Spotlighting How and Why Alumni Engage
Alumni today are engaging with their alma maters in a variety of evolving ways, explained Cara Giacomini, Vice President of Data, Research and Technology at CASE, in a recent U.S. News and World Report interview.
“Alumni engagement is really about building a much larger community and keeping that community active well past graduation,” said Giacomini.
In the May 20, 2024, Q&A, Giacomini outlined the “fuller picture” of alumni engagement beyond philanthropy and how it includes volunteer activity, experiences, communications, partnerships, and more. She also explored the growth of integrated institutional advancement, alumni engagement in campaigns, tracking alumni data, and more.
Ultimately, she said, alumni today want to give back to the communities that shaped them. Many feel “that need to pay back the benefits of what [they] experienced as a student to make sure others have similar opportunities. [It’s] giving back to a larger cause, or to the students who come after them, that we see with mentorship, career advice, internship programs, and lifelong learning in a variety of ways.”
Read the full U.S. News and World Report Q&A.
About CASE
CASE—the Council for Advancement and Support of Education—is a global, not-for-profit membership association with a vision to advance education to transform lives and society.
CASE is the home for advancement professionals, inspiring, challenging, and equipping them to act effectively and with integrity to champion the success of their institutions. CASE defines the competencies and standards for the profession of advancement, leading, and championing their dissemination and application with more than 97,000 advancement professionals at 3,100 member institutions in 80 countries.
Broad and growing communities of professionals gather under the global CASE umbrella. Currently these include alumni relations, development services, communications, fundraising, government relations, and marketing. These professionals are at all stages of their careers and may be working in universities, schools, colleges, cultural institutions, or other not-for-profits. CASE uses the intellectual capital and professional talents of a community of international volunteers to advance its work, and its membership includes many educational partners who work closely with the educational sector.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., CASE works across all continents from its regional offices in London, Singapore, and Mexico City to achieve a seamless experience for all its stakeholders, particularly its members, volunteers, and staff.