CHERRY HILL, N.J. – Alumni Channel, a web provider of online alumni communities for schools and other non-profit organizations, announced today that Hillside Catholic Academy is relying on the company’s online community solution to develop closer relationships with its alumni.
Michael Butchko, principal of the school since 2004, made a commitment to begin implementation of the Alumni Channel for their online alumni community. Hillside Catholic Academy is a co-educational Catholic elementary school in Hillside, New Jersey. HCA opened its doors on July 1, 2004 through the merging of Christ the King School in Hillside and St. Catherine’s of Sienna School in Elizabeth. The site will be home to Hillside, Christ the King, and St. Catherine’s graduates across the United States and worldwide. With the schools of Christ the King and St. Catherine’s having been closed, Mr. Butchko wanted to give alumni a place to call home to cultivate stronger bonds with and among alumni that would lay the foundation for fundraising in support of critical programs such as scholarships and the endowment. HCA needed a technology solution that would enrich its existing Web site while avoid costs associated with direct mailings. This would enable the foundation to provide an interactive, customized experience for each visitor, including opportunities to connect with each other, view school and class events, and eventually make online donations.
To this end, Hillside 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 communication fundraisers, events and campaigns.
“Schools and foundations face a real challenge in keeping connected with alumni who, after graduation, scatter throughout the world,” said Chris Gehringer, president of Alumni Channel. “Hillside Catholic Academy is taking a leadership position in how it uses technology to give its alumni – regardless of whether they live in northern New Jersey or the Far East – an easy way to stay involved.”
Empowering Graduates through Alumni Channel
With Alumni Channel, HCA will be able to link to its existing Web site 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 few records available on the closed schools Mr. Butchko will implement many of the steps in Alumni Channel’s “Success Plan” to increase awareness and introduce the benefits of registering on the new site. Included in HCA’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 email addresses will increase over time.
To visit the Hillside Catholic Academy (Christ the King / St. Catherine’s) Alumni Channel, go to http://www.HCAalumni.org.
About Hillside Catholic Academy
Part of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, Hillside Catholic Academy offers classes in the following areas: Art, Geography, Library, Music, Physical Education, Spanish, Study Skills, Vocabulary, Writing. Religion is taught to all students. Hillside Catholic Academy offers “A quality education in a faith based environment.” Hillside Catholic Academy strives to provide its students with a Catholic Christian academic foundation and to instill in them a sense of respect and self-discipline that supplements the teachings of the home. Hillside Catholic Academy promotes the growth and maturity of the students academically, emotionally, morally, and most importantly spiritually. The school’s web site is: http://www.hillsidecatholicacademy.org
About Alumni Channel
Alumni Channel online alumni communities are 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.