School anniversaries are powerful opportunities to strengthen alumni engagement and community belonging. By treating your milestone as a campaign (not a one-off event), collecting personal stories, creating shareable content, bringing history to life on campus, and building a digital home for your archive, you can create an anniversary experience people remember and that continues delivering value long after the celebrations end.

The early 2000s represent a critical, and often overlooked, gap in many institutional archives. While this period marked the first wave of mass digital photography, fragile storage methods, obsolete technology and fragmented platforms have left many schools and universities with surprisingly little material from these years.

This article explores why early 2000s memories are at risk, why now is the right time to collect them, and how schools and universities can run effective memory campaigns.

Two practical webinars exploring how institutions can use shared history and digital spaces to build stronger, more engaged alumni communities.

From supporting development goals to creating a digital home where alumni feel valued and connected, these sessions share ideas you can put into action straight away.

Digital archives in education are no longer just places to store the past. When used strategically, they become active tools for communication, engagement and belonging. From creating instant videos and personalised alumni content to powering admissions storytelling, capturing student voices and informing strategy through analytics, this article explores ten ways modern digital archives can support the everyday work of schools, colleges and universities.

Final-year students are on the edge of one of the biggest transitions of their lives… leaving school or university and becoming alumni. This moment is rich with reflection, gratitude, uncertainty and personal storytelling, yet most institutions never capture it. By collecting student voices before they leave, schools and universities can build stronger alumni relationships, create powerful long-term marketing content, and preserve memories that matter. This article explores why final-year reflections are valuable, how to gather them effectively, and simple engagement ideas you can introduce right away.

Join our final webinars of 2025 and discover how shared experiences can transform digital engagement. We’ll explore how common narratives, collective memories, and cultural touchpoints create stronger bonds in online communities. Learn practical techniques to deepen relationships, increase participation, and build more engaged digital audiences.

Schools hold decades of stories, traditions and memories, but turning that history into a living digital archive is harder than most teams expect. While the intention is strong, the day-to-day capacity is often stretched thin. This article takes an honest look at why so many archival projects stall, and how a more realistic, phased approach can help schools preserve and share their heritage without overwhelming their staff.

This article explores how emotionally driven storytelling helps schools and universities inspire generosity, foster belonging and turn memories into meaningful support. Drawing on psychology, neuroscience and digital engagement trends, it reveals how archives can power fundraising campaigns through authentic, human-centred storytelling that reconnects alumni with the moments that shaped them.

When it comes to alumni engagement, real connection comes from participation, not just communication. Every alumnus has a story that shapes your school’s collective history. This post explores why participation is the key to belonging and how to make it easier for every voice to be heard.

This month, we’re hosting two inspiring sessions designed to help you turn history into connection, celebration and support.

From using your school’s story to fuel alumni giving, to celebrating the shared experiences that unite your community, each webinar is packed with practical ideas and creative approaches you can put into action right away.

Whether your focus is on engagement, fundraising or building a stronger sense of belonging, these sessions will help you bring your community’s past to life in meaningful ways.

Remember when “the archives” meant a dusty cupboard and a few mystery VHS tapes? Not anymore. In 2025, digital archives are smart, searchable, and downright inspiring. They help schools connect with alumni, boost engagement, and celebrate their stories in fresh, creative ways. Here are seven reasons every school should have one.

America 250 is a once-in-a-generation chance for schools to celebrate their history and connect generations. This post explores five meaningful ways schools can celebrate America 250, with ideas for digitising archives, recording oral histories, and creating living digital legacies using SocialArchive.

The festive season is one of the best times to reconnect with your alumni community. Christmas naturally sparks nostalgia…memories of school concerts, nativity plays, and end-of-term traditions, making it the perfect opportunity to reawaken emotional ties and create lasting engagement.
From personalised digital Christmas cards and online galleries to festive fundraising ideas and digital advent calendars, this article shares 10 creative ways to engage your alumni this Christmas.

Every photo taken at sports day, every alumni story shared on LinkedIn, every video of a school concert... that’s tomorrow’s archive. Yet most of it will be lost. Schools and universities often assume history will somehow preserve itself, but digital clutter and platform fragility mean today’s memories risk disappearing before they become tomorrow’s heritage. This article explores the concept of the living archive: a proactive, technology-enabled approach to capturing and curating school or university life as it happens.

Join us this October as we bring you two exclusive webinars designed to spark fresh ideas and showcase practical ways to engage your community.

From reimagining how shared history can fuel alumni giving, to building a careers library of voices that inspire the next generation, these sessions are packed with insight, innovation, and real-world applications you can put into practice.

The Latymer Foundation has transformed its archive from a backroom collection into a powerful tool for connection, storytelling and fundraising. By integrating history with alumni engagement and development, and using platforms like SocialArchive, the school has shown how archives can strengthen belonging, inspire giving and reconnect communities across generations.

Parents aren’t just reading brochures anymore, they’re asking AI: “Where will my child belong?” If your school’s authentic stories aren’t visible and discoverable, you risk being invisible to the very families you want to reach.

In a crowded education market, facts alone don’t drive enrolment decisions, feelings do. Families want more than prospectuses and league tables; they want to know what life at your school really feels like. Story-first marketing, powered by authentic voices from students, alumni, and parents, builds the trust and emotional connection that turns curiosity into enrolment.

Join our September webinars to discover how to turn your shared history into a powerful digital engagement tool.

In these webinars, we’ll show schools and universities how SocialArchive combines tradition with innovation, helping you breathe new life into your archive, build vibrant alumni communities, and drive advancement with confidence.

Generic newsletters won’t cut it. With alumni expecting relevance and emotional connection, personalised content has become essential to meaningful engagement. Discover how segmentation, storytelling, and smart tools can help you build stronger relationships and drive better results, without overwhelming your team.