E-mail is still huge when it comes to communicating and getting your message delivered.  Here are some thoughts / ideas / actions from schools on how each has successfully captured graduate e-mail addresses for their databases.  Not all ideas will work for your school, but perhaps you can find something that does. Continue reading →

Below is an example of an e-mail blast sent by one of our customers . . .

School of Saints Faith, Hope & Charity Alumni – Winnetka, Illinois This newsletter is to highlight the current news from the Faith, Hope and Charity School as well as the FHC Alumni Organization. We will send out newsletters 3 times a year to keep you connected to the FHC Community. This is our Second Quarter Newsletter. Continue reading →

Did you ever create a "wish list" around the holidays?  Schools can have wishlists too, and not just at special times.  Christian Heritage Academy of Oklahoma has taken a page of their school web site and posted "CHA's Wish List" which gives friends and donors an alternate way to invest in the school's success.

Sites such as iLoveSchools.com, classwish.org and even Adopt-A-Classroom, allow alumni/development directors, principals, and even individual teachers to create their own wish lists for parents, alumni and others to see. The community can see exactly what is needed and contribute online.

Submitted by Jeff Chrzanowski of Cherokee High School:

I also thought of something that might be interesting--make a list of people in a class that someone else wants to hear from. I can think of some people from my class that I'd like to find out about and maybe someone who reads the class lists knows the person and can tell him or her that someone was looking for him or her. Not like a forum category--that would take up too much space and most people might not bother reading it. Put something on the home page or on each class page that asks "Who would you like to hear from?" and a registered user can enter a name and class, and that person's name would be listed in a separate area (missing classmates?) on his or her class page. Maybe someone who knows this person sees the name and tells him or her that someone on the alumni site was asking about him or her and hopefully will get that person to register. Whether the requestor wants his/her name listed on the request is up for debate.

Murat Nuri and Lauren Katz, of Mt. Hebron High School, suggest to somehow make the pictures that alumni attach (avatars) larger or "click on" to view them. They are too small and I can't see them well!

It would be great if it were possible to click on the pictures and they would enlarge. It's very difficult to view the thumbnail picture next to the profile because it's so small.

Tracy Corace (Kueny), of Lenape High School, suggested the alumni sites allow for more than one gallery, such as for the pictures for her upcoming reunion.  Other suggestions have been to allow a gallery per class, or allow each member to create a gallery.

8/11/2008: Suggested by Reggie Dorsey, '81, of Palmyra High School. Perhaps add checkboxes to the alumni directory that leads to the e-mail form.

Submitted by Clare Yauger of Palmyra High School:

Add "spell check" to your text boxes. This has been added.

By Christian Ears of Shawnee High School:

When someone updates their bio don't automatically bounce it to the top again. Maybe make that an option to repost to top, but don't automatically do it. This happens even if you just make a spelling correction to your listing.

Submitted by Christian Ears of Shawnee High School:

More detailed bio questions for each alumni, not required, but offering more insight into each person. or instance, birthday, marital status, # of kids, own you live in, career choice, high school friends, igh school activities, high school memories, etc.