Alumni Engagement in the Times of COVID

Some people are quite active with their hometown alma mater while others graduated and moved far away for school or work. People get involved in a variety of ways, for some, this involves volunteering and donating, and for others, it is supporting school athletics or even working in the school administration. For elementary, middle, and high schools receiving public funding, the matter of significant alumni financial or volunteer involvement is less critical than it is for private institutions in need of funding strictly through donations and tuition. Unfortunately, the typical forms of engaging alumni are not viable due to the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tailgates, dinners, reunions, and more increase the chance of spreading the virus and in many states or cities are outright banned. With this foremost in everyone’s mind, alumni associations and directors have used creative solutions in order to connect and fundraise throughout the COVID-19 shutdown. 

Just as many other aspects of life, alumni reunions and other traditional events have either been canceled or gone virtual. Alumni directors have had to be creative in order to continue connecting alumni and coordinating fundraising. Although most events have been canceled, some remain on the calendar in their original forms. Outside activities, such as golf tournaments, have remained. Events like these will have to lose some commonplace features such as providing food and drink in one place (coolers, buffets, etc.), but overall, events that happen outside in large spaces are able to be conducted safely and successfully to fundraise and connect. For schools and alumni directors, this is a great opportunity to try new events in order to bring people together in a socially distant and safe manner. Some of these new events could become commonplace while others can be discarded without much loss because, although not especially worthwhile, they happened out of necessity 

Despite the challenges the pandemic has presented for alumni networking, it has indirectly contributed to some positive developments. In the case of virtual events, some alumni have been able to connect when they otherwise would not have. Geographic inclusion has been a significant positive to come out of virtual networking. For alumni that live many hours away in different cities, states, or even countries, returning for a reunion for fundraiser requires significant time and money, but now, many are connecting from their living room via video call. Alumni directors and fundraising staff are also able to test new fundraising methods because they must try new avenues to reach donors since many traditional ones are not viable. This is a quality opportunity for fundraisers to test new methods at fairly low risk (as there is not an alternative). The pandemic has made it especially important to remain communicative and to remember that many are willing to help out even more in times of crisis. 

The NMBL team recently participated in a great example of this, the St. Louis Sports Commission hosted their annual trivia night last Saturday evening. Obviously they were not going to pack nearly 250 people into a gym or event space (normally the trivia night is held at St. Louis University High School). By doing this virtually, our NMBL team worked through a private Zoom chat room and included 3 couples from St. Louis and one from Cincinnati (a couple that would not otherwise have been able to participate without returning to St. Louis). The trivia night was run, extremely efficiently and was great fun, through a mixture of Zoom and google sheets (a very low cost combination). The Sports Commission distributed beer and cookies (both of which were donated) ahead of time for the teams. With a mixture of low costs and great fun, it is easy to say that this event was a great success in the time of COVID.

Since March of 2020, there have been few aspects of life that have not been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sports, weddings, in-person work and schooling, and nearly everything else that requires more than one person to be present have been canceled or postponed; alumni events have not been immune to these cancellations. While this has created challenges, the necessity to adapt has provided a laboratory for new ideas and connected classmates across vast geographic distances. 

Looking to maximize the funds and potential of your nonprofit or small business? Reach out to info@nmblstrategies.com today to hear more about what NMBL can do for you.