Harris Connect

UOAA LEVERAGES THE POWER OF THEIR ONLINE EVENTS TOOL TO SAVE TIME, GAIN NEW MEMBERS AND EFFECTIVELY MANAGE REGISTRATION FOR THEIR BIGGEST ANNUAL EVENT

A newly launched online events management tool helped the University of Oregon Alumni Association (UOAA) boost both attendance and membership, while streamlining processing and back-end reporting for their biggest annual event, according to Jennifer Casey, Deputy Director for Alumni Communications.

Casey explained that the pre-game tailgate party for their Holiday Bowl is the most well-attended event of the year for the Association. Online registration for the event was promoted via email and other channels to alumni, friends, and season ticket holders. The online form featured multiple price points, and incentive discounts tied into joining the Alumni Association. “We processed approximately 820 registrations through our application, totaling over 3,000 people, and generating more than 127 new UOAA Memberships,” said Casey. “We saw an increase in attendance, and we also captured 700 new email addresses as a result of the online process.”

“We’re very excited about both the registration numbers and the ease of use associated with the HarrisConnect tool,” said Casey. “What was key for this event is that it was all done completely online. We still had people calling in, but all data was entered online just one time -- for both accounting purposes and registration. It is very beneficial for our office and for alumni.”

Previously the Alumni Association had used a scaled down registration program that required them to process payments separately. This created a large amount of time-consuming paper transactions requiring processing in a few short weeks.

“Now, there are no more paperwork transfers, saving us a huge amount of time. With Harris, reconciliation is much easier, because it’s all online. We can process forms, and download reports in many different ways and very quickly. From determining attendance right down to reconciliation, it saves us a lot of time on the administrative end.”

The tool is part of a suite of Online tools and services launched in Summer, 2005 to help enhance alumni communications and make streamlined, advanced networking tools available to UOAA’s more than (number) alumni. “After the launch, we used the event management tools for five pre-game parties. Event totals for all were huge, but this event is our most successful,” said Casey. “It’s great to have one streamlined solution for events management that we can use for publicizing the event, managing registration, running reports and updates. And we get updated information and email addresses in the process.”

Another key benefit, according to Casey, is that alumni can register for events at their convenience. “Their window to act is no longer 9-5, and I think that’s very important,” she said. “We saw an increase in both attendance and pre-event registration. I believe it’s because it’s so easy to download information and make spreadsheets and registration lists, that we can keep registration open longer. This in turn provides the opportunity for increased attendance. It’s just easier on so many levels, right down to having fewer walk-ups at the gate, and getting exact head counts for catering. We’re very pleased.”