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Just as it is important not to miss the opportunity of inviting students into a lifetime relationship with the institution at convocation or during orientation, it’s also critical to manage the opportunity presented by the students’ transition out of their undergraduate years. Many institutions miss the chance to educate students about the real role of private giving in the institution’s financial health and set the wrong expectations for their future alumni by relying on gimmicks to improve senior gift participation rates. What Doesn’t Work For example, here are three tactics that, while they may help drive up senior gift participation rates, also damage your ability to engage the seniors effectively as alumni later: Treating the gift as a “quid pro quo” by offering a t-shirt, tickets to an athletic event, or a university coffee mug to students who give — this sets the expectation that when your future young alumni give to the institution, they receive something tangible in return Asking that every student give one dollar — when the gift ceases to be meaningful, you gain participation rate at the expense of your renewal rate “Shaming” seniors into giving by publishing the names of students who do not participate in the […]

Even as the demand in international markets for a US education continues to rise, more institutions are responding to budget pressures in part by stepping up recruitment of international students, who typically bring significantly more tuition revenue than domestic students. According to the Institute of International Education, in 2008-09, more than 26,000 Chinese students were enrolled in college in the United States, up from 8,000 students eight years earlier. The New York Times has playfully dubbed this “the China Boom.” US colleges continue to see rising enrollments from India and other nations, as well, with India’s top education officials seeking partnerships with US institutions for help in boosting college attainment rates. Even enrollment of international graduate students is rising after a recent lull, according to an annual report by the Council of Graduate Schools. However, if you are not an Ivy League school with a well-established reputation in your target countries, how can you ramp up your international recruiting efforts swiftly? PRIMERS ON KEY RECRUITING STRATEGIES Recruiting International Students: Getting Started (November 2009) Recruiting Chinese Students: What You Need to Know (May 2010) Web marketing guru Bob Johnson, president of Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC, notes that your website is the first […]

Truly laying the groundwork for long-term private support requires rethinking how your institution manages its relationship with students. From the moment of their transition to your campus, it is critical to treat students as stakeholders, not merely consumers or “kids.” This mindset has implications for how offices across your campus interact with students. Each office — academic advising, admissions, financial aid, residence life, campus safety — has a responsibility to ensure a successful and positive student experience that can lead later to an engaged and positive alumni experience. Inviting students to see themselves as stakeholders also entails informing them (in an open and transparent manner) about key issues the institution is facing and inviting their input and help. We interviewed Raj Bellani, associate provost and dean of students at the Rhode Island School of Design, and Jim Langley, president of Langley Innovations, to learn how institutions can develop students as both short-term and long-term stakeholders in your institution’s success. Bellani and Langley suggest: Audit the services you offer students — solicit student feedback, correct inefficiencies that may drive “wedges” between student and institution Invite students to participate in open dialogue with administrative and academic leaders about the financial challenges faced […]

In 2007, Academic Impressions researched the top student philanthropy programs in the United States and identified a student philanthropy model that highlights three core components shared by the most effective student philanthropy programs:     The Academic Impressions Student Philanthropy Model This model provides a conceptual framework for examining the components of an effective approach to inviting students into your long-term donor pipeline: Creating awareness: Do your students know how their education is funded? Do they understand the importance of private giving to their school? Developing gratitude: Do your students express gratitude for the support they have received? Do your students feel grateful for the role of private support in their educational opportunities? Cultivating giving: Have your students acted on their awareness and gratitude with a philanthropic gesture? “To successfully cultivate committed, lifetime donors, student philanthropy cannot be a series of ad hoc initiatives — it has to be a thoughtfully crafted strategy that spans the student life cycle and has leadership support.” Naomi Nishi, Director of Program Design and Customization, Academic Impressions Awareness Lay out expectations for students regarding their relationship with and responsibility to their alma mater, do so unapologetically, and do so starting at the beginning of freshman […]

Amid the decline of state support for public institutions and a less forgiving fundraising climate (a recent Chronicle of Philanthropy study showed a 12% decline in giving for 2009, the sharpest drop in 50 years), ensuring the future financial health of your institution will require more intentional footwork in establishing a reliable pipeline of invested donors. To develop a stronger donor pipeline, the key is to start earlier. However, institutions attempting to raise giving rates for young alumni are often rebuffed. In a study of the attitudes of young alumni conducted this summer, the Engagement Strategies Group confirmed that the majority of young alumni are reluctant to give due to high tuition costs and a lack of understanding of how institutions of higher education are funded and how institutions do (and don’t) draw on endowment spending to finance their needs. Colleges and universities need to solicit more support from their former students, but what such reports demonstrate is that the best opportunity to create an ambassador for your institution is to cultivate them while they are still students on campus. It is more expensive and much more difficult, if not impossible, for the development office to repair relationships after commencement. […]

Now, more than ever, institutions need to ensure the long-term health of the annual fund by moving donors into the pipeline early, and young alumni are often an insufficiently tapped resource. Yet this year sees not only a continuing trend of volunteerism but also growing numbers of recent graduates seeking to reconnect with their alma mater for assistance with networking and career advancement opportunities in this economy. It is critical that alumni relations and annual fund professionals take advantage of a surge in interest from young alumni through proactive and deliberate outreach. We asked Elise M. Betz, executive director of alumni relations at the University of Pennsylvania; Linda Williams Favero,  assistant director of the University of Oregon Career Center; and Ben Jarrett, assistant director of advancement at Georgetown University, for tips on cultivating young alumni engagement and fostering a higher giving rate without expending too many of your limited resources. Their advice is to: Engage young alumni through the services you offer them Adopt a peer-to-peer model for soliciting gifts Leverage social media and electronic communications to keep your outreach resource-efficient Focus on Services for Young Alumni First, Linda Williams Favero stresses the importance of starting with what alumni need, […]