Alumni: Classifications, Models of Engagement, and Definitions

People often talk about alumni as one group, but in reality they form a diverse community with different motivations, interests, and levels of attachment.

Institutions have to be aware of these differences and develop an engagement strategy that resonates and is meaningful to create a successful alumni network.

This is a guide that unites all known categories of alumni, such as, but not limited to, linguistic definitions, levels of engagement, organizational connections, and contemporary strategic personalities, which provides you with the 360deg view of the current alumni environment.

Types of Alumni according to Linguistic Form

• Alumnus – One male graduate or ex-student.
• Alumna – An isolated female graduate or ex-student.
• Alumni – Multitude of male or mixed-gender graduates. In general communication mostly used.
• Alumnae – Collective number with or without a group of female graduates.
• Alum / Alums – An alternative that is gender-neutral and up-to-date used in marketing and communications.

Alumni by grade of engagement

Institutions often group alumni based on their response and participation levels, which helps them deliver more precise communication and outreach programs.

Organizational Affiliation Alumni Types

The alumni communities have ceased to exist in the schools and colleges alone. Alumni programs in organizations are now institutionalized.

Corporate Alumni – Ex-employees who stay linked to a particular company network to make referral, re-employed, business, and brand ambassadors.

Academic Alumni – Alumni of schools and colleges, as well as universities.

Nonprofit or Association Alumni – Ex-participants, volunteers, board members or beneficiaries.

Government/Public Sector Alumni – Former officials and employees who remain connected with each other through formal and informal programs.

Program-Based Alumni – Participants who had gone through fellowship programs, bootcamps, certifications, leadership programs or short-term programs.

The Strategic Engagement Framework (Alumni Triangle Model)

Although the above categories are universally accepted, there is more psychological segmentation into motivation and behavior, which are of immense benefit to the institutions today.
This is the place where the Alumni Triangle Model comes in with a strategic value.

The triangle defines four engagement personas of alumni:

Loyalists – The most organized and hard working group. They attend, volunteer, donate, mentor and enhance institutional accomplishments.

Value Seekers – Participate when they see some real-life value to it (networking, learning, professional development).

Recognition Seekers – Mainly driven by recognition and publicity. Making them newsletter-covered, featured in the social media spotlights, in awards, or on guest panels is a high-engagement activity.

Apathetic or Non-volunteer Alumni – Inadequate engagement because of time or being out of touch or appropriate personalized outreach. Reactivation needs thoughtful strategies that are targeted.

Ways Institutions Can Use these Classifications

Effective alumni programs rely on accuracy, not general communication.
The following are the ways you can take advantage of these categories:

• Personalize communication – Dissimilar groups demand dissimilar tones, messages, and frequency.
• Develop targeted outreach programs – Professional-oriented networking activities; attention hunters need social fame; leadership opportunities attract loyalists.
• Enhance fundraising performance – Emotional alumni react to legacy campaign. Impact-based communication gets a response with transactional alumni.
• Improve student success – Mentor alumni facilitate an internship, placement and career advice.
• Improve admissions/branding – Active alumni are the most powerful friends and sources of referral.