Setting up effective professional services alumni relations programs

A CMO of a very well-respected financial services company is considering creating a structured alumni relations program for his firm. I volunteered to reach out to my senior marketing contacts about formal alumni relations programs. If your firm has such a program, we’d be interested in your perspectives on the questions below.

(If I get enough answers to merit another blog post on this subject, I’ll aggregate them and get something out!)

• What are the most successful aspects of your firm’s alumni relations program? The least successful?

• If your firm uses alumni relations for business development, is your approach active (e.g., directly asking for referrals, and/or including the alumnus in your referral outreach) or passive (e.g., saying “we’d appreciate your referrals” but no follow up)?

• What reciprocal benefits do you offer your alumni, e.g., actively promoting them for board positions, or actively helping them develop their own business?