The Best Questions Gift Officers Can Ask to Move Prospects Toward Solicitation

Knowing how to turn a discussion with a prospect toward a specific gift commitment requires intuition and skill. It is a matter of timing that requires us to know where each prospect is in the philanthropic decision-making cycle. This we know: From the time we begin the philanthropic dialogue with a prospect until she or […]

Proactive Approaches to Deferred Maintenance

YOU’LL ALSO WANT TO READ: Benchmarking Deferred Maintenance: A Recent Survey (May 2012)How Do You Make the Case for Funding Maintenance and Renewal for Campus Facilities? (May 2012) Many institutions of higher education are being squeezed between two pressures: a growing deferred maintenance backlog and increasing needs for capital expansion as they compete for students, […]

How Important is Your Institution’s Reputation? A Strong Naming Policy Can Help You Protect It

In February 2013, a South Florida university announced a 12-year, $6 million naming gift to name their football stadium for the company of an alumnus. The gift itself had all the hallmarks of a very natural extension of a deep relationship: the donor was an alumnus and former chairman of the university, and he had […]

Involving Off-Campus Constituencies When Planning Public/Private Partnerships

Successful P3 partnerships engage off-campus constituencies both early and deliberately. Here is advice from Dale McGirr on how. Increasing demands for capital expansion combined with a continued weak economy make partnerships with private entities an attractive option for financing new campus facilities. These partnerships are often fraught with complexity — and not only because of […]

What Does Customer Service in Higher Education Actually Look Like?

Customer service in higher education is still new and few are certain how to do it well. Here’s what our panel of experts have to say. Providing good customer service to students has become an expectation in today’s higher education environment, yet customer service in higher education is still new and few are certain how […]

Creating a Culture of Care

In part three of this discussion series, The Impact of Enhancing Customer Service in Higher Education, learn strategies and techniques that can be used to create a more caring culture on your campus and increase the quality of the student and employee experience. 

Communicating Your Institution’s Value

The College Board’s recent Trends reports on college pricing and student aid have painted a not unexpected picture of rising college tuition coinciding with rising demand for student aid. In this financial climate, it becomes all the more critical for colleges and universities to communicate the value of their offerings clearly to financially concerned prospects […]

Benchmarking Deferred Maintenance: A 2012 Survey

“You have to be clear on the distinction between deferred maintenance and ignored maintenance, and ensure that your institution’s leadership is clear on this. Intentionally deferring needed maintenance after a careful assessment of your facilities condition is a strategy. Ignoring maintenance is a problem.”Faramarz Vakili, Associate Director of the Physical Plant, University of Wisconsin-Madison Historically, […]