Digital Age Communications & Giving Our goal is to talk about how does your social campaign tie to you print piece and everything in between. Focusing on the idea of how you are telling your institutional story. Acm ALUMNI, Annual Giving, and careers conference 2019

Director of annual giving Sarah Stoklosa Director of annual giving

Associate director of engagement Jamie Williams Associate director of engagement

Bringing your President’s Letter to the 21st century Calendar and Fiscal Year End Cycles are 2 of our 4 cornerstone appeals Alumni, parents, and friends – College stakeholders – who for the past 10+ year who are conditioned to wait for the Letter from the President in December and May. But, how do we tie this traditional letter on College stationary into a social media campaign? How do we get this message to millennials or even the decade of the 90s.

Mirror the President’s request in monthly e-newsletter Mirror on social media Pushed Facebook ads

Donors like things done for them: Pre populate form Increase in gift amounts The more you can do for them, the better. Pre-populating things shows greater conversion & increased dollar amounts

Year to Year Growth

From traditional to modern That traditional appeal works because of it’s history in the fundraising world. Yes, we’ve had to add layers to adapt to current trends, but it still rides deeply on the print piece. Crowdfunding has taken the fundraising world by storm – how can you best utilize this digital tool to benefit your institution?

FORESTER DAY 2019 Giving Day is about what it means to be a Forester What’s your “Forester Thing” Print, digital (social, email, GiveCampus), in person, & texting We focus on giving our constituents the ability to support what THEY love about their experience at Lake Forest College; their “Forester Thing”.

Share. Celebrate. Advocate. Important to note: sender was not our department – not just president/vice president. Students work great, from video

Events

Event texting Morning of – within 5 miles of event location, not registered. Hours before – registered guests; 1 hour in – checked in guests

Day of mirroring

Thank you From the voice of the students because that’s really who they’re supporting. We mirror throughout the process on multiple channels so that we can hit everyone possible. On social too

Using texting for stewardship and solicitation

Stewardship

Solicitation Asking a yes or no question – don’t just provide link right away. Good way to get a conversation started and perhaps learn something new.

Best practices in texting Yes/No questions Clear question (Can you support with $5 again?) Use their names When individually texting, have identity (Hey, it’s Jamie Williams at LFC) Ask questions about their life Parents are engaging Parents use texting to connect with their student so they’re very responsive to that as well – very particular specific window to get to them

Lessons learned Print piece for Giving Day – not worth the time Test timing constantly Phoning program Be wary of mass texting Think outside traditional communication channels Hitting a different crowd with Forester Day vs. CYE FYE and doesn’t work the same way as President’s appeal Even though it is the digital age, we have those alums who expect and require a phone call, outside of those we’ve cut Use facebook messager, use LinkedIn

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Video tips? How do you supplement a poor email or phone campaign? How does your institution react to a poor email/mailer? i.e. what’s the next step? How else are you utilizing your crowdfunding platform? Are you utilizing apple pay/google pay/etc. in any capacity? How? How many clicks does it take to make a gift off of your institutional webpage? Discuss other digital stewardship/solicitation materials