alumni futures

6 Online Outcomes & 3 Case Studies: Thunderbird, Part II

In our last article we saw a few of the guidelines the Thunderbird Global School of Management (Arizona, USA) uses to shape its interaction with alumni via Twitter and LinkedIn.

This week they share some specific outcomes from these efforts, as well as a few challenges and success stories.

 

Key Outcomes from LinkedIn
Thunderbird counts 25% of its 40,000 alumni among its LinkedIn Group. Here are key results, with "how to" tips:

Outcome 1: Countered the impression that Thunderbird didn't do enough to help alumni obtain jobs
Katie Mayer, alumni relations coordinator, says: "Complaints about this issue have decreased from several per week to virtually none." How did they do it?

• Posting jobs and career tips regularly
• Giving real-time access to Career Management Center staff
• Encouraging alumni to post job openings
• Actively matching alumni with one another for networking

Outcome 2: Identified and tested a new giving opportunity
How did they do it?

• A Campaign appeal via LinkedIn, through a Group notification (which hits e-mail boxes and posts automatically as a "Discussion"). The appeal was a direct ask from Mayer, their community manager. 
• "This was the second-most successful appeal of any kind all year, resulting in more than 100 gifts in a few days, plus numerous comments – all positive." 
• Not over-reaching. Mayer: "This tool is powerful, so we’ve decided to use it only once per year. There was something about asking as a person, instead of as the institution, that touched this group."

Outcome 3: Created a closer relationship with alumni
Thunderbird now communicates with alumni more via LinkedIn than via e-mail. Mayer: "There's a more personal connection because of the profile photo and bio. Alumni feel that they already know us when we meet in person."

Outcome 4: Generated more balanced Group conversations
A larger number of members means more diverse viewpoints, instead of a handful of vocal alumni.

 

[Thunderbird communicates with alumni more via LinkedIn than via e-mail]

 

Key Outcomes from Twitter
Half of Thunderbird's content is purely informative and focused on international business – it is a global management school after all. Thunderbird's Mayer and colleague Samantha Novick subscribe to various digital news outlets to get timely content to share with followers. 

For fun sometimes they'll post trivia questions from The Economist Book of Facts. Novick: "Since more than half our students are international, we Tweet holidays around the world. We schedule Tweets for certain times to take care of our alumni who are in time zones throughout Europe and Asia."

Outcome 5: Positioned Thunderbird on Twitter as a source of insight on relevant, important issues
"It bolsters our credibility and fosters lifelong learning," says Novick.

Outcome 6: Increased alumni engagement
Fast responses, retweets, favoriting their tweets, lists, mentioning them when they mention Thunderbird, and remaining transparent – even in controversial issues – all these factors increase interaction.

 

But what about Facebook?
Mayer: "We are focusing our Facebook presence toward prospective students, and haven’t generated as much interest with our alumni via Facebook." In other words, they have chosen specific channels and are pursuing an intentional strategy that fits their communication and engagement goals. 

["It was an honest – and at times upsetting – discussion"]

Case Studies: Experiments Good and Bad

Mayer mentions two controversial experiments that generated mixed responses.

• A rap video (with student callers and Thunderbird's president dancing) generated negative student comments on YouTube. "They felt it looked unprofessional for an MBA school. Alumni mostly found it humorous, but the project was time-consuming and we couldn't measure its impact, beyond a brief increase in web traffic."
• Thunderbird's Director of Annual Giving asked the LinkedIn Alumni Group, “Why wouldn’t you give?” This generated more than 100 comments, some criticizing the school and others defending it. Mayer says it was "an honest – and at times upsetting – discussion that resulted in institutional changes as well as some online gifts."

Finally, Mayer tells a cross-platform success story:

• Thunderbird launched a Global Giving Competition during the last months of its Campaign:

"We divided alumni globally into geographic regions and pitted them against one another. Some regions were very competitive – there was a buzz about it across platforms. The best aspect is that it allowed us to discuss giving every day without angering or upsetting anyone. A tweet might say, “D.C. knocked New York out of first place this week! Who will win it in the end?” We updated a leaderboard every week and the winning region's donors' names were published in Thunderbird Magazine, they got a letter signed by the school’s president, and formal recognition at Homecoming. And little prizes along the way kept it fun."

These tangible examples show that online channels can drive meaningful, measurable engagement with alumni around the world. I found the lessons useful – did you?

Add to these ideas, or react to them, by leaving a comment.

Photo: Thunderbird campus (Glendale, AZ, USA) by Kristen Jarchow. Used with permission.

Related articles

• 16 Tips for Engaging Your Alumni Online: Thunderbird, Part I (alumnifutures.com)
• Video: Thunderbird Gift Rap (youtube.com)
• Thunderbird's Global Giving Competition summary (knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu)
• Thunderbird on Twitter (twitter.com)

16 Tips for Engaging Your Alumni Online: Thunderbird, Part I

I recently noticed that the Thunderbird School of Global Management (Arizona, USA) was generating steady, relevant interaction and growth in its LinkedIn Alumni Group and its Twitter feed. I asked Thunderbird's alumni relations coordinator Katie Mayer for insight into their approach. She and Samantha Novick (T-bird's PR & new media specialist) generously provided the following tips:

Driving Engagement on LinkedIn

1. Don't wait for alumni to join your LinkedIn Group: go get them. Use your alumni database to target alumni to join, en masse. "We invite 200 alumni per day to join," says Mayer.

2. Try to understand graduates' needs. Then actively fulfill those needs. "Form a relationship with your Group and put your members' needs first."

3. Listen closely, respond only when necessary, and be brief. 

4. Find and share valuable content, and develop a distinctive online voice for doing so.

5. Run interference for your Group. Set up clear rules for online channels. Don't just post press releases, and don't let a small number of Group members dominate the discussion.

6. Don't censor."We prohibit profanity, personal attacks and hate speech." Anything else is potentially in play.

7. Once you've earned members' trust and attention, you will start to see returns, and can ask for gifts and involvement.

8. When a group trusts and likes its manager, it brings a return on your time investment. "They'll support you, defend you and become your allies in return for your commitment to them." 

["Alumni will support you, defend you and become your allies 
in return for your commitment to them."]

Driving Engagement with Twitter

9. Alumni expect immediate responses on Twitter.

10. Twitter puts you on people's radar frequently, so choose content carefully.

11. Retweet and favorite alumni followers' tweets regularly.

12. Build Twitter lists of alumni to help them find each other on Twitter.

13. If someone mentions T-bird by name, Thunderbird mentions them in return.

14. Diverse groups of stakeholders follow Thunderbird on Twitter. So "we diversify our content, and try to be inclusive."

15. "We're in the education business, so we regularly provide valuable educational content to followers."

16. Stay transparent and don't shy away from all controversy. "We post information even if we know it will generate negative comments."

 

Next Up: Real Life Examples
Next week, we'll learn about six real-world outcomes from online engagement at Thunderbird. And Katie and Samantha will share some difficulties and success stories from the online world. 

 

Related content

• Thunderbird on Twitter (twitter.com)
• Thunderbird on Social Media (knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu)
• LinkedIn Discussions: Best Practice (alumnifutures.com)
• 11 LinkedIn Group Management Best Practices for Nonprofits (nonprofitorgs.wordpress.com)

The Bucky Challenge: Case Study in Social Media Fundraising

Kris Olds (co-author of the outstanding Global Higher Ed blog) recently posted a link on the Alumni Futures Facebook wall: 

    The Bucky Challenge 

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is using social media interaction to generate incremental fundraising for student scholarships.

For a limited period, an alumni donor will contribute $1 per click for each of the following four actions:

• a new "Like" on the University Facebook Page
• a new "Like" on the Alumni Association Facebook Page
• a new follower of the University Twitter feed
• a new follower of the Alumni Association Twitter feed

In an email exchange with Chronicle of Higher Ed reporter Josh Keller (who blogged about the topic), I mentioned the following pros and cons of this approach:

 

Potentially Positive Aspects

Creatively combines university fundraising priorities with online engagement. 

In alumni relations in general, and in online interaction especially, we cannot easily see clear connections between individual interactions and measurable outcomes. Do Facebook likes lead to volunteerism? Do Tweets lead to giving? This makes limited inroads with that problem.

Provides additional visibility for fundraising among key audiences. 

Even if I don't click to support the Bucky Challenge, I still hear that funding student scholarships is an institutional priority. This generates awareness for development.

Produces a few more Followers and Fans on Twitter and Facebook. 

If you believe that having more is good, then this helps. 

Generates scholarship funds from a donor match for Internet clicks (which are "free"). 

 

[If you believe that having more Fans and Followers is good, then this helps]

 

Potentially Negative Aspects

Leaves some money on the table. 

I might be prepared to donate $100, but then discover that clicking the Like button triggers a donation from someone else. Some donors may think this gets them off the hook for further giving. 

Reinforces common complaint that "You only contact me when you're asking for money." 

Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are among the few places where most universities don't ask alumni to contribute. That will change eventually anyway, but for now the school is in uncharted waters with fundraising on third party sites. In this instance, alumni aren't being asked to give directly. They're just being asked to click a button, something most of them will do anyway.

More Followers and Fans: not necessarily beneficial.

Doubling your Twitter count can give a false sense of "increased engagement." But what is the outcome of having all those additional people click that button? Do they see our tweets? Do they like them? Do they read our Facebook updates? Do they think the updates are relevant? If they do, does this lead to a specific result (giving, advocacy, event attendance, volunteerism)? We have almost no idea. And almost none of us is committing resources to find out the answer. We're just telling people to "please click."

 

[What is the outcome of having all those additional people click that button?]

 

Summary

UW-Madison deserves credit for a simple, understandable way to increase scholarship funding incrementally (they're at $14,000 as of this writing). However, we can't measure the effort's financial success without knowing their dollar goals and their "engagement" goal for Likes and Follows.

Smart move: Limiting the time period in which people can click to have their participation count. The sense of urgency this creates may increase an individual's willingness to participate, even if the urgency is manufactured.

Biggest risk: Equating the instant gratification of a new fan or follower with the long-term value of a truly engaged alumnus, who donates up to their potential, attends events, volunteers, and promotes the institution. It doesn't hurt to have people clicking on social content, unless you rest on your laurels and declare success simply because you have bigger numbers on Facebook and Twitter. 

What's next?: With the recent announcement of Facebook "Gestures," (such as Listened to, Read, and Watched) doesn't it make sense for Donated to join the list? Not a bad idea. You heard it here first! 

 

Meanwhile, what do you think of the Bucky Challenge? Is it generating genuine engagement, or one-time donations below the donors' potential?

Leave a comment.

Related articles

• University of Wisconsin Launches Social Media Challenge (mediabistro.com)
• U. of Wisconsin donor offers $1 for each new Twitter followed (chronicle.com)
• For University of Wisconsin, New Facebook Fans Pay Off (thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com)
• How Facebook Will Fix its Like Button Problem (mashable.com)
• Digital connections to alumni: a fundraising campaign via social media (guardian.co.uk)

LinkedIn Feature: "Your College Alumni"

LinkedIn has quietly launched its "Your College Alumni" feature (click image to enlarge).

What is it?

Search for a company when you are logged in to LinkedIn, and you'll see a page showing

• the company's profile on LinkedIn;
• a tab showing employees in your LinkedIn network;
• a tab listing employees who are your fellow alumni, and
• a tab with new hires, if any, at that company. 

"Your College Alumni" pulls alumni of all institutions from which you list an undergradaute or graduate degree in your profile. It won't tell you which institutional connection you share with company employees (but you can find out by looking at an individual employee's LinkedIn profile).

You can see how you are linked to each individual as well (1st, 2nd or 3rd degree connection, or shared LinkedIn Group membership).

The assumption seems to be that your fellow alumni will be more approachable and ready to network with you because of your alumni connection. By revealing your network within that company, LinkedIn may make it easier for you to gain inroads for business development, job hunting, information interviewing and more.

Have you noticed this feature? Have you used it?

Will you promote it to your own alumni?

Leave a comment.

Thank you to Alumni Futures advisory group member Liz Allen of Adaptivate who tipped me off that this function was up and running on LinkedIn.

Technology versus Community: Ride the Wave, Not the Board

Image by shaindlin via Flickr

Over the past year I've delivered, participated in, or facilitated dozens of workshops, keynotes, conference talks, and panel discussions. All of them included at least a passing mention of social media, web-based community, or digital communication. Many of them focused exclusively on virtual interaction.

One well-established message, central to online interaction, surfaced again again, and it bears repeating. 

The Problem

Many people fret about "keeping up with technology." Software, websites and digital tools are constantly evolving, and new ones crop up all the time. People want to know how to identify and select the "right" online tools in the midst of continual upheaval.

The Advice

Don't worry so much about picking the "right" technology or the "best" tool.

Instead, pay attention to what kind of interaction the tools enable or magnify.

Pay attention to human behavior.

[Pay attention to behavior, not technology]

The Message

Your audience – as a community – depends on human interaction and healthy relationships. That was true before the Internet, and it will be true post-Internet. 

So focus on community, not technology. Or, as surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku said:

"Ride the wave, not the board."

Why?

Because technology changes.

But community doesn't.

5 Interesting Social Media Uses in Higher Ed

There are as many ways to deploy social technology as there are opportunities to do so.

Today I'm highlighting five approaches to social media that I thought noteworthy. I also mention what I think is the key benefit of each approach.

 

1. West Virginia University: Gigantic social media icons

I don't know if bigger icons are more effective, but they make an unforgettable impression on the first-time visitor.

Key Benefit: Impossible to miss the institution's presence on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Foursquare. Plus, thoughtful social media Do's and Dont's – if anyone reads them.

 

2. Johns Hopkins University: Hopkins Interactive

This service helps prospective and admitted students to connect with the school "by offering them open, uncensored information about student life on campus and in Baltimore."

Key Benefit: Exemplifies a communication culture of openness.

 

3. University of Oregon: Social Media "Best Practice" page for campus communicators

This page is a clean, simple to use guideline and link resource for campus wide consistency. Policing social media usage is hard, but clarifying common guidelines and policies will go a long way toward helping a decentralized institution be more consistent and compelling.

Key Benefit: Centralizes and focuses social media best practice across a decentralized institution. Compare this with the thorough, but hard-to-read document from the University of Texas.

 

4. University of Delaware: Social Media Portal

A simple, very clean page that hosts direct links to the University's various official presences.

Key Benefit: One-stop shopping for official social content from the institution. It's a good visual reminder that a manageable number of official commitments allows the staff to focus on content, instead of worrying about covering every possible social website.

 

5. Webster University: Commencement social media summary

This recap of graduation activities includes a Twitter hashtag (#webstergrad), video from Ustream, alumni comments and more.

Key Benefit: Event-based organizational scheme curates and aggregates content for easy scanning by alumni, students, faculty, staff and families of graduates. The Storify.com platform provides opportunities for the creative communications professional (thanks to Patrick Powers for the pointer to this page, which he created).

 

Have you seen other creative, original or experimental uses of social media in educational advancement? Leave a comment. 

Note: This article is cross-posted to the CASE Social Media blog.

Alumni + Photos = Social Currency: Travis Warren

This article is written by Travis Warren, CEO and Founder of WhippleHill Communications.

When I first read about the Library of Congress’s Flickr project, I couldn’t wait to check it out. It made me think about how schools could benefit from digitizing their photographic archives. I spoke with others at my alma mater, Proctor Academy, about putting our archives online for public viewing. Scanning the collection would make it more much widely available but I thought that the impact could be even greater. Could we turn these assets into a form of social currency?  

I hoped that pushing photos from Flickr out to our Facebook and Twitter networks would start conversations and increase the sense of community online. The photos would serve as conversation starters, or ‘icebreakers,’ putting people at ease and creating a reason for them to engage.  

Before we could begin we needed to get organized. We set up a Flickr account, and started scanning and posting photos one hundred at a time. Initially, rather than focusing on ‘conversations’ (currency), we set out to simply build our collection (assets). After we had about two thousand pictures posted, we began publishing links to the photos on Facebook. 

Early on we learned a number of valuable lessons. Many photos failed to generate interest because they were from too far in the past, or because they had uninteresting captions. Relying heavily on the ‘Insights’ from our Facebook page, we refined our photo selection process and overall approach. The gender, age, and location of our audience helped us better determine which photos to post.  

Before long we felt comfortable taking risks with our images and captions, trying hard not to take ourselves too seriously. Humor through photo or comment was often the best icebreaker. We realized humility was also key to starting conversations. Mistakes happen –occasionally we misidentified people, places or dates, and sometimes found that our mistakes led to the best conversations of all. We also selected photos from upcoming reunion years and focused on programs we knew our alumni were invested in and would love to respond to.  

It might sound a bit illogical not to announce what we were doing. In fact, we just started and let whatever would happen, happen (read Seth Godin’s latest book, Poke the Box, if you’re looking for inspiration). Once a week or so we posted links to archive photos on our Facebook page or tweeted about a photo. It was great to realize our initial hunch was correct – that there was endless opportunity in digitizing archives. And as we found out soon enough, the rest takes care of itself.


Photos: 
Ski Hill Men – engaging Reunion years. 
The Bird in front of Morton House – inviting humor. 
Caution Boy’s School – inviting humility.

Related articles

• What's in it for you? Why should social media be a priority on your campus? (case.org)

Social Technology & the Leadership Volunteer

Charlene Li, founder of Altimeter Group and prominent author and speaker on social media for business, is a candidate for the board of the Harvard Alumni Association. She announced this on her blog recently, and asked Harvard alumni for their support as she seeks to fill one of six elected positions on the board (the majority of members are appointed).

Li's announcement offers at least three lessons regarding the leadership of alumni organizations and their future relevance. There are also good reminders about why busy people volunteer their time and expertise.

[Volunteers want to use their expertise on your behalf.]

1. Just Ask
To explain why she is running for an alumni board position, Li said simply: "I was asked." 

Alumni will often volunteer if you simply ask them to. 

 

2. Make It Relevant
Volunteers don't want to do "just anything." They want to use their expertise on behalf of the institution. Li explains that she might be able to "push the alumni more into using social technologies."

 

3. Let Them Repay a Debt
Finally, volunteers often serve out of a desire to repay the institution. Li writes:

Harvard made a huge difference in my life... [and] continues to wield its influence in my life on a regular basis, from alumni connections to the research the University conducts. I see this as an opportunity to not only pay back my alma mater...but also society and the world in general.

This is an election campaign statement. But it's very valuable when volunteers endorse the organization's positive impact on them and on the world.

[Two critical aspects of alumni service can be hard to balance.]

So Li's election blog post articulates two critical aspects of alumni service that can be hard to balance:

Serving the needs of the institution,

and

Serving the needs of the alumni.

It will be interesting to see how the HAA ramps up its social media effectiveness should Li be elected to its alumni board, and to assess the outcomes of that effort.

Regardless of Li's future as a volunteer leader, non-profit managers should note the nature of this particular call to action, and actively seek out volunteers whose expertise will help them increase member engagement.

Thanks to Alumni Futures reader John Forbes for bringing this topic to my attention.

Related articles

• What is the Ideal Role for Leadership Volunteers? (alumnifutures.com)
• Has Advancement Advanced in Social Media Use? (case.org)
• Elections open for Overseers and HAA Directors (news.harvard.edu)
• What is an Open Leader? (case.org)
• Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform How You Lead (charleneli.com)

Staffing for the Social Web: 4 New Ideas

An interesting question arose in a recent email exchange among several professional colleagues (including Alumni Futures Advisory Group members Andrew Gossen of Cornell University and Liz Allen, consultant and author of the Adaptivate blog):

"What is a model staffing strategy for online communications in advancement?"

Here are four relevant, forward-looking ideas from the discussion: 

1. The Need for Research
There is an increasing need for staff who can handle qualitative and quantitative research, as well as metrics (to track return on investment). Cornell's Gossen commented: "This is increasingly important, because social media monitoring tools are becoming more sophisticated, and many programs are integrating social channels more tightly into their web presence."

[There is a need for staff who can handle
qualitative and quantitative research.]

2. The Need to Work with Data
Gossen says that "alumni programs will increasingly need someone to work with data." In addition to building online interaction around data to make it more relevant to individual users, "this staff member would be thinking about great infographics to replace most of the text-intensive stewardship content we currently use to keep donors engaged."

[Note fun but informative map infographic above, showing US states as comparably-sized national economies. Click it to view full size.]

3. In-house Realtime Content
Advancement offices will soon need access to professionals who can generate multimedia content in-house and on the fly. Webinars, livestreaming video, and graphics and data mashups will become must-have features of the social web, and alumni will expect them to be available in realtime.

[Communications staff engage more people than traditional staff
who interact only at events.]

4. Integrating Communications with Alumni Relations
Finally, Liz Allen points out that alumni communications professionals should be integrated into the practice of alumni relations. "Anyone handling communications in an alumni office must be an alumni relations professional, not just a communications person who happens to work in an alumni association." Allen points out that communications staff engage with many more people than do traditional staff members who interact only at events. "That person needs to have personality, to understand alumni relations and its role at the institution, and to have genuine alumni interaction online and in person."

These ideas aren't yet critical breaking points for alumni communications. But it's important to think about what changes will make future engagement strategies more effective for the institution and for alumni and donors.  

Infographic via The Economist

Related articles

• Social Media Staffing and the Org Chart (adaptivateblog.com)
• The Enterprise Social Media Adoption Path (johnbell.typepad.com)

Two Ways to Measure Social Media

This article is also featured on the CASE Social Media Blog.

 

Measuring social media activity is a very hot topic.

In its simplest form, measurement of social media activity takes one of two forms. Organizations generally measure either:

the things the organization does,

or 

the things its audience does.

For example, an alumni association might post a series of photos on Facebook. Later, when reporting on its activity, the association would include the number of photos shared on Facebook.

Alternatively, there might be a number of "Likes" on the photos, plus comments from alumni or students. These comments are "user-generated content" and will be reported as outcomes of the photos having been posted.

[Measurement of social media activity takes one of two forms.]

The first kind of metric ("what the organization does") shows only how active the organization is (inputs).

The second metric ("what the audience does") shows the type and quality of interaction the inputs generate (outcomes). To assess your social media effectiveness you need to identify, record and compare both kinds of activity over time.

Knowing you posted a lot of photos doesn't tell you anything about your success. Knowing alumni left many comments on the photos doesn't tell you much either – unless you look and see which types of photo content engendered the comments, and whether the comments in each case were positive, neutral or negative. 

By identifying 1) the inputs that trigger user reactions and 2) the kind of reaction each type of input creates, you can increase the likelihood that your content will engage alumni over time. 

[Combine behavioral information with attitudinal information for 
a complete picture of social media outcomes.] 

This approach to metrics combines behavioral information (how alumni interact with you) with attitudinal information (how they feel about you), providing a more complete picture of social media outcomes than you would gain from recording and reporting only your own actions, or only those of your audience.

Combine this information with strategic goals for alumni engagement, and you'll be able to assess more accurately how using social media is helping you reach your objectives.

Photo of a useful measuring tool by Mutasim Billah via Creative Commons.

Related articles

• 10 Ways to Measure Social Media Engagement (singlegrain.com)
• Track Social Media Analytics with Hootsuite Social Analytics (lockergnome.com)
• Sharing Your Success: Bringing it All Together (adaptivateblog.com)