| Have a question or problem using DonorPerfect Online? Don't forget that DPO has its own tech support services available to answer your questions. This support is included in your annual maintenance agreement, so take advantage of it! Email them at
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| Submit a question about fundraising and alumni outreach to be answered by the Tech Program Team, a Mentor, or one of your peers! We'll include one Q&A in each future issue of the eNewsletter. Check out this issue's Q&A below. | |
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Pinemere Camp Ning.com Alumni Community |
| At nine o'clock one morning a few months ago, Aaron Selkow, Camp Director of Pinemere Camp, read an article about social networking site Ning.com. He was intrigued by the idea and thought it would be a great place to create an online community for Pinemere alumni, campers, parents, and staff. By 9:30, he had a social network. After another 10 hours of effort, Aaron had customized the network with the Pinemere website look and feel. He had also integrated the content types he wanted incorporated initially in the Pinemere Camp social network - message boards, groups, photos, polls, online giving, etc. After a few weeks of beta testing the site with ~15 staff members, he launched the site by inviting the 200-300 alumni for whom Aaron had updated email addresses through an email blast. In only three months, the community has grown virally to more than 600 members, who have contributed their own content to the site, including 2,000+ photos. Click here to read more about Pinemere's experience with Ning.com and find out if Ning.com is right for you, too... |
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Message from Sue Kline, Director, GIJP |
Have you read last month's Grinspoon Institute Technology  Program eNewsletter? Did you submit a question to our experienced staff? This eNewsletter is for you, so please let us know how it can best serve your needs. We hope this periodic eNewsletter will continue to help you utilize technology to reach your fundraising and alumni outreach goals. For example, our feature case study is a great example of how Pinemere Camp is utilizing technology to grow their camp community online.
subscribe to the blog via email or RSS feed (read last month's Social Networking FAQ if you don't know what that is yet!) to get the updates sent directly to you.
Please continue to contact me or the Technology Program team with any ideas to improve the offerings of the Program. |
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Technology Program Transition |
We are committed to finding a Business Systems Analyst who can offer you the service and support you have come to expect from the GIJP Technology Program. In the meantime, Kevin will manage all questions/issues with DPO and the Alumni Portal. We will keep you posted with our progress.
As always, please contact Kevin (kevin@hgf.org) with any questions or requests for assistance. |
| Meet the Team |
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Kevin Martone, Technology Program Manager
Kevin has been leading the Tech Program since September, 2007. He is driving improvements to the program to most effectively serve the camps' technology program needs. You can find a brief bio of Kevin at the GIJP website.
TBD, Business Systems Analyst |
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Tip of the Month from Celia Baczkowski at Surprise Lake Camp |
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Take advantage of the grassroots Facebook groups of your camp. These unofficial groups - your camp almost certainly has some - were started by alumni, campers, and/or staff of the camp, not the camp itself.
Celia and Surprise Lake Camp's VP of the Alumni Association monitor their camp's groups and even participate in the dialogue. Recently there was an informal happy hour event specifically for the Surprise Lake Facebook community. 120 people showed up from the Facebook community, many of whom had not been on Celia's official alumni lists. Celia handed out flyers to promote the Alumni Portal on their website to increase connectedness and get their updated information. She also received a large gift for the Grinspoon Institute Raise Your Match Matching Funds program from someone she reunited with at the happy hour. More events are planned and more gifts are in the works! |
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This Month's Q&A - How can I leverage all the happily married couples who met at camp? |
Question: We believe there are a lot of married alumni who met at our camp and thus have a special emotional attachment to camp. How can we take advantage of this?
Answer: Camp experiences are unique for every camper. Campers who met their spouse at camp are likely to have a special fondness and attachment to camp. Their personal stories will resonate with all alumni, whether they met their spouse at camp or not.
The important thing is to reconnect with your married alumni and collect their information and stories.Once you have that information, there are two ways to utilize it:
1) Share these special stories with your alumni! These couples are likely glad to talk about how they met, their memories of camp, etc. Spread these personal stories through eNewsletters, Newsletters, the website, even YouTube. This can be the start of focusing on personal stories of all of your alumni and campers.
2) Offer the opportunity for couples to give back to camp as part of their wedding, anniversary, bar/bat mitzvah, etc. celebrations. There are many services available now that allow people to give back to specific camps in lieue of gifts. Check out some ideas on our blog... |
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What's Next? |
In our next eNewsletter, you'll learn about:
- Ideas for using Facebook Causes effectively
- Information about using Goodsearch.com
- And more!!
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