Chris Marshall Advancement Consulting
GPS for Alumni Relations

The CMAC Blog

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.

Community Highlight: Four Questions with Binghamton's Matthew Winston Jr.

Now that you know who's behind the CMAC LinkedIn page, we figured it'd be fun for everyone to get to know some of our followers!

Matthew Winston is Executive Director for Alumni Engagement at Binghamton University. He's been a great supporter of the Alumless podcast, and his name was first to mind when we talked about launching these short features.

"Four Questions for our Featured Follower" kicks off with Matthew Winston!

What do you find most exciting about alumni engagement work?

It probably sounds cliché, but I truly enjoy helping alumni build a real relationship with their alma mater – especially when the graduate’s motivation is driven by pride for their school, fond memories of their experiences, an appreciation of the relationships they built, and a desire to make it all better for the people that come behind them. When they come to you with or you can extract that kind of passion, there are so many great things that the alums and the institution can do together.

One of your passions is finding ways to include alumni who may have felt invisible or marginalized. What is your advice to other engagement officers who are working to do the same?

Alumni from under-represented, under-engaged communities often times have as much if not more passion for their alma mater than the stereotypical “rah-rah” graduate. Engagement professionals should know that often those alumni developed a friend/support network that is incredibly strong, because they bonded around their shared feelings of discomfort. Often they have strong affinity for a support program, a mentor, or an affinity group even more than they do for the institution. And these alumni typically are motivated about improving the experience for future students.

Embrace the passion they have. Acknowledge their journey and celebrate their successes resulting from it. And cultivate an alumni community around the shared experience of those former students.

And then be intentional about pulling from that pool of talent to engage them in other ways (boards, committees, volunteers, speakers). They will become your greatest champions if you show you value them.

Binghamton's alumni engagement team is growing! What positions are you hiring for, and why are they critical to your team's success?

Like every institution, our alumni population gets larger, younger, and more diverse with each graduating class. So we are excited to grow our team in strategic areas to serve those communities. We are fortunate to have created positions that will better engage our communities of color and difference, our young alumni population, and student programs.

You can choose just ONE app to keep on your phone. Which app do you pick, and why?

Tough to choose, because I have apps that serve me in so many different ways. The social media apps do keep me connected to people; some apps help me find things or know the weather so I can dress properly; some get me discounts or make purchasing easier, while still others – like gaming apps – help me just disconnect for a bit and try to keep mentally sharp. But if you are going to make me choose one, it would have to be one of the apps that I have songs on, b/c I love music so much.

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We're grateful to Matthew Winston for taking the time to answer these four questions – and thanks to all of you for reading! Who would you like to hear from next? -KI

Kim Infanti