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A strong alumni network is incredibly valuable. Improved fundraising, a stronger brand, and more effective student marketing - the benefits of good alumni experience are clear. A college survey is a great tool for engaging alumni and building a strong alumni network. Below are six ways in which alumni survey software can benefit your faculty and students.
1. Improved Fundraising Through Engaged Alumni
Alumni engagement events are great opportunities for your school to reach out to former graduates and secure donations. But, while these events are so important to your college's fundraising plan, you may not be effectively planning them.
When you have the proper prospect research information on hand, your faculty can customize these events to your alumni constituency as well as provide engagement opportunities designed with your entire alumni in mind. Rather than having a single one-size-fits-all mindset to your engagement events, your school should plan events that will address various constituencies inside your community. For instance, your university may segment events by:
- Former residence halls
- Graduating classes
- Career track
- Gender of students
- Minors, majors or colleges within your university
- And more
2. More Effective Prospective Student Marketing
Your alumni demonstrate your mission for your school. They carefully selected your college for their education and after they graduate, they move forward with their next endeavor.
When you highlight what your alumni has accomplished after graduating, you're providing your school with one of the best ways of marketing it. Alumni can be a strong source of quality student referrals. When you can use real-life examples to demonstrate student outcomes, your school can become valuable to prospective families, leading them to select your school for their children.
You can set up an alumni network. An important component of communicating with your alumni is by setting up an alumni network and asking them to join it as they're finishing the school year. You can administer this network through things like:
- Your website
- Email
- Social media
- Phone
When you ask your graduating class to join your alumni network now, it's more likely they'll continue participating later on.
You can highlight your graduate's achievements (with their permission) with these connections. Feature articles or interviews about your graduating class on your website and share them across various platforms. This will help you show current and new potential students where your graduates as well as the happiness and success they achieved.
3. Better Classroom Curriculum
Studying your graduates' attitudes and experiences provide insights to your education leaders about ways they can create programs, curriculums and initiatives that focus on enhancing and maximizing student experience.
4. More Effective Professors
An alumni survey tool is not just great for accreditation purposes, but also for producing insights into future improvements to your institution. Universities are trying new ways of helping professors use research and analytics for shaping what they do in their classrooms. Collect real alumni perception data from rating facilities and professors to understand the long-term value of your extracurricular activities.
5. More Engaged Alumni
In 2017, the average cumulative student debt balance for graduates of public four-year colleges was $26,900, according to the College Board, and $32,600 for nonprofit, private four-year school graduates. Because of this debt, you could end up turning your former students off by immediately asking for donations.
Determine when your alumni will have their finances secure enough where they can make donations. But, this will not only depend on your school, but also on your student's degree. You can take a look at averages. But, averages will only go so far and won't help you design personalized messaging. Therefore, you'll want to use college online survey software feedback instead to obtain accurate information on how your former students are doing and if they're ready to donate.
Many alumni might just assume any of your university's communication will be just to ask for money. And, this could produce apathy in your alumni network, making them switch off.
New alumni especially don't want to be immediately bombarded with communications regarding fundraising. Therefore, prioritize building alumni engagement now so you can produce larger fundraising amounts in the long-term.
6. Stronger Brand
Universities rely on their reputation. Alumni influence your brand's reputation a lot. They can refer or deter students from enrolling in your college. New potential students look to alumni to get a feel for your school. In fact, research shows advocates are 70 percent more likely of being viewed as a reliable information source and 50 percent more likely of creating content that influences a potential purchase (in this case — a new student) positively. When you leverage alumni properly, it can be a cost-effective tool for creating awareness and showcasing your brand, allowing for more student referrals.
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