Old School Goes New School, One College's Experience Developing a Multi-Dimensional, Collaborative Plan to get the Biggest Bang Out of its Communication Efforts

1. Old School Goes New School
One College's Experience Developing
a Multi-Dimensional, Collaborative
Plan to get the Biggest Bang Out of
its Communication Efforts
Genevieve Howard
College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
University of Missouri

2. First, we ask questions…
Who is our audience?
What is our goal and purpose?
How will we measure our success?
Who will communicate?
How will we communicate?

3. Who is our target audience in the
alumni community?
• Shared University and College
• Different Identities for Different
Departments
• Age Range
• Comfort Level with Technology

4. What is our goal and purpose for
communicating?
• Increase Support for College (interaction
with current students, volunteer time,
financial gifts)
• Increase Attendance at Events
• Help Alumni with Careers and Other
Needs
• Build Reputation of College

5. How will we measure the success
of our program?
• Visibly Increased Support for College
(volunteer time, financial gifts)
• Increased Attendance at Events
• How to measure career advancement and
reputation?

6. Who Will Communicate with Alumni?
• University, College or Association
• Individual College Staff or Faculty
• Current College Students
• Other Alums

7. How Will We Communicate with
Alumni?
• Web site
• Online Magazine
• E-newsletters, E-mails
• Social Networking Tools
• Twitter
• Other (blogs, podcasts, videos)

8. Web site
Our alumni are interested in:
•Research going on in the
College
•Stories about students
•Class notes
•Events
•Upcoming
•Photos from previous
•Stories about other alumni

9. What works best on a
Web site for alumni?
New School
Show faces, not buildings
Friendly
Sense of community
Photos, Videos
Interactive
Old School
Formal
Institution
Plain Text
One-way Conversation

10. Use good stories as
many places as
possible.
One story will be
linked from
•News, Research, Alumni and Future Students sections of Web site
•Faculty and staff e-newsletter
•Facebook alumni group and Twitter

11. Online Magazine Companion E-mail Piece

12. E-newsletters and E-mails
Example of e-mail sent
to alumni showing the
students who
benefitted from the
alumni scholarship
fund. E-mail included
invitation to an
upcoming alumni
event.

13. Blogs
Written by students about
study abroad, career services and
life on campus.

14. Social Networking and Online Communities
Our Facebook Group
E-mail invitation to join Facebook
sent to new graduates

15. More to explore
• LinkedIn • Photos: Flickr
• Video: Youtube, Vimeo
• Twitter
Example of
University of Missouri
alumni groups in
LinkedIn

16. Issues to Consider
• Difficulty of measuring ROI with
online communication and social
networking
• Realistic expectations for time and
labor, long-term maintenance

17. In Conclusion
Talk with your audience. What do they
want?
Move toward your goal.
Check your progress.
Assign people communication roles.
Choose appropriate methods of
communication for your college.

18. Thank you!
Genevieve Howard
howardg@missouri.edu