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”.

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?