What do you do if you want to build a strong network with alumni from your Higher Education institution?

Identify the online platform(s) that your alumni prefers to be on and is most active on. We choose to be on LinkedIn as most of our alumni are professionals who share their expert knowledge and tech areas they are passionate about. It also enables us to identify potential alumni who show interest in i.e. being an industry mentor, guest speaker, developing community network etc. To effectively engage with alumni, it is important to know what are of their interests too.

Attending events is a powerful strategy for building a strong network. Going to different events, like alumni get-togethers, casual meetups, workshops, and seminars, is a smart way to connect with other professionals. You can meet people who studied the same things as you and share your interests. This can lead to helpful things like getting advice on your career, finding mentors, getting referrals for jobs, and growing professionally, opening doors to valuable opportunities for mentorship, career advice, job referrals, and professional development.

I personally do not agree with "volunteer time". Building a strong alumni network is part of the job and it's also how the HEI strengthen its value, so it must be paid job, with clear goals, expectations and KPIs.

Try and find other's around you you look up to and want to learn from. if you are interested in different sectors, utilize those individuals in that field too. They may want to work with you, even connect you to others or at least see how interested you are in their work and how you sought them out.

Alumni should be considered valued members of a higher ed community, and can serve many purposes- from mentorship, employment opportunities, to admissions and recruitment of new cohorts. They offer so much more than funding donations and giving-campaigns. Engaging alumni is a two-way relationship. How do they benefit from engagement? Recognition, giving back, and becoming respected and acknowledged contributors are some avenues that higher ed institutions can offer. Personally, I react far more positively when asked to share my expertise and work with current students from my alma mater rather than receiving a notice to donate during the latest contribution campaign since I value engagement more than impersonally sending money.

Alumni network relations are built starting from the classroom. Get to know your students personally. Follow their progress as they make their way through their studies. If possible, create WhatsApp groups for each cohort and create a culture of mutual help: internship announcements, study resources, industry information etc.). When they graduate, conduct periodic tracer studies and ask for their input to improve the degree. Invite them back for informal social events with current students, guest lectures. Once they graduate transition them to another alumni WhatsApp group to sustain the mutual help you fostered. Then you can now formally structure a contact list you can keep updating to stay in touch.

You have got to listen to those alumni, learn how they want to be connected. What were there experiences as students like and now as alumni? Why are they or are they not engaged? This is especially important when thinking about alumni with minoritized identities. The current engagement strategies that many higher education institutions use are modeled for a specific subset of alumni. In most cases, cis/het white men. This isn't inherently bad, but in order to keep pace with the ever changing diversity of alumni populations, alumni offices have got to look critically at their practices and adapt.

“Connection” is the key word here. As institutions of higher education, it is important to ensure that our students feel they are a part of the campus community, even when they have graduated and are not physically on campus anymore. Diverse communication channels are essential to engage various alumni groups effectively. Additionally, fostering alumni's ongoing connection to the institution's culture and history is crucial. Despite campus changes, emphasizing the enduring strength of their ties and engaging through communication and outreach fosters inclusivity and sustains their stakeholder engagement.