Developing a Database and Outreach Strategy for Maria Mitchell Association Camps

Sponsor:	Maria Mitchell Association (MMA)
Sponsor Liaison:	Joanna Roche, Executive Director
Student Team:	Jack Forsyth, Ella Hughes, Mason Savage
Abstract:	This project created the foundation for a new alumni network for the Maria Mitchell Association’s summer camps. We digitized twenty years of camper records, built a searchable alumni database, and conducted outreach through email, text, and social media to reconnect with former campers. Low response rates reflected incomplete historical records and the limited long-term attachment typical of day camps. The project offers strategies to improve data collection and strengthen future alumni engagement.
Link:	MMA Final Presentation  MMA Final Report

Executive Summary

For over a century, the Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) on Nantucket Island has welcomed thousands of children to its summer camps on Nantucket, introducing them to local ecosystems, marine life, and night sky through Maria Mitchell’s philosophy of “learning by doing.” While parents, teachers, and staff have long believed these experiences are meaningful, the MMA has had limited ways to stay in touch with former campers or to understand how camp may have shaped their education, careers, and relationship with the environment.

Our goal was to document past campers’ participation, begin reconnecting with alumni with MMA, and explore how their experiences at camp may have influenced their lives. We focused on three main objectives:

• To create a foundation for a database of former MMA campers who are currently 18 years of age or older, that the MMA can use to consolidate contact information and organize camper records into one updateable system.
• To determine effective methods for the MMA to contact previous Alumni campers and produce methods to help in the further development of the MMA Camp Alumni Network.
• To solicit recollections from selected camp alumni and gain information on the camp’s influence on their lives and worldwide views, and for use by the MMA in future fundraising and promotional activities.

Methods Overview:

To reach these objectives, we combined archival work, digital outreach, and qualitative interviews.

Building the Alumni Database

The MMA’s historic camp records were spread across paper forms, binders, and partially complete electronic records. We manually reviewed and digitized paper registration forms from the years 2000-2004, 2010, 2018-2019, and 2022.

We updated and verified these records using a tiered search process that included Google, social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram), online directories, and feedback from MMA staff We identified 1,300 unique camper entries, of which 498 included an email address; however, only about 200 email addresses were complete and legible enough to be useable for outreach.

Outreach to past campers and parents

To begin recruiting participants for the MMA Camp Alumni Network (MMA CAN), we distributed an outreach survey via multiple channels:

• the MMA’s e-Comet newsletter,
• a new MMA Camp Alumni Network Facebook group,
• posts and stories on MMA’s Instagram and Facebook accounts,
• an email blast to approximately 9,000 contacts through FloDesk,
• individual outreach emails text messages to addresses and phone numbers from digitized records, and
• a new Alumni Network announcement on MMA’s website.

The goal of this outreach was to invite former campers (or families of former campers) to update their contact information, express interest in staying connected, and, if willing, participate in future interviews or surveys. Despite our efforts to advertise the MMA CAN to as many people as possible, we received a low response rate of only 8 former campers who filled out the form.

Collecting Alumni Recollections

We designed an alumni survey and two interview scripts, one for alumni and one for parents, to explore the long-term impact of camp. Due to low response rates and limited verified contact information, the survey was not formally launched during our project period.

Key Findings

Our work produced both concrete products for the MMA and important lessons about the challenge of building an alumni network after many years of limited tracking.

1. The MMA now has a foundational alumni database, but historical records are fragmented.
2. Broad outreach alone generated very few confirmed alumni responses.
3. Personal relationships are critical to alumni engagement.
4. Day camps face unique challenges sustaining long-term attachment.

Conclusion

Although our project did not yield the volume of responses we had hoped for, it revealed important structural barriers that the MMA will need to address to develop a successful Camp Alumni Network. Importantly, Research and our experience indicate that residential, multi-week camps tend to foster alumni’s stronger identity and loyalty than short-term day camps. MMA’s programs, while impactful during childhood, may not automatically create the same long-lasting sense of belonging unless staff intentionally build and maintain relationships over time.

Our primary conclusion is that building an alumni community requires two investments:

• Accurate, real-time data systems that collect and maintain camper and family contact information while they are actively involved in; and
• Intentional relationship-building during and after the camp experience, so that former campers feel a continuing sense of connection and are more likely to respond when contacted years later.

Our work established the initial infrastructure to establish a robust alumni community network, a digitized database, outreach templates, a contact form, a new Facebook group, and interview materials, that future teams and MMA staff can build upon. At the same time, it underscored that more effective strategies for engagement will emerge from long-term, consistent practices rather than one-time campaigns.

Recommendations

We offer two sets of recommendations: one focused on strengthening the alumni network infrastructure and one focused on deepening alumni engagement over time.

1. Recommendations for Strengthening the MMA Alumni Network

These recommendations focus on improving the accuracy and organization required to maintain contact with alumni over time.

Continue expanding and verifying the alumni database

• Update missing/incomplete information using staff knowledge and public searches
• Grow the network through referrals from verified alumni

Launch the alumni survey once the contact list is larger

• Finalize content to ensure relevancy for alumni
• Include incentives to improve participation

Implement a formal outreach protocol

• Use standardized message templates and scheduled follow-ups
• Track outreach attempts and responses in a shared system
• Include text messaging to increase response rates

Maintain the database annually

• Add all current-year campers and verify information each summer
• Standardize which data fields to enter and flag incomplete entries

These actions will create a reliable and updateable foundation that future teams can easily build on rather than restarting efforts each year.

2. Recommendations for Alumni Engagement

These strategies focus on building strong personal connections that motivate alumni to remain involved.

Engage alumni before, during, and after each camp season

• Share pre-camp welcome messages to foster familiarity with families
• Include alumni stories during camp
• Conduct post-camp follow-ups to keep momentum and connection

Strengthen personal relationships between staff and campers

• Encourage continued communication from counselors and staff
• Share alumni accomplishments and memories publicly
• Emphasize relationship-based outreach which has proven most effective

Pair personal engagement with alumni-focused events

• Continue planning for the 2026 reunion and future annual events
• Include interactive activities that support networking
• Use events as opportunities for alumni to rejoin in ongoing MMA programs

These strategies can help cultivate a sense of belonging that motivates alumni to stay involved long-term, which is especially important for day camps that lack the residential experience of an overnight camp.