Creative Alumni Outreach Strategies

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Creative Alumni Outreach Strategies

• April 21, 2009
• Jonathan JC Cohen, Director
• Scott Price, Assistant Director
• URJ Henry S. Jacobs Camp
• Utica, Mississippi

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Agenda

• How We Got Started
• Keeping Data Current
• How Does HSJ Do It?
• Building Community
• Age Cohorts
• Involvement
• Alumni Association
• Building Donors
• Brick Campaign
• Friends of Jacobs Camp Campaign

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How HSJ Got Started

• Oct. 06 scanned the general information page
  of every camper file in storage
• Oct. 06 sent the scanned files to Cambodia.
• Dec. 06 Received information back in Excel
  format began de-duping process
• March 07 After months of de-duping, we did a
  mass data input into DPO
• November 07 Did 1st targeted letter campaign

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Keeping Data Current

• Continuous Process
• Online Off
• All staff that work with data understand data
  currency processes

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How Does HSJ Do It?

• Offline
• Press Release
• Events
• Business Cards
• Postcards
• Networking
• Online
• Newsletters
• Online Registration
• Facebook
• Twitter

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Press Releases

• Each month we send a press release to our
  regional congregations, agencies, and press.
• This is a easy way for them to keep HSJ in their
  congregations communities.

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Events

• We hold HSJ Alumni Events in cities we are
  visiting
• Sept. 07 Chicago (URJ Youth Division Meeting)
• Nov. 08 Dallas (URJ-SWC Biennial)
• Attempted one in Boston, Western Mass/Connecticut
• HSJ Book Party
• With Roger Bennett, author of Camp Camp
• In New Orleans, immediately after the NOLA Book
  Fair
• Had Fried Chicken and other camp foods on camp
  trays
• 40th Reunion
• Saturday, August 8, 2009
• Alumni Family Camp
• Wednesday, August 5-9, 2009

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E-Newsletters
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Online Registration
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Online Registration

• Alumni can sign up to receive
• E-newsletters
• Event announcements
• Volunteer Opportunities
• Etc.

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Social Networking
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Benefits of HSJs Efforts

• Number of alumni in database609
• Number of alumni who have attended events100
• Number of alumni who have visited HSJtoo many
• Number of Alumni who are on the Camp Committee24
  out of 50
• Number of Alumni in Facebook Fan Club917

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Building Community

• Goal
• Create Connect Affinity Groups
• Kibbutz Groups
• Age Cohorts

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Alumni Involvement

• Up onto recently, HSJ has done a poor job of
  getting alumni involved. It was mostly driven
  from Camp staff (i.e. JC Scott).
• FUTUREwe have created a task force (Alumni
  Action Squad) to help us form the Jacobs Camp
  Alumni Association (more on this later).

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Alumni Association

• Alumni Action Squad the task force mentioned
  earlier.
• First Alumni Association Meeting
• August 9th

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Alumni Association

• Purpose
• Networking among HSJ Alumni
• Development Fundraising
• Sharing information about HSJ happenings

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Alumni Association Continued

• Pathways to Involvement
• Networking Point Person/People
• The local connector for alumni.
• Event Planner(s)
• Both planning local event, and coordination of
  local implementation of national events (i.e. HSJ
  Shabbat across America).
• Campaign Chair
• Camp Ambassador
• The person who is most in the loop.
• The representative to the national association
  board.

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Alumni Association Even More

• Timetable
• Announce HSJ Shabbat Across America
• Identify local event chairs.
• June 12-13 IS HSJ Shabbat Across America
• Goals To bring people together, hype the
  Reunion, and conduct an alumni association focus
  group of sorts.
• August 8 40th Anniversary Reunion
• Fall/Winter First Locally-Led Events

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Turning Alumni Into Donors

• Alumni Brick Campaign
• Friends of Jacobs Camp Campaign

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Questions for Us

• Jonathan JC Cohen, MAJCS/MSW
• Director
• jc_at_urj.org
• Scott Price
• Assistant Director for Development
• sprice_at_urj.org
• URJ Henry S. Jacobs Camp
• 3863 Morrison Road
• Utica, Mississippi 39175
• 601-885-6042
• http//jacobs.urjcamps.org

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For More Information

• This presentation and recorded session will be
  available in our Webinar archives by the end of
  the week http//webinar.gijptech.org
• Tech Program Blog http//blog.gijptech.org
• Tech Program eNewsletter Archives
  http//enewsletter.gijptech.org