Report from Director for Alumni and College Relations

Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. Hebrews 3:13

To effectively serve the Lord in the ministry of Toccoa Falls College we must remind ourselves daily that we need a cooperative, loving spirit toward one another. This attitude is prevalent among the directors, assistants, board members, and student workers in the Alumni and Advancement offices. Each has a sincere desire to serve the Lord, and that is demonstrated through their efficiency, productivity, and willingness to help one another.

Alumni Relations
This office continues to be one of the supportive fund-raising arms of the Advancement Office and college. Initiatives are taken to financially support scholarships and special projects through direct mail, personal contact with alumni, eNewsletters, alumni dinners, and telemarketing.

The following graph illustrates the growth of alumni giving and its contribution to the total college gift income over the past three fiscal years.

These figures represent the following contribution to total college gift income as follows:
2005 – 2006: 17.14% 2006 – 2007: 17.73% 2007 -2008: 53.2%

It is important to note that during June 2008 a $1.049 million gift matured, affecting income reports. Without that matured gift, alumni income for 2007-2008 fiscal period was $434,667.19, a 70.4% increase over 2006-2007 fiscal period. I continue to challenge the Alumni Board to lead the association by example in their giving and prayer habits.

This year we concluded the Historical Markers Project by installing six new markers in June. That increased the total number of markers to 21. Those Markers added were: Thomas H. White Photo Lab, Elementary School, Bandy Music Hall, Paul and Mary Williams Chapel, the Laundry, and The Tents. Special gratitude is extended to Trustee member and alumnae, Angela Ramage, for her dedicated and creative work researching and drafting material for each marker in this project.

In addition to commitments of time and financial resources, the board has committed to pairing with a fellow board member prayer partner to pray over college needs, alumni concerns, etc. I have been personally blessed by the prayer time I share with President Pat McGarvey bi-weekly.

One of my three-year goals when I first came into this position November 2005 was to increase communication with alumni through developing a monthly eNewsletter and interactive website. In May we launched our first eNewsletter in which we introduced our newest members, the graduates. Since then, our readership has grown exponentially to include alumni from 60 countries. We completely redesigned the alumni website, www.toccoafallsalumni.com, making it interactive and pertinent for today’s alumni. We hear regularly from missionaries and alumni in the armed forces who are appreciative of having a venue for updating their information and hearing fresh news regularly. These two projects have surpassed my expectations. Both are in large part due to the creativity of our Board Secretary, Mrs. Rebecca Anaya. Rebecca will be recognized during Homecoming as Alumnae of the Year for her dedicated and highly effective efforts.

Since January, I met with alumni in California while I was attending training sessions with Dr. Veydt. In addition I traveled to Texas to secure funding for three years from an alum who is supporting alumni efforts to host a senior reception during Homecoming. The challenge will be to secure funding from classes celebrating anniversaries each year to keep this new tradition going. A secondary goal is to establish alumni networking opportunities to our graduates.

The alumni office hosted several dinners this spring: Fort Meyers, Deltona, Warren, Ohio, New Castle, Pittsburgh, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Of special note is that those who attended the Pittsburgh dinner were 2006 graduates. What an encouragement to see our young alumni actively ministering in their communities and financially supporting their alma mater.

Church Relations
Since the last report to the Trustees, we’ve had two ministry teams travel throughout parts of the U. S., representing Toccoa Falls College. Our long-standing music team, Rejoice, traveled as far north as Maine, throughout New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and several states between there and Georgia. Their tour concluded in Florida. The five-member team was in churches and youth camps, primarily those affiliated with the C&MA.

The newly-formed Camp Support Team (CST) ministered to youths in six different camps, again, those primarily associated with the C&MA. Their six-week tour started in Poplar Point in Alabama and concluded with Mahaffey in Pennsylvania. The students were awarded a $1000 scholarship each for their summer ministry.

We have experienced a change in personnel within the Church Relations Director position. Short-term Director, Keith McElroy, resigned the end of August. Rev. Steve Hartman, a 1977 alumnus from Toccoa Falls College was hired to oversee that department. Steve brings over 30 years experience as Minister of Music with the Baptist denomination and a deep devotion to Toccoa Falls College. We welcome him and pledge to provide him the guidance and latitude to fulfill his mission in preparing young men and women for their outreach ministry of presenting the gospel through drama and music.

With changing church culture changes of declines in attendance and numbers of services offered at local churches, it continues to be a challenge to book a 12-week summer tour for Rejoice. However, because of our commitment to provide ministry opportunities to our students, to design strong recruiting methods, and to give local churches an opportunity to see the strength of our programs, we will continue to pursue this long-standing schedule until economics and ineffectiveness dictates otherwise.

Auditions were held in September, and because of student’s schedules and pre-committed Missions trips many students were prevented from auditioning, causing us to reformat the two groups. It was decided to blend the two teams of Rejoice and Proclamation and maintain Missions as our primary message.

We held a Church Relations retreat at Georgia Baptist Conference Center at Lake Louise during the first weekend in October which allowed us concentrated time to work closely with the newly formed combined team. The team will undergo a name change and will have their initial tour during Winterim 2009. This is a fourteen-day tour January 4 – 14. Missionaries-in-Residence, Gary and Amy Roedding will travel with the team.

Public Relations
Michael Shelley continues to do a great job as Director of Public Relations. He serves on several community committees, works closely with the Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce, and maintains close ties with other Campus department chairs to stay abreast of current college events and information.

In an effort to reduce printing and mailing expenses, we will introduce a combined Connections magazine and Annual Report publication this fall. The Annual Report will be a complete, separate report that will be saddle-stitched with the magazine. Also, back by popular demand will be a 12-month college calendar that will be mailed electronically to our alumni and donor base by mid-November.

Michael and Admissions Director, John Gailer, are working closely with Masterpiece Marketing to help redesign promotional material for recruiting and general public relations purposes.

In conclusion, it is evident that God’s Hand remains on each of us as we strive to serve Him in our various capacities with our God-given talents and abilities. He has blessed us with a dedicated staff to not only do our “work as unto the Lord” but also to do what we can to build His Kingdom through our efforts.

Respectfully Submitted,

Sharon Sanderson
Director for Alumni/College Relations