Trying to find ways to keep your alumni close can be challenging, especially when you have members of different generations. While everyone wants to feel like a part of the club, these members have different expectations. Alumni associations that embrace their members have long-term success. With a few tips, you can keep all those alumni closer to your organization.
Need help to connect with those cross-generational members of your alumni? Check out how Wavelength can build successful alumni relationships!
Create Those Lifelong Members
The chances are that your alumni association has members in a wide range of age groups. If you want your members to be closer to the organization, you will have to engage with them. However, engagement is different for every group. You need to have members that will be with the organization for the long term, and that should be your overall goal.
Those long-term members play vital roles, and they are far more important than any short-term objectives. But with members of different generations, how do you build that sense of loyalty and engagement with these individuals?
No matter the generations, many alumni organizations capitalize on two powerful human emotions: prestige and affiliation. There should be a sense of pride when reaching out to your members.
What sets apart your school from the rest? Focus on that, and use those emotions to reach your alumni members. People want to be associated with something exclusive. The most successful alumni groups often use these principles to their advantage.
Related: Schools are Challenged Trying To Address Alumni Engagement
Give Various Benefits
About 69% of associations cite their biggest challenge to growing their membership relates to the lack of value. There will be different value expectations when you have alumni members from across several generations. Some members might feel like contributing to the school’s future through a donation is enough of a benefit. Younger members often believe that alumni-only events are an excellent value for their membership. If you are looking for ways to reach all of your alumni, don’t fall into the one-size-fits-all approach.
Yes, you can focus on all of those groups. Maybe create a subgroup for alumni under 30 or have a gathering for those older members. While you will never find something that all of the alumni can agree on, you can create memorable events and benefits that can cater to specific crowds.
While you are creating your benefits, spend time focusing on their relevancy and ease of use. All of your benefits should align with the expectations of the members. Remember that all members want to know that their contributions to the alumni associations are going for a good cause. It is estimated that 54% of alumni don’t renew their membership because they can’t use the benefits or are disappointed in the value of the available benefits.
Your alumni association should be focused on your members. If it weren’t for them, there would not be an alumni group. Take this time to spotlight some of those members. Reach out and gather some heartwarming stories. Alumni from all generations want to share their stories and experiences. All of these methods can help you connect with members of different ages and create a sense of community among your members.
Stay Social
If you have younger alumni, your organization already knows that social media is the top way to keep them connected. You can use these various platforms to instantly share updates and other news. When you successfully implement social media into your alumni association, members will be more willing to connect and engage with the organization.
Related: Ideas for Spring Alumni Engagement
You might think that social media is only a young person’s game, but many more of the older generations are pretty tech-savvy. These members understand the nuances of staying connected on social media. Now more than ever, all generations are staying updated with the help of social media.
Make Connecting Simple
No matter the age of the alumni, you want to find ways that they can stay involved with the organization. If your members have a question or suggestion, you want to make it easy for them to reach you. Have someone ready to answer questions. If they cannot find an answer, at least reach out to the member and let them know you are working on a solution.
Zero communication is a surefire way to drive away alumni members from all age groups. With that, you want members to get their questions answered in a reasonable time. Nothing can lose more engagement than ignoring your alumni members.
Organize Data
Your alumni members leave a massive trail of data. When you organize, analyze, and collect these valuable pieces of information, you can build stronger relationships. Along with that, you can see what is essential for your members. Do they want more engagement or less? Age might impact preference, older members may like direct mail while younger alumni could prefer to stay connected online via social media. When you analyze these trends, you can see what will work for some alumni members and what will not.
One way to learn about your members’ satisfaction is by sending out surveys. With a few questions, you can know whether your organization is doing everything to make your members happy. If there are problems, you can quickly alleviate them. These surveys will also give you some ideas that can help with the acquisition of new members.
Your alumni organizations should continuously be developing sustainable strategies. Don’t rest on those old-school methods from the past. It is important to be innovative and evolving. Your alumni members are constantly changing, so why shouldn’t your organization.
Related: Boost Alumni Engagement in the Digital Age
Trying to keep different generations engaged with your alumni association can be difficult. Some methods can work across the board, but you may want to customize your approach to meet the needs of specific generational groups. No matter which path you choose, just make sure to constantly evolve in your practice to keep those alumni members closer to the organization.
Are you searching for ways to boost your alumni engagement? Wavelength offers simplified ways to keep close to your alumni members of all age groups!