How can alumni associations help students and recent graduates become engaged alumni?

As the world begins to reopen in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, nearly every industry faces the challenge of adjusting to a profoundly transformed social, cultural, and economic landscape. While some sectors have struggled to adapt, many others have approached this transitional moment as an opportunity for improvement and growth – and have found success in doing so.

One of the most enduring effects of the COVID era is its catalysis of existing technological trends, accelerating the virtual transformation of work, education, and socialization. For those entities already struggling to evolve at a pace with technological advancement, the pandemic has acted as a forcing mechanism, compelling them to rethink outmoded business models in order to thrive in our new digital paradigm.

The field of alumni relations, traditionally reliant on institutional authority and in-person engagement, has faced a unique reckoning: In an era of virtual engagement and widespread digital access to social and professional networks, how can alumni associations help students and recent graduates become engaged alumni?

At their best, alumni associations offer their members unrivaled value in social connection and professional development, as well as providing essential support to current students and universities. As part of Cuseum’s effort to support growth and flourishing in alumni relations, here are five important tips to help you and your organization seamlessly transition students into active, invested members of your alumni community:

1. Invest Early

When imagining the smoothest-possible pathway from student to alum, it’s intuitive that one should begin by laying a strong and supportive foundation from the very beginning. Alumni organizations can and should be a source of mutual benefit: investing in the wellbeing and success of a student during their college career will help fortify their relationship to the university, contribute to their career success, and make them more likely to remain involved with their peers and alma mater as graduates.

So, what does that investment look like?

Alumni organizations have employed a variety of strategies to engage and nurture current students – Whether it’s through tried-and-true methods like scholarships, mentorship programs, and scholastic incentives, or more contemporary initiatives like remote networking events, Zoom lecture series, and virtual wine & cheese nights, there are countless ways to provide value for students and plant the seeds for a robust future alumni network.

For example, bolstering professional support and resources prior to graduation can streamline the student-to-alumni member track. Today’s young professionals are entering a transformed job market—along with the newfound freedom of remote work, the pandemic has also brought economic precariousness and uncertainty. Studies show that a stable and enduring support system of social connections is a key determiner of a student’s future success: by providing mentorship and employment support, you not only arm them with the tools to succeed, but increase the likelihood that they will transition into involved and enthusiastic alumni.

Anita Brothers, Director of Alumni Relations & Engagement at Dayton University, has deployed a model which views student and alumni engagement as both holistic and interrelated: “At Dayton, think in terms of value propositions. How can alumni add value to the enrollment process? How can alumni add value in the student-to-alumni journey? And then, how do we provide services and benefits for life to our alumni?”

Of course, investing in students is about far more than creating “pre-alumni.” Alumni associations are deeply committed to students’ current and future achievement for the simple reason that it is a foundational social good. Fostering a happy, healthy, ambitious student body is a key contribution to a well-functioning society. Growing your membership is crucial to that end, as it ensures a legacy of support for both the alma mater and its students.

2. Communicate Value

The rise of online social networks, in addition to more recent challenges like remote learning, has fundamentally altered the way students relate to their peer groups, both prior to and following graduation. As social media and other digital networking platforms have gained popularity, they have replaced many of the benefits and opportunities traditionally supplied by alumni associations.

While social media might have disrupted the established value structure of alumni engagement, it can also offer advantages when leveraged by alumni associations themselves. In fact, data from the 2020 VAESE Alumni Relations Benchmarking Study shows that alumni outreach via targeted content on social media is 29% more effective as an engagement tool than any other category of benefit, including on-campus, travel, career-focused and event-based benefits.

As the world transitions to a mobile-first paradigm, it is increasingly important for alumni organizations to take advantage of the unique engagement opportunities mobile technology presents. The demand is already there – 75% of alumni would engage more with their alumni organization if their alumni benefits were mobile-friendly – and the good news is that innovations in digital and mobile marketing have opened the door for other sectors to leverage the latest advancements in digital communication channels.

For example, text message marketing, also referred to as short message service (SMS) marketing, is one tool that has proven to be incredibly effective means for brands to keep consumers up to date on product campaigns, special deals, and other value offers. Its popularity as a brand messaging device has spurred more widespread use – cultural institutions, nonprofits, public services, and even political campaigns have adopted SMS marketing.

That’s why Cuseum is proud to offer a brand-new SMS tool as a solution for membership growth and engagement in the alumni affairs sector. Located within the same unified platform as our digital membership service, Cuseum’s SMS Text Messaging software is a simple, convenient way to maintain open channels of communication with your constituents. And just like our on-demand push notification resource, SMS provides a direct, instant, customizable way to apprise member prospects of the exceptional value you offer.

Given the prioritization of personalized, mobile-centered communication among college students, it is easier than ever to engage, inform, and invest in the future of your alumni network.

3. Embrace Virtual and Hybrid Opportunities

Alumni organizations have a strong legacy of providing value to their members through programs and events; Historically, however, these initiatives have been tied to physical campuses and regional alumni chapters. When the arrival of COVID-19 suspended well-attended in-person activities like reunions, cultural and athletic events, and other on-campus festivities, universities and alumni organizations were forced to rethink their approach. Ultimately, this has led to a pivot to virtual.

In Cuseum’s 2020 survey of alumni professionals, over 97% stated that they had “begun or increased their number of virtual events” and many universities extolled the engagement-driving benefits of virtual events. Alumni professionals too have cited heightened engagement and participation as a result of digital get-togethers. By transcending geographical barriers to participation, remote events have proven effective in propelling membership growth and engagement.

As Madeline Goldfischer, Assistant Director of Regional Alumni Chapters at Sarah Lawrence College put it, “By quickly pivoting to virtual programming, we have been able to engage alumni in locations where they could not previously participate in our events. We have had first-time event participants from across the country and internationally.”

Over the course of the pandemic, however, the surge in virtual events throughout the pandemic has heightened the competition for attention and increased the stakes for virtual attendance. Alumni relations, like so many other professional sectors, has experienced instances of slowed growth, declining attendance and a rise in “Zoom fatigue.” As we continue to adapt our new digital-first reality, the need to offer unique value via digital channels and virtual events will become more imperative.

How to stand out, now that virtual engagement becomes the norm?

Even with an expansive approach to virtual member engagement, the alumni relations field must remain nimble enough to respond to the fluid nature of digital norms post-COVID. As restrictions ease and educational institutions reintegrate in-person learning, the focus has increasingly shifted to an approach that can encompass both virtual and physical events.

Educational and alumni professionals alike have expressed the belief that the future of student and graduate socialization will be a hybrid one, with some combination of digital and physical events. This means that organizations dedicated to the growth and activation of alumni networks will need to strike a balance between in-person and virtual opportunities for engagement.

4. Get Personal

While the future may be a hybrid one, our present is defined by the rising demand for personalized digital experiences.

The accelerated migration of work, education, commerce, and culture into the digital realm has spurred a saturated market of virtual goods and services, with the result that the online user experience can feel generic and often lacking in unique value offers. In response, major brands and corporations across every industry have moved toward increasingly personalized consumer outreach.

As leading businesses like Amazon, Spotify, Snapchat, and Target take personalization to the next level, consumer expectations of personalized experiences rise. Data from Epsilon and GBH Insights found that 80% of U.S. consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand that offers a personalized experience.

These trends extend beyond the domain of e-commerce: higher education professionals and alumni associations have watched the shift toward personalized digital marketing and are responding in kind. Data from the survey conducted by Cuseum revealed that 77% of alumni relations professionals believe they need to offer more personalized engagement for their constituents.

Yet alumni organizations remain far behind the business sector, with only 30% of alumni emails being personalized in any way. One-size-fits-all messaging gets drowned out by the noise and is swiftly losing potency in the modern attention economy. To meet the needs of today’s graduates and transition them into tomorrow’s alumni members, associations will need to innovate new forms of customized communication and targeted, individualized outreach.

Luckily, tools like data analytics, advanced segmentation, and marketing automation exist to help institutions deploy and scale personalized recruitment. Universities and alumni associations with proper access can now take a data-informed approach in determining how to allocate resources and develop personalized student experiences, with the ultimate goal of deepening institutional relationships and loyalty.

As Seneca Reyna, Alumni Relations Officer at New Mexico State University put it, “Building relationships of substance is the most important part of alumni relations.”

5. Meet Digital-First Demand

For alumni professionals seeking to transition students and grads into alumni membership, a central challenge will be keeping up with quickly shifting member needs and values. Consumer demands are as dynamic as the technology that shapes them, and the same goes for potential alumni members.

Student outreach will require particular attention to this issue, as younger generations are usually the first to adopt new technological frameworks and expectations. Current college students and recent grads are overwhelmingly digital native, and so membership opportunities that are of value to them will necessarily be digital-first.

What does alumni member value in the digital realm look like?

Virtual membership addresses the ever-present need to cut costs, save time, and streamline operations. Doing so then frees you up to pass those cost savings on to your constituents, whether by offering more affordable membership tiers to recent grads, or more generous benefits and incentives to current members.

Going virtual connects both you and your alumni members to a whole world of digital tools and services. From targeted membership initiatives to instantly accessible alumni discounts and perks, digital membership programs provide unmatched personalization and convenience – an especially attractive prospect for younger member prospects.

In an age of touchless tech and mobile payments, holding onto physical membership cards is a comparative hassle – as is navigating complex analog membership systems and communicating with member services in person or on the phone. In fact, 34% of Millennials surveyed in a recent study from Kobie Marketing reported not joining a membership program because the enrollment process was too long! By contrast, virtual cards are easy to use, impossible to lose, and offer unlimited opportunities for member engagement.

Perhaps most crucially for alumni organizations, digital membership systems provide the structure and means to foster a more cohesive, interactive alumni community.

If digital membership programs are designed to meet the demands of the modern consumer, they are also tailor-made for the future alumni member: what better way to build a pathway to alumni membership than with a foundational sense of collective identity and community?

Learn more about Cuseum’s Digital Membership opportunities!

As technological frameworks for work, education, and communication continue to shift in the post-COVID era, so will the values and expectations of younger generations. Within this new paradigm, it is more important than ever for the alumni affairs sector to confront the challenges at hand, think critically about its approach to membership growth, and expand its conception of student outreach. Alumni associations have unique, long-term value to offer students – and with the latest digital tools and strategies, communicating that value is easier and more effective than ever. By staying actively attuned to their unique pain points and meeting their evolving needs, you can enrich the lives of current students – and pave their way to future alumni membership.

Looking to learn more about how technology solutions can help you build a track from student to alum? Schedule a demo with Cuseum.

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