Maintaining accurate data is key.
By Joel Curry at UniversityBusiness.com
March 2007
Building healthy relationships with your alumni can lead to connections that last a lifetime. However, in a day and age where alumni constantly move, marry, divorce, travel, and switch jobs, universities must ask themselves one simple question: “Are we successfully aligning our data to reflect our alumni’s many life changes?”
Most fundraising offices will agree that mature and settled alumni are more likely to be better donors over time. It is no surprise that universities that have figured out how to keep in touch with these alumni have consistently solicited higher levels of donations.
Lost letters equal lower response rates, which is a key factor in determining the success of your campaign. To the dismay of many universities, inaccurate alumni data may be hurting outreach and fundraising efforts.