-Potter, Director of Engagement @ Truman State University
Evansville in World War II at University of Evansville - The University of Evansville did something similar when hosting their fan favorite virtual event, enlisting a beloved professor to hold a lecture on the university town during World War II: “We had a history professor who is beloved by many do a virtual lecture for us. He volunteered to do it on Evansville during World War II. It was kind of a topic that was of high interest, because students feel connected to our location. We had participants from Washington, California, New York, and Florida. We were able to reach a great expanse. We had nearly 300 people sign up for that lecture online, and we received an email right afterwards from an alumnus who had never been active with it with the university. After more than 10 years this was her first event. And she felt so reconnected to the university that it prompted her then to send a gift.” - Jennifer Whitaker, Director of Alumni and Parent Relations @ University of Evansville
Nostalgia and reconnection are powerful motivators, and tapping into these can help generate engaging virtual events. As you think through virtual programming, find your niche by offering value that alumni cannot find elsewhere.
Address Topical & Urgent Alumni Needs
Last but not least, some of the most successful virtual events respond nimbly to fluctuating alumni needs. For example, during the pandemic, many alumni organizations doubled down on their virtual career programming to support alumni in a time of high unemployment.
Additionally, alumni organizations have been able to step outside their wheelhouse to address urgent constituent needs. After the events of Summer 2020 inspired a national reckoning with deeply-rooted systemic racism, many people were seeking educational resources and a community with whom to process these difficult circumstances. In response, Duke Alumni launched a virtual lecture series called Black in 2020 with their Black Alumni and the African American Studies Department. The popular six-part series had faculty and alumni speakers, and garnered over 7,000 virtual attendees.
In Summer 2020, the University of Maryland Alumni Association launched their first-ever virtual summer camp to help alumni entertain their children while working from home. While this might typically be considered outside the purview of alumni professionals, Natalie Ross, Senior Director of Alumni Events & Programs at University of Maryland Alumni Association observed that, “We had to adjust to meet the new and unprecedented needs for our alumni.”
To keep up, alumni organizations need to put their finger on the pulse of evolving alumni needs and desires. In 2021 and beyond, universities are achieving some of their highest engagement when they stretch beyond the traditional boundaries of alumni relations to meet the ever-changing demands of their graduates.
Alumni expectations are shifting rapidly, and to deliver virtual value, universities are often expanding the scope of alumni relations beyond its traditional demarcations. As the competition for digital attention intensifies, alumni professionals will need to think imaginatively, play to their strengths, and respond quickly in order to keep today’s alumni engaged.
Get in touch with us! Cuseum helps universities, alumni associations, nonprofit organizations, and museums accelerate constituent and member engagement using digital tools. Learn more here.