Content Rules Over Tools in Millennial Alumni Engagement

Last week, I offered up some potential ways to rethink alumni engagement. Today, we’re going to get a bit more specific about one particular pain point that I’m hearing from annual giving officers at universities of varying sizes and locations. Here’s what I’ve heard, consistently, in the past few months:

• Young alumni are graduating with an increasingly overwhelming amount of debt and feel that they’ve already given (tuition) and are borderline insulted that they’re being asked to donate to the school when their loan payments are equal to their housing payments.
• Schools tout their endowments as a calling card, yet it is increasingly challenging to convince a 24-year-old that $50 is going to make a difference when the school has a $1 billion endowment.
• The millennial alumni are driven by saving the world. Whether it is giving $10 to help someone create a documentary film (see: Kickstarter) or a consumer purchase (see: Tom’s Shoes) they believe has a double-benefit, the choices, or competition, is fierce.
• The most pressing pain for every advancement office that I spoke with for millennial alumni is career assistance or value (it was top two in every case). And this is where I see a huge opportunity

So how do you connect with the millennials on the career service front?  One state university is working with an alum who is a world leader in career development and training to create a revenue stream AND service a void in their offering. Many other schools I have talked to have invested in iModules seemingly stellar online platform, which is geared at millennials and Gen Xers, and will enable schools’ alumni to gather online by subject matter area of interest.

However, here comes my word of caution. It’s not about the platform.  What is the front door that will get young alumni TO your various platforms? My answer? Content that offers value and is relevant.

The most common question I get asked is about which platforms to use and how often to use them by demographic.  I encourage people to think about the value of the content first, and then marketing the content through social media (along with some of your traditional “channels”)  to connect with the millennials second. Just because you have a Twitter account or a Facebook account for your school, doesn’t mean you’re using it well.

How is the content you’re creating of value for your young alumni’s career journey? I have yet to see the gold standard example in this by a university. That being said, there are indeed some things that are worth mentioning. Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism has created Medill Reports, an online media publishing entity that is a news source written exclusively by graduate students. Notre Dame has created the Daily Domer, an online Notre Dame filter of the world, which cranks out daily doses of content (one of my “essential musts” to be successful). Yet, I’ve yet to see anyone really connect the dots on high quality, daily content, geared at millennial alumni and particularly on the specific topic of career advancement (this is where you prove me wrong).

For a snapshot of success, I point to the New York Times as the most relevant example of a potential great “front door” example. The Times recently launched a series of online communities, by subject area,  that are anchored by blogs. One is Booming – explicitly providing daily content for the Baby Boomer generation. Another is “You’re the Boss”, a small business blog that cranks out daily content very relevant to people like me – small business owners.

Now, imagine either of these online content “front doors” being about career advice, geared at young alumni.  It should be written by alumni for alumni and provide a community for the alumni to then engage with the content and THEN leverage the platforms you’ve invested large sums of money in to.

This also becomes a recruiting tool.  Many universities have dozens of top-name brands fighting to compete to interview your students. Yet, the parents of your students aren’t aware of this in most cases.  They’re at the neighborhood BBQ answering questions and joking about whether or not their English major will be able to find a job. Wouldn’t it be great to leverage these brands into the NY Times-level content approach? Business lessons from the brands that recruit at your school. Network connections at amazing companies you’ve never heard of. The possibilities are endless.

Meanwhile, the successful challengers to the traditional brick and mortar liberal arts education are going right at the jugular.  It’s not a coincidence that the likes of the University of Phoenix are constantly using their advertisements to specifically mention the brands where their alumni land jobs.

There isn’t a school I’ve talked to in the last year that doesn’t have an amazing roster of alumni willing to give advice from all-star company brand names of all shapes and sizes. It’s time to rethink how you can leverage their stories, their knowledge, to build a value proposition to your young alumni. Let’s hear some of the successes and challenges you’re facing in this area.