What makes a good alumni website

A website, on the other hand, is a blank slate. Plus, your site can be a hub of information in a way that a social media timeline cannot. Cal Tech, who came in at No. Everything about this site shouts Cal Tech and inspires alumni pride! Websites drive a lot of traffic, making them perfect for promoting your social media pages to gain more followers. Meanwhile, the alumni team at Bowling Green State University has integrated their Twitter and Facebook feeds into their page, winning them the top slot in our rankings of the alumni websites of the Mid-American Conference!

Think of it this way: Your website is the first impression alumni will have of your association. Once they visit, you need to make it easy for them to subscribe and provide reasons to come back.

By making the commitment very low, even your most inactive alumni will get involved at their own convenience. By understanding their preferences, you can then prioritize them and better structure your asks. There are several softwares like Almabase that make this process easier for you. By integrating with Facebook and LinkedIn and getting all your alumni to sign up you get the added benefit of an up-to-date alumni database. Several schools have also leveraged the increased online engagement into increased giving participation.

Wondering how to use social media to promote your reunions? Here are 7 tested techniques that have brought reunion success to over a hundred schools. Few things drive alumni back to their alma mater quite like the search for a new career. Alongside creating career groups on LinkedIn, you can collaborate with your career services department to offer training sessions too. Just some of the useful training resources you could provide for your students might include advice on:.

Everyone loves being in the limelight. Social media is a great place for universities to sing the praises of its graduates. This is a powerful way to encourage more engagement with the college brand. Not only will you get to interact with your previous students, but you show potential students your graduates make something of themselves. The University of Southern California frequently updates their LinkedIn page with alumni stories, for instance:. Fast paced platforms like Twitter are perfect for celebrating a student who just married their college sweetheart, for instance, or are making big notable strides in the news.

However, asking your alumni for donations too early could damage your reputation by making you look too money hungry. After all, a large portion of your alumni are still paying back their student loans. According to a CASE article , great fundraising campaigns include a stage called romancing.

Romancing your alumni means not only reminding them of the wonderful moments they spent on your campus, but giving them an insight into how their involvement in your fundraising campaigns impact the future of your university. A post shared by Ohio State Alumni theohiostatealumni. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, Instagram campaigns help you to interact with students emotionally—before asking them for money.

Share snaps from the years they spent at the university and highlight before and after pictures showing positive changes alumni funds have made to your campus. Notre Dame We like Notre Dame's alumni site for evoking a sense of nostalgia with their animated background and ambient audio. University of Michigan For having clear calls to action encouraging alumni to join local chapters and an all-encompassing events calendar overview.

University of North Carolina For providing straightforward access to clear, concise details about transcript requests and other important alumni information: 5. Indiana University For evoking a true sense of community by sharing stories of proud alumni and how they are staying engaged with their alma mater: 6.