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Our musings on alumni and donor engagement…

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Going from Good to Great in Alumni Engagement
Going from Good to Great in Alumni Engagement

The problem is that there are few volunteer opportunities at most colleges and universities. The existing ones are often different types of boards or councils with few spots available. Most of these boards exist almost exclusively to create more events! I firmly believe that more events aren’t the answer.

Alumless with Howard Heevner, Cal Berkeley
Alumless with Howard Heevner, Cal Berkeley

Check out this Alumless episode from Friday, July 19th, 2024, where we dive into annual giving strategies. We're thrilled to feature Howard Heevner, Executive Director of Annual Programs at UC Berkeley. We'll discuss systemic challenges in annual giving, innovative approaches to connecting with rising generations, and the findings from a major alumni giving study. Plus, hear about Howard's insights on providing personalized giving opportunities and the impact of giving days on universities

Alumless with Charlie Melichar, Foster Avenue
Alumless with Charlie Melichar, Foster Avenue

We've got a great show for our Alumless community this week. Join us for a conversation with Charlie Melichar, Principal at Foster Avenue. In the episode, we'll discuss best practices for campaign communications and how advancement leaders connect mar/com work with engagement.

A Warm CMAC Welcome to Melissa Schipke!
A Warm CMAC Welcome to Melissa Schipke!

If you caught last week's episode of Alumless, you heard the big news: Melissa Schipke is joining our team to help roll out a new practice area for CMAC offering managed services for engagement analytics.

Alumless with Melissa Schipke and Jenny Cooke Smith
Alumless with Melissa Schipke and Jenny Cooke Smith

Join us for a special edition of Alumless, where we delve into the world of alumni and donor engagement metrics. Our esteemed guests, Jenny Cooke Smith, Senior Director, CASE Insights Solutions, and Melissa Schipke, Founder and CEO of Tassl, bring their extensive expertise to the table. On the show, we’ll explore what the CASE Insights survey on Alumni engagement has taught us about the field and what we've learned about metrics.

Alumless with Sallie Sistare, Denison University
Alumless with Sallie Sistare, Denison University

On this episode of Alumless, we're featuring special guest Sallie Sistare, Executive Director for Alumni and Family Engagement at Denison University. We'll chat with Sallie about the school's unique value proposition and how they've worked to develop and strengthen approaches to providing students and alumni involvement opportunities in the career space.

Going from Good to Great in Alumni Engagement
Going from Good to Great in Alumni Engagement

Although we’re routinely hired when a team is going through a total rebuilding phase, advancement vice presidents, more often than not, look to us for help going from good to great.

Alumless with Andrew Gossen, Cornell University
Alumless with Andrew Gossen, Cornell University

Don't miss this must-watch episode of Alumless with special guest Andrew Gossen, Executive Director for Communications, Marketing, and Participation in the Office of Alumni Affairs & Development at Cornell University.

GRAPHIC: The relationship between alumni engagement and donor pipeline development

Several months ago I wrote an article called The Future of Alumni Relations is Donor Engagement. It seemed to strike a chord, and I received more feedback about that article than any other I've ever written. Ever since I've been trying to figure out how to turn the concepts in the article into a graphic that encompasses all facets of the modern system advancement offices are working to deploy in order to activate alumni and cultivate low and mid-level donors in order to hand-off those donors to development and major gifts colleagues.

I've played around with the idea of the engagement funnel before. It felt incomplete then but still relevant and pointing in the right direction. Since then CASE has offered us four categories for alumni engagement to incorporate into the system and organize ourselves.

I'm sure there are components missing! What are they?

One missing component, I think, that has a role in the funnel is stewardship. How would you apply it to the funnel model? To me, it's a part of every engagement or interaction, but can't necessarily be layered on top of the system as a whole.

I tried to:

  • Apply the philosophy that everyone is a donor - past, present, and future

  • Alumni are a special audience segment and need special treatment, but are still donors - past, present, and future

  • Incorporate CASE's Alumni Engagement Metrics

  • Reflect a "digital-first" approach to alumni engagement and philanthropy

  • Acknowledge the primary role of social media not just for marketing, but for building a community of brand advocates

  • Separate the marketing and promotion of engagement initiatives with the direct response marketing around giving

  • Build into the strategy four key philanthropy themes relevant for all schools and universities and how they might fit into a content strategy

Clearly, when broken down to roles and responsibilities, there's an opportunity for Alumni, Annual Giving, Marketing & Communications, Career Services, and Donor Relations teams to all be thinking of themselves as part of one Donor Engagement unit. Would this help break down silos within advancement and alumni teams?

One thing that seems clear to me too is that the focus on marketing, communications and activating brand advocates should have us thinking beyond philanthropy. How does could this system be reengineered with goals for enrollment and retention?

Ryan is an engagement strategist and consultant with Chris Marshall Advancement Consulting  Washburn & McGoldrick, and Network Catalyst with Protopia. Follow Ryan on twitter @RyanCatherwood or on Instagram @rcatherwood. Listen to the web show Alum-Less live on LinkedIn, every-other-Friday at 11:30 am ET, or check out the podcast edition.

Ryan Catherwood