alumni relations & fundraising
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ALUMNI RELATIONS & FUNDRAISING. The challenges and the successes. WHY HAVE ALUMNI RELATIONS?. Alumni Relations can play key role in underpinning your institutional effort Alumni are ready and waiting to be engaged – a wonderful time, advocacy and funding resource - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
ALUMNI RELATIONS & FUNDRAISING
The challenges and the successes
WHY HAVE ALUMNI RELATIONS?
Alumni Relations can play key role in underpinning your institutional effort
Alumni are ready and waiting to be engaged – a wonderful time, advocacy and funding resource
The more alumni feel engaged and in touch the more inclined they are to donate and to open their networks
KEY INGREDIENTS Know and understand your audience
– (research and data, data, data!!) Have a plan to keep alumni in touch It’s all about being flexible and
thinking laterally – can’t do it all in isolation
Have a balanced programme – events, communications, volunteering, benefits and services
THE ALUMNI COMMUNITY 150,000 alumni who live in 180 countries.
This will rise to c.175,000 by 2015. Two thirds of alumni live in the UK.
It is estimated that UCL is in touch with 70% of all living UCL alumni
Over 50% of all alumni graduated within the last 15 years. Top three largest departments – Faculty of Laws, Faculty of Built Environment and School of Life and Medical Sciences
CONTACTABLE ALUMNI BY DECADE OF GRADUATION
1920s1930s1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s
ALUMNI CONNECTIONS Myriad of different
motivating factors that drive ongoing alumni connections to UCL
These factors range from a connection to courses/departments, clubs and societies, halls of residence and classmates through to academic staff.
EXAMPLE: STUDENT / YOUNG ALUMNI ACTIVITY
To develop a supportive alumni community you need to start with the student experience and develop a habit of involvement immediate after graduation
Dominant aim is to weave alumni and alumni relations into the fabric of student life
Experience has shown that success in this area is derived from providing tangible benefits to the student community
ALUMNI RELATIONS & FUNDRAISING
It is a two way relationship – both need one another to be a success
Interest, involve and commit - the more engagement alumni feel the more inclined they are to give money/time to an institution
It’s a long-term business Team work – shared objectives and goals –
Alumni team needs to consider fundraising as part of their activities and fundraisers must think about alumni and wider school activities
EXAMPLES Fundraising messages are integrated
into UCL alumni communications and events
Academic speakers at events will ask alumni to consider donating to UCL
Alumni contacts can provide opportunities to engage key donors and prospects
Alumni can also identify ‘lost’ class mates who may be good prospects
NETWORKING Clubs and societies Award-winning
professional networking events
Alumni-led reunions
Departmental events
International events
COMMUNICATIONS Redesigned ‘UCL
People’ - backbone of printed communication which all alumni receive
Alumni email newsletters, the Alumni Web Community, Alumni Website, Social networking presences and Online Surveys
VOLUNTEERING Careers mentoring –
over 300 alumni currently act as a careers mentor and speak at UCL events (e.g. graduation ceremonies)
250 alumni act as International Contacts – involves them in acting as a local contacts for alumni, organising local alumni groups and assisting with student recruitment
REGULAR GIVING Why engage alumni? To translate engagement into
multiple levels that includes giving to your university
But why do alumni give?
What motivates giving Pride Acknowledgement for what they
gained from their experience at UCL
Desire to protect what they value
Commitment to social mobility and how education is the key to this
Commitment to the transformational impact of education
A Case Study Ralph – donor, volunteer and son studying
at UCL today Initially identified by regular giving as a
donor with capacity to give more Engaged by alumni relations as a mentor Asked to sign appeal letters and attend a
CASE event to provide a donor testimonial Started giving £40 pm – now giving £2K per
year
Fundraising is telling stories We use students and key members of staff
to tell stories to our alumni about the need for their support (using the hooks of what we know motivates giving)
Ask multiple times throughout the year – telling different stories and using different signatories
People give to people – for us we have found that students receiving scholarships and key academics generate the most response from alumni
What is your university’s story – where do the key relationships with alumni lie?
Get them while they’re young
20-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 over 70 unknown0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Donor age group - change by financial year
2008-092011-12
QUESTIONS?