alumni futures

A Revised Matrix of Social Network Effects on Alumni Relations

Back in February, web strategist Jeremiah Owyang blogged about "impacts to alumni organizations in a world of social networks." Part of his posting was a matrix that showed these impacts in five different use cases. His excellent summary was designed as a brief analysis of the risks and potential rewards for alumni organizations approaching online networks in various ways.

I found this matrix very useful, and well thought-out. As I read it, I found myself annotating it with additional points based on my own experience. Jeremiah encouraged me to blog a slightly expanded version, and I did. It appears below.

My additions and changes to Jeremiah's original version are written in italics in the matrix accompanying this blog post. I hope you can use it, and I hope you will add missing factors in the comments below, or point out aspects with which you disagree. 

Click image to enlarge:

 
Jeremiah embedded in his matrix a couple of links that are worth listing separately:

• Stanford's tagged directory of alumni-written blogs (opportunity to aggregate alumni voices)
• Jeremiah Owyang's checklist for developing advocacy for your program (ambassador/marketing opportunity)

Here's my original posting about the matrix.

Thanks to Jeremiah for encouraging me to build on his efforts.

Fundraising on Twitter: Anything New Here?

In late February Mashable's Melissa Jun Rowley published an article titled 10 Tips for Successful Twitter Fundraising. I was interested to see what Twitter-specific tactics might surface. But when I read the list, it seemed to me that every one of them was something that any non-profit fundraising professional should be doing anyway – and not just on Twitter. 

Examples of the non-Twitter-specific advice include

• Keep Track of Developing Relationships
  
• Recognize Volunteers and Donors
  

and

• State Your Purpose and Your Request Clearly
  

These are certainly critical components to successful fundraising – but they are not at all specific to Twitter. 

In the comments to the post Laurie Pringle voiced this exact point, saying:

This is basic fundraising 101. Very little of this is specific to Twitter - it's basic fundraising, sales, marketing and relationship building skills (and some might say just plain old good manners)...Every major non profit conference I go to, most of the philanthropy and charity websites, are full of articles, papers and educational offerings on just this topic – and have been for some time.

I agree. So my questions are

Are some of these "10 Tips" actually more true on Twitter than in any other fundraising channel?

and

Are there other tips that you can think of that really do apply more to Twitter than to any other channel?

Leave a comment. Or write a reply on Twitter: @alumnifutures.

New Staffing Models in Alumni Relations

[Alumni Futures is partnering with Charlie Melichar's Intermedia blog this week, to share some views on the changing landscape of institutional advancement in education. Read Charlie's interview with Andrew Gossen, Cornell University's new senior director for social media strategy as a companion posting to my comments below.]

I've been thinking a lot recently about something I heard on a SelectMinds webinar a couple of years ago. 

Ethan McCarty, program manager for Greater IBM (the corporate alumni community for current and former IBM employees worldwide) was discussing social media. He described how IBM was connecting the organization to its audience via its sprawling, worldwide LinkedIn Group (more than 46,000 members today). A webinar participant asked how IBM measures the return on investment for social tools. McCarty replied, "What's the ROI for your phone service?" 

In other words, online networks are part of the fabric now, they're what people do. They are as critical to many businesses as telephone service is. Online community is not an experiment or a half-measure to make up for the fact that people won't read your direct mail pieces.

Our work requires ever-increasing incorporation of online networks and so-called social media – these are tools for doing our work, not just "programs and services" that we offer. So what are the implications for alumni relations? One implication is that staffing models, organizational structure and professional roles must change, and change soon.

Cornell University (Ithaca, New York, USA) is adapting to these opportunities by creating permanent roles that embed these practices in the alumni relations effort. Their decisions raise the bar for how alumni offices incorporate social tools into traditional engagement. I asked Cornell's Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations, Chris Marshall, to comment on their rationale.

Chris told me,

I've hired most of our team members for their ability to motivate and manage volunteers, to develop deep relationships, to plan strategic events, and to work hand-in-hand with fundraisers. Asking staff with those specialized skills to also become experts in a rapidly-evolving field like social media, with its complicated task of collecting, synthesizing, and reporting metrics, simply won't get the job done. I believe we need dedicated staff in these areas for alumni affairs to succeed.

We’ve decided that social media is going to be the primary way we ‘touch’ most of our 215,000 alumni. We also believe it will help us advance our relationships with key donors and volunteer leaders. So we have to do it right, and have to show our results with data. That’s why we’ve hired Andrew Gossen as our Senior Director of Social Media Strategy, and given Jennifer Cunningham the title of Senior Director, Marketing Strategy and Business Analytics.

This doesn't mean that other staff members are off the hook and don't need to know or think about the newer tools that alumni are using. A new hire today should be familiar with social sites and comfortable using them for alumni engagement, in ways that make sense in their own organization. 

Other organizations, such as the Stanford Alumni Association, have also begun carving out these roles even in the face of limited resources. By measuring the results analytically, these front-runners will be able to show how our online efforts influence alumni relationships (with each other and with our institutions), and to what extent. This is the beginning of an important new direction for alumni relations, communications, and development staffing models.

Related postings: 

A post about Princeton's mobile-optimized reunion web site

Andrew's guest blog post about "an unusual online student-alumni interaction"

Andrew's guest blog post about social networking meeting philanthropy

White Paper: Alumni Networks and Twitter - An Update

Today I'm excited to announce the publication of a new white paper, co-authored with Elizabeth Allen. The paper is titled Alumni Networks and Twitter: An Update. It's a quick look back at changes since our January 2009 paper, which examined Twitter's potential to influence alumni relations and higher education advancement.

We repeated the non-scientific survey on Twitter awareness and usage in alumni relations, so there is now basic comparative data to show changes in Twitter's role in our professions. This year we also added questions about Twitter Lists to the survey.

To download the paper (PDF format), click on the link below and the document will be downloaded to your computer.

Download Alumni Networks and Twitter: An Update [713kb PDF]

Leave comments about the white paper below this posting. To notify your own Twitter followers about the white paper, click this link: 

Tweet This White Paper

Or use the "Tweet this White Paper" button on the second page of the PDF. 

Thanks for reading; we hope you find it useful!

Time for a Change

I've been in alumni relations since January 1989, when I became assistant director in the alumni office at my alma mater, Brown University. That was 21 years ago, and I've been at Caltech since September 1999 – almost exactly half my career, or ten and a half years. 

My service to Caltech has been tremendously rewarding, but now I have chosen to move on to the next stage of my career in higher education. 

So I have decided to leave my position at Caltech on March 10.

Then what?

Although I am not immediately moving to a new permanent position, I plan to do so eventually, in an environment that encourages innovation and experimentation. In the immediate future I have an ample "to do" list. But I'm looking to add to it, as well.

I plan to complete my master's degree in education this spring, and if possible, continue as chair of the CASE Commission on Alumni Relations, while continuing as a member of the CASE Board of Trustees. 

I am also fortunate to have the opportunity to speak in diverse settings. In late March I'll deliver part of a training workshop in Paris for the European Association of International Education (EAIE), and will help teach a one-day master class in alumni relations for CASE in London. (At both events I will talk about social network technology and higher education).

Summer is shaping up to be busy too. In June I'll speak at the Whipple Hill Conference (for independent schools), and I'll run the second Alumni Futures Think Tank, a private workshop, in New York in July. And in August I hope to participate as a faculty member in the first-ever CASE Asia-Pacific Summer Institute in Singapore. 

I also will do consulting engagements as time allows. And of course, I plan to keep writing the Alumni Futures blog and tweeting about higher education via @alumnifutures.

Finally, I hope readers will contact me by email (andy@alumnifutures.com) to share job leads, discuss consulting or training needs, speaking invitations – or just to talk about higher ed advancement. 

Social Networks' Impact on Alumni Associations: Jeremiah Owyang

This morning I was lucky enough to hear Altimeter Group's analyst and consultant Jeremiah Owyang address the Council of Alumni Association Executives (CAAE) on "Social Marketing and Research Strategy" for alumni organizations. I have quoted Owyang here on occasion and it was great to have a chance to discuss directly his ideas for alumni groups using social technologies.

Every alumni professional should read the blog post that Jeremiah wrote to accompany his presentation:

Matrix: Impacts to Alumni Organizations in a World of Social Networks

His comments are self-explanatory, but the reader comments are illuminating as well. And be sure to read the five use cases in the matrix, which shows a simple snapshot of the risks and rewards of various approaches.

I'll post a follow up article here soon, discussing some of Owyang's specific comments about the opportunities available to alumni organizations connecting with alumni where they live online. I'll also post an outline of my own remarks to the group from the previous day.

Guest Blogger Scott Mory: Good Works Made Visible

This week's post is written by Scott Mory, CEO of the USC Alumni Association at the University of Southern California, and addresses the importance of strategically connecting alumni relations and the academic side of your institution.

Many of us already link institutional advancement with "the academic side of the house." But do we really think of ourselves, or talk about ourselves, as responsible for supporting our institution's academic mission?

My administrative home at USC is the division of university relations. Our senior vice president for university relations, Martha Harris, describes our division's core mission as "Good Works Made Visible." Those good works are typically the academic and professional accomplishments of our faculty, students, staff and alumni. And if you think about much of the work an alumni association does throughout the year, we focus a lot of effort on making good works visible.

For example:

• Publishing communications that publicize the institution's academic priorities and achievements
• Planning lectures with faculty members presenting their latest research
• Identifying alumni who can promote the institution's reputation in specific industries
• Recruiting alumni as expert advisors or guest speakers
• Recognizing graduates' professional accomplishments
• Marketing the institution's lifelong learning opportunities that are available to alumni
• Building a strong alumni network to help alumni and students find jobs, internships and career advice or support

Your alumni relations program probably has most of these features already. But are you presenting them as crucial support for the academic mission? If not, you could be missing a chance to make an effective case to volunteer leaders and campus colleagues about your program’s relevance and value.  (And it’ll make for a nice change of pace from being evaluated on how we support fundraising.)

Now you may be wondering how your alumni will respond to this focus. Trust me, they’ll love it. We recently surveyed our alumni, and they told us the most important factor in their relationship with USC is their perception of the value of their degrees – also known as degree equity. Their perception of the degree’s value is informed by the accomplishments of alumni, faculty, and students, as well as USC’s rankings in various surveys. Alumni also told us that one of the most important drivers of their loyalty is how well USC prepares students for a variety of activities, including responding to new career opportunities, deepening a commitment to personal development, and instilling a commitment to continuous learning.

For me, these findings are a roadmap on how to take USC’s alumni engagement to the next level – by connecting our work to USC’s academic mission, by making USC’s good works visible.

Photo of books in USC's Doheny Library by Zabowski via Creative Commons.

2010 HERS Institute: For Women in Higher Ed Administration

Each year I post an announcement of the Bryn Mawr Summer Institute presented by Higher Education Resource Services (HERS). This year's information is now online, and open for applications. 

The application deadline is coming up (1 March, 2010) so if you're a mid- or senior-level manager in higher education, check it out now. The program is in depth (12 days long, beginning 18 June) but there is nothing comparable for female administrators in higher ed. 

It is not a conference. It is a leadership training institute with a proven track record and a unique focus on the following broad themes:

• Understanding the Higher Education Environment (trends, technology, cultures & constituencies);
• Planning & Leading Change (strategy, negotiation, conflict resolution);
• Managing & Investing Strategic Resources (higher ed finance, budgeting, and advancement); and
• Leadership Development (leadership styles, career stages, and finding or being a mentor).

Enrollment is capped at 70 participants.

More information is available at www.hersnet.org, or call Judith White directly at 1+303/871-6866. Tell her you heard it from Alumni Futures!

LinkedIn for Alumni Professionals at Technical Institutions

Many of us use LinkedIn to help alumni activate their networks for professional advancement. But do you use LinkedIn for your own benefit? LinkedIn has a Groups function which, though far from perfect, can be useful in many cases.

There is a CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) Group on LinkedIn, and there are also a few subgroups. As of this writing, they include

• Independent Schools
  
• CASE District II
  
• Alumni Volunteers in India
  

and

• Alumni Professionals in Technical and Engineering Institutions.
  

I suggested this last group as one that would appeal to those of us whose alumni audience is heavily weighted toward engineers, scientists and other research professions. If this describes your own institution then check out the subgroup and post discussion items to share program ideas and to ask questions. Basic LinkedIn membership is free for individuals.

Alumni Futures Turns Three

Ordinarily I post new material on Monday mornings, but this week I'm jumping the gun a little bit so that I can post on February 7, which is Alumni Futures' birthday. The first post went up on this day in 2007, which means that I'm pleased to be entering my fourth year of writing the Alumni Futures blog.

Pretty much everything I said three years ago is still true of Alumni Futures:

• I want to generate discussion about new ideas and directions for our profession;
• I am optimistic that readers will learn from information exchanged here;
• I hope readers will participate by adding their own ideas and visions for alumni relations.

It started out simple and has remained so. But while the site's complexity has not increased, I hope its utility has. For me to know what works and what doesn't, what's missing and what you'd like done differently, you need to tell me. So send an email and I'll welcome any advice. 

For fun, here are some stats about activity on Alumni Futures since its inception in February, 2007:

• There have been 116,422 page views in three years.
• Almost 1,400 individuals have subscribed to receive new materials from Alumni Futures.
• I have published 234 postings, which works out to precisely 1.5 postings per week for three years. 
• More important, you all have contributed more than 400 comments to those postings, and that (in my opinion) is what makes the blog work. 

OK, back to work. Year four begins now!