Institutions Embrace Online Strategies for Giving Day Success
Lessons for Successful Giving Days was the Topic of Discussion at CASE All Districts Conference
Anthology hosted a virtual panel focusing on recent and upcoming Days of Giving at several higher ed institutions, all of whom have adopted the Anthology Encompass platform to power their online giving campaigns. The panel, which took place at last week’s CASE All Districts Conference, discussed how most of these relatively small teams were able to reach or surpass their Giving Day donation goals while also navigating the unprecedented challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Adjusting our messaging was key.” Sarah Byrd, Director of Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving at Knox College, spoke about her team’s struggle to find an appropriate window in which to launch their messaging in a year riddled with health, economic and social justice crises. “We were sympathetic to the tone in the nation, and we used the fact that we are a liberal arts institution to our advantage. Rather than having a big celebration, we shifted our messaging to ‘the world needs Knox graduates now more than ever.’ Long story short, it worked.”
All agreed that a change in theme was pivotal to their recent Giving Day successes, but organization and preplanning remained as important as ever before. A clear and consistent message that can be easily shared is likely to make the most impact on donors, and a well-thought-out communication plan can make a big difference in donor follow through.
Patrick Hunt, Director of Data Services at University of California, Merced, pointed out that there is more than a little psychology at play when creating a marketing plan. “Some folks may be reluctant to give when you’re at zero or one percent of your goal. You need to give people the indication that others are into this and they should be, too.” His advice was to not only plan ahead, but to do so strategically, using the content creation and management tools that Encompass can provide. “Try to get those lead gifts, matching gifts, challenge gifts—put the pieces together of how you’re going to build momentum and keep it sustained throughout the day.”
Along with compelling and consistent messaging, the other key elements to successful online giving campaigns that the panel emphasized were: segmentation to identify populations with low participation rates, personalization to make the messaging more relevant to those groups, and gamification to inspire people’s competitive spirit.
With the dynamic data accessible through Encompass, Murray State University was able to accomplish the latter to great effect. “We used a dedicated website from Anthology to bring in our alumni.” Christian Barnes, Director of Annual Giving, said in relation to the Racers Give Week of Giving they developed to engage their alumni base of 70,000. “We provided an interactive map and donor rolls so they could see who was giving and where the giving was happening around the country—I think that really generated some excitement among our community of alumni.”
Looking forward to their next Day of Giving, Juniata College plans to utilize all of these strategies, using Encompass to target alumni groups who have had lower than average giving rates and motivating them to support the institution with more personalized challenges. Even more so, they plan to show their donors that they are not only making a difference with their dollars, but also, in sharing and spreading the message to others.
“I think now is the time to really utilize the Anthology scoreboards product and look at how we can share through social media and have our donors share their experiences and then tie it back to them.” Miranda Peruso, Director of Annual Giving at Juniata explained. “Being able to show donors the impact they are having, is really going to be super important as we move forward.”
Anthology Encompass is a completely integrated online communication and engagement solution built to help higher ed institutions strengthen alumni relationships, increase engagement, foster loyalty, boost participation and drive donations. In combination with Anthology Raise, the company’s specialized CRM solution, you can grow and nurture your donor base with relative ease.
View the entire panel discussion below.
https://vimeo.com/505375090