Alumni%20Relations:%20Global%20Trends%20and%20Local%20Realities

1
Alumni Relations Global Trends and Local
Realities

• Serge. L. Sych
• Central European University
• November 26, 2008
• Budapest, Hungary

2
World we (will) live in ?

• Hot, Flat and Crowded
• Competence, information and technology are
  becoming commodities
• Refers to the latest Thomas Friedmans book.
• Edward de Bono The Six Value Medals

3
Is there such a profession ?

• The oldest associations U.S. - Williams College
  1821 and Canada - Kings College 1846
• Classic Anglo-Saxon model alumni relations as
  part of development (fundraising function)
• Pre-dominant (continental) European model alumni
  relations as part of international office
  (friend-raising function)
• Emerging model alumni relations as part of
  integrated marketing and/or integrated with
  career services
• Alumni relations at pre-school, secondary school
  and colleges, as well as multinational
  corporations (usually part of Human Resources or
  PR Communication)

4
Latest global trends alumni groups

• Independent alumni associations, integrated
  alumni organizations and mixed model (3 main
  types)
• The Mississippi University for Women vs. its
  Alumni Association (Inside Higher Ed, 21 Nov.
  2008)

5
Latest global trends students-alumni

• Students are alumni are students
• Traditional, rigid concepts of student and
  alumnus are breaking down
• Early network connection, early talent
  acquisition, life-long learning
• Dan Guhr, Illuminate Consulting Group

6
Latest global trends online communities

• Facebook - 73
• LinkedIn 53
• YuoTube 30
• MySpace 29
• Google 26
• Flickr 20
• Wikipedia 16
• Yahoo groups 15
• Twitter 6
• CASE 2008 Survey of Online Social Community Use
  in Alumni Relations, June 2008

7
Participating in Social Networks

• Benefits
• Alumni already using these sites
• Provides a service that you cannot
• Visibility for institution and its alumni
• Can drive traffic through your site
• Increases communication with key group
• Other side or alternative voice in addition to
  official sites
• Problems
• Only reach some fraction of alumni
• Little data back into your office
• Likely to be replaced with some other service
• Issue of control

8
Latest global trends economic upheavals

• Comprehensive approach to career preparation
• Capitalize on the desire of alumni to be involved
  with students
• Section on alumni careers at both the Alumni
  Associations and Career Centers websites
• Sheila Curran, Curran Career Consulting

9
Traditional alumni relations

• Traditional (institution-driven content and
  structure)
• Alumni Association
• Club structure
• Events and Reunions
• Services to Alumni

10
Integrated alumni relations

• Integrated
• Mission driven
• Identify where alumni can serve as well as be
  served
• Cross training at staff level for external events
  and affairs

11
Active listening to the customer

• Two way communication based on active, aggressive
  listening
• Listening is ongoing
• Used to constantly modify and improve the
  application and use of strategic resources

12
Records

• Electronic storage (storage, security,
  confidentiality, robustness, multi user, multi
  tasking, data manipulation)
• Customized commercial product vs. in-house
  developed system
• Integrated information system model
• Databases types and brands (Excel, Customer
  Relationship Management (CRM) Systems, Raisers
  Edge, Exceed, DonorPerfect, webAlumnus,
  Oracle-based systems)

13
Information blocks and relationship database
14
Program activities

• Events
• Membership
• Communications
• Fundraising prospect tracking
• Gift management
• Alumni relations
• Volunteer records

15
Data sources

• Student records
• Services
• Alumni groups and volunteer involvement
• Individual alumni
• Surveys, polls and questionnaires
• Targeted mailings
• Events
• Internet research and on-line communities
• Other departments

16
Data enhancement

• Internet research and on-line communities
• Press cuttings
• Directories
• Other records and lists at university (data
  warehousing)
• Contacts
• Outside sources

17
Data manipulation retrieval

• Segmentation
• Flagging
• Importing
• Exporting - use of other software
• Reporting

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Conclusions

• Alumni relations at HEI not luxury anymore
• Contact with alumni is paramount
• Information is vital for this task
• Your database is only as good as the data you put
  into it - garbage in, garbage out
• Data is only pertinent if it can be processed to
  produce relevant information
• Never lose sight of the needs of the institution
  -mission driven and integrated with your main
  constituencies applicants-students-alumni-parent
  s-friends-employers-local community

19
Thank you!

• sychs_at_ceu.hu
• Serge L. Sych
• Head of Alumni Relations Career Services,
• Central European University
• Chair of International Alumni Relations (INTAL)
  group,
• European Association for International Education
  (EAIE)