Alumni Association
Alumni House
Alumni Engagement Toolkit
Partner with the Office of Alumni Engagement to strategically reach our 285K CSUF Alumni. Our team regularly collaborates with partners across campus from student groups to prominent alumni, centralizing alumni efforts. The following information will provide further detail on our resources and outline ways to collaborate with us. For any additional support feel free to contact us, we look forward to hearing from you: Meet the staff.
COMMUNICATE TO ALUMNI
We aim to communicate strategically with our alumni, to preserve a positive relationship with them and effectively get our message across amidst their busy lives. Our office manages the following communication vehicles, which may be a worthwhile resource for you:
- @Fullerton: Monthly e-newsletter with a reach of 170K alumni. View an archive of past messages and submit your content on the Alumni Newsletter web page.
- Social Media: To help us promote your work, tag/mention @CSUFalumni in social media posts from your office or program. We will do what we can to help amplify your message when possible. Our CSUF Alumni account is active on Facebook (7.6K), Instagram (1.5K), Twitter (3.6K), YouTube and LinkedIn.
- Mobile App: The CSUF Alumni app is free and available for download on iTunes and Google Play. Currently we have 1.6K downloads and nearly 1K active users.
- Event Calendars: Access alumni calendars both online
and via mobile app. - Targeted Emails: If your department wishes to communicate to specific alumni, we can work with you on gathering the correct list. Some examples of criteria used to provide a more specific audience:
- Alumni Association membership
- Donor status or level
- Age range
- Graduation year
- Event attendee
- Geographical areas
- Record type (alumni, parent, emeriti, etc.)
Once your request has been approved and added to the centralized email calendar, we will request the distribution list from Advancement Services based upon your criteria.
E-communication approval: Our team will provide you with a test message prior to your campaign distribution. This test message is your opportunity to see a draft of what the email will look like and make any edits before it is sent. You have only this one opportunity to make revisions as we have limited time to dedicate to revising messages. Once the test message is approved, we will schedule your email message to be sent at the agreed upon day and time.
Please keep in mind that not all requests for stand-alone email messages can be honored as some messages are more appropriate to be included in @Fullerton. Additionally, we only communicate information about official university-sponsored programs. Submit a request for a stand-alone email
.
Submit your communication request: Contact the Office of Alumni Engagement as soon as you learn of a new project or initiative that will involve alumni.
- All requests for e‐communiqués should be submitted a minimum of six (6) weeks before your target send date . Requests must include any images and text you plan to use in your campaign. If you are unsure about any of the fields (i.e., list criteria, available calendar dates, etc.), please contact the Office of Alumni Engagement in advance of the six-week deadline.
- We will respond to all requests within two business days. Some requests may need to be modified. We will work through any necessary changes with you.
Reporting: We track several metrics for each message sent through our system. Metrics include the number of email addresses sent to, recipients who open the email, recipients who click on each link, email addresses that “bounce,” recipients who unsubscribe from receiving future e‐mail communications. A summary report can be provided to you one week after your message was sent.
UPDATE ALUMNI DATA
Why it’s important: To effectively reach our alumni, we must have current information for them. That said, regularly updating their records is recommended.
How to do it: If you communicate to students or alumni throughout the year, remember to incorporate the self-service information link Update My Info
also located on the Titan Alumni mobile app. All alumni contact information collected by a department, sports team, student club, Greek group, etc., should routinely be emailed to the Office of Alumni Engagement at alumniengagement@fullerton.edu.
The result: The Office of Alumni Engagement will collaborate with University Advancement and ensure you receive accurate alumni records following University and data security protocol helping your alumni efforts be as successful as possible.
ALUMNI VOLUNTEERS
Seeking Alumni Volunteers: The Office of Alumni Engagement has launched a platform called FULLY Engaged
. This platform serves as a "job board" where opportunities for alumni to serve campus may be posted. This could be a speaker on a panel, a review for scholarships, a member of an advisory board, etc. FULLY Engaged notifies registered alumni with the applicable skills or interests of the opportunity.
To share an opportunity on FULLY Engaged, check out the list of current programs (departments/colleges/etc.)
on the platform.If your area is represented, you may contact them to post your opportunity for you. If your area is not represented, contact Justine Budisantoso (jbudisantoso@fullerton.edu) for help.
Thanking Volunteers: There are a wide range of ways alumni may be volunteering in your area of campus through activities such as committees/advisory boards, professor for a day, speaker panels, and mentorship programs. We want to help you show your volunteers how much they mean to the university.
The Office of Alumni Engagement can partner with your department by:
- Providing small gifts to include as a thank you for your volunteers.
- Providing one day-pass for parking on campus (subject to availability; space location not reserved or guaranteed).
- Extending an invitation to the annual Alumni Association Appreciate Night which typically takes place in May.
ALUMNI EVENTS
The Office of Alumni Engagement is a great partner and resource in planning your alumni activities on campus and beyond. Our centralized approach has positioned us as a resource to tap into all alumni engagement efforts across campus. We can serve as a resource and help involve appropriate staff or promote to alumni directly. Please note that six to eight weeks advance notice is required for most events to be successful . The Office of Alumni Engagement can partner with your department by:
- Event planning: Sharing best practices in alumni event planning.
- Promotion: Promoting the event on the Alumni Association events calendar
and in the @Fullerton monthly e-newsletter
- Communication: Facilitating email invitations and correspondence.
- Online registration: Creating an online registration form and delivering attendee lists. In addition, we can manage registration fees (for non-fundraising events).
- Gifts: Providing an opportunity drawing item or a gift for your alumni guests (subject to availability)
- On a limited basis, our team could potentially provide shared sponsorship including funding and staff support.
Your department is asked to:
- Set up meetings with Alumni Engagement staff alumniengagement@fullerton.edu.
- Work with key campus constituents to promote, plan, and execute your event.
- Contact alumni you are in touch with to encourage their attendance.
- Share alumni contact information with Alumni Engagement prior to invitations being sent.
- Provide alumni speaker gifts (consult with Alumni Engagement staff if necessary).
- Provide Alumni Engagement with final attendee list and any other relevant information
VIP GUESTS
Alumni guests on campus are considered a high priority! When alumni from your department are visiting campus, we can assist with planning the visit and welcoming your alum. If alumni attend your event, please email us a list of attendees to alumniengagement@fullerton.edu so we can update our alumni database. As we build profiles for our alumni activity, it is helpful for campus partners to be aware of all the ways an alum has been connected and engaged with the university.
The Office of Alumni Engagement can collaborate with your department by:
- Confirming the alumnus/a's premarital name and class year.
- Providing a gift for the alumnus/a to your department, prior to their arrival.
- Providing one day-pass for parking on campus (subject to availability; space location not reserved or guaranteed).
- Advertising the visit (when appropriate).
- Providing a campus tour by a Student Alumni Ambassador or Alumni Engagement staff.
- Providing a meeting point at the Golleher Alumni House
with welcoming staff and hospitality like bottled water or coffee and a comfortable waiting area.
Your department is asked to:
- Let us know about alumni visits at least one week in advance .
- Include the alumnus/a's class year in advertisements to showcase that a graduate is helping the university.
- Share information collected about the graduate with Alumni Engagement (copy of business card, updated contact information, current employment, etc.).
- Share information about the alumni volunteer participation for reporting and recognition.
- Share photos from the alumni visit with Alumni Engagement via email.
- Thank the alumnus/a in person and in writing for their support.
ALUMNI AWARDS
College/department/program level awards
There are two main ways to recognize outstanding alumni that you encounter in your work. One is to select some form of alumni of the year for your college/department. If that is something of interest to you, here are some samples that you can use to set up your program. Please let the Office of Alumni Engagement know if you are doing this and who you select each year. We like to be able to see if alumni are being recognized by multiple areas of campus. Check out our sample alumni awards documents here
.
Vision & Visionaries
If you know an alumnus who truly stands out above the rest, consider working with the development officer in your college to nominate that person for the Vision & Visionaries Award. This is the highest honor the university gives to alumni. Check out past recipients and learn more about the program on the Vision & Visionaries website
.
ADVISORY BOARDS
If you are looking to involve alumni in your department/program through an advisory board, they can prove to be a valuable resource. But there are some things to keep in mind. If you are working with an advisory board, please let the Office of Alumni Engagement know. This is often a highly involved volunteer opportunity, and we want to be able to recognize their efforts. If you are trying to start one, or want support with one that you currently have, we are happy to help with that as well.
DON’T FORGET!
Newsletter: You can learn all about university news, alumni highlights, upcoming events, new perks and more in @Fullerton, our monthly email newsletter for alumni and friends! Subscribe to @Fullerton
.
Social Media: Add the CSUF Alumni Association social media accounts Twitter
, Facebook
, Flickr
, LinkedIn
and Instagram
to your list and use #CSUFalumni when appropriate. If you post alumni highlights, spotlights or news articles about alumni, please include all graduation years (we can help you find them if you aren't sure) and share the alumni news with us at alumniengagement@fullerton.edu.
Email Signature: If any colleagues or members of your department are alumni, we encourage them to include their grad year in their email signatures, on their business cards and name badges. If you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to call the Alumni Engagement team at (657) 278-2586, email us at alumniengagement@fullerton.edu or pay us a visit in the office located in the Golleher Alumni House
next to the TSU and Campus Police.
