From alumni newsletter to community app
Blueprint for the successful development of an alumni network.
At the beginning of July 2023, the community app of our customer at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) went online.
“It was time to offer an app. With the FAU Community we simply want to get one step closer to our target groups.”
Imke Zottnick-Linster comments on the reasons for the app development. The app is programmed as a progressive web app (PWA) and can be installed on both Android and iOS devices. Notifications from the community are transferred directly to the tile on the home screen via the app’s typical push channel.
The fact that the FAU family can now enjoy its own app is the result of a development process that has spanned years. In this article, the author describes the milestones of this development and provides background information on why the steps were carried out in this form.
Stages of development of the FAU community
Introduction of the alumni newsletter
It all started when a professional alumni newsletter was launched in 2014. A professional e-marketing system not only helped with the design of the mailings, but also ensured that people were addressed in a personalized manner and that data protection regulations could be adhered to. By regularly measuring the number of openings and clicks, you could learn early on which content was particularly interesting for the target group and which images received more views than others. The first newsletters had open rates of around 30% with around 2,500-3500 recipients, while the last newsletters in 2023 were sent to well over 10,000 people and had open rates of over 50%.
Launch of the first alumni page with registration and search function based on Buddypress
In 2015, the first alumni network page was published on the web. This made it possible for registered people to find others in the network. An expanded search by year group and subject area has been introduced. Alumni and friends of FAU were able to register for the network using a registration form. Selected FAU news was visible in the logged in area. A networking principle between users as contacts/friends or followers was omitted, as was the possibility for users to post their own content. “Initially we wanted to offer a “self-service portal” for alumni, with the help of which our network members could independently maintain their data at FAU. It was also possible to look for other people, send each other messages and find out the latest news from FAU, that was the main benefit,” confirms Imke Zottnick-Linster, FAU alumni manager.
The alumni platform was implemented on the technical basis of Buddypress. Buddypress is a community plugin for the worldwide content management system WordPress and was programmed by Matoma as part of the project implementation to meet the defined needs so that the software core can be kept up to date with the latest technology at any time via updates. In addition to the continuously available updates, the decisive factor in choosing WordPress or Buddypress was that, as open source platforms, they do not cost any license fees and regular updates to the main systems are provided.
BuddyPress
BuddyPress is an open source social networking software package. It is a plugin that can be installed on WordPress to turn it into a social networking platform. BuddyPress is designed to enable schools, businesses, or other communities to start their own social network or communication tool.
Data sets were compared with the CRM system via an API connection, corresponding API calls were coordinated and made available by Matoma. The connection to the CRM system used was taken over by FAU-IT.
People who wanted to join the network but not make their records accessible to others could do so during the registration process. However, anyone who did not want to be found by others could not use the search for people in the alumni network. A change in profile visibility can still be carried out by each user using the profile properties in the portal.
At the same time, the newsletter continued to run and ensured that people logged in to the network to read the content discussed in detail.
Friendship feature
It was only at the end of 2017 that the function was finally introduced that allowed users of the community to network with each other.
In addition to editorial contributions, which provided the basic content of the online portal at the beginning of the online platform, a “Know How” section has now been created. Contributions should be posted here according to different categories, especially in images and sounds, which are always available to users in a kind of knowledge library. This area is now called “Media Library” and is very popular.
Facelift of the application
In 2020, the application underwent a design facelift. The user navigation has been improved and the presentation of editorial content and user contributions have been greatly optimized. At the same time, the application was opened to all FAU target groups. In addition to alumni, current members of the university are now also invited to use the platform.
Smaller functional enhancements, such as tagging people or liking posts, were repeatedly introduced and communicated to users accordingly.
Conclusion
The online application has developed over the years from an alumni newsletter to an alumni address database to a digital meeting place for the entire FAU family.
Regular feedback from the target group confirms that the project is perceived as innovative and in continuous development. The app, which has now gone live with its push notification function, will bind participants even more closely to their FAU.
Those responsible for the project expect a positive response and thus increasing user numbers, particularly among young target groups and all smartphone-savvy FAU members.
The app is therefore a confirmation of the expansion strategy. “This gradual development was planned from the start; too many community projects that were quickly launched and then discontinued were a warning to us.
Our goal was to take the participants on the journey,” comments Marco Gola, CEO of Matoma GmbH, which implemented the project.
Today around 13,000 people are registered on the network.
