Seven ways to modernise your alumni relations toolkit

Alumni relations used to mean a graduation photo, an annual newsletter, and perhaps a reunion every five years. That model is no longer enough. Our graduates are scattered across continents, active on platforms our offices barely understand, and increasingly expect the same energy from their alma mater that they get from any modern brand. Here is what has actually worked for us at Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) and Riga Technical University (RTU). None of it required a large budget or a dedicated digital team – mostly it required rethinking where and how we show up. Here are seven shifts worth considering.

1. Rethink the ceremony, not just the content

Graduation remains the single moment when an alumnus is most emotionally connected to the institution, so it is worth treating as a relationship-building event rather than an administrative formality. The contrast between a formal academic procession and a stadium-style celebration with confetti and music is not about which is "correct" – it is about matching the format to what will make graduates want to come back.

At RTU, the annual Grand Graduation Ceremony has demonstrated that graduation can serve not only as a powerful starting point for alumni engagement but also as an effective institutional branding tool, generating extensive social media visibility through graduates and their families. A ceremony that ends with no real call to stay in touch, no photo opportunity worth sharing, and no obvious next step is a missed first chance to build a community rather than a guest list.

2. Take meetups to where your alumni actually are

Rather than waiting for international graduates to return to campus, we have achieved much better results by bringing the institution to them through city-based meetups organised in cooperation with national agencies, embassies, and local diaspora associations. Think globally – this approach opens doors to new resources, partners, and opportunities.

For example, the "Czechia Alumni" meetups and events, organised jointly by the Czech National Agency for International Education and Research, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, and Czech embassies around the world, demonstrate that an existing opportunities and credibility can often do more to attract participants and build trust than a higher education institution’s name alone. The same applies to events organised by other organisations, partners etc.

The practical takeaway is simple: before planning your next international alumni meetup, check whether your country’s embassy, consulate, national agency, or diaspora organisation already operates an events programme or network that you can join, rather than building everything from scratch.

3. Use LinkedIn as a relationship channel, not a billboard

Most institutional LinkedIn pages broadcast achievements; few use the platform the way alumni actually do – to exchange stories, seek advice, and build visibility for their careers. We have consistently seen higher engagement from posts that allow alumni to speak in their own voice – sharing career journeys, honest reflections, and even occasionally controversial opinions – than from polished institutional announcements.

At RTU, for example, alumni career stories consistently outperform institutional news, encouraging graduates to reconnect with the institution, engage with one another, and share their own professional experiences. At CTU, we have also introduced a dedicated role focused on active engagement within the alumni community. This includes responding to alumni posts, expressing appreciation, providing support, and maintaining a visible online presence through meaningful interactions.

The primary goal is to strengthen alumni engagement and encourage as many graduates as possible to become active members of the virtual community. Equally valuable (and far less resource-intensive) is direct outreach. A short, personalised message to an alumnus or alumna doing interesting work remains one of the most effective ways to reconnect with someone and revive a dormant relationship. It costs nothing but time, yet often leads to meaningful conversations and renewed engagement.

4. Treat AI as a drafting assistant, not a replacement for judgement

We experimented with generative AI tools for two very practical tasks: drafting social media content for events and creating visuals for campaigns where stock photography did not adequately represent our students. Both applications resulted in significant time savings, particularly for under-resourced teams that do not have access to dedicated designers or copywriters.

The key caveat is that AI-generated content should be treated as a starting point rather than a finished product. All outputs require human review to ensure appropriate tone, accuracy, and cultural relevance before being published under an institution’s name. When used in this way, however, AI can serve as a genuine force multiplier, helping small alumni teams increase their capacity and effectiveness.

5. Make giving easy before asking alumni to give

Fundraising is not only about making the ask; it also depends on having the right infrastructure in place. A donation platform that lets a donor choose a specific campaign or purpose, see a running total, and give in under a minute removes most of the friction that otherwise kills good intentions.

RTU have found that "universal" giving platforms – ones that can host multiple campaigns side by side rather than a single generic donate button – make it far easier to launch a new fundraising idea quickly, because the technical and administrative groundwork is already in place.

6. Invest in the professional development of your own team

Alumni relations is still a young profession in many institutions, often staffed by people who arrived from admissions, communications or international offices with no formal training in the field. The same Erasmus+ tools built for staff mobility – staff training, staff weeks, Blended Intensive Programmes, job shadowing – are just as relevant for the people running this agenda as they are for academic staff, yet they are rarely used this way.

A week shadowing a peer at another institution's alumni office, or joining a staff week focused on fundraising or engagement, can do more for a colleague's skills than another internal meeting ever will.

The same goes for sector conferences such as CASE Europe, ICAReAlumni, EAIE or NAFSA: they are where this profession's best practice actually circulates, and sending colleagues to learn from peers facing the same resource constraints is one of the more cost-effective investments an institution can make in its alumni relations capacity.

7. Let alumni speak for you in the media

Some of our most effective outreach has not come from the institution’s own channels at all. Alumni who give interviews to local or national press, appear on podcasts, or work with national agencies on promotional campaigns reach audiences that an institution's press office never will, and they do so with a credibility that institutional messaging cannot match. Building a small, willing pool of international alumni "ambassadors" – primed with a short briefing and aware of upcoming opportunities – costs little to set up and can pay off for years.

The common thread

None of these seven ideas depends on a large alumni relations budget or a dedicated team. What they have in common is a shift in mindset: stop waiting for international alumni to come to your channels, and start meeting them in theirs – whether that is an embassy event abroad, a LinkedIn feed, a donation app, or a podcast microphone. For under-resourced international offices, that shift costs far less than it returns.