How to Engage Alumni Through Social Media Outreach: 10 Tips

Summary: 

• Social media helps schools connect with alumni by using the right platforms. Platform demographics can help you reach former students where they spend the most time.
• Nostalgia, success stories, live videos, and exclusive alumni groups give alumni plenty of reasons to stay involved. They also make your messaging feel more personal and intentional.
• Promote events and draw attention to alumni-focused campaigns with visually-appealing flyers, posters, and images. Donor testimonials and other stories show alumni how their donations make a difference.
• Use insights like likes, shares, comments, and messages to assess how well your social media outreach messages are performing. You can also ask for feedback or set up a posting schedule that keeps alumni tuned in without feeling overwhelmed.

Social media is an incredibly powerful tool for outreach messaging. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms greatly extend your school’s reach and help you get the right messaging in front of graduates on the platforms they already know and love.

Building more meaningful relationships with alumni is easier when you know how to engage former students of all ages on social media more effectively. Use the 10 tips listed below as a guide, then discover how FutureFund can help you motivate graduates to give back.

Tips for choosing the best social media platform

Different platforms attract different audiences, but most K-12 school groups don’t have the time and resources to become social media experts overnight. We did the heavy lifting for you—so use these insights to find the best site for your needs.

1. Pick the right social media platform

Social media demographics tell us that factors like age, life stage, and lifestyle make people more or less likely to spend time on certain platforms. Understanding these patterns can help you reach former students more effectively on the sites they already know and love. 

Here’s a breakdown of who’s using the top platforms in 2025:

• Nearly 32% of all Facebook users are between the ages of 25 and 34. It’s a great option for targeting younger graduates and parents with young children.
• Most Instagram users fall into the same age range, but an additional 30% are between 18 and 24. Use this platform to reach alumni who are still in college.
• High-income earners over the age of 35 spend a lot of time on LinkedIn. They prefer high-value content that provides new opportunities to learn and grow.
• Gen Z spends the most time on TikTok. While around half are still in school, just as many are over 18—and sharing short-form video content can help you reach them.
• YouTube is broadly popular with alumni between the ages of 24 and 39, but most tune in from a mobile device. Shorts can be a great way to reach them.

When you’re creating outreach campaigns, think about the role of influences like these. Create tailored messaging for each alumni subgroup, then distribute it across relevant platforms. That way, you’re meeting people where they already are instead of forcing them to seek you out.

Tips for creating content your audience will love

To keep alumni interested in what you have to say, your posts need to be engaging—but they also need to cut through the noise. Creating content they can relate shows you value the role they play in your school’s story and motivates them to keep coming back for more.

2. Lean heavily on nostalgia and school pride

Most people look back fondly on their time in high school. Alums are no different! Use their sense of school pride to your advantage by framing your content and outreach messaging around topics that help them remember their friends, experiences, and connections.

Here are a few fun examples:

• Throwback photos from former students, yearbooks, or past events.
• Graduation year shoutouts that include notable occurrences from the same year.
• Then and now comparison posts that show what’s changed (and what hasn’t).
• Major school achievements, like anniversaries, opening dates, and awards.

It’s okay to do a little roleplaying here. For example, when you’re writing posts, try speaking as if you were a part of the same era. A little (polite) slang can make a throwback post feel a lot more “groovy” as long as you don’t go overboard.  

3. Celebrate important alumni milestones and achievements

Nostalgia helps personalize messages, but alums love to feel recognized and appreciated for their achievements and contributions over the years. If you learn about a former student who’s making a splash, celebrate them in a post on social media!

Honor graduates when they:

• Make big career moves, like landing a dream job or winning awards at work.
• Start a new project or open a business (with pictures and links, if possible).
• Are recognized by the local or school community in some way—e.g., volunteering.
• Invest their time in mentorships to help the next generation thrive.
• Are deeply involved in philanthropic efforts on a local or global level.

For best results, try to keep celebratory posts focused on the person in question, but it’s generally okay to include a mention or fundraiser link at the end.

Tips for making content more interactive

A great conversationalist knows when to talk and when to create space for the other person to respond. You can get the same effect in your outreach by creating content that feels interactive—so alums have a reason to become a part of the story.

4. Use live video and stories to make alumni feel more involved

There’s a reason video content is so popular on social media: it grabs attention, feels more engaging, and is just plain more exciting to look at. Use live videos to give alums an inside view of life at your school or get them excited about upcoming events.

Here’s a little inspiration to get you started: 

• Record a hype video for an upcoming alumni-directed fundraiser.
• Show off the latest facility upgrades, like playground or lab equipment.
• Share clips of kids taking part in special events, like winter festivals.
• Set up a live stream station at reunions so people can attend from home.
• Host live Q&As where alums answer questions from current students.
• Stream pep rallies and other school ceremonies live—or share clips from them.

Pre-recorded video is a safe choice because you can prune out any awkward moments or mistakes, but don’t be afraid of going live—it’s a really powerful way to reach out. Graduates feel like they’re right there in the thick of it with you, even if they’re half a world away.

5. Create alumni-exclusive groups and pages

Setting up alumni-specific pages or groups on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms creates a sense of belonging. It’s also a great way to encourage alums to be more interactive with each other and the school community.

Try setting up a page or group for:

• Alumni from a specific region (e.g., expats).
• Career networking, including job opportunities and mentorships.
• Special events, including reunions, get-togethers, and projects.
• Special interests, like golf, sports, music, or sailing.
• Members of your alumni club or donor club

FutureFund’s built-in membership management tools can also help you create, manage, and grow alumni groups like these. View all of your contacts in one place, send out emails, or sell memberships all from the same platform—for FREE.

See how FutureFund can help you sell more alumni memberships.

Tips for promoting events and fundraisers more effectively

To promote alumni-targeted events and fundraisers, focus on making your posts and updates more visually-interesting and emotionally compelling. An eye-catching graphic, touching human interest story, or testimonial can be very persuasive.

6. Make your promotional materials visually interesting

A snazzy graphic makes people stop and take notice—and on social media, you need that kind of power because you’re competing with thousands of other posts for attention. Use this to your advantage when you’re promoting events or getting the word out about initiatives.

Here are a few best practices to follow:

• Use bold, complementary colors that don’t clash.
• Match the design itself to your school colors or event theme.
• Keep layouts simple and clean for better readability (no tiny text!).
• Keep it simple: who, what, when, where, and how is really all you need.

Don’t have any artistic talent? Sites like Canva make it easy to develop visually interesting posters, flyers, and other promotional materials with zero experience. See our full list of Canva templates here.

7. Use donor testimonials and other stories to drive giving

Alumni can be a powerful source of support for school causes. To inspire more giving, share testimonials and other stories about their impact and how they’re making a difference for students. Include pictures or videos that bring details to life and make them feel more real.

Need a little inspiration? Try sharing:

• Donor testimonials from graduates who give often or donate large sums.
• Personal impact stories from students or teachers who benefited from their help.
• Letters from the principal about legacy donors, famous graduates, or founders.
• Stories from alumni about how your school shaped them and why they give back. 

When alumni see the real impact of giving—or see people they know chipping in—they’re more likely to take action and donate. That’s the kind of competition everyone can enjoy.

Tips for tracking engagement and improving strategy

Starting conversations with alumni on social media is just the first step. As time goes on, you can use the likes, shares, comments, and messages you get to assess how well you’re doing—and tweak your approach for better results.

8. Pay close attention to how people respond

After you share a post, picture, or video, pay close attention to how—or if—alums respond to it over the first 24-48 hours. By the end of week one, posts typically fall off the feed and just aren’t viewed as often, so results after those first couple of days aren’t as useful.

Look for metrics like:

• How many people viewed your post, image, or video.
• The number of likes, shares, and comments on each share.
• The number of times people watched your video.
• If the comments were positive, negative, or neutral.

It’s unrealistic to expect everyone to respond to every post, so don’t stress if you don’t get a response from everyone. In email outreach and social media marketing, getting at least 30% of your audience to view your message proves you’re doing something right!

Use information like this to adjust your strategies as you go and adapt to changing trends over time. This will give you the best chance of keeping graduates tuned-in long-term.

9. Ask alumni for their feedback

Not every part of alumni outreach needs to be complicated. If you need more information or just aren’t getting the results you need, ask for their input in a more direct way.

Try sharing:

• Polls and surveys that ask for their opinion—our built-in messaging system makes these easy to share.
• Requests for feedback about your content and the topics you cover.
• Q&A posts that let them ask questions and get answers in the same place.

You can apply the same strategy to your regular posts, too. Dropping a simple, “let us know what you think!” at the end of a share can be surprisingly effective.

10. Post consistently—but avoid flooding the feed

Too many posts can overwhelm alumni and make them tune out, but not posting often enough can be just as problematic. So, how do you strike a balance and stay on track?

Follow these best practices:

• Aim for 2-3 posts per week on most platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
• Use a content calendar to help you schedule posts and keep track of what you post.
• Quantity over quality—one great post is more effective than 5 “just okay” posts.

Most platforms have options available for scheduling posts out by several days, weeks, or months. Save time for yourself by setting up a week’s worth of posts at the start of every week—or whenever you have a few minutes free.

FutureFund makes alumni simple for schools

At FutureFund, we know K-12 school groups don’t have the time and resources to become social media experts overnight. That’s why we give you everything you need to make outreach feel effortless—including pre-built templates, fundraising guides, helpful tips, direct messaging, and so much more.

K-12 school groups that sign up get full access to all of FutureFund’s features—it’s always free and it always will be. Get started now to get instant access to our entire catalogue of fundraising and outreach features without paying a dime!