Most institutions understand the concept of marketing – offer an attractive opportunity along with an easy way for people to respond. We market programs, special events, activities, athletics, ticket sales, annual giving opportunities, naming opportunities, planned giving, etc. But what comes before marketing – public relations – is at least as important as the marketing…
Category: Admissions
A Higher Education ‘Feel Good’ Story With a Moral
Recently, I read a news story about a woman who posted on social media about potentially missing out on a substantial scholarship offer from Maryville College in Tennessee. If you have yet to read the story, the basics are that student was going to need significant financial assistance to go the traditional 4-year college route. …
2 Types of Meetings
Collaborative Meetings. These meetings are designed to brainstorm together, to collectively create, to “bounce ideas off of each other.” The purpose of these meetings is to involve others in the idea formation process. Responsive Meetings. These meetings are designed to react to a proposal, to refine an idea, to improve a plan. The purpose of…
The 3 Most Critical Steps To Create Lasting Change
If your goal is to make your advancement program more effective. If your goal is to make your program more professional. If your goal is to raise significantly more money than you’ve done previously. If your goal is to engage your volunteers in activities they’ve never done before. If your goal is to create any…
Things Good Leaders Say
Not long ago I had the good experience of listening to Adam Weinberg, president of Denison University address parents and families of current students. He delivered prepared remarks for about 15 minutes (no powerpoint) and he spent another 45 minutes addressing questions from the audience. Here are 3 things president Weinberg said that struck me:…
3 Leadership Statements That Build Team Trust
One version of leadership posits the leader as a know-it-all. This is the supremely confident individual who has most all the answers and always knows a direction for future growth. The strongman (or woman) model. However, under this form of leadership, team trust is rarely optimized, which means that team effectiveness is rarely optimized. In…
5 Lessons Dogs Teach Us About Fundraising
Pay more attention to others, less to yourself. Dogs don’t care about what they are doing. They care about what you are doing. And that makes us feel good. Don’t let a “no” derail your efforts. Sure, your dog might pout or cower if told “no” forcefully. But dogs don’t stay in that negative emotional…
Where, Who, and How
“What makes us distinctive or different or unique as compared with other institutions like us?” This is a question that Board members, administrative leaders, advancement folk, and others ask regularly and with some measure of irritation. The regularity of asking this question stems from the fact that our answer is fundamentally important to our marketing,…
Distracting Ourselves
If a menacing alien lifeform wanted to take over our world by systematically distracting us, I’m relatively certain they could not hatch a more effective plan than to introduce email into our lives. They would sell us on the ease, cost-efficiency, and instantaneous nature of the communication. And, used to only phones, snail mail, and…
Comparisons
One institution has a president who is deeply embedded in the advancement process, enjoys engaging with donors, and is good at this work. Another institution has a president who doesn’t enjoy advancement nearly as much and, instead, prefers spending time leading other institutional issues rather than being with donors. One 150-year, 4-year institution has a…