17 Apr
Case Studies – Reynolds College
The complexities of event planning in higher education are numerous. Given the various stakeholders in any college community (faculty, staff, students, community members, donors, administration, family, and more), the sheer variety and different scale of events on an annual college event calendar make planning a unique challenge. But the importance of these events is unquestionable – whether events are designed toward building a vibrant school community, fundraising, school registration or student logistics, or academic in nature, colleges operate based on their ability to coordinate successful and productive events.
This is precisely where RSVPify steps in, providing a reliable solution that streamlines the intricate event planning process, allowing colleges and their planning teams to focus their energy on what truly matters—raising vital funds, creating a memorable and productive academic experience, and fostering community support. From meet-and-greets with school administration to major commencement ceremonies involving thousands of attendees, RSVPify offers scaleable event management software designed to meet the unique needs of dozens or hundreds of annual college events in one simple platform.
With that in mind, RSVPify sat down with Ariel Cole, CMP and Events and Conference Services Manager, to learn more about how Reynolds Community College has leveraged our software for years to handle the unique needs of their academic community.
About Reynolds College
Academic Community: Reynolds Community College is a two-year university based in Virginia. It serves more than 11,000 students annually and 5,500 learners through its workforce development division, the Community College Workforce Alliance. Reynolds Community College serves students in City of Richmond, Goochland County, Hanover County, Henrico County, Louisa County, Powhatan County.
Academic Programs:
- 103 unique programs of study
- Guaranteed admissions agreements with more than 50 four-year colleges and universities.
- Advance College Academies for high school students in Goochland County, Hanover County, Henrico County, and Powhatan County
- Early College Academy for high school students in the City of Richmond
Challenges Reynolds faced before using RSVPify
So how did Reynolds and RSVPify end up planning events together? Here’s what Ariel had to say:
- “When I started in 2016 there was really nothing in place for event registration. You know, (we) were taking event registrations by email or over the phone, and then creating spreadsheets or lists or things like that (manually). So when I got here, I was like, let’s try to automate this a little bit, you know, and organize it a little bit.”
- “As you can imagine, as a community college, our budget is not great. It’s tiny. So I was trying to find something that was affordable. And that would at least help gather event registrations and an automated way in which I could run a report and not have to be doing that manually.”
- “Too many (RSVPify competitors) were over the top, features that we didn’t need. Why would I pay for all that if I don’t need it? But other ones where, you know, I still wanted to step up the professionalism of the events, and how they look, and how they present. And so some of those other platforms, I just didn’t feel like had the same professional look”
How RSVPify helped Reynolds
Once Reynolds knew they wanted event management software to solve some of these pain points for higher education event planning, they began working with RSVPify. Here are some of the solutions RSVPify offered that appealed specifically to Reynolds:
On RSVPify’s event management tools:
- “The ability to copy previous events or clone previous events is super helpful for me, and I would think a lot of people at a university or college setting, because we have so many annual events. (With RSVPify) I can at least start from last year’s version and tweak it versus having to start all over again. So I love that”
- “I really like the event sharing feature now, because I use it for multiple things across campus. I can collaborate with certain people on a certain event without them seeing other things right? Because I may work with Student Life on something, but I don’t really want them seeing the donor”
- “Since we started using it (in 2016), I feel like it’s just gotten better and better”
On the ability to customize and control event planning
- “It kind of runs the whole gamut on what type of events we use it for, which look different. Some are just, are you coming? Yes or no? And then, like my commencement registration, it’s kind of in depth, because I wanna ask them all these questions. It’s flexible, like I can use it for something as simple as are you coming to this dinner party, or you know, I need all this information for you for you to be able to walk at commencement.”
- “I feel like the tool has been able to to grow with us”
- “We’ve collected a ton of good data (in our account dashboard)”
On simplicity and affordability
- “Our events mostly were not ticketed. They were just are just free for donor relations and things like that where it’s like, I don’t wanna charge my donors to come. I just want them to come for a stewardship event. RSVPify was able to do like that just a simple “yes, I’m coming” versus some of the other ones I looked at were confusing. They might make donors ask “Do I actually need a ticket?” even though it doesn’t cost anything so, and while there’s a ticketing feature(in RSVPify), we could still make it simple”.
- “You checked these important boxes for us when it came to affordability”
- “It was simple and easy to use, simple for the guests and simple for the user too. Ease of use for both the guest and admin side”
Partner with RSVPify for your higher education events
Are you looking to save countless hours planning higher education events like Reynolds? Have questions about how RSVPify can partner with your organization to provide a custom suite of event planning tools designed for streamlining your upcoming fundraisers, student life functions, commencement events, or donor relations?
You can contact our Sales team here to book a demo and learn more about features, pricing tiers, and features specifically designed for higher education users.
RSVPify is proud to partner with hundreds of education institutions from around the world, to help these organizations continue the vital work that they do and spend less time on the mundane duties of event planning. We’re excited to meet you and help tailor a solution to fit your organization.
