Alumni Community Newsletter: How Schools Can Engage Graduates as Community Partners and Mentors

Alumni are one of the most underutilized resources in school community building. Every person who graduated from your school is a potential mentor, career speaker, donor, and community advocate. Many of them feel nostalgic about their school years and would engage if they were simply invited. An alumni newsletter is the invitation.

Remind alumni of what connected them to the school

An alumni newsletter that opens with a reference to something specific about the school that a graduate would recognize, a beloved teacher, a tradition, a building change, or a program that started when they attended, immediately activates the emotional connection that makes alumni engagement possible. Impersonal newsletters that do not acknowledge the alumni's personal history with the school produce no response. Newsletters that say "here is what is still here from your time" and "here is what is new" get read.

Feature what current students are doing

Alumni who see current students working on projects that are similar to what they did as students, or projects that are more ambitious than anything they had access to, are drawn back into the school's story. Student accomplishments, program expansions, and school culture stories give alumni a picture of the institution they are considering supporting. They need to see that the school is alive and doing good work before they will invest time or money in it.

Create specific alumni engagement opportunities

Vague calls for alumni to "stay connected" produce no action. Specific opportunities produce responses: three alumni volunteers needed for the spring career fair on April 15, one alumni mentor needed for a student in the graphic design elective, alumni contributions of $100 needed to fund the scholarship fund for senior students. These specific asks give alumni a role to play rather than a vague invitation to care.

Celebrate alumni accomplishments publicly

Alumni whose professional accomplishments are recognized in the school newsletter feel valued and connected. A brief section that notes a recent graduate's promotion, a mid-career alumnus's community award, or a long-graduated alumnus's significant achievement keeps the alumni community aware of each other and builds pride in what school graduates go on to accomplish. That pride is one of the most effective motivators for alumni giving and engagement.