Gonzaga College High School

Gonzaga College High School takes pride in its nearly 200-year history of providing a rigorous, values-driven curriculum for young men in the heart of the nation’s capital. But for all its triumphs—from a loyal community of parents and alumni to a seasoned staff—Gonzaga faced a challenge: It needed to move its legacy information systems to cloud-based, modernized systems.

 

A partnership with Blackbaud helped to reimagine the way Gonzaga connects its entire community of teachers and staff, parents and students, and donors and friends. The school’s digital transformation yielded immediate results: more families applying, revenue growth, and a drop in late payments—plus invaluable cost and time savings.

Phasing in Change

Gonzaga first became a Blackbaud customer in the mid-90s with simple database tools. Over the years, Gonzaga’s leaders recognized the need for digital growth to provide an exceptional school experience. But they also recognized the challenges that would accompany such change.

The Cloud Solution for K–12 Schools brings together a suite of tools designed specifically for schools such as Gonzaga. Scott Blair, the school’s director of information systems, proposed a gradual cloud solution rollout that would connect every aspect of the school—from records, tuition, and enrollment management to fundraising and its entire online presence—with a strategic change management approach.

Gonzaga’s administrative leadership supported Blair’s proposal, and Blair and other key personnel, including Gonzaga’s chief operations officer, got to work. “With each successful implementation comes more benefits for our community and more confidence in moving to the next Blackbaud product,” Blair said.

Gonzaga started in the summer of 2017 with a revamp of its “front door”: the website that serves as a digital introduction to the school. A new content management system provided a sleek, responsive website with an easy-to-manage design that uses industry best practices. Gonzaga hired a senior marketing and communications director—a critical step in building the new website, since it involved front-end marketing and communications as well as back-end data configurations.

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