Google Alerts can aid in developing relationships

During my time at Northern Illinois University, I spent some days scouring the web for updates on our alumni. I did this mostly by Googling “Northern Illinois University Alumni” or “NIU Alum.” Through this practice, I was able to find out all kinds of information on prospects, donors, and other alums of the university.

Google has now made this whole process much easier. Google Alerts are essentially email updates of the latest relevant Google Results coming from the web, news sources, and other information portals. These can be used in many ways, but for a development officer tracking a big time donor, use their name as a Google Alert to keep abreast of their happenings. Another use may be to use the alert to notify you about all your alumni by using a keyphrase similar to the one I used at Northern Illinois.

The alerts have the ability to allow a development officer to track a wide amount of prospects and stories surrounding the prospects, donors, and alumni of their school in a very efficient manner. These daily emails can save time on current prospects and, in some cases, unearth new ones.