"text": "Connecting with alumni requires that you first understand your audience. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, and River Teeth, among others. "acceptedAnswer": { Middlebury magazine already had a website, consisting mainly of selected stories from the print edition; Jennings saw the publishing hiatus as an opportunity to ramp up the digital content. Alumni/General Interest Magazines (Four-Year Colleges and Universities, Printed Twice a Year), Alumni/General Interest Magazines (Four-Year Colleges and Universities, Printed Three+ Times a Year), Alumni/General Interest Magazines (Independent and International Schools), Alumni/General Interest Magazines (Targeted Audience), Alumni/General Interest Magazines (Two-year Institutions). With subscriptions to the print magazine down to about 13,000a tiny fraction of the total alumni population of roughly 280,000the university set out to build an all-digital alumni site called Cornellians, said Jenny Barnett, who recently retired as the editor in chief. Interactive digital media that works across all platforms with PageRaft can bring the magazine experience to mobile devices and more, allowing alumni to engage wherever they are. The reader will likely see the images and headlines first, so the pictures and titles you choose need to be eye-catching and encourage people to read the stories. She said in the first two months the website was live, it had about 43,000 unique visitorssignificantly more than the readership of two print issues. You could even leverage the advantages of both to engage with younger and older alumni.If fundraising or building an alumni program at your school are your ultimate goals, begin with engaging graduates in the schools current business. You should offer benefits to your alumni for their engagement." More than 100 magazines competed for awards recognizing best editorial and best story on the achievement of an alumnus, among other topics. You may want to go beyond average to get the most from your magazine. Keeping track of these measures can ensure you are effective in reaching out to your institutions graduates. But it wasnt by a little; it was really striking that the more time you kept them in the pages of the magazine, the more likely they were to participate in the university., According to a 2020 survey by the Ivy League Magazine Network, which represents eight alumni magazines, 84percent of readers said theyd read four of the last four issues of their alumni magazine, spending an average of 54minutes with each one. A majority of 67% report the erroneous belief that alumni only need to have a reminder of their sense of duty or philanthropy to donate to the school. Investigative reporter holds Boy Scouts to account. When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. By feeling more engaged with content from your institution, they may also feel more connected with the school, eventually meeting your goal of becoming donors or involving themselves in other ways to support the institution. } "@type": "Answer", Article shares are also crucial because those pieces are important enough to the readers that they think others will gain value from them. Before working on a magazine or other outreach program, you must have a definite goal for what you want to do with the content. In either case, make it look great with professional-quality photos, a clean and straightforwardlayout and content or ideas from alumni. To get alumni to read your magazine or newsletter, you first have to tell them about it. If you get article ideas from graduates in surveys, credit the person by name and class to encourage future participation from others. "acceptedAnswer": { First, consider a digital version of your magazine. Use an A/B method of promotional emails. Like many facets of academe, alumni magazines have been forced to retrench in the era of COVID-19. Our alumni magazine WC1E highlights news and developments from across the University, as well as inspiring stories from our global alumni community. Gathering information can include data on demographics, professions and interests of school graduates. With print removed as an option, colleges had no choice but to upgrade their digital offerings. Drone proponent Kenji Sugahara 95 seeks friendlier skies. You may not be able to use the same strategy to reach everyone. "@type": "Answer", When creating a newsletter, the length wont be as long as a magazine. 7 Lebanon Street, Suite 107 | Hanover, NH 03755 | 2022 Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, Association/Non-Profit, Alumni/University Website [Eddies], Association/Nonprofit, Alumni/University - Overall Design, Single Issue [Ozzies], Association/Nonprofit, Alumni/UniversityBest Single Issue [Eddies], Association/Nonprofit, Alumni/University - Cover Design [Ozzies], Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, January/February 2019, Association / Non-Profit Website [Eddies], Association / Non-Profit Single Article [Eddies], Association / Non-Profit Overall Design [Ozzies], Association / Non-Profit Cover Design [Ozzies], Association / Non-Profit Feature Design [Ozzies], Association / Non-Profit Use of Typography [Ozzies], Association / Non-Profit (Consumer) Overall Design 6 or more Issues [Ozzies], Association / Non-Profit (Consumer) Full Issue 6 or more Issues [Eddies], Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, May/June 2016 Issue, Association / Non-Profit Website [Eddies Digital], College and University General Interest Magazines, 2016 CASE Circle of Excellence Awards, (circ. ", Aim to include interesting articles that focus on information readers can use. Or, you could use digital formats thatreplicate a traditional magazine, like nxtbook4, or moreinteractive digital media, like PageRaft. Engaging with alumni through a magazine or newsletter offers readers the news and information they crave while sharing ways for them to give back to the university. Michelle Tedford, executive editorial director of the University of Dayton alumni magazine, credits the pandemic budget for pushing her staff to maximize its digital storytelling skills. These means of engagement get the graduates talking to school representatives from the alumni organization and to each other. "@type": "Answer", },{ The shorter length makes the content that you have even more important. Email campaigns are another crucial aspect of reaching alumni. Connecting with alumni requires that you first understand your audience. } Report on student successes in the universitys programs. } Lastly, optimize the layout of the newsletter for viewing on both mobile devices and desktop computers instead of printed on a page. Digital content offers several benefits over print media. Break up stories by only focusing on important information someone can read quickly. }. 2008 CASE Circle of Excellence Awards, (circ. "@type": "Answer", If you use email to send digital newsletters, create a schedule for publication and stick to it. By choosing digital content, alumni dont have to check their mail to see information from their alma mater. Jennings recalled a Middlebury alum, five or six years out, who got married during the pandemic and wanted to announce itbut only in print, he said. Public defender wins Jeopardy! By knowing the metrics that matter most, you can be sure the content you create is most effective and identify where you need to make changes. Cornellians launched in October, taking the place of both the Cornell alumni print magazine and Ezra, a university-relations produced magazine that went to alumni, volunteers and other friends of the institution. You should offer benefits to your alumni for their engagement. Alumni who opt out may feel there is no benefit to getting information. In fact,unpaid reach on Facebook is 5.5%, which likely will not encourage high interactivity with your alumni magazine or newsletter. For themed sports issue of Mar/Apr 2005, 2005 CASE Circle of Excellence Awards, (circ. The following are potential topics you might choose to cover: Campus news should include things alumni may find interesting. "@type": "Question", The most recent online-only issue, summer 2021, added extra contentincluding an expanded version of the magazines regular Now Read, See, Hear This feature, which showcases the accomplishments of alumni authors, filmmakers, musicians and the likeand embedded videos, animation and other multimedia effects. Send one version of your email to group A. The raw number of alumni you send your publication to is a starting metric. Try to make your newsletters visually interesting. Be consistent with both newsletter and magazine delivery to maintain high interest and interaction rates with your content. Congratulations to the 2022 Robert Sibley Magazine of the Year winner! When we set out on this path, we knew that there was a cohort of alumni who would need or want to have a print issue, said Vaeth. "@type": "Question", } "@context": "https://schema.org", After years of working with alumni and encouraging giving, volunteering and interacting with the school, you may hope to have an alumnus leave a legacy in the form of a scholarship or fund to the school. These types of posts benefit alumni with value-adding content instead of fluff that only outlines the latest campus events. Users can tag posts in any number of waysby major or extracurricular activity, for instance, as well as by graduating classto notify the interested parties. For older graduates, mailed magazines offer a way to connect at home or work. She has taught English and journalism at Phillips Academy, where she served as an advisor to the student newspaper. The first awards focusing on editorial excellence and achievement by alumni magazines were awarded by the American Alumni Council in 1929. Print is coming back, but the enhanced digital offerings are here to stay. When creating your newsletter or magazine content, you need to focus on the information alumni want the most. Funded largely by their institutions and/or alumni subscriptions, they dont rely on advertising revenue and so didnt feel the loss when advertisers started abandoning print media for the internet. How you define engagement will direct and drive your content creation and marketing. And he introduced Dispatches, a collection of colorful weeklywhich dragged out to monthlyvignettes from Middlebury faculty, students and alumni around the world. Winter 2020 was the last print issue before the Middlebury magazine moved online. Of alumni magazine readers,32% recommended the university and 38% made donations. Entrepreneur raises venture capital for her coaching platform with a slick pitch deck. Give the second group a variation of the email. Prior to that, she spent 22 years writing and editing for Newsweek magazine, where she covered everything from international affairs to arts and culture. Industry trends will tend to focus on the department you write for. of 30,000 to 75,000), Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, Jan/Feb 2015 Issue, Association / Non-Profit (Consumer) Website [Eddies Digital], 2012 CASE Circle of Excellence Awards, (circ. We knew the financial impact of sending the students home was going to be stark.. For example, most websites average 2 minutes to 3 minutes for a visitorour digital media has an average visitor time of 7 minutes. The university magazine, landing in your mailbox is the university saying, It may have been 40 years since you were a student here, but youre still one of us.. The mother of three nearly adult children, she is very much enjoying her newly empty nest. One of the things were seeing schools trying to do now is get much smarter about integrating communications, she said. Accordingly, it may be helpful to promote your content and find new ways to reach out to alumni through social media and email campaigns: Many alumni, especially younger ones, use social media as a method of connecting. Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience. "name": "Why Focus on Digital Content for Alumni Engagement? "@type": "Question", Having around one-third of graduates telling others about the school or making a donation is a success, but you may want to increase the engagement of your alumni readers. Update your profile regularly and follow through whenever someone asks a question or makes a comment. },{ in English from Brown University and an M.S. COVID really forced us to look outside the print world, she said. You can also make it easily sharable via social media or regulate who can see the information through controlling the digital rights, allowing only alumni the benefit of the data in your magazine. "text": "Having around one-third of graduates telling others about the school or making a donation is a success, but you may want to increase the engagement of your alumni readers. Divide a small group in half with lists A and B. Since engagement ideally creates a group of alumni who feel more connected, attracted and influential in their school, consider making this your aim." You may want to publish these more frequently than magazines. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. The magazine lands in your mailbox. At the beginning, people were feeling dislocated from everything, said Jennings, who launched an electronic newsletter to alert readers to new content on the website. Another means of personalizing content is through staying abreast of topics that matter most to alumni. with a bold wager in the final round. Find out more about alumni benefits, including event invitations, membership of Senate House Library and an alumni bursary on further study. Through a magazine, readers can stay connected to the school by reading articles about the university or getting professional tips. Early in the pandemic, alumni readers seemed enthusiastic about embracing digital. in journalism from Columbia. You can even have direct links to donation pages on your site to facilitate fundraising efforts. Middlebury magazine editor Matt Jennings was working on the spring 2020 issue when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Vermont campus to go remote in March. In a survey of institutions with alumni magazines, 87% offered both a digital and print copy of their periodical. "acceptedAnswer": { Having resources for alumni keeps them connected to each other and the university. There were things we could do online that we didnt have in the print version, he said. It was getting to the point where it was really not sustainable as a subscription-based model, Barnett said. Like alumni discounts, training sessions and similar education opportunities can help alumni to feel valued and like they are getting quality benefits in return for graduating from the school or for donating. Freed from the print editions quarterly publishing schedule, Jennings and his team could focus on developing the magazines digital presence. About90% of institutions that do not offer benefits dont have engaged alumni. The first decision in choosing a publication for your alumni is the media. Though your goal may be to solicit donations, this topicranks at the bottom of the list of newsletter contentalumni have the most interest in. For that amount, youre in the house for a week or two weeks or a month. To avoid furloughs or layoffs, Middlebury College required all departments to cut their operating budgets by 40percent, Jennings said. What about more information on how they can engage in the school? We know that schools struggle with alumni engagement. How you define engagement will direct and drive your content creation and marketing. Changes in demographics may require amending content to meet the needs of those shifts. This option makes the information readily accessible from mobile devices. Alumni reaction so far has been overwhelmingly positive, said Michelle Vaeth, associate vice president for alumni affairs. Upon graduation, many alumni want to remain aware of the news from their school. Podcasts are becoming quite popular, she said, because theyre relatively easy to produce and can cover a lot of the same ground as magazine storiesincluding faculty and alumni profilesat a fraction of the cost. Your magazine should be a product of the relationship you have with alumni, and they need to see they have an influence on the content to feel more valued. Our top clients have been with us for an average of 7.5 years. But by late spring of 2021, alumni started asking when the print magazine was coming back. Starbucks brand manager is motivated by her native roots. See photos and details from our alumni events. Learn more about the winner of the 2022Robert Sibley Magazine of the Year. For your magazine or newsletter, keep track of key metrics such as the number of visitors and unique visitors, downloads, shares, time engaged, interactions and bounce rates. When they feel they are a part of the schools family even long after graduation, they may be more inclined to offer assistance to alumni fundraising campaigns and other calls to help their school. Instead of producing four print editions a year as usual, for fiscal years 2021 and 2022 her office was allocated only enough funds to publish two print issues and one digital-only. They are not going to seek you out [online]. Susan H. Greenberg is a senior editor at Inside Higher Ed. Only offering a simple replication of a print magazine may not attract younger users who want interaction and access via mobile devices on social media and through other methods. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many alumni magazines to cancel print issues and build up their websites instead. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Budget cuts prompted some institutions to reduce the number of print issues they produce each year; others, like Middlebury, temporarily stopped publishing hard copies altogether. of 30,000 to 75,000), CASE Circle of Excellence Awards for Canoes Undying, July/Aug 2004 cover story about symbolic meaning of canoes at Dartmouth written by Jim Collins 84, 2001 CASE Circle of Excellence Awards, (circ. Its a small group of alumni that are interested in a paid print subscription, but its an important group to us, said Vaeth. So they wait because they want their words in the magazine, and they want their picture in the magazine, she said. In fact,85% of alumnifeel their school does not do enough to draw younger graduates into continuing support of the university. Publishing the right content that gives your alumni a return on their investment in the school can improve their engagement. When it comes to connecting with alumni, you need to find out what they want. While constantly updating social media is important, you cannot solely rely on this unpaid method of driving traffic to your content. Nevertheless, the university plans to resume producing and sending a print edition of the alumni magazine sometime in early 2023, which will require a paid subscription, said Vaeth. Whichever media you choose, the most important element will be the content you have in it. "mainEntity": [{ Using the information you collect from surveys, you can personalize content to individuals or groups. Take a look at this edition on our digital platform. Can they learn about job opportunities or networking through an alumni organization? of 30,000 to 75,000). To understand more about how we use cookies please see our Privacy Policy. Either way, alumni magazine staffs finally had to deal with their websites, said Capstone Communications founder Erin Peterson, a consultant for higher ed and independent school magazines. The benefit to institutions is clear, Keiger said; surveys consistently show a strong positive correlation between alumni reading the print magazine and engaging with the institution, whether by donating money, encouraging prospective students to apply or attending events on campus. Magazines are a longer form of media compared to newsletters. Society of Publication Designers Merit Award for Spread Illustration, For Edel Rodriguez illustration for Band of Brothers story in Sept/Oct 2006 issue, 2006 CASE Circle of Excellence Awards (circ. of 30,000 to 75,000), CASE Circle of Excellence Awards for Back From Iraq, the Jan/Feb 2004 cover story about Nathaniel Fick 99 written by Matthew Mosk 92, 2004 Folio Magazine Awards (The Ozzies), Category (non-profit/institutional) for Unplugged (May/June 2004 issue; illustration by Richard Thompson), 2004 Folio Magazine Awards (The Ozzies), (non-profit/institutional) for Best in Show photos of professors dogs on campus (Mar/Apr 2004 issue; photos by Alan Roche), For spread opener of The Gatekeepers, illustration by Brian Cronin (Nov/Dec 2002 issue), Folio Magazine Awards (The Ozzies), Category for A Growing Concern (Jan/Feb 2003 issue; illustration by Mark Hess), Best Use of Color Photography in a Feature, Folio Magazine Awards (The Ozzies), For The Club Scene photos of student clubs (Sept/Oct 2002 issue; photos by Thomas Ames Jr. 74), Folio Magazine Awards (The Ozzies), Category for Different Strokes (May/June 2002 issue, photos by Brian Fife 01), For Peter McBrides photography (trauma surgeon story) and Edward Fatheringhams illustration for The Seduction of a Corporate Recruit, 2002 Ozzie Awards (Folio Magazine) for black-and-white photographs shot for Favorite Places cover story, 2002 CASE Circle of Excellence Awards, for The Experts (Sept/Oct 2001 cover story), University and College Designers Association, 2001 Annual Design Competition for magazine editorial spread (opener of Robert Reich piece on admissions in the March/April 2001 issue), 2001 Ozzie Awards Honoring Magazine Design Excellence (Folio Magazine), (Association/Nonprofit); 2001 Ozzie Awards Honoring Magazine Design Excellence (Folio Magazine) for Four Seasons in the Grant photos by Paul Rezendes, (Association/Nonprofit), 2000 Ozzie Awards Honoring Magazine Design Excellence (Folio Magazine) for James Nachtwey cover story, June 2000 issue, New titles from Dartmouth writers (July/August 2022).

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