1. What is alumni UBC?

alumni UBC is comprised of both the Alumni Association and the Alumni Relations Unit of the university. It offers a variety of programming and communications that enrich the lives of UBC graduates by empowering personal growth, supporting professional development, nourishing pride, building community and enabling contribution. Since its founding in 1917, alumni UBC’s goal has been to link alumni with the university and with each other, and support the mission and activities of the university.

2. What is alumni UBC’s operating structure?

alumni UBC is governed both by the university and a Board of Directors of the Alumni Association led by the Associate Vice President/Executive Director. The employees of alumni UBC are dispersed throughout the university. Many work in the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre on the Vancouver campus. Others are embedded at UBC Okanagan, as well faculties throughout the Vancouver campus. The range of programming by the faculties varies, guided by their strategic priorities. Those embedded within the faculties amplify alumni UBC content. They also design and deploy programming specifically for their alumni and, for some alumni, these efforts are the only way they stay connected with UBC. Additionally, there are staff in place regionally in Hong Kong and Toronto, with added support from alumni ambassadors and leadership committees around the globe.

The Association is funded by a grant from the university, and its own revenue-generating activities including advertising, sponsorships, partnerships, and event rental income from venues on the Vancouver campus (Cecil Green Park House and the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre).

3. Why does UBC prioritize alumni engagement?

UBC has earned a global reputation for collaborative innovation and socio-economic impact. Alumni play a vital role in amplifying that impact through*:

• Positive word of mouth
• Sharing UBC content
• Making financial donations
• Volunteering
• Hiring UBC students and graduates
• Participating in local alumni communities making a positive difference in the world

*This includes supporting and increasing the awareness of UBC’s campaign goals of advancing healthy lives, a healthy planet and healthy societies.

4. What is the value of alumni UBC?

By offering a range of programs and services, alumni UBC helps its constituents remain connected with their university, making it relevant in their lives, so they in turn will amplify UBC’s impact.

The capacity of the global alumni community to influence and give back is significant, since there are well over 425,000 graduates in 145 countries. It also includes alumni in waiting – the more than 70,000 students from both campuses who look forward to becoming alumni from the day they are accepted to UBC. By the end of the decade, the alumni community will be more than 450,000 strong, representing a global footprint for UBC that is unmatched.

5. What are the types of engagement that build relevance?

The value proposition for alumni UBC is lifetime enrichment. Given the diversity and interests of the alumni community, a variety of offerings are necessary. alumni UBC creates engagement through:

• Experiential Programming: expert speaker panel webinars, career training, continuing education
• Benefits & Services: financial products, partner savings, travel club, library access, UBC discounts
• Media Content: UBC Magazine print and online articles, podcasts, videos, webinar replays
• Getting to know alumni better: face-to-face interactions to deepen relationships

6. How can alumni, in turn, amplify UBC’s impact?

Alumni can lend their expertise in many ways – through helping students, donating, and building reputational support for UBC around the world.

7. How do volunteers contribute to UBC and how are they recruited?

Alumni volunteers are a vital part of the university and have a direct impact across both of UBC’s campuses and in regional markets across the globe. They give back through different roles including reviewing student applications, offering career advice and industry insights, mentoring students, or serving on boards and committees. alumni UBC works in partnership with staff on the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses to help identify opportunities that align with program needs and match them with volunteer interests. UBC-wide opportunities can be seen at the alumni UBC Volunteer Program page.

8. What are the goals for the number of alumni to engage and how are they counted?

At the launch of FORWARD, the campaign for UBC, an ambitious goal was set to double alumni engagement, reaching 150,000 engaged alumni in the final year of the campaign. This is a significant increase from the 55,000 engaged alumni at the end of the previous campaign in 2015.

Engaged alumni are those who interact with alumni UBC in ways that can be tracked individually. This includes attending an event, volunteering, donating, entering a contest, or updating contact information. Each alum is counted only once per year, regardless of how many times they engage.

For the FORWARD campaign, a broader engagement metric called “interactions” was introduced. This accounts for alumni engagement that cannot always be tracked to an individual but still represents meaningful participation—such as consuming digital content. Unlike the individual engagement count, the “interactions” metric includes every instance of alumni engagement, even if the same person engages multiple times.

At the campaign’s outset, the goal was 5 million interactions. However, due to stronger-than-expected engagement, particularly through social media, the target was reached in 2024. As a result, the goal has been doubled to 10 million interactions by the end of the campaign.

9. How do we decide which programs and services to support?

The programs and services supported by alumni UBC are guided by its five-year strategic plan, From Here Forward (FY22–FY27). This plan focuses on Lifetime Enrichment, which is built on five key pillars:

• Nourishing Pride
• Empowering Personal Growth
• Supporting Professional Development
• Building Community
• Enabling Contribution

These priorities were established based on alumni surveys, analysis of past engagement patterns, and insights into alumni motivations.

While programs and services are designed to align with these pillars and appeal to the widest possible audience, they alone do not fully meet alumni UBC’s goals for acquisition, retention, and re-engagement. To address this, additional efforts are made to engage niche alumni groups across UBC and within specific faculties.

10. How do we communicate to alumni?

In years past, alumni UBC relied almost exclusively on email for communications to maximize reach. Today, a number of communications channels are utilized. While newsletters from both the faculties and central communications remain important, social media presence is increasingly significant, particularly Instagram, as is the alumni UBC App – now with more than 50,000 users.

Alumni also stay connected through The University of British Columbia Magazine, which is published by alumni UBC. It is printed in the Spring and Fall every year and mailed to 190,000 alumni in Canada and beyond. The magazine’s content covers UBC people, achievements, innovations, and general news from the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses and alumni community, along with informative features such as career advice. The online version of the magazine is promoted via a monthly e-newsletter to all contactable alumni. As well as mirroring the print, it is updated with daily stories and includes multimedia enhancements such as podcast episodes, videos and webinar replays.