Michigan City, Indiana –– Alumni Channel, a web provider of online alumni communities for schools and other non-profit organizations, announced that Marquette Catholic High School of Michigan City, Indiana, is relying on the company’s online community solution to develop closer relationships with its alumni.
Jennifer Quinlan, Marquette’s Director of Advancement, made a commitment to begin implementation of the Alumni Channel for their online alumni community. Continue reading
Please allow me to introduce Martin Reed, a 20- or 30-something that enjoys running online communities, and has created a web site devoted to the topic. Community Spark is a community building blog. Martin shares tips and advice on how to build and manage successful online communities whether they are forums, blogs, chat sites or social networks.
In his blog he hopes to share much of what he’s learned (and still learning) when it comes to developing and managing a successful online community.
Here are a few of his favorite articles:
His site is broken into various categories, including:
Each month Martin contributes several new articles to his blog, of which the archives can be found by searching or browsing http://www.communityspark.com.
By Derrick Feldmann and Dave Sternberg for TheNonProfitTimes
Here’s a common question: If we hire a director of development (a fundraiser), how long before that position pays for itself?
Typically, this question is asked when a nonprofit has secured funding for a development director for one year, or when an organization has adjusted its budget to fund the position.
Either way, this question reveals a common error: assuming that funding is the biggest consideration when adding a director of development. That error often is compounded by a second mistake: creating the position with short-term funding. Either error (and, certainly, both together) can doom a development director before the person even takes the job.
With the addition of two communities for the Somerset County Vocational & Technical Foundation, Alumni Channel is now hosting over 60 communities for elementary and high schools, colleges, alumni groups, and other non-profits. This milestone has come after two and a half years of working with school and non-profit leaders to develop a program that helps them reconnect with their constituents. Attractive features to alumni of all ages draw alumni back to the site for reunion updates, message board conversations, member searches and more. The data collected is then available to our clients in the way of reports and downloads, as well as reaching alumni through our e-mail blast technology.
This year we plan to develop further relationships with many more schools and education foundations. Alumni Channel is exhibiting at the National School Foundation Association conference in March, and the National Catholic Education Association conference in April. We also look forward to our presentations at many regional and area events in the areas of development and alumni relations.
From the Association of Fundraising Professionals . . .
(March 9, 2009) This week AFP featured social networking/web 2.0 tools in its newsletter, eWire Skill Builder. Here is their full coverage of the topic.
This 39-page book provides a road map for schools to follow in developing effective alumni associations that enhance the alumni themselves and assist the schools. The book gives practical guidance and includes an example of by-laws, tips for effectively using volunteers, and a job description for an alumni director. As the title indicates, alumni are essential to the creation of an effective and comprehensive school development program.
Get it online for less than $10 at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or from the publisher, NCEA.
Alumni Channel will be exhibiting at the 4th Annual NSFA National Conference will be held in Dallas, TX, on March 25-27, 2009 at Dallas/Fort Worth Marriott Solana.
This conference will be a fantastic opportunity for professional development. It will feature innovative sessions, inspiring workshops, and of course opportunities to network with other foundation professionals.
New donor management software will improve your life, solve all your organization’s problems and make all your goals a reality. Right? And it comes with prime waterfront property in the Everglades. This last sentence is only slightly less true than the first, but we take it as common wisdom. In fact, many non-profits change systems when they don’t need to, for the wrong reasons, or in an ineffective manner—and sometimes all of the above!
The truth is, new software may not make anything better—in fact, it could make things worse. While it’s easy to get caught up in all the features of a new system, the only guarantee is that moving to a new system will cost you money and staff time.
Read this Idealware article to find out:
Our friends over at Idealware just published a fantastic and informative (their stuff is always informative by the way) article on getting your videos onto the Internet for your constituents to see. Very timely as I was just having a conversation with the community manager of one of our high school alumni web sites about this very topic. They have some footage of “greatest moments” of various school sporting events they wish to post on their online community.
The Idealware article discusses hosting video in the age of YouTube, and reaching viewers online.
“For nonprofits with large constituencies, most video views are generated within the organization’s own community through email messages linking to the video. Online video is in the same stage of life as the Web was in the mid-1990s, when most organizations were beginning to recognize the role a Web presence could play but few had dedicated Web teams or budget lines. Today, even the smallest organizations invest in the Web. Similarly, many organizations have realized the importance of online video, but have yet to develop processes to maximize use of this up-and coming-tool.”
Read the full article >>>
What if you could build a legion of loyal supporters? Just imagine: hundreds of mentors, volunteers, and advocates for your schools.
You can do just that with an effective alumni association. Just ask Jan Misuraca, executive director of the Parkway Alumni Association, and Paul Tandy, APR, director of public affairs, Parkway School District, in St. Louis, Mo. They know first hand.
“Alumni associations are a perfect fit for your PR department because it’s all about relationships,” explains Misuraca. “They are your natural resource; they already have ownership and are familiar with your district, and they love to talk about ‘back when.’ ” Continue reading