CASE Social Media Blog
CASE members and staff share interviews, case studies and commentary on social media topics of interest to advancement professionals.

Social Media Policies
Sample Collection The CASE InfoCenter maintains this collection of policies related to the use of social media in educational institutions. Please log in to access the collection.

“Right” Engagement Can Boost Young Alumni Interest
BriefCASE Article Engaging young alumni via social media is a top priority for many alumni relations shops—but there’s a right way and a wrong way to reach out to this group, according to a faculty member of the CASE Social Media and Community Conference taking place this week in Chicago.

Tools of Engagement
CURRENTS Article How can alumni relations professionals remain relevant in a world where computers and technology do much of what they used to do on paper and via phone? The author offers advice on how embrace social media tools and use them to engage alumni.

Crème de la Crème
CURRENTS Article In 2011, 268 bronze, silver, gold, and grand gold Circle of Excellence awards went to 171 colleges, universities, independent schools, and nonprofit organizations worldwide. Eight of those grand gold and gold award winners are profiled here.

Think Different When Engaging Alumni Online, Say OSS Speakers
BriefCASE Article Do you feel like you’re not doing enough to engage your alumni? A recent CASE Online Speaker Series event outlined ways alumni relations offices can get creative on social networks.

Prepare to Engage
CURRENTS Article This article discusses the importance of focusing on building community and creating a two-way social media conversation with your institution's constituents. Experts advise that institutions using social media should be less concerned with the tools they're using and more concerned with whether and how they're engaging their alumni, students, and other constituencies. In addition, rather than jumping into using several tools, it's more important to first use a tool well before moving on to add another tool. The article also discusses some of the findings from the 2011 CASE/mStoner/Slover Linett social media survey.

Social Media, Alumni, and the Engagement Cycle (Asia-Pacific)
Product This webinar looks at how social media tools fit into the root strategies and desired outcomes for alumni engagement and includes examples of how some time-tested techniques can be deployed on the social web. It highlights the use of social tools to enhance existing programs and discusses some emerging opportunities for engagement. This multimedia files is a recording of an Online Speaker Series webinar originally presented Nov. 9, 2011.

Engaging Alumni with Social Media: Friends, Fans, Tweets and More
Product This webinar looks at best practices in integrating social media into alumni development activities to improve an institution's ability to stay in touch with students, alumni, donors and friends. The panel discussion also looks at findings from CASE and SunGard white paper "Use of Technology for Development and Alumni Relations among CASE Members." This multimedia file is a recording of an Online Speaker Series webinar originally presented on Sept. 29, 2011.

Five Tips for Using Twitter in Higher Education
BriefCASE Article Twitter is neither a popularity contest nor “Facebook Lite”—and when it’s used well, it can be a powerful communications tool. That’s according to the author of a new white paper published by Fathom Online Marketing on using Twitter in higher education.

Is LinkedIn Useful for Institutions? Advancement Colleagues Weigh In
BriefCASE Article When LinkedIn member Jay Frost asked the CASE group, "Do you think LinkedIn is good for colleges and universities? And [if so], can it be used for fundraising?" he got 20 responses from fellow group members. Their input and experience provide a brief sketch of how institutions are using social networks like LinkedIn for students and alumni.

Opening Windows
CURRENTS Article Social media advisor Beth Kanter answers questions about free agents, fortresses, and other social media issues. Kanter works with many different nonprofits on better reaching their audiences and achieving their missions through social media.

Experts Predict Top Social Media Trends for 2011
BriefCASE Article Those of you who just got the hang of tweeting can breathe a sigh of relief: This year’s social media trends aren’t expected to include a new social network to learn. Instead, experts predict more organization and efficiency in online communications as well as a heightened awareness of privacy violation and other unintended side effects of social media use.

Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement
CASE White Paper All institutions are struggling to engage with their constituents using social media tools. But how are they doing? This white paper reports on the results of a survey on the use of social media across the advancement disciplines, looking at platforms, staffing structures, barriers and perceptions of success. The 2010 survey was conducted by mStoner, Slover-Linett Strategies and CASE.

Image Conscious
CURRENTS Article Three alumni relations professionals share their thoughts on managing their professional and personal social media lives. The first has one Facebook profile but is very cautious and hesitant about whom she friends and what she shares; the second also has one profile and does not see a problem with connecting with as many people as possible; and the third maintains two separate Facebook accounts, one for personal friends and the other for professional acquaintances.

Lance una red más amplia para su reunión
CURRENTS Article Hace algunos años, cuando Facebook comenzaba a saltar de un dormitorio a, bueno, todos los dormitorios, algunos líderes de exalumnos se preguntaron si la creciente popularidad de Facebook sería el fin de las reuniones. No pasaba un día sin que escuchara hablar sobre exalumnos que habían encontrado compañeros a los que les habían perdido la pista y estaban organizando reuniones a través de este medio.

Cast a Wider Net for Reunion
CURRENTS Article A few years ago, the mere mention of the word "Facebook" could cause anxiety among alumni relations professionals. They worried that alumni reconnecting with long-lost classmates on Facebook wouldn't attend reunions anymore. But the Facebook dust has cleared, and reunions have suffered surprisingly few injuries, if any at all. This article discusses how Facebook is helping rather than hindering reunion.

Use of Technology for Development and Alumni Relations among CASE Members
CASE White Paper This research explores the role of "advancement-enabling" technology in helping institutions meet their development and alumni relations goals. It includes data on how technology is being used, barriers to effective use of technology, and strategies for effective deployment of technology. The report is based on data provided by 357 advancement staff in higher education institutions and independent schools. Isurus Market Research and Consulting analyzed the data for CASE and SunGard Higher Education, which fielded the survey.

Leveraging Social Media to Transform Alumni Communications
Product Lewis University alumni communications professionals explain how their small private university with limited resources used social networking to promote a new alumni and friends website, increase event attendance and begin dialogues with alumni that had not been responding to traditional print communications. This multimedia file is a recording of an Online Speaker Series webinar originally presented June 17, 2010.

Alumni Networks and Twitter: An Update
Andrew Shaindlin and Elizabeth Allen
This Alumni Futures paper, published on March 1, 2010, reviews changes in Twitter use for alumni relations since January 2009. The paper reports data collected in January and February 2010, through an informal poll.

The Inner Circle
CURRENTS Article Is an institution’s own private social network relevant in this era of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter? The answer is yes ... or no, depending on the institution.

From Luddite to Advocate: Social Media Research Convinces Alumni Professional to Update, Update
Michael Stoner on mStonerblog
In this August 2009 post, Stoner interviewed Leisha LeCouvie about research she conducted on social media as the 2009 Forman Fellow of the Council of Alumni Association Executives. LeCouvie's report, "The Use of Social Media for Alumni Relations and University Development," can be downloaded from this post.

10 Ways Universities Are Engaging Alumni Using Social Media
Vadim Lavrusik on Mashable
This July 2009 article discusses ten ways universities are using social media and provides examples for each.

Advance Work: Risky Behavior
CURRENTS Article GoCrossCampus, an online game created by five former and current Ivy Leaguers, is scoring big points for alumni relations.

Activating Alumni Networks with Twitter: An Alumni Futures White Paper
Andrew Shaindlin and Elizabeth Allen
This January 2009 paper provides a primer on Twitter, how people and organizations are using it, and its potential to deliver information and build community. An appendix provides data from an informal survey on Twitter use for alumni relations by higher education institutions and a few independent schools. The survey was conducted in January 2009.

Into the Mainstream
CURRENTS Article Six alumni professionals--all early adopters of online social networking--offer their thoughts on why alumni professionals need to just dive into the world of Facebook, LinkedIn, and their ilk.

Brave Net World
CURRENTS Article In June 2008, CASE surveyed alumni relations directors about their use of online social networking to engage and communicate with alumni. This article delves into the data garnered from this survey, including software, budget, staffing, best practices, and performance measurement.

Odds and Ends: What Does Surya Say?
CURRENTS Article In this Q&A, Surya Yalamanchili, director of marketing for LinkedIn, discusses his own social networking life, what's new at LinkedIn, and more.

Advance Work: Pokes and Tweets
CURRENTS Article What outside social networking sites are alumni relations professionals using to engage alumni?

Natural Attraction
CURRENTS Article What can alumni relations professionals learn from their corporate cousins?

Online Social Networks: A Developing Tool for Alumni Associations
Andrew Shaindlin and Elizabeth Allen
The authors of this January 2008 white paper propose that third party social and business networking sites can be important partners for alumni associations, rather than competition for alumni engagement.

The Changing Face of the Online Community
CURRENTS Article Social and professional networking has moved online, and educational institutions are uniquely positioned to offer these services to their alumni. Find out how other nonprofits have built successful online communities.

Everyone Into the Pool
CURRENTS Article Online communities are not just a fad. Is yours up to par? Do you know what your alumni want? Find out how others have figured out what's best and how to keep it fresh.

Advance Work: The Pull of Peers
CURRENTS Article Web sites such as Facebook that organize social networks specific to individual colleges, universities, and schools are growing in popularity and might compete with an institution's own site for the attention of students and graduates. Some alumni relations officials believe alumni sites must grow more robust to survive; others take advantage of the commercial sites' popularity to communicate with their constituents.

AdvanceWork: A Sure Thing?
CURRENTS Article Independent Web sites that provide an online forum for alumni to share information are proliferating at a rate that may leave institution-sanctioned sites behind. Classmates.com, Reunion.com, and TheSquare.com are just a handful of players in this market space. Online alumni service providers warn that alumni directors must keep pace, or risk damaging their relationships with alumni.