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While social media has made it easier to stay connected with alumni, in many ways the competition for attention has also made it harder than ever to stay connected with them in meaningful ways. A natural response is to expand the number of programs offered to alumni, and, with each additional program, an often unexpected expanded workload - including in technology tool expense and management - results.
This gives an alumni professional a large alumni management "hill" to climb when it comes to keeping the organization relevant in the lives of their alumni.
Similarly, as new staff comes on board, bringing experience with various alumni management products with them, many advocate for familiar or additional solutions in their toolset. Without careful analysis of what needs to be done and what capabilities are currently available in existing adopted tools, the tech stack continues to grow.
An alumni program that grows organically like this tends towards an amalgamation of tech/tools that were never designed to integrate.
Consider the following tools; each useful on their own, and fairly common:
Together, these could form the foundation of a successful alumni management program. Seeing it "on paper," however, can be overwhelming. Now, imagine the complexities of managing and integrating these tools with each other. Not only could this require an entire IT team, but, in some cases, integration might simply not be possible.
Many alumni management professionals are stretched too thin working with a tech stack that has either grown too tall for their budget and team or creates its own roadblocks, making seemingly simple tasks a chore.
This is why it's important to engage data managers and IT/technology advisors when it comes time to start anew - whether starting from scratch or replacing a pre-existing, disjoint, and/or obsolete tech stack. Once Alumni Relations provides their business requirements, these contributors can help perform an unbiased analysis:
Interactive maps and directories, job boards, your own mentorship program, and an easy way for members to make donations, along with event management and email marketing tools all integrated and in one "spot" - sounds like a dream, right?
The key to sustainable tool management and ongoing use - making them work for your organization rather than the other way around - is to minimize the number of integrations required and/or systems used by both alumni professionals and those who are members of the community and, in the process, offer a delightfully streamlined digital experience for your alumni.
To the alumni manager's relief, there is an alternative. Check out 360Alumni, bringing all the best-in-class tools together in one single alumni management platform.
While many alumni community providers will not provide access to a "sandbox" until you have signed the contract, 360Alumni welcomes all our prospective clients to try out our demo community, both as a user and as an administrator.
Curious? Ready to start? Either way, 360Alumni can help you cultivate connections among your constituents. Schedule a demo today.
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