Communicating to your Class

Appealing to your demographic

While the Alumni Affairs staff is responsible for broad messaging to alumni, we rely on class officers to communicate with their classmates in a way that speaks most directly to them. You know your demographic best: their communication styles, familiarity with social media, and how Cornell can best serve them. Class is an affinity that segments based on age and stage of life; what resonates with the Class of 2018 may not resonate with the Class of 1948.  

Your Reunion staff contact works with your Reunion chairs on a Reunion Communications Plan when you are in Year 5 of the 5-year cycle, but it is important to keep the communication going before and after reunions, so classmates remain engaged. 

Class surveys

One way to gauge your classmates’ interests, ideas, and feedback is through sending a class survey. You can create a survey using free online programs such as Survey Monkey, or work through your class staff contact to create a survey through our Qualtrics survey platform. 

The Class Programs staff administers two Reunion-related alumni surveys per year – a pre-Reunion and post-Reunion survey. 

Class newsletters (print or electronic)

The goal of a class newsletter is to keep your classmates informed and connected to class activity as well as today’s Cornell. We recommend sending a newsletter on a consistent basis – whether it’s monthly, quarterly, or yearly, you want your classmates to be familiar with and expect to see correspondence from class leadership. 

Content in your newsletter could include: 

  • Mini bios of class officers and council members 
  • Profiles of interesting classmates 
  • Details of an upcoming event, whether class/decade specific (i.e. happy hour, walking tour) or Cornell wide (Homecoming, sporting events, Reunion) 
  • Calls to action such as:  
    • Join our class social media page or group 
    • Submit interesting news and stories for our Class Notes section of Cornellians
    • Submit address updates at cornellconnect.cornell.edu 
    • Nominate yourself or someone else for a class officer role for the next 5-year cycle through CUVolunteer 

You may choose to send print or electronic newsletters. Consider the associated costs and environmental impact of sending mass print mailings. 

Social media

Facebook is the social media tool most often used by classes as a way to connect. It allows for peer-to-peer networking led directly by members of the class, as opposed to using Alumni Affairs’ channels. There are two options within the Facebook platform – pages and groups. 

Facebook pages 

Only administrators (your webmaster and other class officers) can post content (events, class updates, university news, photos) to everyone that follows that page. Pages are visible to all Facebook users, and have less privacy but more visibility than groups.  

Facebook groups 

Everyone who is a member of the group can post and communicate with each other. Groups have more privacy options, including the most private option (a closed, invitation-only group), which can be a disadvantage when classmates are trying to search for a group on their own. Facebook groups promote online community, sharing of information, and connectivity among people within the group. 

Other social media platforms often used by classes are Instagram and Twitter.  

Instagram 

The focus for Instagram is on visual content. Followers are primarily looking at images and videos as posts or as Instagram Stories.  Your class could use Instagram to post nostalgic photos or videos of their time on campus, where the visual content sparks engagement from classmates. Instagram Stories enable you to share multiple photos and videos that appear together in slideshow format, and disappear after 24 hours. Classes could use Stories to:  

  • Show live footage of Cornell events such as Reunion, Homecoming, or other class-based events 
  • Administer polls and quizzes 
  • Have classmates submit feedback or answers to a question  
  • Share a countdown timer to upcoming events 

Twitter 

Similar to a blog, Twitter is a content distribution tool. It primarily consists of people sharing links or live updates, so followers can see what’s going on in real time. The value of Twitter often comes from the content you discover on other sites and share with your classmates. 

Consider your demographic and where you can reach the most people. It may make the most sense to focus your attention on one platform rather than trying to manage multiple communities. 

While your webmaster can be the primary administrator for your social media, it is important to share the responsibility. Not only does this lessen the workload, but it also allows for classmates who follow you on social media to hear from more than one voice. Encourage all officers to keep your social media active by posting event information, mini-bios of class leadership, nostalgic photos, fun trivia or polls, or Cornell news and events. 

Become a CornellSOCIAL Ambassador!

All alumni can consider joining Cornell’s volunteer network of social media ambassadors and sharing messages from Cornell with your networks. Social media ambassadors generate buzz about major initiatives and share the latest news and information like blog posts, events, contests, and more using social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. As a class officer you can help the university reach more alumni, parents, and friends of Cornell. Join now and choose your preferred social networks.

Class websites

While your social media may be the primary tool used to connect with classmates, your class website should reflect up-to-date information about the class leadership, class initiatives, and upcoming events such as Reunion. Your webmaster can obtain a list of current officers from your class staff contact, so that names, titles, and email addresses can be shared on your website and updated after each Reunion, or as leadership changes throughout the 5-year term. Check out our class website tips for recommendations.