FOR ALUMNI NETWORKS
Alumni relationships drive real value.
We expand what’s possible.
Connect Networks helps universities and companies build alumni programs where members stay genuinely connected — to each other, and to you. Because the relationship that begins at enrollment or onboarding doesn't have to end at graduation or departure.
THE PROBLEM
Your alumni are (still) your most under-leveraged asset.
Former students, former employees — they leave with deep institutional knowledge, respect for your organization, and a network that grows more valuable with every passing year.
For universities, engaged alumni are also your donor pipeline: The people who give significantly aren't those who received the most email campaigns — they're the ones who stayed genuinely connected. And for corporations, research shows that up to nearly 25% of your top-line revenue can come from alumni-assisted sales.
And yet most alumni programs amount to an occasional newsletter, an annual giving appeal, and a wonderful but fleeting reunion. Connect Networks builds the infrastructure between those moments — the consistent, meaningful peer engagement that keeps alumni close to each other and to you.
44%
higher three-year retention for returning alumni hires
Alumni who return to a former employer stay significantly longer than external hires — and ramp up faster, because they already know the culture.
EnterpriseAlumni / Workplace Trends
27%
higher rate of business referrals with formal alumni programs
Companies with structured alumni engagement see nearly a third more referral activity from former employees — in hiring, business development, and partnerships.
Phenom
WHAT ALUMNI REALLY WANT
Hint: It’s not a directory. Demonstrate interest in them and give them a reason to show up.
Most alumni platforms are passive: A searchable list of names, an event calendar, a jobs board. Alumni disengage from those quickly, because passive infrastructure only works for the people who already know what they're looking for. The much larger group — the ones who'd engage if engagement felt personal or worth their time — are looking for something more active. Real connection to other alums for conversations that advance their thinking, inspire collaboration, and create opportunity.
01
Give alumni a reason to stay connected to each other
The strongest alumni networks are the ones where members feel they're part of something ongoing — not just nostalgia or a corporate bulletin. Biweekly peer matching creates the recurring touchpoints that make membership feel alive, not like a walk down memory lane.
02
Connect across cohorts and geographies
The most valuable connections in an alumni network often cross class years, career stages, and geographies. Those are exactly the connections that never happen organically — and exactly the kind of relationships Connect is built to foster.
03
Build the pipeline that advancement depends on
For universities, engaged alumni are donors, major gift prospects, and reunion volunteers. But giving follows relationship — and relationship requires consistent, meaningful touchpoints that most programs don't have the people, resources, or infrastructure to sustain. Connect creates human touchpoints automatically, keeping alumni warm between campaigns and events. The alumna who'd give significantly to the capital campaign is far more likely to do so if she's had three exciting peer conversations through your network in the past year.
04
Turn alumni into advocates, clients, and talent
Alumni who remain genuinely connected refer candidates, send business, champion you publicly, and come back as speakers, mentors, and board members. Connect builds the relationship infrastructure that makes all of that not just possible, but more likely.
05
Surface intelligence from the network
What are alumni navigating professionally? Where are they seeing opportunity or disruption? Anonymized themes from peer conversations give you a real-time signal from the field — it’s the kind of deep intelligence that reshapes curriculum, programming, and strategy.
What keeps me coming back is the chance to connect with people outside my bubble.
Connect reinforces that the work I'm doing is just as important in other places, but we each bring a different lens to it.
ROBIN WANG
Portland, OR
BUILT FOR ALUMNI
Your alumni are a valuable asset.
Whether you're a university advancement team trying to keep graduates engaged across decades — building the relationships that lead to annual gifts, major gifts, and legacy commitments — or a company trying to maintain relationships with former employees who'll become clients, referral sources, and advocates, the dynamic is the same. The relationship doesn't have to end when someone leaves. Connect Networks builds the infrastructure to keep their connection to you alive, without requiring your team to manually sustain every connection.
The people who’ve played a role in your story are some of your most valuable relationships in this chapter.
Tell us about your alumni network and we’ll help you build into an entirely new level of engagement.