From the Nominator

Between 2018 and 2019, the New York University Office of Alumni Relations took time to transform Alumni Day into a full weekend of activities resulting in the most attended alumni program to date. The major changes included focusing on affinity reunions instead of class-year reunions, moving our Volunteer Recognition and Alumni Service Awards to the weekend, finding new venues off campus, and streamlining registration and pricing to improve the user experience. The result was a 103% increase in attendance and a 45% increase in Net Promoter Score year-over-year. We worked through our ideas with the help of an alumni volunteer committee to garner buy-in and support. The committee helped us to send a call for proposals to welcome alumni workshop presenters and take ownership over their weekend.

From the Judges

This entry is a great example of how you often need to take a step back in order to look forward. Measurable changes that are visible through increased engagement affected by creating new traditions while also sunsetting old ones can be very difficult to do and they have done it quite well.