An integrated, personalized and meaningful engagement strategy brings in more than just gifts, says UB guest columnist Robert Anderson, who is vice president for alumni relations and development at Albion College in Michigan.
Over the past decade, large state cuts in higher ed funding have contributed to tuition increases. In seven states, published tuition has risen over 60%, and it has more than doubled at Louisiana's four-year schools.
Colleges and universities are investing in developing audio studios to meet the growing demand from career-minded students looking to master the latest studio technology, from the best microphones and mixing consoles to recording software.
While direct mail and phone remain strong methods of courting donors, advancement offices face the reality that younger alumni may not even have a landline or use a checkbook. More than 1 in 5 online donations were made on a mobile device in 2017, according to research from the Blackbaud Institute for Philanthropic Impact. In […]
Stephen Wilson, director of annual giving at Virginia State University, identifies donor prospects at no cost on LinkedIn. Using keyword searches based on profile information such as college, industry and job title, he finds potential matches and requests the connections. About half will respond and show interest in happenings at the university. “With 20,000 alumni […]
Starting July 1, Katherine A. Rowe will begin her tenure as the 28th president of William & Mary in Virginia. Rowe currently serves as provost and dean of faculty of Smith College in Massachusetts, where she broke the national fundraising record for a women's college and launched the first statistical major at one. Leading a […]
In San Antonio, Texas, men's basketball teams from two higher ed institutions will soon play for a national title to conclude the "March Madness" tournament. The NCAA Division I championship will air in prime time on national television, with hundreds of media members on hand to chronicle the game. Just over a week earlier and […]
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA—Jairy Hunter's introduction to higher ed came when he failed to land a starting position on the football team at Wingate University in North Carolina. That setback led the former high school state champion to drop out only a year later and enlist in the Army. After finishing his military service, he found […]
When Teri McIntyre was a University of Wisconsin undergrad in the early ‘90s, she volunteered to call alumni to ask for college fund donations and—believe it or not—she liked making those calls. A university development officer noticed and offered McIntyre a job after graduation. “I didn’t know if I could spend my whole life in […]
The college presidency is a high-risk occupation. The old challenges—fundraising, strategic planning, managing enrollment, protecting students—are still there, along with newer trials involving demographic shifts, flatlining family incomes, access, and compliance to growing governmental regulation. The list goes on. It's a wonder anyone wants to do it. Yet the ranks of new college presidents continue […]
