A reunion invitation to nobody
The development office sends an invitation to the tenth anniversary reunion for the leavers of a particular year. It goes to the email addresses on file. Most are the pupils' old school accounts, which were closed when they left. A few go to parents' addresses. The printed invitations go to family homes, some of which have been sold.
A handful reply. At the reunion itself, several former pupils say they would have come to earlier events if they had known about them.
The list starts out of date on leaving day
The alumni record is usually created from the MIS when pupils leave, using the details the school held for school purposes: a school email address and the family home. Neither is how an adult keeps in touch. Nothing asks leavers for a personal address before they go, and nothing makes it easy for alumni to update their details later.
- Leavers' records carry school email addresses that close when they leave.
- Home addresses are the parents' and change as families move.
- Alumni have no easy way to update their details.
- Bounced emails and returned post are not recorded against the record.
- Contact preferences are not captured when leavers go.
What a stale list costs
Events that are poorly attended because invitations did not arrive. Newsletters sent to addresses that no longer exist. Alumni who feel forgotten and do not engage with the school. And a development office whose work depends on a list it cannot trust.
Printed mailings are the most visible waste. A glossy alumni magazine posted to thousands of addresses, a fair share of them years out of date, costs real money in print and postage each issue, and the returned copies arrive in a sack weeks later for someone to deal with.
How the school contacts alumni, and on what basis, is set by your privacy policy and data protection advice. We build the records to respect it.
Alumni record upkeep we build
- In the final term, leavers complete a short form giving a personal email, phone and their contact preferences, and consent in the terms your policy sets.
- Their alumni record is created with these details, alongside what the school already holds, such as house, year of leaving and activities.
- Alumni can update their details and preferences at any time through a simple link in every communication.
- Bounced emails and returned post are recorded against the record, and records that have lost contact are flagged.
- Periodically, alumni are invited to confirm their details are still correct, with a short form.
- Records are held in a CRM suited to development work, such as Raiser's Edge or another system you use, or a lighter database if that is all you need.
| Point in time | What is captured | How |
|---|---|---|
| Final term at school | Personal email, phone, preferences | Leavers' form |
| Any time after leaving | Updated details | Link in every email |
| Email bounces | Record flagged | Automatically |
| Post returned | Record flagged | Logged by the office |
| Every few years | Confirmation of details | Short confirmation form |
An alumni list that reaches people
Each new year of leavers joins the alumni list with personal contacts and clear preferences. Alumni can keep their details current without writing to the school. The development office knows which records are reliable and which need attention. Reunion invitations reach the people they are meant for.
On a normal day, three alumni update their addresses from a newsletter link, two email bounces are flagged, and the development officer spends ten minutes finding one lost contact through a classmate who has kept in touch.
Signs your alumni list is stale
- Alumni records carry old school email addresses.
- Many records use parents' home addresses.
- Emails to alumni bounce in large numbers.
- There is no way for alumni to update their details.
- Leavers are not asked for personal contacts before they go.