1. Engaging Students and Recent Graduates: Strategies and Organizational Impact
September 26, 2015

2. Engagement survey results
• Establishing strong relationships with alumni early on is critical, as alumni are less likely to change their level of engagement with Harvard as the years go by.
• Reunion, other events on campus, local alumni club events, and the opportunity to interview prospects are all strong bets for young alumni.

3. Engagement over time
The window of opportunity to grow an alumnus/a’s engagement with Harvard appears to close as the years go by. As alumni age, they are increasingly likely to report that their level of engagement with their alma mater has not changed. This finding reinforces the imperative to establish strong relationships with alumni early on.

4. International Alumni
Though living far from Harvard in the U.S. strains engagement a bit, living abroad has the reverse effect. Alumni who live outside the U.S. are more likely to feel part of the Harvard community.

5. Students Does your Club have a student chapter?
Where do you engage with students (ex: on campus, home country)?
How often are your touch points with students and how do you reach out to them?
What resources do you use at the University to identify and connect with students?
Do you have students on your board as voting or non-voting members?
What ripple effect have you seen in your Club or leadership pipeline from engaging students? How many join the Club or become volunteers for your Club once they graduate?

6. Recent Graduates
What successful strategies has your Club enacted to attract recent graduates (ex: reduced dues or free membership)?
Do you/how do you think differently about this cohort of alumni when developing programs (i.e. social media strategy, focus of event, timing/location of event, etc.)
Once you have attracted recent graduates to your Club, how do you keep them involved and engaged with the Club?

7. Ideas to consider
No cost/low cost important, free is ideal, but trying to keep pricing under $25 is a must. This is not just important for recent college grads but from graduates of all schools who may work in the social sector
Event timing is critical. Recent grads are establishing themselves in their careers and can’t leave the office for a lunch event or something in the early evening. It’s not possible for them to leave at 5, 6 or even 7pm, so a recent grad event before 7/7:30 isn’t going to draw an audience.
It is helpful if they can bring a friend to events, even if that friend is not an alum
Young alumni see no intrinsic value in paying to hang out with their peers, they can do that on their own, so events need to give them something special: insider access, connections they wouldn’t otherwise have, etc.
Young alumni want leadership opportunities

8. Communications and Content
You want to choose your tools wisely, and think about where recent grads are already engaging and go into that space.
Social media, , peer to peer have all been effective tools. Identify influencers/connectors and enlist them to help.
The youngest group of alumni are distinctive in that many are interested in the perspectives of students. Their peers over the age of 35 prefer the perspective of professors to that of students.
Younger alumni show a stronger career orientation in the content they would like to receive from Harvard than do alumni over 45. Under-35 women are also particularly interested in career content (34% compared to 26% of men), which presents a good opportunity to engage with this key demographic.