11 Alumni Engagement Tools Every Business Needs

Employee engagement impacts the organization’s bottom line with highly engaged businesses seeing a 20% increase in sales alone. 

Engaged employees also mean less staff turnover, which is a major concern for today’s employers. When leaders deploy an employee-centric culture, they stave off many business issues that could interrupt their operational potential.

Robust alumni engagement tools can extend the brand and build on talent and transformation programs. By examining how technology can be used to engage alumni from a recruitment aspect, organizations can learn how to develop a set of employee values that ultimately become part of the business identity. 

In this article, we’ll dig into what alumni engagement tools are and how they can benefit your organization. 

Understanding Corporate Alumni Engagement

Alumni engagement is the term used to describe how organizations, via their alumni platform, engage in ongoing conversations and build-on relationships with their former employees. 

During this process, alumni recognize the intrinsic value of being part of this community and remaining close to their former organization. 

The aim is for them to be involved in discussions and actions that align with their own (as well as the company’s) business objectives. 

A key purpose of alumni engagement is to provide relevant and contextual benefits that cater both to the individual needs matrix, as well as to its diverse member base. 

By using engagement tools you can provide support, create buy-in, and highlight opportunities inside the organization. It becomes a primary growth tool for attracting and engaging an active alumni community.

11 Effective Alumni Engagement Tools For Your Business 

Alumni engagement tools refer to the built-in applications available via alumni network platforms.

These enable managers to execute a number of tasks that increase engagement. Here are our top eleven picks.

1. Data Management 

The first step in creating a network of value is mining your data and reports to find the key metrics that will show whether your engagement strategy is on the right track. 

Track and measure these to adjust or refocus your engagement efforts: 

• Registrations to your alumni network
• Email open rates
• Return visitors
• Engagement in platform
• Retention rates
• Survey responses

2. Segmentation Tools

Large alumni communities are hugely diverse, made up of people of different ages with different value systems, cultures, locations, and backgrounds. To avoid being irrelevant, use the tools provided by your alumni platform to segment your audience so that your messages have a high impact and are targeted. 

3. Personalized Dashboards

The most successful alumni programs prioritize the needs of their members. This means putting recruiting and business development in the background and instead, focusing on growing the networks of your alumni. Personalized dashboards help alumni discover business opportunities, ongoing education, and volunteering opportunities that are relevant to them. 

4. Messaging & Chat Apps

Maintaining open lines of communication is an essential tool for your engagement strategy. Alumni should feel encouraged to provide feedback on all activities and initiatives, and organizations should welcome it as part of their growth and development strategies. 

An Enterprise-Grade Text Messaging Platform with SMS API is perfect for this.

5. Social Media Integration

Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter provide ample space to amplify and engage corporate messaging through rich content and discussion. 

As an organization, establish a presence on these channels and harness the power of alumni management software integrations to connect your alumni messages to your own private network. 

6. Content Calendars

A content calendar helps with content creation, placement, posting frequency and platform usage, etc. A strategically planned content timeline can make all the difference in generating some much-needed engagement with your target audience. 

7. Corporate Events Tools 

Wherever possible, invite alumni to brick-and-mortar activities with opportunities for engagement. Think of professional networking events, panel discussions, retreats, seminars, talks, or mentoring newcomers. 

When alumni engage with existing employees, it fosters valuable relationships that benefit all participants on their work/life journey.

8. Networking Tools

Corporate Alumni Engagement research shows that there are four value drivers that make alumni loyal to a network and create engagement. These are:

• Alumni2Alumni business opportunities
• Networking and events
• Niche company expertise
• Leverage the value of their employment

It is recommended that organizations tailor-make these engagement strategies to their target audiences. 

9. Recruitment Dashboard

Alumni are the most qualified talent pool in your recruitment pipeline, providing a cost- and time-effective channel for filling your workforce needs. Not only do boomerang hires hit the ground running, but they are also an excellent source of referrals from within their own networks. 

Celebrate their return using your engagement tools and if you have a referral program, use their rehiring as an opportunity to call attention to this benefit.

A recommendations engine is a powerful alumni engagement tool as it is designed to make it easy for alumni to find the right opportunity and even easier for alumni to return. 

10. Volunteer Management

Linking up with a company’s Corporate Social Responsibility Program is one of the best alumni engagement tools for creating opportunities to give back. 

ERG groups such as diversity, sustainability, and other community-led efforts are cost-effective alternatives to expensive experiences and gifts. 

11. Leverage Technology With A Human Touch

Although HR teams can choose from a wide selection of alumni management software, the technology alone isn’t enough. HR leaders must consider that alumni expect an entirely different recruitment experience than new hires do. 

They don’t want to go through a cold ATS process where they apply for a job, but never hear back. An alumni platform that is intelligently automated and packed with alerts ensures a white glove experience where, when they apply for a job, their application is accelerated into the right hands. 

Conclusion

The aim of an alumni network is to create a loyal and engaged community that can benefit both organizations and the members involved. In order to achieve this, you should use effective alumni engagement tools and strategies. 

Read more on the impact an alumni network can have on your employee engagement rates.