Alumni Leadership Masterclass now in New Delhi and Noida

Saviance Technologies, an IT Software and Services company partners with Delhi Management Association (DMA) for India’s first ever masterclass on alumni relations ‘Alumni Leadership Masterclass’. This masterclass is scheduled to be held on 7th and 8th December 2011, in New Delhi and Noida respectively.

This masterclass is an initiative by Saviance to enable educational institutes to understand the importance of engaging the alumni groups across the globe for mutual benefits. This partnership ensures that Saviance reaches out to its target audience effectively and works together with DMA, to empower institutes establish their alumni office in an organized and pro-active manner.
The Alumni Leadership Masterclass programme will begin with a session on the Basics of Alumni Relations by Mr. Joseph John, Advisor – South India & Sri Lanka, Saviance Technologies and Graduate of CASE Alumni Relations, Institute, INSEAD, Singapore will focus predominantly on the importance of alumni relations and what should be considered by an institute to reach out to their alumni network.

He will also emphasize on effective ways to plan future engagement with alumni by maintaining an updated database. Furthermore, sessions by Mr. Subhashish Bharuka, Manager – Corporate Communications & Graduate of CASE Alumni Relations Institute, INSEAD, Singapore will help the participants understand that Alumni engagement involves more than just database management and fund raising; it is a lifelong process for an institute to grow its brand over many years by engaging with its alumni. Besides, there will also be discussions on bridging the gaps between the alumni, current students and staff in order to strengthen ties among each other and channelizing the alumni interaction efficiently.

Alumni Association – 4 steps to start!

Alumni Associations are formed with certain goals to cater to, many times the goals are similar for various associations: To support the achievement of the University’s goals by providing leadership and backing to alumni association that demonstrates the mutually-beneficial engagement for Alumni, the alma mater and the association. In this blog we share some tips with these associations as to how they can build relationships with their alumni.

There are four basic steps to building an alumni association strategy to achieve the goal:

1. Reach Out. To get alumni to reconnect with university, first you have to find them.

2. Reconnect. To get alumni to become involved with the association, you must offer them easy ways and mediums for doing so. For some alumni, the ability to learn the latest about their alma mater in their communities will be enough to interest them to reconnect.

3. Manage Information. From a purely logistical standpoint, you have to track alumni who reconnect. Data management will be a key for long-term success.

4. Build and Sustain Relationships. It is really important to keep alumni involved and engaged once they have reconnected. There should be continuous dialog between the alumni and the alma mater or between alumni and alumni.

After these steps what next? Sky is the limit! There are number of creative ways to empower alumni, whether it is making them mentors, asking them for career advice or inviting them for events. These are couple of strategies that can be useful for start-up associations.

Alumni Relationship Development Program

Saviance Technologies focuses on all aspects of international alumni relations. We aim to assist Alumni Offices setting up a new Alumni Association / Alumni Office, as well as those who wish to develop an existing Programme, by sharing the ideas and knowledge of University members with experience and interest in this field. Keeping in mind alumni development, Saviance has come up with its own alumni software – Viburnix.

Designed specifically to manage alumni development and advancement activity, Viburnix – Alumni Software can help you nurture and control important relationships, reinforce alumni communications, and broaden your constituent reach. This software allows alumni associations to network with alumni more efficiently; identify and generate lists of their relationships; generate and track personalized communication; and follow through with prospects to turn pledges into donations.

Generate the best possible platform for exchange of business strategies, allowing members to network with their peers. Gain insight into your fund-raising progress with in-depth reporting that lets you analyse your results. And, because the module of event organization is part of Saviance’s proprietary web event management software, organizing of events becomes seamless activity. From managing constituent relationships to processing gifts, Viburnix – alumni association system gives you the tools you need to achieve all of your University’s advancement goals.

Alumni Leadership Masterclass in December 2011!

Third Alumni Leadership Masterclass by Saviance Technologies is in association with Delhi Management Association. This masterclass is scheduled for Wednesday 7^th December, 2011 @ DMA – DLF Conference Hall, India Habitat Center, Lodi Road, New Delhi. The fees for this event is Rs. 1,000/- only per delegate. This unique masterclass aims at providing alumni associations with descriptive sessions on managing the alumni, engaging with alumnus, planning alumni engagement activities and benefiting from technology in communicating with global alumni of an institute. The focus of this masterclass is to effectively highlight the benefits of leveraging & engaging with an institute’s alumnus on a day-to-day basis.

The faculties for the sessions are experienced professionals, who are graduates of an Alumni Relations Institute organized in Singapore. They have an in-depth understanding of handling alumni office as well as supporting the technological needs of the office. The sessions of the class provide a holistic view on building a strong and influential alumni network by running a fully functional alumni office in an institute.

The Alumni masterclass is for anyone involved with alumni relationship activities, whether Alumni officers / faculty facing challenges in engaging their alumni on a routine basis; or university / College / School faculty planning an Alumni Association in the near future; alumni relations staff who would like to maximize their relationship with the alumnus but are facing challenges in engaging them actively.

For registrations, & details please contact:

Tanya Bhatnagar, Programme Executive

Delhi Management Association, dmadelhi@sify.com / +91-11-2646-9552

Aditi Sharma, Business Development Executive

Saviance Technologies, aditi@saviance.com / +91-98-7147-6971

NOTE: Registration fee can be paid through online payment gateway available on the registration page on http://www.saviance.com/events  or a cheque in favour of Delhi Management Association.

Benefits of alumni engagement

In today’s global scenario, development and alumni relations activities are a very important part in the life and future of universities. An alumni association draws the strategy to seek, ‘To establish, build and maintain positive relationships between alumni and the university, and within the alumni association, in order to generate good will, develop institute’s repute, and encourage all alumni to give in whatever way they can to reinforce the future well-being of their alma mater. Reinforcing the growth of an active alumni association proves to be mutually-beneficial, both to the University and to alumni.

Alumni have the capacity to:

• Highlight the strengths of the university and reflect its commitment to excellence in education, research and lifelong learning;
• Be brand ambassadors, thereby inspiring and counseling others who wish to be a part of the university.
• Help each other and current students through networking, organizing guest lectures, mentoring and friendship;
• Assist each other and current students by sharing with them Job Opportunities / Career options.
• Foster global relationships to help promote networking opportunities.
• Contribute significant financial support to their alma mater.

 

It is important to understand that a successful alumni engagement strategy depends critically on having a strong body of alumni engaged with and committed to their alma mater.

Alumni involvement in Alumni Association

Alumni are one of the most vital stake holders of a university. They are a part of it for life. Hence, it is important for the universities to maintain an ongoing relationship with alumni, and seek their participation in achieving excellence. Alumnus are often interested to play their role of assisting alumni association not just because the improved brand name of the university helps them in their career, but also because they have memories and feel emotionally connected to the place. One reason for non-involvement or non-engagement of alumni is that they not aware of the ways in which they can be of help to their alma mater. There are many ways alumni can provide meaningful service and active involvement in the Alumni Association.

So here are a couple of strategies and ways in which alumni can get involved with alumni associations, to build mutually beneficial relationship. Alumni are the best brand ambassadors of a university; they can share their experiences with prospective students. They can provide career guidance and share opportunities with alumni associations to help career development and management of existing students and other alumnus. Alumni network helps entrepreneurial alumni build their businesses while strengthening alumni involvement with the University. Alumni can also get involved with events and activities on-campus.

Alumni Masterclass 2011 - Pune

Second Alumni Leadership Masterclass by Saviance Technologies was organized at Le Meridien, Pune; on 12th October 2011. Some of the key participant institutes of the event included Dr. D.Y.Patil Institute of Management Studies, Pune; Armed Forces Medical College, Pune; Fergusson College, Pune; Indira Group of Institutes; Indira School of Business Studies; Institute of Management Development & Research; Symbiosis Centre for Management & Human Resource Development & Vishwakarma Institute of Management.

The focus of this Masterclass was to effectively highlight the benefits of leveraging & engaging with their institute’s alumnus on a day-to-day basis. The objectives of this masterclass comprised of providing descriptive sessions on managing the alumni, engaging with alumnus, planning alumni engagement activities and benefiting from technology in communicating with global alumni of an institute. Interactive sessions by faculties who are graduates of an Alumni Relations Institute organized in Singapore and who have an in-depth understanding of handling alumni office as well as supporting the technological needs of the office. The faculty tried to explicate on how to better utilize the existing relationship with alumnus and how to engage them actively on a regular basis. The sessions also helped participants gain a holistic view on building a strong and influential alumni network by running a fully functional alumni office in an institute. 

We would give details about the session details in our next blog posting.

Benefits of Alumni Engagement

Saviance Technologies followed by various alumni networks, are active in providing opportunities and solutions to alumni to reconnect with their alma mater, to recognize the contributions of students to industry and the wider community, and to encourage them to support their University in a number of ways. Alumni clubs have also played a pivotal role in providing these opportunities through various engagement activities. Saviance team acknowledged the growing importance of alumni engagement programs in the overall achievement of any Organizations goals. They recognized the need for a more focused and coordinated approach to alumni relations to maximize the opportunities for alumni networks and the University.
The identified areas of benefits by alumni engagement include:

Alumni Clubs:
• Opportunities to reconnect with batchmates and others and to give back to their alma mater in a meaningful way.
• Opportunities for career development through continuous learning, access to business networks, mentoring programs and employment opportunities.
• Access to a global alumni community where membership provides unique benefits and services.

University:
• Support for the University’s recruitment, marketing and charitable initiatives
• Branding University both locally and globally as a leader in teaching and research
• Seeking feedback and advice to develop more successful and mutually beneficial relationships with industry, students and the wider community and to ensure relevance of curriculum and research.

Engaging Aumni Oline through Social Media

Our vision is to encourage alumni online to share a lifelong commitment, pride and passion for their alma mater. We build up solutions that act as catalyst for building a vigorous alumni network and a lifelong relationship among alumni associations and its constituents, including students and graduates, and for supporting the University’s mission globally.
We understand the 3 C’s of winning Alumni Online Relations – Communicate, Connect & Cultivate.  By communicate, we refer to information that is conveyed professionally and is consistently shared. The communication should be timely as too much information at one go also irritates the readers. Alumni are always interested in the happenings and news of alma mater. Communication also means recognizing outstanding efforts of alumni volunteers who assist in mentoring programs, donations or guest lectures.
We help alumni association connect to their alumni by helping them to maintain current contact information and other detailed records of alumni and their batchmates. The real interest of alumni lies in staying connected with their classmates, and social networking features of our product prove to be a ‘winner’ here. We act as a medium and translate technology advances to make it easy for alumni associations to stay connected with its members, as well as allow alums to be connected to each other.
We recognize that every event, each communication is probability to further reinforce relationships. We assist associations to cultivate a feeling of belongingness amongst its alumni with event management. Our designed product helps provide opportunities for contribution and support of alumni.

Technology, Alumni Associations and Batchmates

In technology arena, many institutes that approach us have a baseline of service available but not adequately maintained and updated. Their alumni have turned to other resources for networking and communications. More robust and scalable solutions have become available for helping alumnus maintain connections with the University and with each other, and the Institute and the Alumni Association should work together to harness the capabilities now available in the technology marketplace.

This area offers a number of opportunities to the Universities to reinforce their relations with their alumnus. Some of them include:

• Improved alumni reach, improved alumni engagement: As we use technology to build online alumni relationships and communities, we will promote stronger and deeper alumni loyalty.
• Advanced information about alumni: Via technology, the University would be able to capture alumni interests. It also provides a platform for alumnus to give back to their alma mater by participating in mentor programs.
• More effective communication: Technology provides a cost-effective medium for coordinated, targeted, and high-impact communication with alumni.
• Valued services: Collaborative Platform provides alumni with valued services such as news about alma mater, opportunities to maintain ties with old and new batchmates, and networking for career and business.
• Increased ROI
• Better brand management

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Alumni & Social Media - Connecting with Folks Made Easier

Institutions for higher education are striving hard to revive and reinforce strong relations with their alumni. This bond-building with alumni is important for establishing brand-loyalty, increasing engagement and encouraging ongoing giving and support. Alumni relations are growing in importance in for a number of reasons. Saviance team believes in sharing information about the market trends as to what is working and what is not can help them become more successful in this discipline.

Saviance Technologies helps alumni association leverage a number of emerging internet technologies to achieve their mission of connecting back to their alumnus. We offer consulting, development and infrastructure services that: Develop and manage alumni relations; provide them with a new conceptual and structural framework for leading alumni association’s activities to attract and retain its alumnus; helps alumnus, members of the association and institution to access and update information from any web-enabled device. All these and many more along with flexible, robust, scalable solution with rich user interface.

Alumni management solutions by Saviance Technologies help the institutions as well associations save on their time and money without any drastic transition in terms of technology use. They can connect with their community in no time, improving relationships leading to increased fundraising.

Social Media Integration and Alumni Associations

Various alumni associations are leveraging social media to strengthen the bonds between the alumni; and between the alma mater and its alumnus. This has been possible with the sudden rise, in the options for digital communications tools that are available in the market. These tools provide a base for collaborating, connecting and communicating with the alums. At the same time, social media is the most cost-effective and effective way to reach out to alumnae. Some of the major social media integration seen in the alumni sites is discussed in this blog.

Realizing the opportunity, many associations have started designing portals for its members; that provide them one window access to various options for connecting and communicating with each other. There has been an increase in the number of tools used for initiating conversations with its users. This is done with the integration of tools for discussion boards, forums, notes etc. Aggregation tools are used for blogs that add to the content of the site as well as it gives a chance to the members to contribute. Event management tools are used to facilitate events for members.

The opportunities are great for alumni association, these same tools that risk their existence can be used to increase user base, cut costs, and a wealth of content being created by their own members.

Reconnecting, Recapturing and Reliving – Alumni Association of BIMTECH

Alumni association of Birla Institute of Management Technology wanted to design a more innovative, engaging and modern online center for its alums. They were able to launch their alumni online network with Saviance Technologies robust Viburnix solution to create cutting edge alumni software. This software included alumni online directory, association pages, event and reunion pages etc.

Some of the engagement options offered by the solution for alumni association include: Events – alums can search for various upcoming events as well as create new events. Careers – Alumni can search and post various jobs. Online Giving – Options to contribute and donate online is another highlight of the system, they can also give back to their alma mater by opting in for Guest Lecturer or by signing in for a Mentorship program. Different options for Group Networks allow alumni to connect not only to their peers but also to their seniors as well as juniors who share same interest. Members can look out for their peers by a variety of descriptors. And many more such features are available.

All these with centralized login for all alumni, to update their information as well as connect with their institution. Viburnix provided BIMTECH with an alumni software that presented them with some key online technology features such as CMS to maintain and update information about the institute; Advanced Email option that makes communication with members easier; events registration and calendar to schedule and invite alumnus for events.