It’s the second week of February. According to U.S. News and World Report, if you’re like most people, you’ve probably already failed at 80% of your New Year’s resolutions. I love this time of year for this reason. When we start to struggle with our cliché or unrealistic resolutions, we get the chance to have… Continue Reading Forget Those Cliché Resolutions: 4 Goals for High-Impact Fundraisers in 2019
What if you could figure out exactly how undergraduate involvement influences future giving and use it to find alumni donors and leaders waiting for your call? Fundraising in higher education is hard. Not only is it challenging to identify donors with the capacity to give, you have to find those who also want to give.… Continue Reading Stop Wasting Your Gift Officers’ Time: Interview with Joseph Volin on Engagement Metrics
In the age of digital disruption, how do you cut through the noise to identify which major technological trends have substance? Recently, my colleagues and I had a discussion about PowerPoint. In the beginning, PowerPoint was lauded as a breakthrough solution in business communication. In fact, it became downright pervasive. Then PowerPoint faced a… Continue Reading Do You Really Need Tech for Alumni Philanthropy? How Indecision Could Hurt You
We’ve generated a lot of ideas and discussion about how to engage alumni through story lately, including our first digital Idea Lab session, but what about engaging alumni through history? One of the most effective ways to forge (or reforge!) the connection between alumni and their alma mater is through nostalgia—by reminding them of how their experiences at the… Continue Reading How to Reach Alumni through Nostalgia & History: Spotlight on K-State Memorial Stadium
On Thursday, September 28, 2017, ALUMinate held its first digital Idea Lab session, “Engaging Alumni with Story.” This hour long member-only session was a featured opportunity for all ALUMinate Research Consortium members. All participants received a complimentary copy of Esther Choy’s Let the Story Do the Work. Five institutions (Notre Dame University, Kansas State University, Reed… Continue Reading Top Takeaways from Our First Idea Lab Session: Engaging Alumni with Story
Engaging alumni can be a real challenge. We know there are a plethora of solutions out there, but have you considered storytelling as a way of reaching alumni? What does storytelling have to do with raising alumni engagement and philanthropy levels? A lot, actually! How alumni identify with their alma mater in the institution’s broader story after they graduate… Continue Reading How to Engage Alumni with Story
In our recent welcome questionnaire, we asked all Research Consortium members, “What is your most pressing question or concern about alumni engagement and philanthropy?” Second to the topic of career services and alumni, the most popular response was research and content related to engaging young alumni. You aren’t alone. According to the results of the… Continue Reading 4 Ways You’re Neglecting Young Alumni
If we think of regional alumni outreach as a recipe, what are the key ingredients? ✓ Strong volunteers and leadership ✓ Dedicated staff ✓ Relevant programming and events ✓ Open communication ✓ Effective use of alumni data Another ingredient that is often overlooked is web presence. When your alumni visit their local club or chapter’s website,… Continue Reading Five Secrets to Effective Alumni Club Websites
*Image info: Eck Vistors Center, Home of Notre Dame Alumni Association. Photo Credit: Copyright © 2017 University of Notre Dame Campus Tour. We’ve already discussed the challenges of engaging alumni in our first post, but what if we consider this from the other end? What can we learn by taking an in-depth look at an alumni association that… Continue Reading How Notre Dame Creates a Culture of Alumni Engagement
When you think about your institution’s alumni, who do you picture? What is their age? Gender? Race? Religious affiliation? Political leaning? Where do they live? Where do they work? What is their income? Do they have a family? What are their passions? If you had trouble picturing an average alum — or if you resisted… Continue Reading Secrets to the Alumni Lifecycle