Introduction

Brainware University, the icon of the 32-year-old Brainware Group of Institutions in West Bengal, Kolkata, was conceived by Mr. Phalguni Mookhopadhayay. Once the West Bengal Assembly approved the Brainware University Bill in 2015, the university was formally established in 2016. Within a span of five years, it became the third-best private university in West Bengal.

Spread over a green nine-acre campus, Brainware University has over 60 programs in Ph.D., PG, UG, diploma, and skill-based education. The placement track record of the university has been strong, with 90% of the students placed in 2018 with industry giants like Amazon, Infosys, TCS, Cognizant, Capgemini, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Adobe, BYJU’s, and Pinnacle. By 2021, the target of Brainware was to have a 100% placement.

Challenges

In spite of being a new university with a limited number of alumni, Brainware was dedicated to establishing a robust alumni network right from the start. Brainware wished to:

• Acquire alumni mentors for their current students

• Create lifelong engagement with alumni

• Boost participation in alumni events

Brainware had some main challenges to overcome:

• Alumni onboarding from various years of graduation was tough without a central solution

• Organizing events—especially virtual ones—proved complicated and labor-intensive.

• Supporting alumni was not organized or efficient

• Long-term involvement needed organized and routine efforts

Expectations

In order to overcome these issues, Brainware University collaborated with AlmaShines, a committed alumni engagement platform. The university was onboarded completely within merely two days—a witness to the simplicity and efficiency of the platform.

Through this partnership, Brainware anticipated:

• Onboarding all alumni—both recent passouts and previous batches

• Streamlining virtual event planning and hosting

• Provide consistent support to alumni from their alma mater

• Conduct alumni engagement campaigns and build long-term relationships

Key Outcomes

1. Alumni Reach

Brainware reached 98% of its alumni members within a mere one week after deploying the AlmaShines platform, recording near-complete outreach and onboarding success.

2. High Engagement Rates

With the help of the platform, Brainware was able to connect 95% of its alumni network more efficiently. As of now, the university has 465 registered and verified user accounts, which include both students and alumni.

3. Registration of the Alumni Association

Thanks to information obtained using the AlmaShines platform, Brainware was able to file for official registration of its Alumni Association, which was an imperative step toward formalizing alumni affairs.

4. Organization of Virtual Events

Throughout the pandemic, Brainware organized several virtual alumni meets that made the alumni community alive and active. The event management features in AlmaShines made it simple to organize, promote, and conduct these virtual events successfully.

Why AlmaShines Worked for Brainware

AlmaShines presented Brainware University with an end-to-end, centralized, and automated alumni management solution that enabled the institution to:

• Have a centralized alumni database with current records

• Leverage automated communication tools for targeted email marketing campaigns, reminders, and announcements

• Streamline event planning—both on- and off-campus

• Build community through online communities, networking, and alumni associations

• Facilitate mobile engagement through a branded app, so alumni can stay engaged anywhere, anytime

Conclusion

Brainware University’s collaboration with AlmaShines demonstrates the manner in which a young university with an expanding alumni population can construct a successful, active, and networked alumni base. Brainware reached instant onboarding, high interaction, and long-term relationship establishment through AlmaShines—being a model for other organizations in the region.

Institutions that seek to enhance their alumni outreach strategy can look to the success story of Brainware as evidence that the proper digital platform has the power to bring aspiration into reality and adversity into triumph.