American Association of School Administrators, August, 2001 by Mark M. Havens

Fund raising is fine, but true value may be in bridge building.

Fact: The U.S. population is aging.
Fact: Households with children attending public schools are becoming an ever-smaller percentage of the U.S. population.
Fact: Most school districts still function as though parents are their largest constituency.

Widening Gap
While U.S. schools today enroll a record number of students, the number of households that do not have children in school outnumber families with school children by more than 2 to 1. And this gap is widening.

Should educators and school officials be concerned about this growing differential?  You bet!

Read the rest at: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JSD/is_7_58/ai_77382238/pg_1

By Andrew Cohen, February 2008

Successful online communities require more than a software package. In this article, we outline the strategies and features that can help you build online message boards, social networks, or other conversation based sites that become vibrant, useful communities.

These days, an organization can create an online community site in minutes. But creating an actual online community takes much longer.

There are now dozens of software products and services that will help you create an online community — many merely requiring you to complete a short registration form. However, success requires more than a software package — it requires planning. Continue reading →

By Brett Bonfield, January 2008

Are social networking sites like MySpace or FaceBook likely to be a good fit for your nonprofit’s goals? Brett Bonfield explores how you know if social neworking is right for you.

You’ve likely heard of Web sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn. These types of tools, collectively known as social networking sites, allow individuals (and sometimes organizations) to create online profiles, discover others who share their interests, and create an online network of contacts and supporters.

Social networking sites have received a lot of attention from the nonprofit world because they align with nonprofits’ desire to reach out to larger communities.

Continue reading →

Congratulations to Adelphi University for their Award-Winning e-Newsletter from the CASE District II Conference!  The newsletter combines concise copy, images, good color, a clean layout and links back to their organization web site.  Links back to your organization web site is key to getting constituents to read other information, use your community, and update their information.  Avoid putting ALL the information into your newsletter or they’ll hardly have to visit your site.

Getting a little creative, the University of Delaware created a TV commercial to get the word out about its new Online Community for alumni.

Maintaining accurate data is key.
By Joel Curry at UniversityBusiness.com
March 2007

Building healthy relationships with your alumni can lead to connections that last a lifetime. However, in a day and age where alumni constantly move, marry, divorce, travel, and switch jobs, universities must ask themselves one simple question: “Are we successfully aligning our data to reflect our alumni’s many life changes?”

Most fundraising offices will agree that mature and settled alumni are more likely to be better donors over time. It is no surprise that universities that have figured out how to keep in touch with these alumni have consistently solicited higher levels of donations.

Lost letters equal lower response rates, which is a key factor in determining the success of your campaign. To the dismay of many universities, inaccurate alumni data may be hurting outreach and fundraising efforts.

Read more . . .

This September over 800 alumni, parents, friends and students will join across the United States and London to do community service as part of The College of Wooster’s Scots in Service — National Volunteer Day.College of Wooster alumni from coast to coast proudly displayed their school colors and their volunteer spirit in 26 cities across the country at the seventh annual Scots in Service Day. From Atlanta to Minneapolis and Boston to San Francisco, more than 800 Wooster graduates turned out to participate in a wide range of community-service projects.

Read more and about the individual projects . . .