Alumni make up some of your school or district's most passionate supporters. They provide good word of mouth, make financial contributions and volunteer in schools.

It’s easy to reach out to your alumni if you have their contact information on record, but trying to get in touch with them without a phone number or email address can be much more challenging. Fortunately, there are several actions you can take to engage your former students, even without contact information.

Here are some tips to help you make this happen:

• Create a strategy: You won’t be able to reach your alumni successfully without clear goals or an outreach strategy. Start developing your strategy by gathering together your alumni outreach team to identify your key messages and the tactics you will use to reach your audience. Consider segmenting your alumni by age, career and family status so that you can target your content strategically.

• Engage social media: Social media is a powerful tool that gives you the ability to reach scores of people instantaneously. Use platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep your alumni and other members of your school district community up to date on the latest news and happenings from your schools. Incorporate stories, photos and videos to create more engaging and relatable content.

• Create a website or page exclusively for alumni: Have a place online where your alumni can get information, stay informed about upcoming alumni events and connect with each other. A designated alumni page or online community can help you engage with alumni, even if you don’t have their personal contact information. These platforms can also work well for gathering information (including contact information) from your alumni.

• Ask for more than just money: Many alumni hesitate to get involved with their former schools for fear that they will be continuously asked for money. While alumni can be incredibly valuable donors to your district, it is also important to focus on the other resources your alumni can offer. Ask them participate in surveys, create mentorship and volunteer programs and plan events through which your alumni can reconnect with old classmates and get to know more about how they can contribute.

Engaging alumni when you do not have their contact information is possible with a little creative thinking. Eventually, these efforts enable you to gather more contact information and reach your former students more directly in the future.

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