CHERRY HILL, N.J. - Alumni Channel, a web provider of online alumni communities for schools and other non-profit organizations, announced today that the Harrisburg School District, has chosen the company's online community solution to develop closer relationships with its alumni.
JoAnne VerMulm, Communications Director for the district, took action to begin implementation of the Alumni Channel for their online alumni community. Harrisburg School District Alumni represent an alliance of thousands of Harrisburg graduates across the United States and worldwide. With a growing base of graduates, the high school wanted to cultivate stronger bonds with and among alumni that would lay the foundation for development of lasting relationships and new partnerships with our Tigers of yesteryear.
To this end, Harrisburg deployed the services of Alumni Channel for online community-building. The school now has a single point of entry that allows alumni to self-maintain their profile information which can then be used to update the master donor database. “Facebook is a great way for individuals to connect, but from a district standpoint, it is difficult for us to know we are reaching allof our Alumni and our previous method of collecting alumni information was no longer feasible with the tremendous growth we’ve experienced,” JoAnne VerMulm said, “Our superintendent recognized the need to expand our methods of reaching our Alumni to not only keep them informed, but to develop lasting partnerships with those who are able to give back to our current students through their time and talent, especially in providing career exposure, internship opportunities, and connections with potential future employers.”
"Schools face a real challenge in keeping connected with alumni who, after graduation, scatter throughout the world," said Chris Gehringer, president of Alumni Channel. "Harrisburg is taking a leadership position in how it uses technology to give its alumni - regardless of whether they live in the area or the Far East - an easy way to stay involved. Having a professional appearance to your alumni organization is just one more step in building lasting relationships with alumni/donors."
Empowering Graduates through Alumni Channel
With Alumni Channel, Harrisburg High School will be able to replace simple contact form funneled into a spreadsheet, with an interactive online community and enhanced electronic communications. Like most other organizations launching a new Web site, getting people to visit the site is a key step. With approximately 25% of email addresses on file for its alumni, the school will embark on an integrated marketing campaign to increase awareness and introduce the benefits of registering on the new site. Included in Harrisburg's service is a new web site address that can be used on all marketing to promote use of the site. Through this effort, the number of contacts will increase over time.
To visit the Harrisburg School District's Alumni Channel, go to alwaysatiger.com.
About Harrisburg School District
Harrisburg School District, is one of the fastest growing school districts in not only South Dakota, but in the nation. What was once and remained a one-building district for 107 years has since built an additional 8 buildings in just the past 17 years, with another building breaking ground this spring, and more in the works.
About Alumni Channel
The Alumni Channel online alumni system is designed to increase alumni connections through a secure online alumni directory that will help connect an organization's entire membership. Alumni Channel offers alumni a community of their own to contact each other, plan reunions, share stories and photos, and it enables the parent organization/school to maintain and build an alumni database providing with valuable alumni contact information. Schools have the ability to not only announce upcoming events and campaigns on the site itself, but also customize and send mass e-mails, run reports, export data and distribute surveys. Founded in 1998, Alumni Channel is headquartered in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. For more information, visit www.alumnichannel.com.