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Preparing Graduates to Become Engaged Young Alumni February 9, 2024 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Engage With Your Constituents, Enhance Your Data - Wavelength recently hosted a webinar: Preparing Graduates to Become Engaged Young Alumni. Synopsis below. Watch here. Slides can be found here Building a Strong Alumni Network: Strategies for Engaging Young Graduates Introduction Building a strong alumni network is crucial for…
Ensuring Data Privacy and Security for Alumni Engagement January 11, 2024 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Enhance Your Data, Get on Our Wavelength, Strategic Planning, Webinars & Podcasts - Introduction In today’s digital age, schools are increasingly turning to engagement platforms like Wavelength to connect with their alumni. These platforms offer a range of benefits, from fostering a sense of community among alumni to facilitating networking opportunities. However, with…
Moving Alumni Up the Engagement Pyramid: Strategies for Success October 16, 2023 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Get on Our Wavelength, Strategic Planning, Webinars & Podcasts - This blog is based off the Alumni Engagement Webinar. The full webinar can be found here with the activity sheet here Introduction In the world of education, alumni engagement plays a crucial role in fostering a strong and supportive community.…
Launching a Successful Online Community: A Step-by-Step Guide July 19, 2023 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Engage With Your Constituents, Get on Our Wavelength, Strategic Planning, Webinars & Podcasts - Are you planning to launch an online community for your organization? Whether you’re a non-profit, an alumni association, or a professional network, a well-executed launch plan is crucial for creating awareness and ensuring a successful launch. In this blog post,…
New Social Media Platform, Threads, Launches. What Does That Mean for Schools? July 6, 2023 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Engage With Your Constituents, Get on Our Wavelength - Threads, a new social media platform made by Meta, launched this week. As an organization, you need to consider the implications of joining a new social media platform and monitor where your alumni are. You want to communicate with them…
Alumni Content Hub Launched June 14, 2023 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Engage With Your Constituents, Get on Our Wavelength - Your alumni are at various life stages but many are seeking simple guidance from resources you can provide. We’ve created a platform for our clients to grab relevant articles they wish to share out to their community, with an easy…
Staff turnover: keep alumni happy with these three easy steps July 12, 2022 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Enhance Your Data - 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…
The top challenges to alumni relations and how technology can help July 11, 2022 by Maggie Amaral Posted in: Enhance Your Data - 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…
The top 5 considerations to ensure a seamless transition for your graduates to become young alumni March 30, 2022 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Engage With Your Constituents, Enhance Your Data, Get on Our Wavelength - The spring is always a busy time for schools. College acceptance, graduation, staff hiring and transitions, alumni reunions, and more. As a development team it is important to consider the senior class transition to young alumni status. Without a transition…
The Key to Saving Admin Time in Alumni Management December 16, 2021 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Engage With Your Constituents, Get on Our Wavelength - When done right, alumni relations is a much bigger picture than donor fundraising. While philanthropy plays a big role in alumni management, it isn’t the only time your institution should be interacting with the alumni community. Those who have attended…
Advice from Parlance: Texting is a Meaningful Channel for Alumni Engagement December 15, 2021 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Engage With Your Constituents, Get on Our Wavelength - Written by our Guest Contributor, Todd Miller. CEO Parlance Recent graduates and younger alumni are particularly challenging to reach. Communication preferences from the youngest generation (Gen Z) to the oldest (Silent Generation) couldn’t be more opposite. Research has shown that…
From Boomers to Gen-Z: Keeping Your Alumni Close and Remaining Relevant December 8, 2021 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Engage With Your Constituents, Get on Our Wavelength - 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…
Better Data Metrics for Your Alumni Community December 2, 2021 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Enhance Your Data, Get on Our Wavelength - It seems like everyone is always talking about getting better data. But what does that mean, exactly—and why do you need better data for your alumni community? Collecting data has been the cornerstone of marketing for decades. But until recently,…
Boost Alumni Engagement in the Digital Age October 8, 2021 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Get on Our Wavelength - You want your alumni to maintain a connection to the institution while allowing them to have an active interest in the school’s future. These engagement opportunities should extend beyond asking for donations. With some help from your alumni, you can…
Engaging the Future: Connecting Alumni with your School Community October 8, 2021 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Get on Our Wavelength - Alumni engagement requires a lot of work, organization, and planning from your team, but connecting with alumni from primary or secondary schools requires teams to use more tools. These formative years of a person’s life should be celebrated with others.…
Schools are Challenged Trying To Address Alumni Engagement July 13, 2021 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Get on Our Wavelength, Strategic Planning, Webinars & Podcasts - The Big Picture: Alumni engagement in recent years has been redefined to encompass more than just giving but schools struggle with how to meaningfully interact with alumni that is mutually beneficial for the school and its constituents. VAESE (Voluntary Alumni…
The Four Categories of Alumni Engagement According to CASE and How Institutions Measure Up June 26, 2021 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Engage With Your Constituents, Get on Our Wavelength - In 2016, CASE established a committee to develop a framework to measure meaningful alumni engagement. CASE Alumni Engagement Definition: activities that are valued by alumni, build enduring and mutually beneficial relationships, inspire loyalty and financial support, strengthen the institution’s reputation…
Alumni Engagement Video Series April 8, 2021 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Strategic Planning, Webinars & Podcasts - This video series explores the importance of alumni engagement and how varied alumni initiatives can strengthen your school’s community, reach your fundraising goals, and satisfy your alumni. Have topics you want to make sure I cover? Email me at katie@searchewavelength.com…
Ideas for Spring Alumni Engagement March 18, 2021 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Engage With Your Constituents - Schools are always seeking ways to meaningfully engage with their alumni. The spring season offers several opportunities for alumni outreach including graduation, college acceptance, alumni reunions, and more. Below highlights a few ways you can bring your alumni into community…
The Walker School Supports Students with Engaging Alumni Panels February 17, 2021 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Learn From Peer Institutions - With technology and ingenuity, schools are finding creative solutions to deliver meaningful education and outreach to their students and alumni during COVID. The Walker School is a perfect example as they recently launched Conversations with Alumni, an initiative that brings…
A Quick Exercise in Problem Solving February 11, 2021 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Strategic Planning, Webinars & Podcasts - Problem solving is a natural requirement for any job: you have goals to meet and barriers to overcome to get there. The challenge with problem solving is that too often, a surface level issue is identified and “fixed” without actually…
Everything You Need to Know about Alumni Data December 2, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Enhance Your Data - This guide will help you audit, iterate, and improve your alumni community with better data. Skip to the Alumni Data Guide Maybe you are a school with an in-house alumni team, a student group with a spreadsheet, or a camp starting…
How to Lead a Brainstorm and Strategy Session December 1, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Enhance Your Data - Throughout this year, schools have had to pivot and innovate quickly to adjust to COVID needs and student learning. Below are a series of exercises to support in your ongoing efforts to lead strategy sessions. The link to full document…- The 101 on What You Need to Know to Run a Volunteer Program December 1, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Strategic Planning, Webinars & Podcasts - Below are a series of slides capturing key content and considerations. The link to the document is here.
Wavelength Webinar: Strategic Planning for the Future December 1, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Strategic Planning, Webinars & Podcasts - In this 30 Minute Webinar, you’ll receive tools and tips on how to: Develop strategy that identifies key priorities, timelines and roles/responsibilities Understand customer engagement needs (alumni, staff, parents, volunteers) Align with broader school initiatives Slides to the presentation can…- Podcast Series: Get on My Wavelength November 24, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Strategic Planning, Webinars & Podcasts - A series dedicated to answering advancement teams’ questions. Bringing in experts to inspire new ways to approach alumni engagement, data management, marketing to constituents, and more. Wavelength simplifies alumni relations through better data, more engaged constituents, and easier volunteer management.
Wavelength Webinar: Response to COVID-19 for Remote Advancement Teams November 24, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Strategic Planning, Webinars & Podcasts - Advancement is looking a little different during COVID. Whether you are in person or working remotely, taking on new responsibilities when it is all hands on deck, or trying to maintain the same level of alumni engagement- here are just…- Wavelength Webinar: Maximize Development Goals with Data November 24, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Strategic Planning, Webinars & Podcasts - It is important to consider your data health and data needs when creating a strategy for your development and advancement teams. Your ability to engage with you constituents relies on up to date contact information. The 3 part webinar below…
- Ruthless Prioritization to Save Time and Maximize Your Impact November 11, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Strategic Planning, Webinars & Podcasts - Ruthless Prioritization to Save Time and Maximize Your Impact There are several great tools out there that help in strategic planning and project management. One exercise I find the most useful as a gut check before starting any new initiative is…
Coming to Terms with Alumni Engagement, What to Truly Expect November 9, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Engage With Your Constituents - With the current age of technology and screen time, distractions and multitasking is the norm. As a school, understanding how to engage with alumni meaningfully while setting proper expectations of what that should look like is necessary to reach your…- Wavelength’s Multinetwork- How to Make Alumni Networks Actually Work October 21, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Enhance Your Data - Wavelength’s Multinetwork- How to Make Alumni Networks Actually Work Originally posted by Chris G., CEO and Founder of Wavelength Connecting with people on social media takes time, effort, and in some cases, luck. Adding another social media platform to the mix…
Maintaining Data Accuracy October 21, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Enhance Your Data - Accurate data is necessary to maintain meaningful contact with your constituents. Unfortunately, ensuring up to date data is difficult for several reasons: Data decays at 25% a year as people move, change jobs, and more. Reminding an alma mater of…
Privacy is Key to Creating a Strong, Modern Alumni Community. October 20, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Enhance Your Data - You are a steward of your alums’ information. You need this information to engage alumni. But how do you nurture your community while maintaining user privacy? Strong, private communities value two things, transparency and control. Transparency means that your alums know…- How Wavelength Communicates with Your Alumni about Data October 20, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Enhance Your Data - How Wavelength Communicates with Your Alumni about Data Alumni know that you will likely use third parties to keep up to date. But they want to know you are a good steward of their private information. Transparency is key. You should…
Messaging to your Constituents October 16, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Engage With Your Constituents - Your constituents are important members of your school community. They may be donors, parents of children, event goers, and they have the opportunity to be your word of mouth marketing. So how do you communicate with them that aligns with…
A New Reality: Alumni Engagement During COVID September 22, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Enhance Your Data - Schools I work with are frequently asking me how peer institutions are engaging with alumni as the pandemic extends into the fall/winter. Below I’ve captured a few ways our customers are interacting with alumni. Entertainment Nights: Your alumni are talented…
The Power of Parents of Alumni at K-8 Schools September 15, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Engage With Your Constituents - Parents play a significant role in their children’s education, from elementary to secondary and beyond. Fostering ongoing relationships with parents after their kids depart your school has the opportunity for some truly meaningful collaborations. I have spoken with several K-8…
Alumni Engagement During Back to School September 14, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Engage With Your Constituents - The start of this school year looks a little different than most other years, how are you sharing these changes to your constituent base? To be relevant and engaging to your constituents the information you choose to share should be…
Data as a Development Asset September 11, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Enhance Your Data - Your alumni and donor data is your most important development asset. It helps you segment your population, keep in touch with important community members, and personalize your outreach. Each constituent attribute fulfills one of these functions. For instance, net-worth info…
Princeton Day School Seeks New Ways to Engage with Alumni During COVID-19 September 11, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Enhance Your Data - Princeton Day School (PDS) is exploring new and innovative ways to interact with their alumni from afar. Below are a few concepts that they’ve begun to test in response to COVID-19. PDS recently launched a Panther AlumLIVE initiative that regularly…
School Leverages Alumni Network to Promote Community During Pandemic September 11, 2020 by Katie Gibson Posted in: Learn From Peer Institutions - While schools continue to oversee remote learning of their students, advancement teams are redesigning what engagement looks like with their alumni. Knowing how widespread their community is across the U.S., one New England institution opted to focus their engagement efforts…
