Presenters: Julia Bannister and Whitney Donnelley Communicating with all your constituent groups is key to achieving engagement and success at your school. In this session, we'll discuss how you can use emails and e-newsletters to build community and get the right information to the right people at the right time. We will share tips & tricks using our own e-newsletter, WhippleHill Weekly, as a case study. Then, we'll dive into how you can communicate effectively using WhippleHill tools, with a particular focus on taking your Pushpage to the next level. We'll end with a group discussion and leave you with some resources to inspire you when you return to the office!

2. Communicate Effectively
for Engagement:
Pushpages to Email
Whitney Donnelly and Julia Bannister

3. A little background...
Students with involved parents, regardless of
income or background, are more likely to:
● Earn higher grades & test scores, and enroll in higher-level programs
● Be promoted, pass their classes, and earn credit
● Attend school regularly
● Have better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school
● Graduate and go on to post-secondary education
http://www.sedl.org/connections/resources/evidence.pdf

4. The Johns Hopkins University Center on School, Family, and
Community Partnerships defines six categories of school-
parent involvement. One of these categories is:
Communicating, or working to educate families
about their child's progress and school services
and providing opportunities for parents to
communicate with the school.
http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Public-education/Parent-Involvement/Parent-Involvement.html

5. Email Communication at Your School
Build community!
Connect with:
● Parents
● Students
● Alumni
● Teachers & departments
● Prospective families

6. Use your emails to get the right info to the right
people at the right time.
Your e-newsletters (Pushpages) should act as
your school's strategic communication tool. If
your constituents are only going to read ONE
communication from you, it should be your e-
newsletter.

7. You decide:
Who to send it to
How often (monthly? weekly?)
The layout - keep mobile in mind!
The content
Consider making your e-newsletter about the highlights of
life at your school. Include information on school events,
philosophy, leadership vision, major changes, and
fundraising opportunities.
Find a format that works and stick to it.

8. The facts:
● Sent out every Wednesday between 2:30 & 4:30 pm ET
● Sent to primary notifications at all existing schools, plus
those who've "raised their hand" to be a part of the
distribution list
● Content includes all new blog posts since last week
(usually 2), event announcements, Support Tip of the
Week, recently launched sites, recent school upgrades,
and occasional links to outside events
● Goals: educate schools about opportunities and new
product info, drive traffic to our site, and increase
engagement

9. My tips:
Set goals
Keep mobile in mind
Be consistent, but flexible
Keep an eye on engagement
Highlight the most important info

10. What communication tools
does WhippleHill offer?

11. Targeted Communication Delivery Methods:
● Custom Activity Stream
● WhippleHill Inbox Messaging
● Class/Team Roster Bulk Messaging
● Email/Text Notification Preferences
○ News, Announcements
○ Games, Practices
○ Inbox
● HTML Newsletter/ Pushpage

12. Communication
Purpose:
● Strategic
● Informational
● Operational
● Educational
● Personal

13. Communication
Purpose:
● Strategic
● Informational
● Operational
● Educational
● Personal
Delivery
Method:
● Activity Stream
● Inbox Messaging
● Bulk Messaging
● Notification
● Pushpage

14. Pushpage Features:
● Same features in Podium and onMessage
● Self-managed Templates
● Targeted Dynamic Distribution Groups
● HTML formatting
● Open Rates*
● Click-through content and tracking
● Website Message Archive

15. Peddie School
Alumni Connection Pushpage
4/25/2013

18. Click Thru to Content

20. North Shore Country Day School
Mobile-Specific Pushpage
Alumni Mobile News - June 2013
(300 pixels)

23. Tips for Working (Communicating) Smarter...
● Publish regularly- not more often
● Distribute and target consistently
● Repurpose existing content
● Encourage participation/ contribution
● Provide self-serve archives
● Offer preferences (web, email, text)

24. Now we'd like to open up the discussion to the
independent school experts - YOU!
Questions?
Comments?
Successes?
Challenges?

25. Additional resources:
http://bit.ly/12mR31w
Let us know what you thought of this session!
http://uc13.wikispaces.com/Survey+Links