Welcoming the class of 2020 to their community site with a video to show each student from their early years to graduation, the International School of Paris (ISP) goes the extra mile to engage their alumni from the moment they arrive. Located in Paris, but with students from across the world, the ISP alumni community is thriving in their new virtual home.

The International School of Paris recently launched their new alumni community, sending a mass email to their 500 contacts and inviting them to take a tour of the Virtual ISP. They communicated the numerous benefits for their members to sign up effectively, offering alumni the chance to sign up to a brand new mentoring programme, get access to an abundance of photo albums and news stories to instill nostalgia, and to ensure that members continue to receive updates about reunions and events. 

The latest newsletter sent from International School of Paris Alumni Community had an impressive 75% open rate. To encourage user engagement, the newsletter highlights two pieces of functionality. Users can share their own stories on the site and can help spread the word by inviting their friends to join via email - these are signposted with clear button links in the email to direct users to the site.

Connecting through COVID

ISP are continuing to connect their alumni despite their cancelled physical events programme, by moving to virtual alternatives. They hosted their first Alumni Zoom event on World Teacher’s Day, inviting alumni to come and meet with their teachers from ISP. Using their ToucanTech system, they invited their alumni to this wonderful opportunity to reconnect with familiar faces, with former staff, students and parents alongside current students and teachers attending this lively and warm event. 

ISP are also creating opportunities for current and former students, with an alumna coming forward to host a workshop on becoming a coach or mentor. Following the event, the ISP development team wrote up her step-by-step process to inspire other students or alumni who may be interested and to promote their future careers events. With the launch of ISP’s new mentoring scheme just around the corner, this is a perfect opportunity to recruit any alumni who may want to get involved but are unsure about how to mentor effectively.

Sharing the achievements of their community 

ISP has worked hard to populate their community site with tonnes of exciting content for alumni to access when they first sign up. With stories of former students and staff successes to attract and engage their readership, recent leavers can be inspired by the opportunities available to them, and older alumni can see their peers’ great achievements. 

Virtual tours to spark nostalgia

ISP offers their alumni the chance to take a virtual tour of their campus and explore the old and new buildings to reminisce about their school memories. This also allows prospective students and parents who cannot currently travel to get a feel for the International School of Paris and its wonderful facilities.

The team at International School of Paris have worked hard to make their virtual community a place of genuine value for their alumni, and it is exciting to see their sign up rates growing day by day following their hugely successful launch. Congratulations ISP! 

ToucanTech customers are creating strong community connections all over the world. Discuss ways to make your community more engaged with an experienced ToucanTech engagement evangelist; organise a time to talk to the team here.

You’ll find more fundraising, alumni and community management success stories here.