50,000 Alumni. 15% Open Rate.That's Not Engagement.
Replace alumni newsletters nobody reads with a career networking platform alumni use every day. Connect students with mentors. Increase giving. Measure everything.
✓ 25% more alumni donors • ✓ 3x alumni engagement • ✓ Custom setup for your institution
The Higher Education Engagement Crisis
Universities face a perfect storm of engagement challenges:
Alumni Disappear After Graduation
The Problem: 80% of alumni disengage within 5 years. Email open rates: 12-18%. Event attendance: 5-10% of local alumni. Your 50,000 alumni database is really 5,000 engaged people.
What Happens: Declining participation year over year. Annual fund stagnating. "Why should I stay connected?" is the question alumni can't answer.
Real Cost: $500K-5M+ per year in unrealized giving potential
Student Career Anxiety Is at Record Highs
The Problem: 73% of students report career anxiety. Career services is overwhelmed (1 counselor per 2,000+ students). Students graduate without professional networks.
What Happens: Poor career outcomes reflect on university rankings. Students feel unsupported. Alumni mentors exist but there's no scalable way to connect them.
Real Cost: Lower rankings, decreased enrollment, reduced alumni loyalty
Young Alumni Don't Give
The Problem: Alumni under 35 give at 5-8% rates vs 15-20% for older alumni. They don't see value in their alumni network. "What has my university done for me lately?"
What Happens: Donor pipeline is drying up. Average donor age increasing. Future giving projections declining.
Real Cost: $1M+ per year in future giving at risk as older donors age out
Mentorship Programs Don't Scale
The Problem: Manual matching takes hundreds of hours. 35% of pairs actually meet. No tracking, no outcomes data. Career services can't handle demand.
What Happens: Students on waitlists. Alumni volunteers frustrated by lack of follow-through. Programs can't grow beyond 100-200 pairs.
Real Cost: 800+ staff hours/year wasted, students underserved
Department Silos Kill Cross-Campus Connections
The Problem: Engineering alumni don't connect with business alumni. Regional chapters operate independently. No cross-pollination of networks.
What Happens: Alumni networks fragmented. Students miss interdisciplinary mentorship. University can't leverage its full network effect.
Real Cost: Fraction of potential value realized from alumni network
How Networkli Transforms University Engagement
A career networking platform that gives alumni a reason to stay connected and gives students the mentors they need.
AI-Powered Mentorship Matching
65% follow-throughStudent says "I want to work in biotech." AI matches them with 5 alumni in biotech roles. No manual coordination. System tracks meetings and sends reminders.
- 65% follow-through (vs 35% manual)
- Scale to 5,000+ mentorship pairs
- Zero coordinator hours needed
Career Networking Platform
Daily active useAlumni post career needs → matched with fellow alumni. Job board. Industry groups. Students access the full alumni network for career help.
- Alumni use it daily (not annually)
- Students get real career help
- "My university helped my career"
Mobile-First Engagement
70% open rateNative iOS/Android apps with push notifications. Meet students and alumni where they are—on their phones. Not in their spam folder.
- 70% open rate (vs 15% email)
- 3-5 connections per week
- Daily engagement vs quarterly
Engagement-to-Giving Pipeline
25% more donorsEngaged alumni donate 5x more. Build engagement first through career value, then convert to donors naturally. Track the correlation with data.
- 25% more alumni donors
- Young alumni start giving
- $100K-500K+ more annually
Real-Time Analytics
Actionable dashboardsSee engagement by school, department, graduation year, region. Identify at-risk alumni. Measure program ROI. Report to your board with confidence.
- Engagement by segment
- At-risk alumni identification
- Prove ROI with data
Cross-Campus Connections
Break down silosEngineering meets business. Regional chapters connect nationally. Students access the full university network, not just their department.
- Interdisciplinary mentorship
- National alumni connections
- Full network effect realized
Your ROI: 10-20x in Year 2
The math is simple: engaged alumni give more, and students with mentors succeed more.
Before Networkli
• 50,000 alumni
• 5,000 engaged (10%)
• 2,500 donors (5%)
• Average gift: $250
• 200 mentorship pairs (manual)
Annual giving: $625,000
After Networkli (Year 2)
• 50,000 alumni
• 20,000 engaged (40%) 4x
• 3,750 donors (7.5%) +50%
• Average gift: $300 +20%
• 2,000 mentorship pairs 10x
Annual giving: $1,125,000 +$500K
+$500,000 annual giving increase
Networkli cost: $25,000-50,000/year
ROI: 10-20x
Beyond Giving — Additional Value:
- 80% student satisfaction with career support
- 65% mentorship follow-through rate
- 800+ staff hours saved annually
- Better career outcomes → better rankings
- Young alumni pipeline established
- Data-driven alumni relations
Smarter Events: Registration, Check-In & Pre-Event Matching
Students and alumni register for events, check in with QR codes, and search who else is attending—then get matched with attendees who fit what they're looking for.
Event Registration
Alumni and students browse career fairs, reunions, networking events, and homecoming right in the app. Register, see who's going, and get reminders.
QR Code Check-In
Scan to check in at the door—instant, contactless, and tracked. Event staff sees real-time attendance. Attendees confirm they're there and unlock event matching.
Search Event Attendees
Before or during the event, search who's attending and filter by what matters: graduation year, major, industry, location, career stage—find the right people to meet.
Smart Event Matching
AI matches you with attendees based on your goals. "Find alumni in healthcare attending the career fair." Students meet the right mentors. Alumni find the right connections.
How Smart Event Matching Works
Register for an Event
Student signs up for the Spring Career Fair, Alumni Weekend, or Industry Networking Night through the app.
Search & Get Matched
“Find alumni my age in marketing attending this event.” AI shows matching attendees instantly based on your search criteria.
Connect Before You Arrive
Message your matches, schedule a coffee at the event, and check in together with QR codes. Walk in knowing exactly who to find.
Value for Every Stakeholder
For Alumni Relations
- 3x alumni engagement in 6 months
- Real-time engagement dashboards
- 25% more donors without extra asks
- Scalable mentorship (zero manual work)
- Prove ROI to administration
For Career Services
- Scale mentorship to all students
- 65% follow-through rate
- Reduce career anxiety with real connections
- Industry-specific alumni matching
- Track career outcomes with data
For Development/Advancement
- Engagement → giving pipeline
- Young alumni start giving
- $100K-500K+ more in annual giving
- Identify major gift prospects
- Correlation data: engagement to donations
For Students
- Find mentors in dream companies
- Get career advice from alumni
- Job referrals and introductions
- Build professional network before graduation
- Reduce career anxiety with real support
For Alumni
- Career networking with fellow alumni
- Give back through mentorship easily
- Find alumni in your city or industry
- Business development opportunities
- Clear value: "My university helps my career"
For University Leadership
- Better career outcomes → better rankings
- Increased alumni giving
- Data-driven engagement strategy
- Competitive advantage in recruitment
- Measurable student success metrics
Trusted by Higher Education Leaders
“Our alumni engagement went from 10% to 38% in one year. The career networking feature is what did it—alumni finally have a reason to stay connected beyond nostalgia. Annual giving increased $420,000.”
Dr. Sarah Mitchell
VP of Alumni Relations
Private University, Northeast
“We scaled our mentorship program from 150 pairs to 2,200 pairs with zero additional staff. The AI matching is incredibly accurate—65% of pairs meet regularly vs 30% with our old manual system.”
James Thompson
Director of Career Services
State University, Midwest
“For the first time, we can show our board exactly how engagement correlates with giving. Young alumni under 30 are now our fastest-growing donor segment. That wasn't even imaginable two years ago.”
Maria Santos
Chief Development Officer
Liberal Arts College, West Coast
“Students love it. They're connecting with alumni mentors in their dream industries within days of signing up. Our post-graduation employment rate improved 12 points. That matters for rankings.”
Dr. Robert Kim
Dean of Students
Research University, South
How It Works (3 Simple Steps)
Import Your Alumni & Student Data
CSV upload or API integration with Blackbaud, Salesforce, Ellucian. We map graduation year, department, degree, location, and career data automatically.
⏱️ 1-2 days setup
Students & Alumni Download the App
iOS/Android apps. Students input career interests and goals. Alumni input expertise and how they can help. AI starts matching immediately.
⏱️ Launch within 2 weeks
Connections & Mentorship Happen Automatically
Students find mentors. Alumni find career connections. Mentorship pairs are tracked automatically. You see everything in your real-time engagement dashboard.
⏱️ Ongoing
Ready to Transform Alumni Engagement?
Join universities already using Networkli to connect students with mentors, increase alumni giving, and build career value across their entire network.
✓ Custom setup for your institution • ✓ Integrates with Blackbaud, Salesforce, Ellucian • ✓ ROI: 10-20x
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does implementation take?
Initial data import takes 1-2 days. Full launch with student and alumni onboarding typically takes 2-4 weeks. We provide launch support including email templates, marketing materials, and best practices for driving adoption.
Does Networkli integrate with our existing systems?
Yes. We integrate with Blackbaud (Raiser's Edge, RE NXT), Salesforce, Ellucian (Banner, Colleague), Slate, and other higher education CRMs via API or CSV sync. Your data stays in sync automatically.
Is student data protected?
Absolutely. Networkli is FERPA compliant. Students and alumni control their own visibility and sharing preferences. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest. We never sell or share personal data.
Can we segment by school, department, or graduation year?
Yes. Segment engagement data by school/college, department, graduation year, degree type, geographic region, and custom fields. Compare engagement across segments and identify where to focus resources.
What if alumni adoption is low?
We provide a proven launch playbook. Typical adoption: 30-40% in year 1, growing to 50-60% by year 2. The key is career value—when alumni see real career networking opportunities, they engage. We've never had a university fail to reach 25% adoption.
How does this differ from LinkedIn or other networking platforms?
LinkedIn is a public, global network. Networkli is your university's private career network. It's curated, trusted, and specifically designed for student-alumni connections. Alumni help because they share your university's identity—not because a stranger asked. Match rates are 8x higher than cold LinkedIn outreach.
Can career services and alumni relations both use it?
Yes! Networkli bridges these traditionally siloed departments. Career services manages mentorship programs while alumni relations drives engagement and giving—all on one platform with shared data and insights.
What about small colleges with fewer alumni?
Networkli works even better for smaller institutions (5,000-20,000 alumni) because the community is tighter and trust is higher. We have pricing tiers for smaller institutions. The ROI math works at any size.