The key is to create a structure and a program that drive the institutional advancement effort.
Category: Concepts in Alumni Relations
Alumni relations and fundraising go together. They work with the same primary constituency and they serve the same purpose of supporting the educational institution. Thanks to a question from a colleague, I decided it was time to incorporate that on the Impactrics website by creating a new resource on fundraising – an extensive list of…
Happy holidays! For many people, this is now the season of giving from giving Tuesday to giving family presents. In Alumni Relations, we are all about fostering giving communities – engaging people who give their time, expertise and money to support an educational institution and each other. Look at all the ways that alumni give…
With over 80 institutions included in the data, the latest results from the Impactrics survey are very positive showing more robust alumni relations programs in most areas. The strongest areas of data management and communications got a bit stronger which suggests that more alumni are hearing from their alma maters. There could be some challenges…
Continuing and lifelong education for alumni with traditional and new programs is generating a lot of interest as an opportunity for engagement and connection. Continuing the discussion that I started here on the Impactrics blog, I shared some ideas about this topic including options for starting book clubs, offering podcasts or webinars, and other formats…
Graduation and Commencement It is that exciting time of year for many schools and universities when you will be welcoming a new generation of alums! Yes, commencement should live up to its name and be the beginning of a lifelong relationship for the newest graduates with your school. As new graduates are eager and excited…
Kathy Edersheim has rightfully drawn our attention to alumni education as a “new paradigm” for engagement. As various models for exploring this opportunity have been explored, important insights have emerged. Two programs at Yale University have demonstrated that a seminar-based, more intensive approach can produce unprecedented levels of alumni satisfaction and connection. The vast majority…
On March 22, Jeffrey Selingo published an article in The Atlantic which said …Now a third wave in education and training has arrived, argue economists, educators, and workforce-development officials. The level of preparation that worked in the first two waves—adding more time to education early in life—does not seem sufficient in the 21st-century economy. Instead…
Asking questions that lead to insightful and actionable answers If you could ask your alumni board president one question, what would it be? We are dependent on asking questions for many reasons from generating big ideas to evaluating the success of events to understanding the interests of alumni and more. Yet, how often do we…
Following the annual Educational Travel Conference sponsored by the Educational Travel Consortium last week, it is a good time to consider the purpose and the impact of affinity travel programs. We live in an age of travel – more people travel more often and to more places than ever before. To address that interest, more…