About Gann Academy

Founded in the year 1997, the Gann Academy is a coeducational Jewish high school based out of Waltham, Massachusetts. With over 1500 alumni, 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 mission of Gann Academy is to educate, inspire, and empower intellectually confident, passionately engaged, ethically responsible Jews who, through critical thinking and the contribution of their unique voices, will create a vibrant Jewish future and build a better world where human dignity will flourish.

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What challenges did Gann Academy face?

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Low alumni engagement

Even though their alumni community was relatively small-sized, keeping track of alumni over several decades was a major challenge for Gann Academy. While the institution was trying to keep its alumni engaged on social media channels, the advancement team found it challenging to constantly stay connected and generate new content daily. As a result of this, the institution also saw low participation at events, giving days, and other campaigns. 

Lack of personalization in outreach campaigns

While the advancement team at Gann Academy wanted to personalize its approach towards alumni, doing that for over a 1000 people was a herculean task. As a result of this, their campaigns often had lower engagement rates.

Costly communication software 

Gann Academy was spending a hefty amount on multiple tools to manage its alumni network. With the usage of multiple tools, there was also a massive risk of losing essential alumni data. Since these tools were being used for various functions, it was much harder for the institution to combine all this data to draw actionable insights.

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What did Gann Academy achieve after implementing Almabase?

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Higher email open rates as a result of personalized and strategic communication

Using Almabase’s integrated communication center, Gann Academy is able to create strategic personalized campaigns, targeting specific recipients. The two key features that empower Gann Academy’s outreach process are: 

1. Pre-existing email templates: With pre-existing email templates, the staff is able to quickly create emails, focusing on the content and not having to worry about the design. In case of any customizations to these emails, easy editing features help make the whole process simpler.‍

2. Dynamic groups: Reaching out to over 1000 alumni was never an easy task. With the ability to create dynamic groups based on filters such as location, previous interaction, alumni batch, and alumni interests, Gann Academy is now able to personalize the messaging of all its email outreach campaigns.

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As a result of highly personalized campaigns and alumni database segmentation, Gann Academy is able to create successful outreach campaigns. 

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40% email open rates

74,566 emails sent over the course of 2 years 

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Here are some of the email campaigns that Gann Academy has created for its alumni in the last two years:

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Growth in contactable alumni database

Leveraging personalized outreach campaigns and a platform that automatically captures alumni’s social information during registration, Gann Academy has been able to successfully update 27.3% of its alumni database within a year. 

27.3 % growth in contactable alumni database

95% contactable alumni

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Reduction in costs & time spent

Since all alumni communication now stays in one place, the advancement team is now able to effortlessly manage events, giving days, and social media engagement, from a single platform. Gann Academy, therefore, has been able to minimize expenses and also save time which was previously lost on switching between multiple software.

Efficiency in tracking alumni engagement

Whether it is the number of alumni that registered for a particular event or the success of a fundraising campaign, any insights that the advancement team may need are easily accessible via a single dashboard. This helps Gann Academy get a comprehensive overview of its alumni engagement. 

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A close-knit alumni community

With personalized campaigns and effective messaging, Gann Academy is able to attract more of its alumni to register on its alumni platform. Since the institution’s alumni community is relatively smaller, the focus is solely on building personal relationships with as many people as possible. With this approach, Gann Academy has been able to successfully build a close-knit, highly committed alumni community. 

Gann Academy continues to effectively engage its alumni with meaningful email campaigns, fostering lasting relationships. You can visit their alumni community here. 

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