Engaging Alumni And Building An Advancement Portal

Engaging Alumni and Building an
Advancement Portal
Kelley Jarrett and Dominic Taverniti
Internet Solutions Managers
March 5, 2010

Engaging Alumni & Building an Advancement Portal

Engaging Alumni In Today’s Economy

Acquisition Cultivation

Page #2 Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Charleston | Kelley Jarrett and Dominic Taverniti | Page #2


Why Should We Engage Alumni More Now Than Ever Before?

Just under half of all alumni giving comes from individuals
– Many schools and institutions get hung up on large gifts
– Today’s $25 donor can become a major donor in the future
In the past few years, alumni giving has dropped each year while
overall giving has increased.
– Losing alumni to competitive non profits
– Young alumni trending to cause-based giving
Young alumni have generally been less likely to give
– Beginning their careers
– Spending limited incomes on starting families, repaying student loans
or graduate school.

2008 Voluntary Support of Education Report, CAE
Indiana University Center on Philanthropy
Tactical Philanthropy Blog


Younger alumni have never been a large share of the overall
alumni giving population
– Historically, in up economic times, this wasn’t as noticeable.
– In today’s economy, young alumni need to be engaged early to
increase overall share and get attention before distraction.
Proximity encouraged alumni to stay involved
– Alumni are now more likely than past generations to take jobs that
are geographically far from alma mater
Many schools lose relevance upon a student’s graduation.
– New graduates have little interest in the alumni magazines that are a
major way schools communicate with alumni
– Younger alumni don’t respond well to direct mail solicitation
The more alumni are engaged with their alma mater, the more
they will donate their time, money and resources back to the
school. 2008 Voluntary Support of Education Report, CAE
Indiana University Center on Philanthropy
Tactical Philanthropy Blog


How Can We Better Engage Our Alumni?

Analysis Action



Analysis

1.Audience Needs
• Segmentation
• Needs
• Habits

2.Strategic Goals
• Raise Money
• Increase Participation
• Increase communication
• Many young alumni don’t write checks, or own stamps – know your
constituent groups



Action

1. Communicate
• Educate audiences
– Progress towards goals, online community initiatives
• Many alumni don’t understand why it’s important to donate
• Student loans do not = giving
• Marketing
– How, when, where and how often?
• Branding – consistency of look/feel and messaging



Action

2. Community Building
• Solve proximity issue – engage via online
groups/networks
• “Why wait four months for ‘class notes’ when you could
simply check Facebook to see what a friend is up to?”
• Microsite/alumni portal
• Let your alumni do the work
– Class Agents
– Email and Page Sharing
– Group Networking



Action
3. Ask
• Many schools communicate with alumni as if writing a check is the
normal way to give.
• Many young alumni don’t write checks, or own stamps – know your
constituent groups
• Schools need to reevaluate what constitutes ‘giving.’
• A recent graduate may not be able to afford an annual gift of $200, but
they can become a mentor.
• Focus on the impact of individual support
• Schools rewarding only major giving may backfire
– why should an alumnus give $50 when the local library or soup kitchen can point to an
immediate need (and no million-dollar donors)?
• Clear call to action



What Can You Do?
1. Online/Offline worlds collide

2. One voice, one line of communication, one central
source of information

3. Disparate Data = Not as Powerful

4. Efficiency is King!



Segment your audience.
– Encourage alumni to attend events and volunteer. Segment and
personalize your online message.
– You know the obvious segments (class year, geography, etc.), but you
should also consider segmenting based on interests, participation level,
event involvement, etc. to further engage with your alumni.
Launch marketing efforts.
– Generate excitement about your online community via multiple marketing
channels including traditional methods such as email and direct mail as well
as new mediums such as Facebook® and Twitter®.
– Know how your audience responds to each medium so that you can begin
to segment based on what’s successful with each group.
Educate your audience.
– Don’t assume your alumni know what an online community is, how to use
an interactive website or where to find it.
– Follow up with targeted emails outlining the benefits of joining the
community (alumni virtual community, directories, social and career
networking).



Utilize targeted content.
– In an in-person meeting, you discuss topics with personal relevance
– Personalizing their online experience will help them feel more connected to
your school, and it’s also proven to increase involvement.
Analyze your web traffic.
– Knowing where your alumni are spending time on your site allows you to
message to them effectively.
– make strategic decisions about how to communicate more efficiently and
effectively with different alumni groups that you serve
Solicit feedback.
– Don’t assume you know what your constituents want.
– Use polls, surveys, and preferences to really understand how to interact
with all of your alumni community.
– Combine these with what you already know and have learned about them in
your offline efforts to develop personas, create like-minded groups and get
more bang for your communication buck.



Encourage participation.
– You want your alumni to participate in every way – events, volunteer,
mentorships, participation, etc.
– Give users the ability to fundraise and share their own stories, comments
and needs; allow other alumni to respond.
Promote stewardship.
– Share successes, ideas and thoughts to help communicate what you’re
doing to further your mission. Doing this in a targeted, efficient way both
online and off will help them understand all the wonderful and helpful things
you’re doing for them and their alma mater daily.
Stimulate the senses.
– When in-person is simply not an option, consider using multimedia to
enhance your site and make it visually appealing – videos, photos,
podcasts, etc are a great way to share your school’s culture and make an
online connection feel as close to in-person contact as possible.
Keep content fresh.
– A stale site results in less return visitors. Keep it simple and up to date
with new content daily to encourage repeat visits.


Engaging Alumni And Building An Advancement Portal

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