There has been a significant increase in job openings for schools since the pandemic started, with the most amount of turnover in 2022. With these staffing changes, it is important to keep your alumni community in mind. Their key school contacts and core teachers they have memories of may be departing the school. Here are the top 3 ways to support your alumni through these transitions.

Image provided by: Riser-Kositsky, M. (2021, June 15). School Staffing by the Numbers. Education Week. Retrieved Month Day, Year from https://www.edweek.org/leadership/school-staffing-by-the-numbers/2022/06

Introduce new staff

For your alumni to remain connected with your school, they want to know the school still has the same student goals and quality staff as it has had in its past. Celebrating these new hires will be meaningful. 

The person alumni should be introduced to as soon as possible is their core contact at the school if there is a new hire in that role. Include a photo of the staff member in your introduction as faces and names help to personalize the alum’s experience. 

Any new hire takes time learning the ropes and establishing themselves in role. Acknowledge that typical alumni engagement outreach may look a little different when onboarding is happening. If you can, have a plan to set expectations for this change especially with more engaged alumni like volunteers.

Highlight departing members and perhaps invite them back to alumni events

Alumni have favorite teachers and oftentimes those departing teachers have strong relationships with their students even after they depart their classrooms. Highlighting retiring faculty to your alumni base and thanking them for their commitment to the students is valuable. 

Inviting these departing faculty to fireside chats or alumni events may encourage future engagement by your alumni as their favored faculty could be a strong draw for attendance.

Be open with the staffing changes and understand there may be mixed feelings regarding this change

Dedicated alumni will have an opinion about school changes. Be it positive or negative, they may seek an ear to share their feelings. Listening is the best thing you can do in this situation. Alumni don’t want to hear rumors about potential big changes, it is better to hear it from the source as soon as it becomes public to other community members like parents. 

Each alum may respond differently to school changes. Know that alumni relationships are long term and there may be times when disgruntled alumni choose to step back from engaging with your school. This does not mean you should ignore that alumni base, but it is important to adjust your interactions and goals for the coming year.

 

 

 Institutions like yourself are seeking ways to engage meaningfully with alumni. However, the challenges of lower budgets, staff changeover, and lack of time makes it hard to consistently feel connected with alumni. 

With alumni relations headcount declining by 18% since 2017, technology can offer a cost effective, long term solution to resource strain that helps you reach your goals. For example, emails and online directory tools.

For emails, start by communicating outside of fundraising efforts. We suggest an easy 3-section e-newsletter involving: 

1. The past (nostalgic stories and class updates), 
2. The present (current events happening at your school),
3. The future (important upcoming initiatives).

Keep it simple and choose a cadence you can handle like quarterly or bi-annually. 

Communications solely targeted at alumni are valuable but if you over communicate, specifically around raising money, you lose the risk of permanent do not solicit requests. 

For online directory tools, there are several options available ranging in expense and complexity. At Wavelength, we choose to prioritize a directory tool that saves you time and money while providing your alumni a user friendly, private community. 

When thinking about adopting new technologies, ask yourself the following questions: 

All data points provided by VAESE 2020 Alumni Survey: https://www.alumniaccess.com/vaese-2020