How Do You Develop a Wildly Successful Alumni Relations Effort?
Ask most alumni relations professionals the secret of success and they will have a common refrain.
They will tell you that best way to create a group of engaged, committed – and generous – alumni is to begin with a group of engaged, committed students.
So, to develop a wildly successful alumni relations effort, aim for a wildly successful student experience. One thing to keep in mind is that they are students for one to six years and alumni for the rest of their lives, yet it is their years on campus (or perhaps online) that form the foundation of their relationship with the school.
Some schools already do this well by integrating alumni into orientation activities, hosting an alumni event early in a students’ campus career, help students in study abroad programs connect with alumni in other countries, connect students and alumni for career mentoring, and working with student clubs. Some schools co-locate alumni relations and student affairs teams.
And it doesn’t stop there. It continues throughout the rest of the student/alumni lifecycle. How and what are you communicating to alumni? Are you letting them know about what is happening at the school now – both the good and the bad, and what plans you have for the future? About what other alumni are doing? About current students? About the faculty and/or research? About some of the history or trivia about the school – and how it laid the foundation for the institution’s current culture and success? About how they can become involved with the school now?
In the public sphere, what are you saying about the school. Are you using words and stories that resonate with alumni? Would they recognize the place you describe?
And how about admissions? What are you doing in admissions that will ensure the long-term success of the students and the school? Are you screening for fit – academic and cultural? Are you looking for students that actively participate in their communities and show a proclivity to engage and contribute? Will these people thrive in your environment and become lifelong ambassadors for the school?
Read more: Inside Higher Ed
Netenviron on Social Recruiting in Digi.no
Digi.no wrote an article on Netenviron and the effects of Social Recruiting and Alumni. Select Minds was recently bought by Oracle and will be a part of their HR offer. We see that as a positive trend. The competition and search for talents will be even harder, both Corporations and Schools must be better and get better tools to win this fight.
With Oracle as a competitor we hope to get more attention on the positive effects you can gain on Social Recruiting and Alumni.
Experiences from our customers
Here are two stories from our customers Alumni:
Ernst & Young Norway
"Through the alumni program our alumni members have the opportunity to maintain contact and exchange experiences with former colleagues and keep abreast of what is happening at Ernst & Young. With over 1200
alumni members, Ernst & Young Alumni is probably one of the largest corporate alumni networks in Norway."
-Magnus Kræmer - Associate Director, Alumni Manager Ernst & Young Norway
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is the largest accounting and consulting company in Norway with 1500 employees and 34 offices across the country. Ernst & Young is the auditor for more than a third of the companies on the Oslo Stock Exchange and is a leading auditor in Norway. Ernst & Young is also an advisor to many of the largest companies in the private and public sectors.
Ernst & Young Alumni
The Ernst & Young Alumni service has been in operation since January 2007 and currently counts over 1,200 members. Alumni members are given the opportunity to stay in touch with former colleagues within and
outside the company, participate in events both academic and social, and to access information and publications from Ernst & Young. There is an active network that meets annually in the largest cities in Norway.
Version 9.0
In our new version we have focused on usability, work flow, easier implementation and a few new key features.
The new version is now available for our existing and new customers.
User experience
We want the alumni experience for your members is as good as possible, and make it easier for administrator to get the message out to your targeted groups.
Implementation
The standard lay-out is made so it easily blend in to your existing web-appearance. We now offer a standard profile that will fit into many organizations, that will make the implementation even easier and more affordable.
Whats new?
Community Management
- New standard design easy to make your own design (just ad header and choose color)
- New and reworked menu structure
- Direct access to tmpSelect in the user GUI and the profile
- New group-page with presentation of the groups you are member of
- “Whats new?” is reorganized
- Standard profile for easy implementation
- Disclaimer editable for admin
- Standar image fro blog-post without uploaded image
- Comments on images
- Enhancement of layout on group-pages
- Copyright information on up-load feature
- Articles with comments on group-pages
- Events on open pages with Social sharing
- Jobads on open pages with Social sharing
Profile Management
Profile Management
- Track changes in profile for admin
- Hidden email-address with captcha
- Better work-flow for handling pending members
- Email is required to make profile
- New role “group-admin” with access to articles and newsletter
- Ad member to tmpSelect in profile
- See CRM activities in profile
Faceted Search
- Pre-defined searches in the top menu
- Standard set up of faceted search for easy implementation
Targeted Communication
- The newsletter feature available in standard version
- New template on newsletter feature with list of events
- Better work-flow in newsletter feature
Events and Conferences
- Create events from the open pages
- Register to events without logging in
- Easy access to my created events in main menu
- Register tmpSelect to an event
- Share events on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter
Social Recruiting and Career
- Candidate search, search for members that wants to find for career oportunities
- Share jobads on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter
Track your Success
- Including tracking of email via Google Analytics in standard version
Integrations
- Sharing of events and jobads on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter
- Log in with your LinkedIn account
- Update your profile with your LinkedIn profile
