Our future donors: knowing and engaging young alumni

Ryan Brejak

@ryanbrejak

#AGcongres14

Who I am

Alumni Advancement Manager, University of Guelph

Who I am not

An expert…or a professional baseball player

BUT am experienced in young alumni programming, fundraising and co-

founded the young alumni networking group with peer institutions

Born between 1980-1995 “Generation Me” Largest and most highly

educated generation in history

Arguably the most philanthropic generation in history

Inheritors of greatest wealth transfer in history

Who are Millennials/Young Alumni

Philanthropic characteristics of Millennials/Young alumni

Giving means not just money Young alumni support causes not organizations Social sharing is important; peer fundraising Online is their philanthropic destination so make it

relevant and easy.

Giving across generations Study by Blackbaud:

Millennials represents 15% of total giving in Canada

62% of Millennials gives to charity 44% of Millennials would consider giving to a

crowdfunding project Aligns with Millennials values; it is social and

established a direct link between gift and outcome

Successful Crowdfunding projects:Seeds of Change (McGill)

FutureFunder (Carlton)Kickstarter – Potato Salad

Indiegogo – Help Save Sara

2013-2014 Millennial Impact Report/Millennial Alumni Report

Young alumni engage with causes to help other people, not institutions, and are more willing to donate to something they have a connection to, rather than a general university fund

Millennials are influenced by the decisions and behaviors of their peers Half of young alumni who donate did so because the institution told

them exactly how the money would be used Millennials treat all their assets (time, money, network, etc.) as having

equal value 52% would be interested in monthly giving

Conducted by Achieve

Burk Donor Survey Donors are also volunteers; volunteers will

be your best donors Young donors are more informed and

discerning that ever before Young alumni donors have an interest in

giving more WHEN they do give They typically give larger amounts to fewer

organizations

So what??

1. Monthly giving

2. Crowdfunding/P2P/Social Media

3. Different segmentation Not using traditional academic streams

as they are not emotional connectors

4. Be transparent and accountable with donors dollars

U of G survey results

Survey sent to grads in the last 10 years born after 1981

1,026 respondents Updated alumni contact information

447 updated addresses 492 updated phone numbers

More than 300 alumni provided responses to open ended questions

Why this survey?

To ask young alumni what they want To prospect for potential donors To help shape young alumni

programming To follow-up and educate

Do you plan to financially contribute to the University in the future?

Do you support any charities or non-profits with a financial contribution?

Another survey, similar results

McMaster young alumni survey

What criteria do you use to determine which organizations you support?

Response Percent

Giving back to commemorate personal experience 27.2%

Friend or family connection 46.2%

General interest in the cause 72.4%

Knowledge of organization's work 62.2%

Connection through volunteer work 26.4%

Quality of the communications/marketing/social media 8.3%

Demonstration of direct impact 46.3%

Satisfaction with reporting on use of donations 30.0%

Media coverage 2.6%

Potential action items

Follow-up to survey respondents/all recipients with some FAQ’s

Send e-appeal to those who indicated they planned to donate in the future

Forever a Gryphon ambassador program for those who indicated an interest in volunteering

Individual calls/meetings booked with those who already donate or are highly engaged

Reflecting on responses… “In general, more outreach to young alums like me would be

appreciated. I may not be able to donate yet but I want to stay connected, and I plan to donate in the future.”

“At one point I thought I would donate when I came to a point where my personal financial circumstances allowed me to do so. As that transition occurred, I largely lost touch with the university despite having been very involved on campus during my undergraduate. I don't feel highly motivated to give at this point.”

How?

How do we keep these young grads connected so WHEN they are able to donate, your institution is top of mind?

Social Media

Allows us to keep a large number of grads engaged, informed and connected

What do they want to hear about?

Education? Connecting students with alumni

Dual benefit Educate students, engage grads

Connect young alumni donors with donors Incorporate messages about giving into your thank you

messages following events Incorporate messages of giving into your orientation week

messaging

Volunteering/Giving back

Young alumni that form strong, long term relationships with your institution are more likely to:Act as ambassadorsMake a personal giftMake larger gifts than non-volunteersEncourage others to support (P2P)

How does this impact us? More young alumni than any other alumni

demographic At Guelph, ~100,000 active alumni ~40,000 are young alumni

Engage them right away Guelph has seen a trend that donors will give

during their first few years out of school Ask them right away…maybe a soft ask as part of a

welcome message…but still ask or educate

Focus on potential…

When developing young alumni programming, look at potential rather than current success

Participation vs dollars Consecutive giving club

One size does not fit all

Creative methods for engaging young alumni?

Non-academic reunions Co-curricular fundraising programs

Peer Helpers/Student Life Highly engaged, non-academic groups

Meet them where they are Connect with, educate and share on social media

Give them opportunities to give back but also gain something Mentorship programs, ambassadors

How young alumni give?

U of G Stadium track Project, Gryphon Statue ->attainable naming opportunities and tangible evidence of support

Ryerson, Mattamy Athletic Complex ->seating naming

Monthly giving

Monthly Giving evidence We know that monthly giving

increases the average young alumni gift amount

U of G has seen regular increases in retention of new donors Cdn average is 23% Increased 31% over last 5

years, where Cdn average has decreased by 8%

Please check off all the methods that you used to make a donation in 2013:

Answer OptionsResponse Percent

Online giving 70.9%

Monthly pledge 13.8%

Payroll pledge 7.8%

Crowdfunding 6.0%

Cash/cheque donation by mail 11.8%

Credit card donation by mail 8.3%

Cash/cheque donation in person 37.3%

Mobile giving on phone or tablet 3.6%

Different Stewardship approaches?

Stewarding YA donors Recognition events Invite them to events to meet major donors Networking opportunities Tell them how their gift is being used First time donor package

Athletics tickets

Future opportunities?

“Buy your residence room” Athletics graduating players program

Monthly gift = # of team wins from that season

Include an ask in your events registration Checkout gifts

Social media ads Attainable naming opportunities

Interesting opportunities

Reunion in a box True North groups Non-academic reunions Social media ambassadors

From my experience…

Young alumni give…just maybe not in the traditional ways Young alumni seem excited to meet with you Young alumni can be qualified, solicited and stewarded in one meeting Young alumni can be recognized/stewarded in different and easier ways

Young alumni don’t seem to give through direct mail Young alumni have saturated email accounts, so even e-

appeals do not always resonate Young alumni are hard to get their time Young alumni are hard to make them put their money where

their mouth is

Keys to engaging young alumni

Manage expectations Events/Networking/PD opportunities Communication/Social Media Recognition Connecting with current students/future

alumni Feature people, not buildings Reconsider how to steward young alumni Attainable giving levels; naming opportunities Consecutive giving club

Successful engagement examples

Forever a Gryphon ambassadors, #guelphgrad (Guelph)

MAC10 & MacServe (McMaster) Seeds of Change (McGill) FutureFunder (Carlton) WLU (Laurier Alumni Vine –

shoes & watches) Ryerson - convocation video,

email congratulations Waterloo (CONVO-sation)

Key Takeaways Meet young alumni where they are

Social media Ask what they want..

Then deliver! Focus your programs on the alumni demographic

that has the most “potential” Try new things..

If they don’t work.. Try something different…

Then try something different… Then try something different…

Shameless Plug

A conference focused on young alumni engagementCurrent registration from more than 25 different schools primarily from CASE D2Keynote from Andy Shaindlin, AVP Alumni Relations & Annual Giving at Carnegie Mellon UniversityBreakout sessions on communications, crowdfunding, mentorship, volunteer management

Some links and articles http://www.bizactions.com/n.cfm/page/e120/key/244015586G723J5394659P0P2133T2/ http://convergeconsulting.org/resources/2013/09/5-keys-engaging-young-alumni/ http://npengage.com/nonprofit-fundraising/engaged-young-alumni-future-dollars/ http://alumni.cmu.edu/s/1410/images/editor_documents/alumnirelations/getinvolved/volunt

eer/engaging_young_alumni.pdf http://alumni.cmu.edu/s/1410/images/editor_documents/alumnirelations/getinvolved/volunt

eer/engaging_young_alumni.pdf http://eo2.commpartners.com/users/agn/downloads/SLIDES_YoungAlumniGiving_AGN_8.

5.2014_FINAL_%5BCompatibility_Mode%5D.pdf https://vine.co/u/958399083889016832 https://uwaterloo.ca/alumni/convo-sation http://www.huffingtonpost.com/april-rudin/post_8265_b_5698273.html http://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/2014-millennial-survey-

positive-impact.html http://eleventygroup.com/site/2012/07/03/how-your-nonprofit-can-better-engage-and-

activate-millennials/ http://eleventygroup.com/site/2013/07/24/8-great-lessons-for-nonprofits-from-the-2013-

millennial-impact-report/ http://eleventygroup.com/site/2012/06/13/new-data-recruiting-young-donors-nonprofits/ http://nation.time.com/millennials/ http://www.themillennialimpact.com/2013RESEARCH http://www.themillennialimpact.com/2014-research