Throughout modern human history, the wonders of collective action or aggregated strength have been far appreciated and praised. From the moment mankind waged wars to the present day where social movements are crowd funding their projects, we see the massive transformational power that groups of people possess. When this group or team is highly specialized, for example, like the IEEE or the ACM or groups and associations of that ilk, the reasons for their existence will be imparted to the world much strongly and loudly.
One classic story teachers relate to kids in kindergarten would be that one thin stick can be snapped easily, but put ten together, it is difficult to do so. When we parted our beloved institutions as alumni, many of us seem to have forgotten that fact.
The Why
An alumni fraternity is a diverse body always growing in size. And together they possess wealth of knowledge and experience. We realized alumni of an institute who have shared good and bad times, happy and sad occasions, joyful and sombre moments, friendship and love, success and failure, laughter and tears – had a special bond that was developed over time. We believed in that exceptional bond; we knew it had the power to transform and we sensed it was possible.
Beyond that, time spent in a college or university is when learning is exponential - not only in the classroom but also from seniors, juniors and peers. It cannot stop at graduation. There is a necessity for it to continue. That very mutual learning should flower into a lifelong learning community.
The What
As world famous martial artist Bruce Lee puts it, “Knowing is not enough, you must apply.” So what did we want to achieve? We wanted to harness the alumni power in viable channels to experience measurable benefits. What could that be? A common platform to network and to share thoughts and opinions. They can spark ideas that add great value or create big businesses.
We had a lot many things on our agenda as well – strengthen the relationship between alumni and the institute to make it mutually beneficial, identify and contact mentors, share jobs and internships, relish nostalgic moments, re-live college times or simply give a helping hand! It was quite amazing to learn what a well-connected alumni network could do.
The How
We created AlmaBase to empower every academic institution in the world to build their own alumni network. Based on experience in alumni relations area and research we built feature packs and tools that help simplify the entire alumni relations spectrum. To top it all, we made subscription free and removed entry barriers for all the institutions out there until 20% of their fraternity signed up on their alumni website.
This is why we believe in connecting alumni and it is elevating when we see results through our customers. On a day when every institution stands tall with the strong backing of their well-connected alumni, we are confident that its values, be it academic excellence, research, professional success or so forth, are conveyed to the society and can be attained with perfection.
