Ryan Catherwood recently posted an article “Why Alumni Network Platforms Will Likely Fail Us All”, but the article actually points responsibility to both the platforms promoting best practice and the organizations building communities. Ryan, I challenge you to re-title it “Why Everybody Could Win with an Alumni Community”.

As marketers, new regulations around data and communications might make us worry. But the GDPR presents opportunities to build goodwill and serve your people better.

Volunteers are your best ambassadors, the lifeblood of your organization. So how can you supercharge their engagement and commitment to your mission?

Volunteers can offer vital help to your institution and to your alumni community, but the benefits can be even greater for the volunteer. By offering volunteer opportunities, you provide an outlet for alumni to gain experience, develop skills, improve career prospects, meet new people and increase their affinity to your institution.  Asking alumni to share something other than money cultivates lasting committed relationships. These deepened relationships, as well as a focus on time versus money can also impact their willingness to eventually donate.

Let’s face it: fundraising for your university can be tough. Whether you’re soliciting donations from alumni or reaching out to corporations for charitable gifts, your school always needs to make the most of every fundraising dollar you can get.

Deeper connections and stronger relationships with your institution can translate into higher donor support. Data now confirms this. Organizational structures, programs and services are in the midst of change as institutions seek to harness the opportunities and benefits of engaging their constituents. There’s a drive to connect the dots between engagement and donations, and increased pressure to implement objective measures of progress and success. But how can we accomplish this?