Benefits Resulting from Maintaining a Relationship between Economic Universities and Their Alumni: the Case of the Warsaw School of Economics

Alumni are more and more often perceived as the most important asset of a university, crucial for the implementation of its strategic goals. Polish economic universities, in comparison to American and many European ones, have much to catch up on in this area. The problem is not only that funds are too small in relation to the needs. There is a lack of systematised knowledge about the possible benefits of maintaining a relationship between universities and alumni, as well as the lack of developed models for this cooperation. The aim of the article is to assess the benefits of cooperation between universities of economics and their alumni taking into account the benefits for the university, its alumni and present students, and to identify good practice in this area. The research method was based on the analysis of the results of a survey conducted online from 28 universities in 19 countries. An additional source of information was the literature, websites, a diagnosis of the situation at the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) and the experience of the authors who have visited some of the foreign universities. As a result of the analysis, it was found that universities are aware of the benefits of maintaining relationships with alumni. The quality of this cooperation is not satisfactory and action is necessary to organise it better. In the case of the SGH, which has been subject to a detailed analysis, there is no clear definition of the goals for maintaining relationships with alumni. The priority should be to develop a long-term strategy leading to organising these relations and outline a desired model of cooperation.