Harris Connect

Ongoing Success Prompts Altoona Area Schools To Take The Power Of Alumni Information Online

Now working on their fourth Harris Connect Graduate Connection® Alumni Directory, due to be published in print and online, the Altoona Area Public Schools in Altoona, PA, have leveraged the power of alumni information to achieve significant success, according to Thomas Bradley, Executive Director of the Altoona High School Alumni Association and School District Foundation.

Bradley believes that the online edition will help their alumni association and foundation continue growing and building on their accomplishments since the publication of their first directory in 1988. Key milestones to date include:

♦ 460 Educational Excellence Grants: The Foundation has awarded more than $750,000 for educational projects since 1988 by raising funds from Altoona High School alumni, school district employees, local businesses and friends. More than $422,000 has been allocated for 275 Venture Grants for Teachers and 190 Educator in Residence grants during this time.

♦ Active Base of Alumni: The Alumni Association has grown their active membership base to 3,500. The Association publishes a quarterly newsletter, and sponsors events including Alumni Band Day, regional mini-reunions, a biannual Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner and alumni trips to various locations on the east coast.

“Our long-time relationship with Harris Connect has helped our school district foundation and our national alumni association flourish,” said Bradley.

Bradley explained that the Foundation was up and running for a year and a half when they contracted with Harris Connect for their first alumni directory. “We had a very large database, and it was a big task getting all the alumni data in order,” he said. “The alumni directory was a springboard to help reconnect with alumni, and our Alumni Association was formed a year after the directory’s release. It’s important to have that link.”

From the start, Bradley noted that the directory has always been well-received by graduates. “They really enjoy purchasing and looking at the book,” he said. “It’s an invaluable tool to keep up to date with classmates and it’s great for reunion organizers.”

From then on, the Foundation and Alumni Association grew steadily. Mailings were sent out to the database, and both membership and donations continued to increase. “We’d set up shop at reunions, publicize membership in our quarterly newsletter, and send out targeted mailings to reunion groups,” said Bradley. “ For example, we’d take a special reunion year like the 20th or 40th, and send a letter to non-members encouraging them to help their class become number one in the membership race.”

Since then, an alumni directory has been published every five years. “Our fourth book will be published in print and online, as part of a new alumni online community,” he said. “It will provide another link to alumni - especially younger ones - and will help further enhance communication and build ties with alumni.”

According to Bradley, the Online Community, including the online directory and Internet services such as broadcast email and class pages, will be financed by the Alumni Association and Foundation, and the online directory will be offered as an incentive to promote membership in the association. “It will certainly be our strongest membership benefit,” he said.

“Broadcast email will help us with segmenting our lists for targeted events like alumni band day, and our Florida mini-reunions,” said Bradley. “We’ll be able to save a fortune in mailing costs by publicizing events and holding registration online, and we’ll be able to put the newsletter online as well, which will ensure that more alumni will have access to it.”

Bradley feels strongly that online access will help strengthen the bond between alumni and Altoona Area Schools, and will help advance the mission of the Foundation. “Our mission is to fund innovation and excellence in the classroom in the form of Venture Grants for Teachers, including teacher training and skillenhancing programs, and Educator in Residence Grants, which bring prominent authors, programs and projects to the schools,” he said.

The Distinguished Alumni program will be honoring their fourth group of graduates this fall. The honorees spend the Friday before the dinner at the High School, touring the school and giving talks. On Saturday, the awards dinner is held at a local restaurant where speeches are made and awards are given out. “My favorite part of the program is their interaction with current students,” he said. “Our student’s reaction is invariably: ‘I can’t believe Altoona High School grads can achieve such great things.’”

“We’ve accomplished a lot, using the alumni data,” said Bradley. Without the national database of alumni from Harris Connect, most of our efforts would have been in vain.”