blackbaud net community for higher education institutions

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BLACKBAUD NETCOMMUNITY

Case Study: Clark University

2Confidential and Proprietary Information

Clark University NetCommunity Case Study

Integration in Action

Question & Answer


• A small research university with a major impact- Founded in 1887 as the first all-graduate institution in the country- Renowned liberal arts-based research university addressing social

and human imperatives on a global scale

• Francine Roller, Director of Advancement Services

• LaDona Fazio, Associate Director of Advancement Services

• RE client since 2007

• NetCommunity user since June 2010- Used Harris prior

CLARK UNIVERSITY


• Evaluated many vendors and selected NetCommunity primarily for:

- Significant resource savings from integration with The Raiser’s Edge

- Major improvement for managing data, email activities, and reporting

- Opportunities to increase engagement with personalized web messaging

CLARK UNIVERSITY – NETCOMMUNITY HISTORY


• Implemented in 2010, with an accelerated project plan to go live in six weeks!

• Have expanded use steadily over time to include:- Coordinated mail and highly-segmented email fundraising & event

activities

- Reunion Yearbook updates, surveys, Alumni Trustee voting, Phone Room support

- Secure portal for group meeting activities (agenda, minutes, etc.)

CLARK UNIVERSITY – NETCOMMUNITY HISTORY


CLARK UNIVERSITY

BENEFIT BEFORENOW - WITH

NETCOMMUNITY

Efficiency

Getting online reunion registrations into The Raiser’s Edge was a summer long project

Online event registrations download automatically into a Raiser’s Edge Batch

Fundraising

No easy way to segment emails and giving form not optimized for online donations

51% growth in online donations in year 1 with NetCommunity

Alumni Engagement

Majority of registrations mailed in

80% register online for alumni events (65% Reunion)

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INCRE AS E D ONL INE F UNDRAIS ING


ONLINE FUNDRAISING GROWTH AT CLARK U

2010 2011 2012

200K

450K


Performance of May Giving for Recent Years

• No growth in overall # of Donors

• Difficulty in reaching target participation rates and $ goals

• Increase in yearly AF $ Goal

GROWING GIVING: GROWTH CHALLENGE

2009 2010 2011 20120

250

500

750

1,000

1,250

1,500


• Use a strong graphic presence

• Consider a challenge theme

• Leverage Social Media links

• Build momentum

• Create urgency

GROWING GIVING: KEYS TO SUCCESS


• Strong message & graphics

• Copy reinforces challenge & urgency

• Simple link address adds to ease of giving

GROWING GIVING: MAIL APPROACH


• Campaign consisted of 5 rounds of email messages: launch; 2nd round; post-Reunion; May 29 and May 31

• Sent a total of 12 emails in 31 days; typical prospect got 4 or 5; only sent to non-donors in FY13

• Highly segmented using RE queries: Reunion Classes, Senior Class, Alums with AF pledge balances, etc.

• Added conditional content (targeted asks) and personalization for selected audiences

• Carefully crafted Subject lines: Donor Challenge; The Challenge is on!; Clark’s Drive to 531; Almost there!; Last day for Donor Challenge

• Each email appealed separately in RE, but all linked to same BBNC donation form

• Average open rate: 23%

GROWING GIVING: EMAIL CAMPAIGN


• Simple message• & Graphics

• Large Giving Button

• Social Media Links

GROWING GIVING: EMAIL APPEAL


• Keep Content Fresh with Embedded Twitter Feed

• Include Frequent Progress Reports

GROWING GIVING: SOCIAL MEDIA


GROWING GIVING: DRAMATIC RESULTS

May Giving FY09-FY13• Dramatic Increase

in May Donors (54%)

• Unsolicited Repeat Gifts

• 96% of Gifts for Annual Fund

• Increase across all Constituencies

• Participation & Dollar Goals Exceeded!

2009 2010 2011 2012 20130

250

500

750

1,000

1,250

1,500

1,750

2,000

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E NGAGE ME NT T HROUGH RE UNION


• Event Tracks

• Give the user a personalized experience

• Highlight class events and speakers

• Eliminate event envy

ENGAGEMENT THROUGH REUNION



Master Reunion Event

-Registration Fees

Meals Class Dinners

Symposia

Special Events

Class Events

Dancing Under the

Stars

Golf/Athletics

Camp Clark

Housing

• The Raiser’s Edge event structure• One master umbrella event• Group events• Multiple units on each event

-Breakfast-Friday Dinner-Saturday Picnic

-Each class has own unit for dinner

-Classes can have more then one class event unit


• Highly integrated with The Raiser’s Edge

• Ask constituents to login (but not required)

• Collect background information

• Include “Who’s Coming” list



• Stacking of multiple Raiser’s Edge events

• Individual units used for each event

• Great user experience with one event registration form



• Ability to automatically sell out Raiser’s Edge events/units

• Easy to edit events

• Flexibility in inserting, moving and formatting parts



• Ask for donation

• Send user to a Donation Form

• Shopping Cart for one user transaction; payment from three pages



- Very easy to segment email appeals for each audience• Conditional email content and personalization based on data on

constituent record

- Better analysis• Gift pages linked to appeals to measure response

- Trustee ballot moved online

- Customized class track approach for Reunion registrations

- Focus on Newsletter & Email Growth• Email increase of 18% since launch of BBNC• Maintained strong newsletter open rate 31%

CLARK’S SECRET SAUCE


• Allow users to view limited giving history and pay pledges online

• Develop conditional content for @Clark enewsletter- School or Major, Athletics & Special interests

• Create personalized prompts – based on RE queries – encouraging users to:- Register for upcoming event - Make their Annual Fund gift- Read the latest issue of @Clark- Update their employment information

WHAT’S NEXT AT CLARK WITH NETCOMMUNITY?

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INT E GRAT ION IN ACT ION

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