YouTube videos: Educating your donors and communicating your fundraising message

Hope College, located in Holland, Michigan, has recently launched a viral campaign of YouTube videos directed toward educating viewers on a wide range of university-related topics. One of these videos explains, in approximately two and a half minutes, endowed student scholarships at Hope College.

In the brief, but comprehensive video, a number of key fund raising tactics are employed. First, the video begins with a mural of student pictures, putting a face to those who benefit from endowed scholarships. Second, the basic financial aid model is explained in a simplified form, shedding light on the percentage of students who receive some sort of aid and the average amount of money students receive each year. Third, the opportunities available to students as a result of donor support as well as a complete breakdown of the allocation of donor funding are given.

Once this information is communicated, the stage is set to present a goal and to solicit support for the future – which is exactly the strategic approach taken in the video. The goal is to increase the endowment by $140 million, with $50,000 designated for student scholarships. The video continues to explain the amount raised and the total number of endowed scholarships to date – 623. The last major piece to any fund raising strategy, stewardship, closes the video with a formal “Thank You.”

In an interactive age, disseminating information in a short, easy to watch, entertaining way will surely reach a wider audience and be more effective at communicating the message. Many athletic departments publish brochures or attempt to explain the process illustrated above in written form on their website, a more traditional approach. The innovative and creative example shown here by Hope College sets the bar for future donor communication.

To view the Hope College Endowed Scholarships video, click here

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Matt Kirinovic

Make Jim Pay – Washington State uses radio talent to bolster new campaign

Washington State University, in need of a variety of facility upgrades to service all their sports teams, has launched a new development fund called the Student-Athlete Excellence Account. This new fund is designed to improve the experience for all WSU student-athletes and engage a donor group that includes former student-athletes, alumni, and university friends. The most unique part of this campaign is the use of their color analyst (and former WSU head coach), Jim Walden, for the fund drive.

Jim Walden has been describing Cougar football for the past nine years and, in an attempt to spur giving to the Student-Athlete Excellence Account, is putting up his own money as a matching gift to the athletics department. For each $5 donated to the new account, Jim will donate $1 of his own, up to $100,000. However, if the account grows to $1 million, Jim will donate an additional $100,000 for a total of $200,000 for WSU student-athletes.

The use of radio/television talent in fundraising is not unique, but the degree that Washington State is utilizing their long-time football analyst is impressive. Schools looking for a unique way to engage fans and facilitate new donations should look to WSU for an example of a creative, and perhaps effective, plan. To see the “Make Jim Pay” video and read more about the account, click here.

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Rob Norris

Winston-Salem State re-introduces Red and White Club

Winston-Salem State Athletics have brought back the Red and White Fund as the primary fundraiser for Rams student-athletes. WSSU re-introduced the club after the athletics department replaced it with the AMON Booster Club. However, newly appointed Director of Athletics William “Bill” Hayes brought the program back when he returned to WSSU on January 1, 2010.

As part of the re-introduction, WSSU has announced the creation of the 1000 HORN$ program. The 1000 HORN$ program is the main annual giving initiative towards the Red and White Fund goal of $1 million a year for the athletics programs. The 1000 HORN$ is the idea to get 1,000 people to give $1,000 a year to reach the $1 million goal.

WSSU recent announcement is a unique move for an athletic fund. It shows the strategic changes that can be brought about by an administrative change. The 1000 HORN$ program is a clear means to meet the new organization’s goals. Very few departments state explicitly that they are trying to raise $1 million from 1,000 donors. But by branding the initiative, Winston-Salem State increases the probable success of the program.

Sean Phifer

From Marketing to PR to Development: Converting Goodwill into Fundraising

In my post last week, I wrote about the importance of PR and Marketing to development officers and promised an anecdote.

In this instance, both effective marketing and a devotion to public relations work cultivated a donor who will be a significant supporter for years to come.

This particular donor is a local small business owner and alumnus (as well as former student-athlete) who recently relocated to the area.  Upon his return, being a savvy buisinessman, he noted two things: 1) How prevalently and prominently our corporate sponsors were featured in our promotions and marketing of athletic events, and 2) How little his competitors seemed to take advantage of options available to them through our athletics marketing and promotions program.  In the earliest stages, it was the way that we effectively marketed businesses that caught his interest and piqued his imagination — if we could do this for other local companies, what could we do to help promote him and his operation?

Seeking a unique way to promote his business, we involved him in some lower level marketing programs, such as individual game sponsorships and eventually a season-long promotion to which he purchased the naming rights.  These programs increased foot traffic in his store and increased awareness and visibility of his business, as all effective marketing should.

Then, we stepped the game up.  The following year, we made his business the corporate sponsor of our athletic annual fund.  The alumnus and former student-athlete turned businessman was now a corporate partner of his alma mater. He earned recognition for his business on the nearly 5,000 brochures that we sent out for renewals, renewing and first time members of the Athletic Association earned a 20% discount at his store (increasing foot-traffic) and most importantly, in every press release about the annual fund on the website, newspapers, or via E-List includes a blurb about his business, his address, and his website.  We have promoted not only the benefits one receives from becoming a dues-paying member, effectively marketing his business, but we also published an initial release highlighting that an alumnus and former student-athlete was giving back to his alma mater, generating precious goodwill for him and his business.

By marketing and creating goodwill through public relations for this supporter, we have increased his in-kind and cash donations over twenty-fold YOY, with promises of more significant financial support to come.

This anecdote shows how effectively marketing and generating goodwill for your supporters can create favorable conditions for “asks,” where development officers do their best and most important work.

By William Broussard

Transparent ideas from the National Sports Forum

I have had the privilege to attend the National Sports Forum in Baltimore for the last two days. While the conference is more focused on sponsorship and marketing, I have found many parallels with development that can be utilized to help grow development offices.

Sponsorships

In a panel with representatives from some major sponsors in sports including Anheuser-Busch, Cintas, and Sports Clips, the consensus was do your homework and less-is-more in the early stages. Sponsors get hundreds of emails a day with ideas and proposals, but it is better to contact the sponsor after you have done extensive research into the company and ways the two brands match-up going into the future. This works the same in development. Very few schools have the luxury of getting large donations from unfamiliar figures. It is a daily challenge for fundraisers to gain the best understanding of the prospect to get the initial foot in the door. If you choose to approach the prospect via email, it isn’t going to do much good to send the large development brochure. Sum up the message into a couple of paragraphs and personalize it to that particular prospect.

New Media

New media such as Facebook and Twitter is a hot topic in sponsorship and marketing because no one has figured out how to make consistent revenue from the medium. Many development offices have dabbled in the practice, with the main goal spreading news about the offices to followers. While this can fulfill some objectives, one tactic being discussed extensively at NSF is using new media as a focus group to gain feedback. Allowing followers or fans to contribute to the school or feel as if they have insider information is a great way to build rapport with the group and gain important feedback from donors, particularly younger demographics.

Ticket Sales

Major League Baseball teams have one of the toughest tasks in attempting to sell tickets for 81 home dates between April and September. Because of this challenge, baseball teams have gotten extremely creative with season ticket holder programs. One such idea is a new customer reception at the beginning of each season. This reception not only allows the team to thank the new customer, but to also educate them. It is a great way to get in front of new customers early and ensure a relationship before renewals come up the next year. This is a strategy that can be utilized by development offices with new donors to grow their relationship but also to educate on the benefits of becoming a donor.

Sean Phifer

The Difference between Marketing and PR to a Development Officer

Dr. William Broussard works at Northwestern State University in both an athletics and faculty capacity.

First of all, I’m grateful for the opportunity to become a member of this community and want to share with everyone a little about me as a means of introducing myself.

I am Associate Athletic Director at Northwestern State University, Louisiana, a Division I member of the Southland Conference. I am also a professor of Journalism and Public Relations.  My full-time gig in athletics is as a development officer, overseeing the identification, cultivation, and stewardship of donors to NSU Athletics.  And my gig on the side is as a professor in the public relations component of our New Media studies-centered Journalism program, where I teach the basics of PR writing, management, and campaigns.  There is an interesting, fertile, and symbiotic relationship between these two roles and rhetorical spaces that I inhabit, and through both roles I’ve learned that effective fundraising and promotion of intercollegiate athletic programs require excellent marketing and its more often overlooked but no less important counterpart, public relations.

Much of what we do in intercollegiate athletic development involves securing funding and in-kind support for various initiatives.  There are fixed costs (scholarships, books) which require annual funding, campaign costs which require significant one-time investments, and always, always, tickets to sell and seats to fill.  This means that marketing, or the creation, acquisition, and satisfaction of customers, has as its end a monetary gain of some sort.  And plenty can be used to market athletics — interesting story lines, record-breakers, high performers, championships to defend — and so much more.  Look at any athletics website (check out www.nsudemons.com, for example) and you’ll find evidence of the prevalence of sports marketing, including game promotions involving corporate sponsors, branding, deals on tickets, and opportunities to get involved.

But the development officer should also be sure to produce or make available ample amounts of public relations materials, or materials which generate goodwill for your organization.  Examples include feature narratives about coaches and student-athletes, press releases about off the field accomplishments (like academic awards or community service), and routine contact with donors through E-lists, hand-written notes, and other forms of contact that simply keep them feeling good about your operation.  A nicely produced annual report, or a clipping sent with a note about a student-athlete sent to a benefactor of an endowed scholarship does not have the soliciting of funds as its end game.  Rather, it shows appreciation for past support and, hopefully, sets the stage for future asks.  It also creates goodwill among potential donors and supporters out there whom you may not have come into direct contact with.

So remember, take time to develop good marketing strategies and attend to the ways that you promote your program through public relations.  Both are keys to identifying, acquiring, and retaining consistent supporters of your athletic program. I will post some examples in upcoming submissions.

Mobile iPhone Applications stand to benefit athletics development efforts

A large number of universities are now offering Mobile iPhone Applications for their athletic department. The University of Iowa is the latest school to announce the official iPhone Application for Hawkeye Athletics. Although this technology is not being used for the sole purpose of raising money, its many ancillary benefits will surely contribute to development efforts.

Villanova , Oklahoma State , Michigan State and Indiana are among the many universities that are taking advantage of this increasingly popular technology. For each athletic department, the application will serve the same primary purpose: to offer “easy access to up-to-the-minute news, scores, schedules, rosters and audio and video streaming” at a price of around $5.00 per year. The application’s content is fed directly from the athletic department’s official web site. As is the case with all mobile applications, the selling point is that fans are no longer required to have a computer with internet access to get the most up-to-date athletics information.

Any time an athletic department becomes more accessible to its fans, it serves to benefit in a big way. A large number of donors will be a part of the contingent of fans who see value in downloading this application, further strengthening their affiliation with the university and the athletic department. The increased accessibility will also draw new donors to the fold.

It is only a matter of time before development officers find a way to directly reach both existing and new donors through this distinctive technology, offering a much needed new revenue stream to fundraising efforts.

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Matt Kirinovic

Miami of Ohio integrates press releases with online giving

Throughout the nation on a daily basis, athletics annual funds will issue a press release to promote events, games, and key donors. However, many of these releases are just that, simple informational articles that describe their purpose. While this by itself is fine, Miami of Ohio has started to integrate them into their online giving strategy.

Recently, the Red & White Club (the annual giving arm of Miami) released a statement about a barbecue luncheon held on January 13. In the release, they talk about their upcoming event the key coaches who will be attending the event. However, at the very beginning of their press release, there is a linked graphic that states, “Make a Gift.”

If a user clicks on this link, they are taken directly to the foundation page for athletics, allowing the user to make a donation in just a few clicks. By doing this, anyone who views the article will be able to make a gift in a manner similar to ordering a pair of shoes online-by inputting their information and clicking submit.

While placing this tab on all press releases may portray the department as a little desperate, a well timed press release that details an annual fund or development activity can serve as the perfect medium for reminding or encouraging people to give. The efficiencies that can be realized from online giving will not only help raise funds, but also free up hours for staffers to work on other items.

Taylor Wood

Arkansas expands foundation’s reach, combines annual funds

The University of Arkansas has expanded the breadth of the Razorback Foundation, Inc. to include all 19 of its intercollegiate sports. The Razorback Foundation, Inc. has taken over the operations of the Women’s Athletic Annual Fund upon a vote by the Razorback Foundation Board. This move now allows for a more focused fundraising approach for Arkansas as it attempts to expand its current donation efforts.

The Razorback Foundation has worked for its seven male sports while the Women’s Athletic Annual Fund oversaw the giving efforts for the 12 women’s sports. The Razorback Foundation coordinates the annual fund drive for Arkansas athletics and oversees the priority seating for each of Arkansas’ revenue generating sports. The athletics department’s development staff performs the ask for major gifts for Razorback athletics.

The move, effective July 1, 2010, centralizes the foundation for the 19 Arkansas sports and 460 student-athletes. Other schools have performed similar moves recently, including the University of Tennessee, which was covered in an article on this site July 15, 2009. Tennessee consolidated the funds from its separate men’s and women’s athletics programs. Combining funds development teams to have a more focused approach to generating donations. Consolidation also allows for greater foundation synergy as programs have one team working towards greater development goals. It also provides for a simpler scenario for those donors that want to give to both men and women student-athletes. This works particularly well at schools like Arkansas and Tennessee that have major revenue generating sports for both men and women.

by Sean Phifer

Division III rivals use mascots to fuel competition

Wittenberg University and The College of Wooster, long-time rivals in Division III athletics and the North Coast Athletic Conference, are staging the Mascot Face-Off to engage students and alumni. The competition involves voting for each Ohio school’s respective mascot, the Wittenberg Tiger and the Wooster Scot, on a centralized website. The voting started on October 26 and will last until November 14. While increasing school spirit is the main objective of the campaign, the schools are also using the competition as a way to generate donations to each school’s annual fund. With buttons from the competition website linking to each online giving page, distant alumni can vote for their favorite mascot and make a donation in one visit.

The competition is using many social media avenues to promote the campaign to the wide-ranging alumni base. The homepage features YouTube videos of each school’s Dean of Students encouraging support from site visitors as well as videos by spirited students promoting the involvement of their fellow classmates. The competition also promotes each school’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, which promote the Mascot Face-Off. The challenge also features an RSS feed that gives subscribers regular updates about the competition.

This is a great example of using a rivalry to generate donations from donors. While many development departments use rivalries in everyday competition, but this campaign is unique as the two schools are working together to generate donations for the respective schools. Schools at every level could benefit from this Division III example.