Feending vs PeopleGrove: the alternative for alumni and universities

Feending is the best PeopleGrove alternative for universities and alumni networks that want more than mentoring: a private platform under their own brand, AI that tells each graduate who to meet and why, and one hour of consulting a month. PeopleGrove puts its focus on mentoring and professional careers.

Feending wrote this article, so read it with that in mind. What we say about PeopleGrove comes from its own website.

What is the best PeopleGrove alternative for a university or alumni network?

The best PeopleGrove alternative for a university or alumni network is Feending when the community has to stay useful for years after graduation.

Picture a two-person alumni office. The graduate list lives in Excel and event sign-ups in a form. A former student wants to change industries and has no idea who to ask. A graduate with a company is looking for someone to hire. Both end up in the office inbox, and someone introduces them by hand if they can find the time.

Feending works for the manager and for the member. The office runs the member database, communication, events, dues and jobs in one place, and each graduate gets suggestions on who to meet. See it applied to higher education at Feending for alumni.

What is the difference between Feending and PeopleGrove?

The main difference between Feending and PeopleGrove is the starting point: Feending starts from the relationships between your community's members, and PeopleGrove from mentoring and careers in higher education.

Feending gives every organization a private, one-of-a-kind platform. In the words of our website: these are not three products but three starting points on the same base, and what gets delivered is unique each time. If your alumni network needs something that does not exist yet, it can be custom built and quoted separately.

That base has been tested in more than 70 communities across 7 countries, from universities to business clubs. Its public clients include universities such as UNIR, UCAM and UPV.

Which AI connects alumni better, Feending's or PeopleGrove's?

If you want every graduate to know who to meet and why, choose Feending's AI: it builds a profile of each member and proposes people through 5 dynamics, namely networking, mentoring, sales, investment and hiring. Knowing why two people should meet is the heart of the product.

Five example situations in an alumni network:

1/ Networking. Two graduates from different years work in the same industry and have never crossed paths.

2/ Mentoring. A recent graduate wants to break into a field where another alum has spent twenty years.

3/ Sales. One graduate runs a consultancy, and another runs a company that needs exactly that service.

4/ Investment. A founder from the university is raising money, and a fellow graduate invests in that sector.

5/ Hiring. A company led by an alum is looking for a profile already sitting in the network.

For the office, those are introductions nobody has to make by hand, even when nobody on the team is looking. More in how smart networking works.

PeopleGrove uses AI too: it suggests connections based on interests, goals and career journey, offers conversation tips and routes questions to a peer, a mentor or a staff member. That AI is presented around careers and mentoring, while Feending's also opens up sales, investment and hiring between members.

Can a university run its alumni network on a platform with its own brand?

Yes: with Feending, a university runs its alumni network on a private platform with its own brand, its own domain and its own web app, always included. Your graduates see your university and nobody else.

The platform is 100% customized: when a graduate gets the invitation, they see their university's name. An app on the App Store and Google Play under your brand is available as an option.

Also included: maintenance, updates and continuous evolution at no extra cost, support from the team and daily backups.

The PeopleGrove pages we reviewed do not go into own branding, support or setup, so if those matter to you, ask directly.

How does Feending help a university with scattered alumni data?

Feending brings into one platform the alumni data and management that many universities keep scattered across forms, spreadsheets and newsletters.

UCAM Alumni started exactly there, and after bringing its community onto Feending it made segmentation five times faster. Sarah Folio, head of UCAM's alumni department, puts it simply: for the first time, all the information sits in one place.

Fast segmentation changes the daily routine: to invite only graduates from one industry to a talk, the office no longer cross-checks three files. If that sounds familiar, our guide to migrating an alumni database will help.

The Business Club at Levante UD, with close to 400 companies, made the same move: from Excel to centralized management, automated processes and better control of events and attendees.

Who helps the alumni office grow the community?

At Feending, its own team helps, with one hour of consulting a month that is always included and never reserved for a higher plan. You talk to people, not bots.

It takes one or two weeks to go from first conversation to a working community; technically, as little as 24 hours if you arrive with everything defined and no custom development. After that, the team helps you invite members.

Those conversations draw on the Feending Method, a cycle of five blocks distilled from those communities: Ideation, Communication, Engagement, Monetization and Analysis.

Lo Que De Verdad Importa saw 42% more sign-ups and better management of events and mentoring. PeopleGrove offers formal mentoring programs it runs on a school's behalf; Feending's consulting looks at the whole community.

Who is Feending best for, and who is PeopleGrove best for?

Feending is best for the university, business school or alumni network that wants members to connect over business, investment and jobs as well as mentoring, on a platform of its own, with a team advising it every month.

It also fits if your office is small or if you work in Spanish: the product and the team operate in Spanish from Valencia. For communities beyond universities, the same base serves associations and hubs and companies.

PeopleGrove fits better if the center of your project is students' careers and coordinating admissions, career and alumni offices, or if you manage clinical placements or experiential learning.

What other PeopleGrove alternatives should you look at?

Other PeopleGrove alternatives for alumni are Almabase and Graduway: see Feending vs Almabase and Feending vs Graduway. If your community is not a university, see Feending vs Mighty Networks and Feending vs Circle.

Frequently asked questions

What are the alternatives to PeopleGrove?

For universities and alumni networks: Feending, Almabase and Graduway. Feending stands out for its private, one-of-a-kind platform and its AI with 5 dynamics.

Does PeopleGrove have AI?

Yes. PeopleGrove advertises AI-assisted connections, conversation tips and career-readiness tools. Feending builds a profile of each member and suggests who to meet and why.

PeopleGrove or Feending?

Choose Feending if you want an alumni network under your own brand, where members also connect over sales, investment and hiring, with a team that advises you every month.

How much does Feending cost?

From €300 + VAT a month with a 12-month commitment. It depends on the size of the community and what you switch on, and it includes maintenance, updates, support, daily backups and one hour of consulting a month.

See how it would work for your alumni network

We will show you the platform with your case on the table. Request a free demo.