Category Archives: Articles

Successful community college alumni programs | Community College Enterprise

As state funding for community colleges continues not to keep pace with programming needs, more community colleges are taking the initiative to seek funding from private sources. Four-year colleges and universities have tong used alumni programs as major outside sources of funding. Since a high percentage of today’s students embark on their higher education experience at the community college, it is natural for more two-year institutions to begin alumni programs. Based on in-depth interviews with directors of successful community college alumni programs, this article suggests ‘best practices for community colleges that are considering the development of an alumni program. It offers practical and relevant ideas for practitioners and institutional leaders, including changes being planned in existing programs to ensure continued success.

Successful community college alumni programs | Community College Enterprise | BNET.

Fundraising helps school activities | MyCentralJersey.com

Alumni Channel is mentioned in this article about education foundations and fund raising.  The more school funds are cut, the more sophisticated fundraising needs to become, said Heather Robinson, the executive director of Partnership in Philanthropy. The days of tricky trays and golf tournaments have evolved into grant writing, major individual donations and alumni endowment funds, much like a public university or college, Robinson said.

“Usually, you pay $80 for an alumni directory because you’re feeling nostalgic, and it’s out of date before it’s even published. Then it collects dust on the shelf,” Smith-Fleres said. “The online directory can be constantly changed so it’s up-to-date and alumni can connect with each other. The education foundations support the alumni website, and the alumni support scholarship funds through their class reunions and other events.”

Fundraising helps school activities | MyCentralJersey.com.

Getting Started with Email Fundraising $40 | Idealware

Idealware, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, provides candid Consumer-Reports-style reviews and articles about software of interest to nonprofits.

Fundraising via email requires an understanding of a number of different elements – designing an email campaign, writing an email, avoiding spam filters, broadcast email tools, online donation tools, and more. We’ll walk through what you’ll need to know to design your own email fundraising campaign.

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Do You Need a New Donor Management System? A Step-by-Step Decision Making Workbook | Idealware

Without an effective system to track donors and other constituents, you can spend too much time just trying to figure out who to contact and miss out on many fundraising opportunities.  But switching to a new system can be time consuming and sometimes costly.  So how do you know if you should switch, or stick with what you have? The Do You Need A New Donor Management System workbook, in PDF format, by Idealware, will help you decide.

Do You Need a New Donor Management System? A Step-by-Step Decision Making Workbook | Idealware.

N.J. school districts begin seeking alumni donations to plug holes left by state aid cuts | NJ.com

In all the recent talk about school funding, or lack thereof, one group is never mentioned.

Alumni. That scattered army of graduates, that, as years mount, look back on their high school days with increasing affection. Or something like it.

N.J. school districts begin seeking alumni donations to plug holes left by state aid cuts | NJ.com.

Public School Districts and Alumni Funding – alumni futures

Many American public school districts are searching high and low for additional funding. It seems inevitable that they will ask alumni for donations, as private institutions do. This practice isn’t new, but it doesn’t garner much attention in the public eye – at least, not compared to the high-profile capital campaigns of private institutions of higher education.

Public School Districts and Alumni Funding – alumni futures.

Home From College Program: Counselors Reach Out to Alumni

The College Counseling Office of St. Theodore Guerin High School (Noblesville, Indiana) recently invited the recent graduates from the Class of 2010 to participate in an annual panel presentation describing college life and addressing issues of particular interest (you know, the real low-down) to their current senior class.

Guerin’s online alumni community by Alumni Channel was used to message the 85 graduates from 2010 and within a very short period of time the alumni responded and the counseling office had 10 responses.  Topics to be covered at the “Home From College Program” may include:

  • Why you chose this particular school
  • How the transition from the high school environment to the college environment has been
  • First year experience/Freshmen year adjustments
  • Social and cultural issues
  • Any advice for this year’s graduates?

The counseling office invited graduates to this annual program to share their college journey with seniors. Due to time restrictions, the school will most likely select 8-10 alumni to sit on the panel, representative of a variety of colleges including large research institutions, small liberal arts colleges, state universities and schools with geographic diversity.

St. Theodore Guerin High School is a private Roman Catholic high school in Noblesville, Indiana. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana. It is named after Saint Mother Théodore Guérin.  It was built in 2004 and had its first graduating class in 2007.

Online communities get stronger when managers learn to delegate | Community Building

A great way to get members passionate about your community is to empower them. You’re the community manager but that doesn’t mean you should be doing everything. The more responsibilities you give your members, the more dedicated and committed they’ll become.

Online communities get stronger when managers learn to delegate | Community Building.