When it comes to alumni relations, many colleges face the challenge of keeping their former students engaged and connected. Traditional practices for the Alumni Management System often fall short, leaving alumni feeling overlooked. The key to overcoming this challenge lies in adopting a targeted strategy, and the engagement pyramid offers a perfect model for this.
Let’s explore how colleges can leverage an alumni management system and the engagement pyramid to maximise their benefits with Univariety’s alumni management system.
The Engagement Pyramid: Understanding Alumni Levels
The engagement pyramid is a tool that helps categorise alumni based on their level of engagement. By understanding where each alumnus stands, colleges can tailor their strategies effectively.
- Alumni are aware of the college but not yet engaged.
- Alumni show some interest in college activities.
- Alumni actively participate in events or interactions.
- Alumni take on substantial roles, such as joining committees.
- Alumni make significant contributions, such as regular donations.
- Alumni actively promote and support the college.
Alumni Segmentation: How College Can Use the Right Strategy
Alumni are diverse, and so are the levels of engagement. A proper strategy for alumni segmentation is needed to help effectively connect with them. Thus, the differences between alumni groups naturally interested to less engaged ones will help tailor the strategies by which the institutions connect with these alumni. In turn, each segment will be allocated the appropriate level of attention, leading to stronger relationships with alumni and greater contributions to the college’s success.
Naturally Interested (3%)
This small but crucial segment is inherently engaged and responsive. These alumni are prime candidates for high-impact communication. Tailored content like exclusive updates, special invitations, and personalised messages can keep them engaged and feeling valued.
In Engaging (6-7%)
These alumni show potential for higher engagement. With targeted outreach strategies, such as personalized emails highlighting upcoming events and opportunities for involvement, colleges can quickly bring them on board.
Open to Engaging (30%)
This group is receptive but requires consistent nurturing. Regular updates about career services, networking opportunities, and relevant college news can encourage them to become more involved.
Don’t Think About the Institute (30%)
Alumni in this category rarely think about their alma mater. To capture their interest, colleges need to provide personalized and engaging content, such as success stories of fellow alumni and opportunities to reconnect with old friends.
Confident They Won’t Engage (30%)
This segment believes they will not engage, presenting a unique challenge. Innovative and highly personalized outreach efforts, such as targeted social media campaigns and one-on-one conversations, can gradually change their perspective.
Read more about: What is Alumni association & how to manage it effectively.
Deepening Insights for Better Alumni Management
As a college, maintaining a database of alumni names, email addresses, and phone numbers is a good start. However, relying solely on this basic information often results in generic communications that are easily overlooked. To create relevant, targeted experiences, you must uncover rich insights:
- Demographic Info: Age, gender, international experience, and net worth indicators provide foundational insights into your alumni, allowing for more personalized engagement.
- Work Profile: Understanding leadership roles and the size of companies alumni are associated with helps tailor communications to align with their professional status and interests.
- Social Intelligence: Tracking media mentions, luxury goods ownership, political connections, and social media influence offers a deeper understanding of alumni’s social standing and public persona.
- Interest & Engagement: Monitoring participation in college events, donation history, and involvement with alumni activities ensures your communications are relevant and timely, fostering a stronger connection.
How Colleges can Get Benefit from It?
Many colleges make the mistake of using a generic approach to alumni engagement, primarily focusing on donation requests. This can leave alumni feeling undervalued and disconnected. Instead, providing valuable career and networking information can foster a stronger bond and encourage long-term engagement.
Univariety makes it easier for colleges to provide them with the right strategies for their alumni management and provides insights into how they get additional benefits like more admissions, reputation, etc with the help of their own alumni.
FAQs
Q. What is an Alumni Engagement Pyramid?
More often known as the Alumni Engagement Pyramid, is a model that depicts how alumni involvement differs from the most basic forms, such as attending events, to deeper forms, including mentoring, volunteering, and large financial contributions allowing institutions to identify and develop alumni at a different stage.
Q. What is the goal of alumni engagement?
The goal of alumni engagement is to foster a lasting relationship between graduates and their alma mater. This ensures ongoing support through mentorship, networking, donations, and active participation in institutional growth and success.
Q. Why measure alumni engagement?
Conclusion
By understanding and leveraging the engagement pyramid, colleges can develop targeted strategies to foster stronger relationships with their alumni. Moving beyond a one-size-fits-all approach and utilizing an alumni management system can lead to more meaningful and lasting connections. Ultimately, this not only benefits the alumni but also enhances the college’s reputation and resources. Connect with us today & talk to our experts about how you can systematically manage your alumni network.
Sayantika is a psychology student who likes poetry, music, and movies. Her writing style is engaging, informative, and tailored to the specific needs of each subject. Whether it's blog posts or product descriptions, she knows how to create content that resonates with search engines and human readers.
