Building engagement with your alumni through virtual events

Over the last year, teams have needed to build engagement in new and innovative ways to reach their alumni and donors. From interactive virtual events to webinars and 1:1 meetings, alumni teams have been trying to reach their audiences during the pandemic in different ways. 
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The key to alumni engagement is ensuring that virtual events and the technology being used to host events are easy to use, fun, and interactive. This is critically important when we are appealing to alumni of all different ages, backgrounds, and geographical locations. (I mean, tell me the last time you ran an event without tons of last-minute questions on logistics!)
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Alumni are busy with careers, families, and other commitments. By providing opportunities for live virtual events and on-demand content, alumni should be able to always have the ability to interact with their alma mater and alumni peers by meeting them at their pace and in their place. Alumni engagement should be so much more than “just events”, but rather one place where community-building is happening around the clock, through events and other engagement tools. Importantly, ensuring that these virtual events can be accessed from a smartphone, tablet, or computer takes away a barrier of entry for those difficult to join your events after a long day of work.
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All of your alumni virtual events should take place in a branded environment that puts your institution and your brand prominently on display. This all helps to build relationships between your institution and your alumni by not just your hand-holding activities, but through organic relationship building amongst your alumni on your platform. Being able to bring alumni together on a more regular basis for different live events and content will help spark memorable experiences and drive future engagement. Welcome to Alumni Engagement 2.0.