CHERRY HILL, N.J. – Alumni Channel, a web provider of online alumni communities for schools and other non-profit organizations, announced today that Our Lady of Mercy Academy Alumnae of Newfield, New Jersey, is relying on the company’s online community solution to develop closer relationships with its alumni.
Sr. Grace Marie Scandale, Principal, and Bonnie Hammerstedt, Development Director, made a commitment to begin implementation of the Alumni Channel for their online alumni community. Our Lady of Mercy Academy Alumnae represent an alliance of thousands of OLMA Alumnae graduates across the United States and worldwide. With a growing base of graduates, the high school wanted 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. OLMA Alumnae needed a technology solution that would enrich its existing Web site while reducing costs associated with direct mailings. This would enable the school 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, OLMA Alumnae 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 update the master donor database.
“Schools face a real challenge in keeping connected with alumni who, after graduation, scatter throughout the world,” said Chris Gehringer, president of Alumni Channel. “OLMA Alumnae is taking a leadership position in how it uses technology to give its alumni – regardless of whether they live in the area or the Far East – an easy way to stay involved.”
Empowering Graduates through Alumni Channel
With Alumni Channel, OLMA Alumnae High School will be able to replace a static Web site with 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 only a few email addresses on file for its alumni, the school will embark on an integrated marketing campaign to increase awareness and introduce the benefits of registering on the new site. Included in OLMA Alumnae’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 Our Lady of Mercy Academy Alumnae’s Alumni Channel, go to olmanjalumnae.org.
About Our Lady of Mercy Academy Alumnae
Our Lady of Mercy Academy (OLMA) is a college preparatory, all-girls Catholic high school founded in 1962 in Newfield, New Jersey. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden, the first class, consisting of 23 students, graduated in June 1965. OLMA is the only all-girls high school in South Jersey. The school grounds span 57 acres and include a gym, sports fields, a Chapel and an indoor pool. The school maintains an enrollment of approximately 250 students. The four-year high school prepares its students not only for college, but more importantly, for life.
About Alumni Channel
The Alumni Channel online alumni system is 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.