Many alumni associations find it challenging to engage alumni, especially young alumni. They use a wide range of tactics including newsletters, online communities, direct mail, lectures, events and blogs. However, there’s another tool that can help foster these important relationships. Strategic partnerships for alumni associations can be a smart complement to communications and events, while also creating opportunities for increased involvement.

According to the 2020 Voluntary Alumni Engagement in Support of Education (VAESE) survey, most alumni organizations give themselves poor grades for member engagement:

• 90% of alumni professionals admit they “need to do more” to attract and engage young alumni
• 70% of organizations say their top goal is to increase alumni engagement
• 27% of those admit to having no dedicated strategy to boost engagement

Businesses seek out strategic partnerships with alumni associations because they are eager to work with the association’s members and will offer financial incentives to an association for being selected as a preferred or exclusive provider. This means that alumni associations are able to be selective about which organizations they partner with, including with trusted, licensed insurance agencies. Many alumni associations find that embedding opportunities to shop for services such as personal insurance coverage – auto, home, condo, renters, life and pet insurance – can be an effective and efficient way to build deeper engagement with alumni on their websites and in their communications. The relationship is a win-win.