Page 12 - Priorities #48 2011-January/February

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The attendance at school- sponsored alumni events has increased each year. After neglecting this group for so long, it’s especially rewarding to see alumni responding in such a positive way to the Priory’s efforts to reconnect.
FDear Friends of the Priory;
Faculty, staff, students, current parents, former parents, grandparents, friends and alumni. The Priory community is a large community and increasing every year. The Priory community is, more and more, a global community. Fortunately, in today’s technological society, it’s fairly simple to keep in touch with this vast network. Unfortunately, simplicity does not necessarily equate with effectiveness.
I’m thinking specifically of Priory’s efforts to communicate with alumni. When I arrived at Priorythreeyearsago,ouroutreachtoalumniwasinconsistentatbest. Oh,wedidagoodjobof asking for annual fund contributions, but there was no real effort to keep alumni connected and involved in the life of the school. There was no real incentive for alumni to respond in a positive way to those appeals.
That is no longer the case!
In today’s development department, we have one full-time staff person, Casey Wynn, dedicated to establishing and maintaining a close connection to alumni. Casey is currently organizing a formal alumni board tasked with making the Priory Alumni Association a viable organization for ouralums. Overthelast3years,shehascompletelyrevampedthereunionprogramtohonorfive- yearclasses. TheannualAlumniReunionWeekendroutinelybringsmorethan100alumnibackto campus(seepgs.14-17). Everyyearalumnigatheringsareheldlocallyandregionally,bothinside andoutsideCalifornia. Recently,TimMolakandBrotherEdwardevenhostedalargegatheringof alumni and friends in Budapest, Hungary.
The attendance at school-sponsored alumni events has increased each year. After neglecting this group for so long, it’s especially rewarding to see alumni responding in such a positive way to the Priory’s efforts to reconnect.
As I mentioned above, technology is playing a major role in how Priory maintains its connection with alumni. For a number of years, our web site included an Online Community. Thatisnolongerthecase. Onlinecommunities,assooftenhappenswithtechnology,arealmost obsolete. Today, Facebook is the preferred method for maintaining this connection. The online community, at its peak, had a few dozen alumni registered. Now, there are more than 600 alumni utilizing the school’s alumni Facebook page. So, if you’re an alum looking to keep in touch with other Priory alums, or to keep up with what’s happening at Priory, Facebook is the place to be.
AtPriory,ithasalwaysbeenaboutthestudents. Wewantouralumnitoknowthat’sstillthe case. It’s still about them, even after they move on to lives beyond the Priory.
Sincerely,
John Baldwin
Director of Development