The Ruppigonia Solodorensis association enters a new online era

To read a German version of this case study, click here.

Headquartered in Solothurn, Ruppigonia Solodorensis is an alumni association for the Solothurn Canton School in Switzerland. The association’s 500 active members reside in many countries around the world and include both current and former students. Founded in 1895, the long-running association continues to hold a number of events throughout the year.

The need to reduce membership attrition rates
Information pertaining to events organised by the Ruppigonia Solodorensis association was not integrated with the organisation’s website, and had to be circulated to alumni members using newsletters and periodicals.

“The manual distribution of information was inefficient, expensive and entailed a considerable administrative workload,” said Rainer von Arx, President of the Ruppigonia Solodorensis association. “What’s more, the lack of any automated administrative system meant that data regarding members’ contact details or length of membership was not always up-to-date.”

Experiencing a gradual decline in the number of alumni members who participated in events, the association was looking for a more effective means of sharing information to promote greater involvement and interest from current and new members.

“It became increasingly apparent that we required a web-based solution, “said Rainer von Arx, “However, it needed to be highly customised to meet the needs of our association. In particular, the solution needed to be accessible to older alumni members who are not very well-versed in using the internet.”

The WebSphere solution
The Ruppigonia Solodorensis association worked with IBM Business Partner masc ag to design and implement a powerful web-based solution based on IBM DB2 Express Edition data server and IBM WebSphere Application Server Express software.

“Our impressions of masc ag were very positive,” said Rainer von Arx. “They were professional, efficient and unbureaucratic. The collaboration turned out to be easy – we just gave them a written list of our requirements and they created a suitable prototype with our corporate identity fully integrated.”

The masc-ima solution uses IBM WebSphere Application Server to run the web frontend, while the IBM DB2 data server provides a stable data repository. The solution provides a fast, secure and reliable environment that enables maximum efficiency and optimal use of the association’s resources.

The new web-based solution enables both the general public and the 500 alumni members of Ruppigonia Solodorensis to access information related to the association online. While only limited information is accessible to non-members, authorised alumni can register on the association’s database via the official public homepage and are issued with login details and a password to access a secure database containing member addresses, invoices and forums. Members now can also access an online calendar to view forthcoming Ruppigonia Solodorensis events that are maintained by official database administrators. In addition, the solution includes several social media features, such as online event registration and views of which members are planning to attend events.

Administrators are also using the solution to sort and manage membership data. A birthday directory has been created to record the milestone birthdays of members, and the solution also enables the automatic calculation of length of membership, making it easier to coordinate the association’s tradition of bestowing honours on long-term members.

An investment in the future
“We anticipate that the solution from IBM and masc ag will help us to achieve higher levels of member participation by promoting the more active involvement of members in all matters related to the association. The web-based solution is already helping to improve communication between the different generations of alumni members, and the simple, easy-to-use web interface is proving to be manageable for the older members of our community.”

The new solution has already produced positive results in terms of events promotion. “This year we used the WebSphere solution to promote our annual Christmas event and we had about 20-25 percent higher attendance than usual,” said Rainer von Arx.

The solution has also made life easier for the Ruppigonia Solodorensis association’s administrators.

“We estimate that the solution has saved us somewhere between 30 to 40 percent in the overall administration time required to coordinate the association’s activities,” said Rainer von Arx.

The use of email to send out newsletters and events information has helped the association to become more environmentally friendly, distribute information more quickly, and also make savings in paper and mailing costs. In addition, the association is able to comply with commitments to sponsors by ensuring that newsletters contain links to sponsors’ web pages.

Furthermore, the increased visibility of member information has enhanced data quality, as members are able to detect when an e-mail address is incorrect or not up-to-date and inform the association’s administrators. In addition, improved management of membership data has enabled administrators to better identify former members of the association and target them to re-join – enabling the association to recoup membership fees.

“The WebSphere solution is an investment in the future of the Ruppigonia Solodorensis association and we feel confident it will serve us well as we seek to consolidate and expand our membership,” said Rainer von Arx.

About masc ag
The IBM Business Partner masc ag was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Rotkreuz near Zurich in Switzerland. The company offers services and products in several areas: the alignment of IT strategies with business requirements; system architecture, especially service-oriented architectures (SOA); the installation and configuration of IBM software; the development and customisation of standard applications; and bespoke software development based on IBM Rational^® solutions with IBM WebSphere, IBM CICS^® Transaction Server and IBM DB2.