Enhance your annual fund response; here, from our marketing pro: No-fail strategies for optimizing those fundraising efforts

University Business, June, 2004 by Bob Sevier

For most colleges and universities, the annual fund is the backbone of fundraising strategies, and that's for a number of reasons:

First, the annual fund is the simplest and most frequent of all fundraising appeals, and as such, it's a good gauge of a college's overall ability to raise dollars. After all, if a college cannot manage its annual giving program, it is likely that more complicated fundraising strategies such as capital campaigns or planned giving will prove even more elusive.

Second, annual giving is an important litmus test of alumni satisfaction, lf giving is up, or at least steady, alumni are likely satisfied. At the same time, a publicized malfeasance--the firing of a beloved football coach, for instance, or changing the institution's name--can negatively impact giving, if not handled correctly.

Third, alumni giving is also a key criterion that foundations evaluate when considering your grant request. Their reasoning is simple: If alumni don't support the college, why should we?

Finally, a number of colleges and universities need the dollars generated through alumni giving to bolster their annual operating budget.

For these and other reasons, a strong annual fund program is essential. So, let's explore some options for enhancing your annual fund response. While some ideas will be simple and others more complex, at least one or two is guaranteed to help you reach and even exceed your annual goal. However, before we can discuss how to enhance your annual giving, two mindsets are in order:

First, a successful annual fund is not automatic. Too many colleges and universities took at the annual fund as a spigot that they can turn each year (open the valve and cash comes out). This kind of attitude will , over time, lead to a decline in giving. The annual fund is best considered as an expression of a larger relationship. If the relationship is solid and of benefit to these donors, then the annual-fund dollars will come.

Second, remember that your desire for these dollars does not automatically equate to a donor's desire to give. In fact, a recent study completed by Stamats consultants (www.stamats.com) indicates that donors are asked to give to different organizations and associations more than 100 times a year, and the most common reason people don't give is not that they weren't asked (a popular myth), but because the reason wasn't compelling. Your donors must understand your need, both logically and emotionally. Donors don't give out of obligation, but out of a sense of involvement.

With those two preambles in place, let's talk about donation enhancement.

NOT JUST ALUMNI ANY MORE

Historically, annual funds were designed to raise dollars from alumni. The days of alumni-only annual funds are long gone. At the American School in London, for example, parents of current students are an essential component of its annual fund strategy. Recognizing that an annual fund is about more than alumni, it is not unusual to see an annual fund directed at a number of other major populations including:

Parents of current students and former students

* Current donors

* Faculty and staff

* Business leaders

* Vendors that supply the institution

* Community residents

The basic equation is this: If you can make the case that an audience segment benefits because of your institution, then you can legitimately include them in your donor list. Of course, you will need different giving appeals and communication strategies for each group. Also, from the annual fund perspective, it is very important to work with the richest possible definition of alumni. Rather than simply students who graduate, alumni (from a giving perspective) often include students who completed a certain number of hours.

MANAGE STUDENT INDEBTEDNESS

One of the more prevalent reasons that young alumni often do not give is because they believe, on a certain level, that as long as they are paying off their college loans, they are somehow contributing to the institution. Of course, the real story is a good deal more complicated than this. But the fact remains that student indebtedness is a major hindrance to young alumni giving. Helping students man age their debt level can go a long way to helping them become happy alumni donors.

DATA, DATA, DATA

There's no longer any doubt that strong annual fund programs re quire good data. Not only must you know where you annual fund donors live, but you must also know their interests, inclinations, and giving history. It is amazing and sad how many colleges and universities have Lost contact with huge segments of potential donors. Furthermore, they often know little more about the donors beyond where they live or--perhaps, in the case of alumni-when they graduated. Yet, if there is one constant rule for annual fund campaigns, it is this: The more donors you know, and the more you know about those donors, the greater the giving. Invest the time and money you must to build the donor base.

And there is another important dataset to track: Past giving. The first question an annual fund donor will likely ask when called, is, "How much did I give in the past?" Knowing the amount, and how it was used, is a great stepping stone to a larger give.