Universities and colleges all over the globe have some sort of Alumni and Development function within their institution.
This function is designed to enhance relationships with alumni and former staff whilst simultaneously enhancing the experience of current students and staff at the institution.
Read more: Why should I give back to my University or College? | LinkedIn.
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Tuesday, June 24, 2014 | 1:00 PM ET
Erica Waasdorp, Author, Monthly Giving: The Sleeping Giant
Friends or Funds?
C.A.S.E. Focus Group Dishes Out the Age Old Debate: Is it better to build relationships, or bank accounts?
Summary: Take a moment to consider your alumni association’s main focus. What are your goals? What holds value in your organization? Would you rather have ten thousand members, or ten thousand dollars? On the same hand, do good members make for good earnings? A recent Council for Advancement and Support of Education (C.A.S.E.) focus group collaborated to touch on this topic to determine which is better.
By Vanessa Chase — Writer, Non-Profit Collaborator, Philanthropy Advocate.
Storytelling is an important tool that non-profits are using in fundraising and communications. But perhaps its most important role is being able to forge relationships with constituents in a scalable way. Especially when it comes to annual giving stewardship
Phone calls take time and so do handwritten notes. Planning appreciation events can be costly and you might not have a good turn out. Conducting donor visits would also be out of the question for most annual giving folks.
So what solution is left?
What I would like to advocate for is a major donor-esque approach to annual giving stewardship – accountability report.
Nonprofit storytelling is a very hot topic lately, although it is hardly a new practice for our sector. But how does storytelling, which appeals to the heart and the imagination, blend with the stringent measurement requirements that so many institutional funders now insist upon? Is there a mixture that works to engage both donors and supporters for the long haul?
Do Storytelling and Data Have Chemistry in Your Fundraising World? – NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly.
Organizations that want to persuade people in their 20s and early 30s to give and volunteer don’t have much of a chance if they’re not updating their Web sites frequently and including compelling details about their causes and the people they serve, a new survey finds.
Three out of four donors born from 1979 to 1994—a generation often referred to as “millennials”—said they were turned off when a nonprofit’s Web site had not been updated recently. Six in 10 said they wanted nonprofits to share stories about successful projects and programs and appreciated information about an organization’s cause and the people it serves.
Have you ever thought of your alumni relations activities as the preeminent part of your school’s advancement effort? Or do your colleague have an “I-suppose-it’s-important-but-I’m-not-really-sure-what-they-do” mentality about your staff? Far too often, alumni relations is seen as a second-class citizen in development, sort of a simple minded cousin that the family lets hang around.
A Fresh Look at Alumni Relations: Connect to improve fund raising.
– http://fundraisingcoach.com/free-articles/a-fresh-look-at-alumni-relations/
On August 1, Google quietly launched Google Wallet for the Web – and the technology has the possibility of transforming online and mobile fundraising as we’ know it. Described simply, donors can sign up for a Google Wallet account, enter and save their credit card information, and then donate to any nonprofit (or purchase from any online store) that has a Google Wallet merchant account with only two clicks of a mouse (or two taps on a tablet). Continue reading
When Giving Online is Not Ideal | Idealware.
As fundraisers we dream about the new frontier of online giving as a potential golden ticket for reaching younger or more tech savvy donors. Driving everyone to give online, in monthly installments, is all the rage. But what happens when a donor wants to give $1000 or more? Is there potential negative organizational impact in accepting large gifts online?
Have you looked at your alumni and giving data? You might just notice two patterns that sum it all up. Review this paper by Peter B. Wylie to see the two patterns that every major giving professional should see . . .