Arden Anglican School, located in Sydney, is a vibrant, co-educational, independent school dedicated to supporting their students and creating a community which allows them to reach their full potential. In recent months they have gone the extra mile to help out their local community, by providing a dedicated space on their community site for parent, alumni and local-owned businesses to display their services to the Arden Alumni Association in an effort to support businesses who have been financially impacted by COVID-19.

The Arden Alumni Association currently lists 11 local businesses and has been steadily growing over the last few months. It is offered free to members of the community, and is quick and easy for business owners to set up. Once they have registered their profile, businesses can share a bio, website, contact details and even purchase products directly from the Arden Alumni Association website. 

It’s easy for community members to search for relevant businesses under the categories of education, entertainment, retail, travel and accommodation, plus many others, and has been a popular feature on the website with over 300 views. 

Director of Advancement, Mrs Jo Hutchens said “Our new Arden Alumni Association website is working seamlessly and we are thrilled that this platform is helping us to engage with our alumni, especially in the lead up to the School’s Centenary in 2022.  We hope to keep improving and innovating the site so that it is relevant for a broad range of alumni, who are always part of our story and continue to be important to us, long after graduation”.

Arden has also found success with their news stories, regularly updating with news from both current school developments and alumni achievements. Their news stories have gained over 300 views in the last month and content ranges from highlighting the achievements of  outstanding alumni to showcasing historical photos from the Arden archives. They also use the news feature to communicate mentoring opportunities and to promote a request for alumni to send in further stories of what they have been up to. 

Their community site provides a place for networking, discussion and insightful content. By engaging their alumni in a variety of ways, Arden  has significantly improved their monthly visit rate and inspired alumni to become more involved with their alma mater, long after they have graduated.

See how you can support your alumni and wider community during this time by offering ways to connect that are free and easy to use, both for your development team and your community. To find out more, get in touch or read on to find out how the John Lyon alumni community in the UK raised £7500 in one month to support students who had been financially impacted by COVID-19.