A guide to CRM in higher education

A CRM in higher education is a software tool that helps universities and institutions manage the student and alumni experience. It does this by creating a single hub to centralise data, streamline administrative tasks, and manage communications across different departments and functions.

More than just a “nice to have”, a CRM in higher education comes with a range of tools to help your organisation: 

• Step-up its recruitment campaigns
• Streamline and enhance the student experience
• Improve student engagement and retention
• Build long-term relationships with university alumni
• Lay the foundations for broader philanthropic giving

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A CRM in higher education is an essential part of university life. It starts the moment someone downloads your prospectus — with the following section spotlighting the key benefits, tools and features that will help you recruit and support your next class.  

Improve student recruitment

With almost 3 million people studying at UK universities each year, a CRM in higher education is a great way to help make sure they choose yours. With a host of tools to choose from, you can use your CRM to build recruitment campaigns and strategies that create meaningful connections with prospective students, and guide them through the recruitment process. 

Highlights include:

• Targeted communications: Analyse and segment prospect data to create campaigns tailored to student locations, interests and motivations.
• Track prospective leads: Monitor engagement, conversations and responses to identify top prospects and guide them through the recruitment funnel.
• Automate follow-ups: Ensure a positive experience from the start by scheduling workflows, follow-ups and reminders. 

Build long-lasting relationships

No one wants to feel like just another face in the crowd. When you’ve got thousands of students on the books, a CRM in higher education is there to ensure each and every student feels recognised, valued and supported. 

Stand out from the crowd with:

• Targeted communications: Stop sending blanket emails and use your CRM to reach specific groups of students, such as those enrolled on a particular course or activity.
• Personalised content: Create connections and ensure that every message and newsletter directly addresses – and is tailored to – individual students.
• Lifecycle outreach: Save time and money by developing template communications for every stage of the student journey. 

Get proactive about student support

Pastoral services are an essential part of the student experience. Whether someone is looking for academic, financial or emotional support, a CRM in higher education will make your student services accessible and efficient. 

Headline features include:

• Automatic reminders: Sometimes a quick “nudge” is all it takes to remind students about key dates such as course application and registration deadlines.
• Early alert systems: Identify and support at-risk students by using your CRM to flag the early warning signs (think missed classes or falling grades).
• Case management support: Offer your students fully integrated support by using your CRM to coordinate services across departments.

Ensure swift access to university resources

Student life moves quickly. By using your CRM to provide swift access to essential resources, you and your students will know exactly where to find the tools they need to make the most of every opportunity – academic or otherwise.  

Sound good? Why not try:

• Creating a centralised information hub: Say goodbye to email attachments and give students instant access to a host of course, university and other information.  
• Self-service options: Cut out the middleman and enable students to directly schedule meetings with faculty and admin teams.
• Event engagement: Boost student engagement by using your CRM to promote – and track – attendance at on and off-campus events.  

Level-up your mentorship programmes

Student advisers can be an essential source of guidance, support and motivation. A CRM for higher education is there to help you enhance this service, and make sure that students and advisers have everything they need to succeed. 

Popular tools include: 

• Meeting reminders: Keep students on track with automated appointment reminders and personalised notes.
• Session logs: Maintain a sense of continuity by keeping detailed records of every meeting and interaction, including notes, goals and follow-up tasks.
• Goal-setting and progress tracking: Empower advisers and students to collaboratively set, monitor, and track academic and career objectives – all within your CRM! 

Find out what your students really think 

University is a defining chapter in someone’s life. A CRM can be a powerful ally in understanding the student experience as it unfolds. Use yours to generate the insights you need to evolve your services and build a reputation for delivering a high-quality student experience. 

Want to find out more? Use your CRM to:

• Send out “pulse” surveys: Short, quick-access surveys will help you gain real-time insights into student satisfaction, stress levels, and more.  
• Create feedback loops: Don’t let this information gather dust. Your CRM can route responses to the right departments, trigger timely follow-up and workflows.
• Gauge the mood: Some CRMs in higher education can even analyse student communications to detect subtle shifts in tone and experience. 

Get mobile-ready and meet your students where they are

The average young person spends over four hours a day on their mobile phone. To truly connect, your university needs to be right there in the palm of their hands. A good CRM will help you do this - offering links to SMS and app-based features so that you can share important updates, reminders and information directly to the devices students use the most. 

Of course, relationships don’t end with graduation. Alumni giving is an essential part of any university’s income portfolio – and with current gifts sourced from less than 1% of contactable donors, there’s more than enough space to grow. 

A CRM in higher education is there to help you:

Connect and engage with your alumni 

Good fundraising is all about relationships. Our alumni CRM helps universities stay in touch with their graduates and build deep, long-lasting relationships by:

• Centralising alumni data: Keep track of graduate locations and log interactions in a single, central hub – with powerful search tools making it easy to quickly surface key data.
• Segment and group your donors: Use smart segmentation and prospect management tools to identify and nurture relationships with the most potential.
• Tailor communications and campaigns: Capture the hearts and minds of your donors by creating targeted campaigns based on alumni interests, history and engagement.

Discover how alumni engagement can transform university philanthropy

Run events and build an active community

For many alumni giving back is more than a transaction. It is chance to stay connected with their alma mater and the people who made their university experience one to remember. Whether it’s a guest lecture, class reunion or family fun day, events can be a great way to raise money and build an active alumni community. 

With you every step of the way, you can use your CRM to: 

• Plan your event: From date and location to attendee types, budgets and registration fees, our dedicated event tools have everything you need to get your event moving.
• Draw a crowd: Send personalised invitations, track registrations and payments, as well as deliver automatic notes and reminders.  
• Deliver a gold-star experience: Link your CRM to third-party apps that log and track event attendance and make it quick and easy to send LIVE updates on the day.

Discover how an alumni CRM can bring your event ideas to life

Create links that support broader university philanthropy

Don’t stop there. Good university fundraising draws on a variety of income streams, with trusts and foundations another great way to raise essential funds. A CRM for higher education can help you evolve your university’s fundraising by:

• Joining the dots: As open application opportunities become harder to find, use your CRM to spot connections, such as alumni working for a foundation or serving on its Board.
• Enhancing your prospect research: Create detailed profiles for potential funders, logging their priorities and giving histories – just like you do for individual donors.
• Keeping track of applications and grants: Track application status, outcomes, and key dates – using automatic reminders to make sure you never miss a deadline. 

Find out how you can use a CRM to build your university’s trust fundraising

A CRM in higher education is key to enhancing student experience and growing alumni support. Find out how our software solutions can help your students and university grow by connecting with a member of our team today.