Spreadsheets or excel sheets used to be globally preferred tools by educational institutions to manage alumni relations to date. However, in the current time of abundance of data and real-time updates, it becomes difficult to update excel sheets manually to record alumni data.
If your alumni network is meagre, using excel sheets would still make sense. But what if your alumni database raises to thousands and lakhs in the following years? Will you be able to manage such a whopping data on excel sheets manually?
Well, not really.
If your institute has a multitude of alumni members, it is time for you to ditch excel sheets and invest in the right alumni database software. With it, you can enjoy the benefits of auto-updating the alumni database and many more.
“Managing alumni database on excel sheets is clumsy,”
says Dr Divya Bansal, Dean Alumni, Corporate & International Relations at Punjab Engineering College, while interacting with us during our recent survey for one of the sessions of Alumni Champion Talks.
This proves how an alumni database software can level up the game of maintaining and managing alumni relations.
Follow this piece to discover five reasons why you should ditch excel sheets and start building an alumni database right away!
1. No Auto-updating Feature Available
Every time a new alumni member joins the community, does your excel sheet gets automatically updated? The answer is no. You might argue that whenever a member registers, we can update the excel sheet on the spot. But have you thought how tedious this process will become when you will have to repeat it for 10,000 or 100,000 alumni members?
You’ll go crazzzzzzzzzzzy!
Maintaining spreadsheets for such an enormous mass involve a dedicated team, lots of time, and resources. But, with alumni database software, only one person can do every task for thousands and lacs of alumni members leveraging the technology.
2. No Alumni Outreaching Possible
Let’s agree for the time being that you’re excellent at managing your alumni database on excel sheets. But, how will you ensure effective outreach to the alumni members through various outreach channels? Excel sheets are not integrated with outreach channels like social media and email marketing tools. To ensure that you outreach alumni members with valid information, you would have to update the excel sheet first. Further, you would have to migrate it every time you send messages to alumni for maintaining validity.
You can save yourself from all this trouble by just enrolling in an alumni database software once in a lifetime.
3. Impossible to Grow Alumni Database
You are already wasting your entire time and energy updating the excel sheets and integrating them with the outreach channels. Then how will you focus on growing your alumni database by enhancing engagement and boosting participation?
Also, you will add the details of alumni members, which you already have in the excel sheets. You won’t be able to invite any new alumni members and get them registered through an excel sheet.
I think this says everything about how it’s impossible to grow your alumni database using excel sheets.
4. No Alumni Authentication Guarantee
Imagine that you sent an email to a student who was not part of your institution in the past. Do you realize how challenging it will become for you later to authenticate this person? Only one mistake, and you will have to pay for it forever! Via an excel sheet, there is no scope to filter whether the individual is a valid alumnus or not. Anyone can make a mistake; it’s not always you. But the bottom line is, with excel sheets you cannot authenticate every alumni member data you receive.
However, alumni database software lets you do the same, though!
5. Fear of Data Loss
To share excel sheets, you need to give access to the respective member. During the transition among the team members, there are mightier chances of loss of data. Plus, multiple team members might have various excel sheets with disparate data. It would be tricky to keep a track of all these sheets at a time and ensure no data loss during the same time.
Instead, an alumni database software has a centralized destination for data storage, management, and distribution. Neither there is mismanagement nor the fear of data loss with alumni database usage.
Summary
Everyone needs to and should get updated with time. Technological innovations are meant to help individuals and institutions work smartly, simply, and swiftly. There is no doubt that with alumni database software, you can efficiently manage alumni relations as compared to excel sheets.
Then what are you waiting for?
If you are ready to invest in an excellent alumni database software, we are happy to offer you a free demonstration of the AlmaDirectory. It is one of the top-notch alumni database software helping the market right now.
August 18, 2021
