Next Gen Alumni Platform

What's missing in current alumni platforms?

Alumni relations are an integral part of an institution’s advancement capabilities. Loyalties towards their alma mater or moments of reminiscence are no longer the sole reasons for alumni to maintain social relations with one another. There’s more to it - Alumni group members can be an indispensable network within itself.

Researchers and practitioners have demonstrated that engaged students are more likely to be engaged alumni. Research also suggests that engaged alumni are more likely to be donors whether it is in the context of knowledge/expertise, or in monetary terms. KarmaCircles recognizes the need to leverage engagement and networking amongst the alumni, and has applied their research to facilitate giving/receiving within alumni bodies.

Stakeholders involved, and their expectations

Generally, there are two distinct parties forming an alumni group – firstly, the members themselves; secondly, the alumni association which is the executive committee leading those members. These two parties often have overlapping, yet distinct motives for their participation.

For members, it’s a great way to stay in touch with their former peers and to form lasting bonds with what was once an integral part of their formative years in life. This automatically enables them to form a diverse network which can be utilized for prospective collaborations, mentoring & recruitment – whether they’re the one looking to mentor/hire someone, or the one wanting to get mentored/hired.

An alumni association will also typically have all the above goals in mind. Fund raising is one of the biggest challenges faced by them. In addition, they are always looking to create and maintain their institute’s branding. Naturally, a lot of hard work goes into their philanthropic efforts, so there is an overarching expectation to be recognized for investing time and efforts towards building an engaged alumni platform.

Mediums for alumni relations management

Some alumni bodies boast thousands of members, and they’re growing each year. Unsurprisingly, they’re often located at opposite ends of the globe, which means there is a need for savvy technology based alumni management mediums. Some popular, albeit often disconnected and inefficient, mediums are -

• Alumni management websites
• Email groups
• Facebook groups
• Whatsapp groups

More often than not, being reliant on social media which isn’t designed or equipped to handle alumni relations management results in a less-than-satisfactory experience. While a dedicated website or using an alumni management software specialist seems like a good option in theory, they remain woefully outdated when it comes to alumni information and engagement. To overcome these limitations, KarmaCircles has zeroed in on a few features for maintaining an engaged, productive, close-knit group of alumni –

1. User-friendly mobile app which is built like a popular consumer app – The usability of websites and email notifications isn’t what it used to be. Today’s internet consumer uses apps and mobile notifications to remain on top of their game.
2. Deep integration with primary social media i.e. Facebook and LinkedIn – These two social networking sites can be assumed to almost always be up to date. Examples of important information that alums should have access to– contact details, location, current job and areas of expertise. Most websites will offer custom sign-ups where members manually enter their details. These details become outdated within months, but signing up with Facebook or LinkedIn takes care of that.
3. Advanced search – Search capabilities are extremely critical for members to find relevant profiles and network. e.g. one should be able to search by keywords, skills, location, company, profession, etc.
4. Open interaction increases engagement – Private messaging is appropriate for 1:1 interaction, but an alumni platform should encourage open communication for its members (much like Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter). For example, if an alumni member wishes to ask a question, it should be openly communicated to other members. When a member wants to thank the members of the alumni association for their efforts, it should be prominently displayed. One should be able to know if the member is even active on the alumni platform and responds to messages.
5. Special focus on Mentoring and Recruiting – There should be features to schedule meetings, exchange knowledge, mentor younger alumni, organize recruiting events, raise funds etc.
6. A single platform for multiple alumni groups – Each alumni association would like to have one platform dedicated to themselves but they should acknowledge that their members will be part of at least two or three alumni associations. Their members shouldn’t have to memorize different websites (or install apps), usernames and passwords for their school, college and post-grad university alum groups.
7. Offline engagement – This is important and frequently ignored. Simply providing an online platform and walking away has the risk of some features lying unused, or the platform being underutilized. Online services should be augmented with periodic offline follow-up services in the form of workshops, mentorship programs, fund raising events, networking activities and off-sites.

To conclude, the focus of any alumni platform vendor should shift away from simply hitting sales targets, because making a sale at any cost will only fulfill short-term goals – those of the vendor’s, that is. The magnitude of power of alumni bodies has been untapped due to the lack of platforms that would fully engage them, and the need of the hour is to switch to an app that would bring changes online, and offline.

KarmaCircles understands requirements and comes fully stocked with all the features listed above and more. Reach out to us at [email protected] to learn more.