Communicating With Your Club

The Alumni Club Portal has a built-in member email feature that allows club leadership to easily communicate with alumni in their region/affinity, keeping them informed of club news, events and updates.

Club leadership can send emails to a targeted audience or to the entire list of alumni in their region/affinity, as well as non-regional alumni who have opted in to receive information about the club. The scope of recipients can also be limited based on the event type. The portal speaks directly to the Ross CRM tool, so alumni user information is constantly updated and email lists and preferences are refreshed on a daily basis.

For step-by-step instructions on how to use the email feature, see this video tutorial and downloadable pdf

Capturing Alumni Interest: Club Email Frequency, Content, and Best Practices

Just as important as understanding how to utilize the portal’s email system is understanding how to create messaging that is compelling to your alumni base. Consider the sheer number of emails that you likely receive on a daily and weekly basis. What kind of subject line would compel you to click on an email to read more? What does the description of an event you would register and pay for include? How many emails from a group would drive you to opt-out of communications? 

Please keep these best practices in mind when corresponding with your clubs: 

Email Body — What Should I Include? 

  • Who, what, when, where, why
  • Parking information
  • Cost of event
  • Registration link: include higher up in the email body 
  • Note: Registration confirmation email(s) should include directions, on-site phone numbers, event time, and other important details 

And, if you have an upcoming event with a speaker or panel of speakers, be sure to include: 

  • Photo of your speaker, if available;
  • Short bio of speaker with link to more details; and
  • Place the speaker’s most impressive, brand-name accomplishments up front.

Length, Frequency, and Design

  • Keep the overall length of email to a minimum.
  • In support of the above bullet, place more extensive details on the club’s website, if necessary.
  • Mass emails to alumni in a region/affinity club should be limited to two emails per month, barring special situations (e.g. election process nominations/voting if your club is experiencing a leadership turnover, although even these situations shouldn’t warrant more than 3-4 total club emails per month). 
  • Consider including important links as part of your club’s footer (e.g. a link to the Michigan Ross alumni website, a link to update an alum’s contact information, a link to AlumniFire, etc.)

Checklist Prior To Hitting ‘Send’

  • TEST email before sending and click on ALL LINKS to make sure they go to the correct locations.
  • CONFIRM all phone numbers, emails or addresses are accurate and names/titles are spelled correctly.
  • SPELLCHECK directly in email server or in Word to ENSURE subject line is concise and accurate.
  • CHECK (if you included dates) that Friday, Jan. 15 is not in fact Saturday, Jan. 15.
  • ASK someone to read your email before you send and/or wait a day between writing and sending, so you can look at it with fresh eyes.