Betsy Chapman ‘92, MA ‘94), Director of Parent Programs Setting the Table for Annual Fund Success: Communications with Current Parents Betsy Chapman ‘92, MA ‘94), Director of Parent Programs CAROLINAS ANNUAL FUND CONFERENCE | APRIL 23, 2014

Case study: parent communications and Annual Fund growth Our Session Today Case study: parent communications and Annual Fund growth What’s in it for your school? How can you get started?

Separate Parent and Alumni Office Where We Were 2008-09 Separate Parent and Alumni Office Communications: Wake Forest Magazine 3-4x/yr Solicitations 3-4x/yr (freshmen not until spring) Little web presence

Wake Forest Fund Historical Giving $

Wake Forest Fund Historical Donor #s

Changing Student-Parent Dynamic… A 2011 study found 40% of first semester freshmen reported daily contact with their parents/ families 1 1 Liu A, Sharkness J, Pryor JH. Findings from the 2007 administration of 'Your First College Year' (YFCY) Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA; 2008.

Propelled Us to Change Dedicated parents web page and blog (The Daily Deac) Social media

Old vs. New Fundraising Open the door, set the table, then ask Solicit vs.

Creating meaningful engagement If You Build It, They Will Come Creating meaningful engagement

Parents Website or Portal Invite them Show them dynamic, value added content Repeat, repeat, repeat!

Parents’ Information Needs Deadlines Action items Checklists Critical news

Make It Easy to Use

Q & A – Helps You and Them!

Dynamic Content News Photos Blogs Webcam Targeted messages

Push Content to Them Don’t rely on them coming to your website Push content to their inbox (e-newsletter, subscription feeds) Frequent social media posts to stay on peoples’ feeds

Business or Pleasure? There’s institutional messaging you want to deliver… …and news that matters to your constituents What is your school’s voice?

Editorial Choices Personal touch Easy navigation Official news or info

Tailor to Specific Audiences

Where Communications Moves the Needle

Evaluating performance Are Parent Communications Worth It? Evaluating performance

Parents’ Page Hits

Readership Increase

Correlation? Or Causation?

Daily Deac Blog Subscribers 595 subscriber emails Match to 428 Family Giving Units 176 have a giving record (41%) 71 of the 176 are staffed prospects

P ‘17 Daily Deac Blog Subscribers P’17 = freshmen parents $15,928 - avg. lifetime giving for staffed prospects $773 - avg. lifetime giving of non-staffed prospects

Wake Forest Fund Historical Giving $

Giving Post-Communications Ramp Up

Wake Forest Fund Historical Donor #s

Participation Post-Communications Ramp Up

University of Minnesota 2013 Survey http://www1.umn.edu/prod/groups/ur/@pub/@ur/@parent/documents/content/ur_content_471671.pdf University of Minnesota 2013 Survey http://www1.umn.edu/prod/groups/ur/@pub/@ur/@parent/documents/content/ur_content_471671.pdf

Creating meaningful engagement How Can You Start? Web design software (Word Press) Staff member with: Love of writing Institutional knowledge Good judgment Strong campus partnerships Creating meaningful engagement

Creating meaningful engagement Conclusions from WFU Engaged Involved Informed = Higher giving $ = Higher participation rate Creating meaningful engagement

CAROLINAS ANNUAL FUND CONFERENCE | APRIL 23, 2014 Questions? CAROLINAS ANNUAL FUND CONFERENCE | APRIL 23, 2014

CAROLINAS ANNUAL FUND CONFERENCE | APRIL 23, 2014 http://parents.wfu.edu parents@wfu.edu Contact my office any time we can be of service. CAROLINAS ANNUAL FUND CONFERENCE | APRIL 23, 2014