Reimagine Constituent Engagement for the 21st Century

Stakeholder Education

Break from the overreliance on in-person engagement

The days of in-person event programming serving as the central pillar of engagement strategy are nearing an end. Creating digital programming that requires active participation, but not much time, is the key to engaging today’s time-pressed alumni.

Key Elements to Active Digital Engagement

1. 1

   Well-defined ask

   The engagement asks should be well-scoped and quick to complete. Constituents should be able to clearly understand what they are being asked to do, what the impact will be, and why it is important.
2. 2

   Average time commitment of 30 minutes or less

   The low time cost of digital micro-engagement opportunities makes them attractive to busy constituents who want to be connected but may lack the time to come to in-person events.
3. 3

   Active engagement, rather than passive consumption of content

   Rather than just reading a newsletter, Facebook post, or other piece of digital content, these opportunities should enable constituents to participate in a two-way, active dialogue that deepens their engagement with the institution.
4. 4

   Shareable end product

   Constituents’ contributions, be they songs in a shared alumni playlist, memories in a digital timeline, or anything else—should be shared with the community writ large so that everyone can see the impact of their engagement.
5. 5

   Marketed and completed primarily on digital channels

   Digital channels, like social media, should be the main avenue through which these micro-engagement opportunities are advertised to constituents. Additionally, constituents should be able to complete the ask online so participation in not hindered by location.
6. 6

   Low cost, with broad reach

   These micro-engagements should be inexpensive to execute, especially using tools like social media, but should appeal to and be accessible by a wide audience of constituents.

Action Support

Rescope volunteer roles to meet Millennial needs

Higher education institutions have historically struggled to engage alumni in their 30s and 40s due to the three c’s: children, career, and commute. Compounding that problem, millennial volunteers and leaders of today bring new expectations of convenience, customization, and deployment of their expertise, rather than just their time.

Institutions must offer an attractive array of new involvement opportunities that meet the needs of this critical segment of constituents to build a strategic pipeline of high-potential leaders.

New Rules of Volunteer Engagement

1. 1

   Rule one

   Shift to short-term, clearly scoped roles to make it easy to say yes

2. 2

   Rule two

   Create convenient and accessible roles to meet them where they are

3. 3

   Rule three

   Promote skills-based roles to broker smart matches

4. 4

   Rule four

   Emphasize two-way value proposition for volunteers to embrace the ‘me’ factor

5. 5

   Rule five

   Clear the way for substantive volunteer experiences by cultivating campus allies

"

Young alumni don’t want to come to reunions or make fundraising calls, but they will help a student…how do we do more of that?

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Assistant Vice President for Alumni Engagement, Public Master’s University

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I fear that if I don’t engage mid-career alumni as volunteers now, I’ll lose them to another organization in their local community.

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Vice President of Advancement, Private Master’s University

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My top donors are also engaged volunteers. They get to see the impact of their gifts and become connected. How do I scale that?

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Vice President for Development and Alumni, Private Research University

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Our new president unveiled a set of ambitious goals. We’re going to need alumni help to achieve them, especially around career development and enrollment.

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Assistant Vice President for University Advancement, Public Research University

Action Support

Prioritize high-potential prospects when crafting engagement offerings

Engagement programming often aims to serve the entire alumni community, but come-one-come-all programming often holds little appeal for high-potential prospects. Shifting alumni engagement strategy to prioritize pipeline prospects can make in-roads with tomorrow’s best donors—and do so at scale and without overburdening MGOs. For more collaborative programming, best practice institutions forge partnerships between engagement and development teams to streamline information sharing and orient programming toward revenue generation.

Research Highlights

Some institutions have shifted to pipeline-focused alumni relations programming. Others have modified their engagement programming to achieve specific cultivation goals, hiring engagement officers to carry portfolios of high-potential mid-career alumni. A stronger, more communicative partnership between development and alumni relations ensures a more seamless flow of alumni intel to power prospect prioritization processes and better alignment of event strategy with development aims.