‍About the Gann Academy

Founded in the year 1997, the Gann Academy is a coeducational Jewish high school based out of Waltham, Massachusetts. The school is a prominent member of the National Association of Independent Schools and has been accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

The academy is not just known for its four years course that helps students develop skills and gain knowledge, but also assist them in growing, exploring and discovering who they really are. The culture they inculcate has led to an increasing an alumni database, that became hard to engage with on a regular basis.

‍

Challenges In Alumni Engagement ‍

Ineffective social alumni engagement

‍
Even after trying to keep their alumni engaged on social media channels, the Samueli Institute could not keep their alumni involved with meaningful conversations. The low engagement rates also led to lower participation rates in events, giving days and other campaigns. ‍

‍

Costly communication software ‍

The advancement team made use of multiple software that cost them almost $1400/ year to manage alumni communication. While the tools enabled them to launch email campaigns, they could not bring all the data to a single dashboard and help the team draw actionable insights for better alumni engagement in the next campaign with smart optimization. Also, the need to switch between various tools, often led to the team losing essential alumni data.  ‍

‍

Gann Academy Success With Almabase

The Gann Academy used Almabase to set up their online alumni community and engage the members with frequent email campaigns that focused on using higher levels of personalization.   ‍

‍‍

“Almabase is a true investment in our alumni and they really appreciate the efforts we are making beyond the years they spend on our campus.”

Joanna F, Development Officer‍

‍

Personalized and strategic communication ‍

The Gann Academy engages their alumni over email, with numerous campaigns, using the integrated communications tool on Almabase. They have run 40 campaigns till date on their constituent database. The two features that enable them to run such timely and successful campaigns are: ‍

Saved templates - The feature makes it easy for the team to quickly create their emails and focus only on the content, instead of the design. The easy editing makes it possible for them to customize emails as per the campaign needs.
‍
Dynamic groups - The integrated communications tool on Almabase enables alumni database segmentation. It lets the team create dynamic groups based on filters such as location, previous interaction, alumni batch, alumni interests and more, allowing the team to optimize their messages with more personalization. Being able to do so, lets the institute drive higher engagement rates on each of their campaigns.

Efficient content management ‍

The alumni advancement team also uses the Almabase content management system actively. They have created around 30+ pages with it for various events, giving days, alumni information, academy news and more. Some of the most promoted and viewed pages include:
‍

‍

‍

‍
Easy donation campaign setup  

Almabase enables the Gann Academy to set up donation campaigns in minutes. With customized pages, integrated payment gateways for easy donations and strategic communication, the academy was able to raise $14,000 on a recent campaign.

The Gann Academy today, actively uses Almabase to keep their growing alumni network engaged with meaningful conversations, fostering stronger relationships.