The St.Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia Old Boys’ Association (STCMLOBA), Sri Lanka, successfully raised funds for various causes through their alumni portal. Using Vaave’s alumni software, the association engaged alumni through events and activities, encouraging meaningful contributions to its fundraising initiatives.
Association’s Background & Challenges
Established in 1886, the St. Thomas’ College Old Boys’ Association (OBA) boasts a large and diverse alumni network. The association regularly organizes fundraising campaigns to support students and alumni in times of need. However, these efforts often received a lukewarm response due to limited alumni engagement, leading to insufficient contributions. Despite the OBA’s efforts to encourage donations, many alumni felt disconnected from the association, making sustained fundraising a challenge.
Alumni associations often rely on expensive, standalone tools for database & membership management, event organization, elections, and fundraising, leading to a fragmented experience that weakens alumni engagement.
To overcome these challenges, the association wanted full-fledged software that could streamline alumni engagement and drive stronger participation in fundraising efforts.
Solving Association’s Problem: A Unified Alumni Management Solution
Through Vaave’s all-in-one alumni management platform, STCMLOBA has streamlined its efforts. Our dedicated alumni engagement solution helped the association to effectively conduct alumni events, facilitate alumni networking, maintain alumni database, and provide assistance to alumni, renewing their interest in their alma mater. Alumni are better engaged, leading to an uptick in fundraising contributions.
Read on to learn how Vaave’s unified alumni management maximizes ROI over standalone, patchy tools that hamper alumni engagement.
Impact: Improved Fundraising Outcomes
With improved alumni engagement, the Old Boys’ Association has witnessed better responses to all the fundraising initiatives published on the alumni portal. The members started actively donating and helped the association to support various causes.
Vaave’s Integrated Fundraising Module allowed the association to:
- Easily create fundraising campaigns with target deadlines, contribution size, etc.
- Collect funds through online/offline contributions in multiple currencies.
- Generate automatic tax receipts.
- Generate detailed fundraising reports.
Vaave has integrated a prominent, secure payment gateway for the association to seamlessly receive online contributions from the alumni.
Different Types of Funds Raised by STCMLOBA
From cricket tournaments supporting old alumni & retired teachers to COVID-19 emergency funds, the Old Boys Association has successfully supported various causes. Alumni actively contributed to the funds published on the portal, and some of them have breached the target, demonstrating the power of engaged alumni in times of distress.
Below are a couple of funds published on the Old Boys’ Association alumni portal:
1. Emergency Medical Fund for a Staff Member
The OBA extends financial support to the personnel of the institution by raising funds. Many of the alumni contributed to support the staff member who had a medical emergency.
2. COVID-19 Emergency Scholarship Fund
The members of the Old Boys’ Association came together to provide financial aid to students impacted by the Covid-19 crisis. The funds raised were directed toward covering their school fees, ensuring uninterrupted education during challenging times.
The association exceeded its target, collecting 101.8% of the goal in just 3 months!
Conclusion
With Vaave’s alumni software, St. Thomas’ College Old Boys’ Association turned fundraising from a challenge into a success. The alumni portal made it easier to organize events, engage alumni, and drive contributions.
From supporting retired teachers to helping students in crisis, the OBA proved that when alumni stay connected, they can make a real difference.