Homecoming Engagement
I was able to attend my alma mater, the University of Arizona’s Homecoming this weekend as an alumnus and not an employee. To roam the campus, visit with different faculty and staff at various colleges I attended, participate in a breakfast for an honorary on campus, and enjoy the sights and sounds of alumni gathering and having fun was so enjoyable! Traditionally, during Homecoming weekend, the University of Arizona has more than 10,000 individuals return to campus for a home football game and colleges, departments, and organizations take full advantage of the opportunity to bring alumni back to campus.
Courtesy of Alumni Association Facebook Page
At Arizona, there is the lighting of “A” on A Mountain to kick off the weekend, there is a pep rally Friday night that culminates with a bonfire in front of Old Main, the oldest building on campus, and the student homecoming court is introduced as well at the King and Queen. The week of Homecoming the students participate in Club Olympics on the UA mall, and colleges and departments across campus hold various events from cocktail receptions, tours, and education seminars to engage alumni. On Saturday, there are various traditions from performances on the UA mall, a parade (put on hold this year), tailgates lining the campus for alumni and friends to gather. It is always a festive weekend.
Courtesy of Alumni Association Facebook Page
Why is this important? It comes back to engagement as my first blog pointed out. Universities and departments and organizations within that structure must create meaningful opportunities for alumni to engage with the institution. Why people ask? In my opinion, you want alumni who are prideful about their alma mater. If they have pride in the institution, they will support the brand by wearing clothing, encouraging young people at attend their alma mater, and this in turn they market the university. It also creates opportunities for alumni to volunteer, for example, mentoring, speaking to students, or participating in career networking activities to help current students learn about “real world” experiences, all of which helps the next generation of leaders. And, of course, if alumni are engaged, institutions hope they will financially support their alma mater.
Through preparation for the class I teach, I continue to learn about philanthropic findings from those in academia. For example, research has indicated that alumni giving can be associated with particular undergraduate and graduate majors, involvement in extracurricular activities (band, clubs, athletics), close connections to faculty or staff mentors, membership in either a fraternity or sorority and engagement with research programs (Laguilles, 2008, Monts, 2003). This indicates that if a student is involved while in college and develops meaningful relationships, they are more likely to give. From my perspective this make sense, if a student invests time while in college, they will likely have a good experience and may want to pay that forward someday. McAlexander et. al (2016) found that a university affinity program that creates marketing materials sensitive to age and generational differences, may yield more productive advancement efforts. This of course would need to be unique to each university and the marketing strategies and platforms used by said generations.
Take Aways from Homecoming
1. Invite your alumni back to participate in something meaningful.
a. Ironically, I noticed while walking through campus that I didn’t get invited to one of the colleges I attended – I am researching why after the fact, but didn’t realize it until participating in the weekend festivities. My guess is I am coded incorrectly, so if you don’t hear from your alma mater and want to, call and find out why.
b. One of my degrees was in the Social and Behavioral Sciences College (SBS) and that major is now in the College of Science. I liked that I was invited to both, and I think that was smart as one never knows where the affiliation lands.
2. There is a lot going on at Homecoming and alumni may be pulled in too many directions, be mindful of that when planning activities. For example, prioritize times not to conflict with major campus wide-events.
3. Capitalize on the activities planned by main campus. Can you tag on to one of those events, which may save a college or department money? For example, the bonfire at UofA was happening on Friday night and the SBS College decided to do a gathering outside their building next to the bonfire. Great use of space and time.
4. Segmentation is key – sometimes, offering a blanket gathering may not motivate people to attend. Individuals wonder, will I know anyone, would they even notice if I wasn’t there, it takes too much effort to participate if I don’t know what’s in it for me. If you use segmentation in your marketing efforts, you may be able to answer some of the questions I just mentioned in this bullet point. In addition, segmentation allows you to customize your approach, which will help the alumnus feel valued and appreciated.
5. Speaking of segmentation, more and more students are attending school online. If you email a message that is all about returning to campus and seeing the sights of campus, those who attended school online will have no desire to attend Homecoming. In this case, perhaps the message is to instead, come to campus and experience Homecoming, meet up with other alumni who took classes online, etc.
6. Give them swag, for example, a piece of clothing is best. It’s easy to pack in their suitcase, they will wear it - hopefully with pride, which sells your brand. Items like mugs or BBQ utensils are hard to pack and stay in a draw when the alumnus returns home. Keep it simple, and easy for them to return home with it.
7. Utilize volunteers to encourage people to attend. When alumni know they will see friends, they are more likely to attend.
8. Make it doable, make it memorable, and make it fun!
No matter what you do, you must create activities that motivate your alumni to want to return to Homecoming. Homecoming is the ideal time to engage with alumni! Think about this topic and feel free to share any ideas or photos about your experiences or ideas.
If you need help strategizing about your organization’s engagement opportunities, Chalk Consulting is happy to partner with you. Feel free to let us know how we can help you by signing up below.
