Most schools are pleased when 20–30% of their school leavers join the alumni community. Toowoomba Christian College reached 90% in their first year. Here's what they did differently.
When a P–12 school in Highfields, Queensland set out to build its alumni community, it started cautious. Alumni engagement was a new, unfunded area, and the team genuinely weren't sure a dedicated platform was worth it when they were only just beginning. So they started small — and let the results make the case.
90%of school leavers joined in the first year
30%+registered in the first three weeks
Under 4 hrsfrom setup to a live platform
They led with what alumni actually wanted
The strategy wasn't "please join our database." It was built around something past students genuinely wanted back: their Year 12 photo memories. The school loaded historic and graduation-year photo folders and released them gradually — and each new release gave alumni a fresh reason to come back and look.
Crucially, every new folder triggered an automatic weekly snapshot email to registered alumni. Engagement compounded week after week, without adding to anyone's workload.
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They started small and let it prove itself
Rather than a heavy upfront commitment, the school began on an entry-level plan — proving the value before scaling up. Within the first three weeks, more than 30% of alumni had registered, before the final reminder emails had even gone out. Alumni began sharing their own photos and memories, turning the platform into a living community rather than a static directory.
The lesson isn't "buy software"
It's that 90% is achievable when a school decides its alumni relationships matter and follows through. The platform made it easy; the school made it happen — by reaching out at the right moments, leading with something people wanted, and giving alumni somewhere genuinely worth coming back to.
Read the full Toowoomba Christian College case study →
alumnly · Alumni engagement software, built for schools