Be it a School, College or University, Alumni plays a significant role in determining the success stories inscribed by the institution. Internet, rather Facebook has indeed made the world a small village and it is easy to find and stay connected with long lost buddies but for an educational institutions, there are benefits and ways to keep its Alumni engaged.
How can you engage your Alumni?
Social Networking: Social Media is the new name for communication and there are several social networking websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter etc. that allow institutions to set up their own networks. Although these websites provided limited options for sharing stuff and connectivity with the members. A social media setup is inevitable for any leading educational institutions and a strong promotional platform for any emerging entity in this industry.
Web based Applications: Facebook has moved on from being a teenage sensation to becoming the need of the hour for businesses and establishments. How about having your own social networking platform? A Customized Alumni Portal is what you need to gift your alumni with a web platform that is designed with the University’s look & feel and makes it relatively easier to find batch mates and stay connected with them through advance features and modules such as private messaging, creating & sharing albums, group discussions/forum participation, sharing job opportunities etc.
What are the advantages?
Marketing/Word of Mouth: Keeping Alumni connected helps the institution in generating word of mouth as ex-students/faculty stay engaged with each other and the organization which results in referrals, re employments etc. This also helps in generating funds for charitable causes supported by the institution, guest lectures and engaging the alumni in other such activities.
Career Opportunities: The Alumni can largely contribute in the form of recruitment as well as Alumni can share/apply for job openings.
Alumni Meets: Alumni meets and other events can be planned with ease if the Alumni of the institution are connected with each other. This also helps in better networking and the institution being the core of the acquaintances also helps in generating word of mouth.
So if you have been thinking why you must keep in touch with your institution’s Alumni online… you surely do have reasons enough!