Alumni are a valuable asset and nurturing relationships with them contributes to the future success of your campus. Proud alumni share their experience with others to potentially sway an undecided student or make a gift to help current and future students shine even brighter on campus. Their authentic campus outcomes stories strengthen audience connections and generate positive affinity for your brand.
While alumni are key influencers, others also emerge as champions of campus initiatives and achievements. Family members of students and alumni, local business leaders, and others with connections to programs and services can add value to your brand conversation. By expanding your listening to understand how others talk about your campus, you can strategically engage stakeholders in ways that foster relationships with potential influencers and donors.
Many campuses are deepening their connections with alumni and fans to further differentiate themselves and strengthen their brand. We’ve recently worked with two campus partners focused on increasing alumni engagement and strategic donor identification.
Our Work: Alumni Engagement
West Virginia University (WVU) wanted to understand how alumni contribute to their brand and identify revenue-generating opportunities. We analyzed two years of alumni conversation to inform and support increased engagement. Understanding the alumni conversation is helping WVU identify what’s going well and resonating with alumni, what could be improved, and opportunities to generate further revenue through association membership and events.
Social intelligence research found themes of lifelong engagement, Mountaineer spirit, and generations of WVU pride showing their alumni remain passionate beyond graduation. They aren’t afraid to share criticism, which demonstrates that they continue to follow campus developments even from afar. They want to be seen and heard by WVU, as WVU is a core part of their development.
Our social intelligence research informed:
- Ways to create alumni buy-in across generations and with key influencers. The conversation revealed alumni and family perceptions of and attitudes about campus—lots of intergenerational connections and family pride in achievements.
- Storytelling leads for campus advancement content, with an understanding of where alumni engage in their own conversation. The insights identified how and where alumni were discussed in online spaces, for example, some topics were more prevalent in particular spaces.
- Authentic, empathetic content development focused on what the alumni audience cares about. Conversation affirmed and uncovered pain points and opportunities related to alumni.
And WVU is taking action.
By prioritizing spaces where alumni are active, they can best engage existing conversation spaces online. They’re developing relevant, impactful storytelling content to engage alumni throughout the year, and with a focus on life moments, they’re connecting alumni around shared milestones rather than only graduation class. Alumni from 2020 aren’t the same as alumni from 2010 and 2000, and WVU is meeting them where they are through tailored messaging that acknowledges their experiences. They’re using this knowledge to align alumni association membership campaign content around related themes and trends. Lastly, we helped the WVU team explore additional revenue-generating activities involving alumni. We identified alumni-owned businesses and local leaders with alumni connections to support bringing alumni back to campus, applying strategies to help alumni feel connected to WVU no matter their location and inviting them to see changes happening on campus.
Our Work: Advancement and Strategic Engagement
Our work with Utah Valley University (UVU) included a bespoke analysis to identify potential donors with a high-level giving capacity and expand the campus’s current network. By examining public online conversations where people share ways in which they find value in UVU, we identified champions with direct and indirect connections to campus to support an expanded influencer strategy.
Analysis revealed instances where influencers praise graduates of specific programs, celebrate the professional talent of alumni, admire university leadership and faculty, or visit campus for special events. Parents and family members of students and alumni reflect on ways UVU benefited their families, with mentions highlighting the diversity of potential influencers, and providing opportunities for strategic engagement and relationship-building.
As part of this work, we surfaced alumni stories that speak to the value of a UVU education and the importance of scholarships and university support. By identifying alumni spotlights, UVU can amplify campus areas of strength, targeted programs, and research initiatives. Breaking down silos and connecting staff with stories in a timely fashion allows them to shape and leverage the ways UVU is perceived, supporting the advancement of key engagements with individuals, sponsors, industry partners, and alumni.
