Most of the time, when alumni say, “I only hear from you when you’re asking for money,” they’re wrong. It just feels that way to them. In fact, if they’re receiving solicitations, they’re probably following along on social media and getting event invitations, alumni magazines, and newsletters. So, in reality, it just feels like the solicitations overpower everything else, despite the engagement efforts.
At a tiny number of schools, they really are just getting the solicitations. I can think of a few institutions where, due to staffing changes, alumni engagement literally came to a screeching halt, but solicitations kept coming. That’s pretty rare, though.
In Mallory Willsea’s words from the Keynote this week, “Marcomm cannot fix a broken experience, but oftentimes marcomm is the only function with the data to see that the experience is broken.”
She’s right! When the Facebook posts are getting terrible engagement and no one is reading or sharing the digital alumni magazine stories. It’s advancement comms that knows it. And the data is all there, screaming for a change in approach, but it’s not shared because that would create disruption.
It’s much easier to blame the channel or the content rather than take a hard look at what is probably a stale set of engagement tactics. But I do disagree slightly with one of Mallory’s takes. She said, “Communications is what you send. Engagement is what they feel.”
I’d amend this slightly to say, “Engagement is what they feel and do, as a result.”
Inherent in this quote is that engagement should be motivating. It should be fun and exciting. Ask yourself whether your communications are boring. Are you bored creating them? Are you bored reading them yourself? If so, your alums are too. Maybe it just feels like you’re only asking for money because that’s the only communication that elicits an emotion.
The key is also to take a look at the conversions you’re trying to facilitate through the communications. What do you want alumni to do next? Maybe they’re all set with their options. Time to rethink.
About Speaking Engagement
I’ll be sending a message to members early next week with instructions on how to add the private RSS feed for podcasts, because it’s a little tricky. This is the podcast icon art that members would see if the private RSS feed for the podcast stream is set-up.
The Members podcast stream has the Keynote and Breakout podcasts, all the articles read aloud, and will also contain some of our Book Club content and Agora speaker talks. Let me know if you have members access but are struggling to grab the private feed.
Shoot me a message or make a comment, and let me know how to make your membership as accessible as possible.
Next Week’s Keynote Speaker
Our Keynote on Tuesday (Monday is a holiday) is Dr. Mackenzi Huyser. Mackenzi is the VP, Advancement and Chief Academic Officer at Trinity Christian College. Unfortunately, Trinity is closing its doors and shutting down operations at the end of August. We talk about what it’s been like since the closure was announced. We both wipe away a few tears during the convo, so consider this your trigger warning!
Also, register for the Agora on Tuesday of next week at 12 pm eastern time. It’s going to be fun and a chance to meet some new people.
Onward!
Ryan
