Their winning CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) submission showcases the innovative efforts undertaken by the RSM and EUR teams to streamline the university's alumni volunteer-related activities. An automation process that has enabled alumni relations staff at the school to gather more meaningful, actionable insights and empower them to engage with their alumni network more effectively.
Activate and engage the alumni community
The scalable process within the EUR central alumni database can capture alumni interest in activities like volunteering or stewardship. By effectively using surveys, web forms and email communications, alongside a well thought-out CRM data structure, the team can now quickly and efficiently generate extensive lists of alumni leads that contribute towards the university’s alumni volunteering efforts.
The CRM system segments the alumni community based on their preferences and automatically starts personalised email journeys, generating passive leads for alumni relations officers. Since the process’ implementation, over 500 alumni have been enrolled in these automated volunteering journeys successfully.
By leveraging digital marketing strategies, the alumni team has built a sustainable way to activate and engage the greater EUR alumni community. This approach has become a leading example for other educational institutions developing their own alumni relations efforts.
Out of 4,223 submissions for the 2024 CASE Awards, De Vos and Dr Hu’s submission was selected as one of only 20 institutions across Europe to receive this award.
“This recognition has sparked interest in our methodology from several partner institutions," says Dr Hu. "In terms of alumni data management, the award has helped us to set a standard in our own alumni relations efforts and to serve as an example for other institutes.”
Shaping future dialogues in higher education
The success of the award-winning approach is evident, with the team being invited to present their findings at numerous events. “We have consistently been invited to speak on this topic over the past two years, including at CASE's annual 2023 and 2024 conferences and at the German Alumni-klub.net annual conference in May 2024. RSM is also slated to host a session on the topic of alumni relations and automation at the next EFMD Marcom conference,” says De Vos. The EFMD conference will take place in Athens in March 2025.
A resource for the sector
De Vos’ and Dr Hu’s achievement highlights the growing importance of digital innovation in higher education's engagement strategies. The work of Léon De Vos and Dr Han Hu is now featured in the CASE awards gallery, offering a valuable resource for educational institutions worldwide. Dr Han adds, “This recognition allows our work to be accessed by others, helping to advance best practices in alumni data management and engagement across the sector.”
About CASE
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) is a global non-profit association dedicated to educational advancement – alumni relations, communications, development, marketing, and advancement services – and championing education to transform lives and society. To fulfill their missions and to meet both individual and societal needs, colleges, universities and independent schools rely on and must foster the goodwill, active involvement, informed advocacy and enduring support of alumni, donors, prospective students, parents, government officials, community leaders, corporate executives, foundation officers, and other external constituencies. CASE helps its members build stronger relationships with all these constituencies in several ways. www.case.org
