LiveAlumni
- Jun 13, 2022
- 3 min read

Creating a Great Alumni Newsletter

Updated: Feb 14, 2023

Alumni Newsletters are a powerful way to stay connected with your alumni. Former students who feel connected to their alma mater attend more events, engage more with current students and donate more often. They're a great way to add communication touch points throughout the year.

These newsletters do more than just tell a story - they 'sell' your university to alumni, resulting in them developing and maintaining strong ties to their alma mater - which benefits you in so many ways!

Best Practices: Alumni Newsletter

Whether you’re putting together your very first newsletter or you’ve been sending newsletters for a while but realizing your alumni could be better engaged, these best practices are a quick and simple way to supercharge your newsletter efforts!

1. Strong Subject Line

Email subject lines are your newsletter's first impression. They not only generate intrigue for higher open rates but also build rapport with your alumni and readers. The subject should let your alumni know what to expect inside your newsletter. Keep in mind that vague subject lines that are supposed to be clever tend to result in unopened emails.

2. Personalized Content

One-size fits all newsletters are becoming a thing of the past. Segment your content to tailor your newsletter to specific subsets of alumni. The more finely-tuned your newsletter segments, the more effective your communication will be. This will result in higher click-through rates and responses. LiveAlumni can help you quickly and easily segment your alumni base to facilitate this type of personalization. Personalized newsletters:

are 26% more likely to be opened,
deliver 6X higher transaction rates,
generate a median ROI of 122%.
Deliver a 760% increase in revenue as a result of personalization and list segmenting.

Pro Tip! You don't need to create all-new content for each cohort of alumni. Consider 'featuring' a specific topic depending on who you are sending the newsletter to. Just switch out the featured article to showcase what would be most relevant to a specific segment of your alumni. Work smarter, not harder!

3. Visual Branding

The look and feel of your newsletter are just as important as your content! Your design should be representative of your Institution, including colors, fonts, and tone. Remember that consistency is key - meaning your logo, contact info, and all other elements should be in the same place every time so that your subscribers can easily locate your content. Make sure you use a dynamic template or design (more info below) so your format and design are consistent on all device types.

LiveAlumni: Segmenting your Alumni!

Find LiveAlumni reports below to quickly & easily pull segmented lists of your alumni. Looking to segment in a way not mentioned here? Contact support to have a complimentary custom list of your alumni generated immediately!

Find alumni in a specific company industry Select 'Yes' on popup window > Continue > Add desired industries to filter> Continue > Export
Find alumni in a specific location Select 'Yes' on popup window > Continue > Add desired states to filter> Continue > Export
Find alumni at a specific company Select 'Yes' on popup window > Continue > Add desired company names to filter> Continue > Export
Find alumni with specific titles Select 'Yes' on popup window > Continue > Add desired titles to filter> Continue > Export
Find alumni from a specific graduating class Select 'Yes' on popup window > Continue > Add desired grad year and Unviersity name to filter> Continue > Export

Top Templates for Alumni Newsletters

Note: LiveAlumni is not affiliated, associated with, endorsing, or in any way officially connected with any of the below products or websites. Our company does not control, provide, operate, or take responsibility for any content, goods, or services available through these websites.

Create your engaging alumni newsletter in BEE Pro, a mobile-responsive drag and drop editor. BEE Pro's website states that they are 'trusted and used by 15 of the top 50 universities from the US News & World Report, including Harvard, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Cornell, and USC. Even the smallest departments can design an email in minutes.'

Access BEE Pro newsletter templates that can be modified to meet your needs

More Newsletter Inspiration

Check out some of these all-time-favorite alumni newsletters from the LiveAlumni community. Looking to have one of your alumni newsletters featured? Contact us to share your newsletter as inspiration for the LiveAlumni community!