Alumni are people, TOO. What if we started appealing to who they are - their #AlumniIdentity - instead of who they were in school? Join me with Association of Advancement Services Professionals (aasp) host Jay Ballinger. In this conversation, we agree, disagree, and find common ground (as two redheads named Jay would do!) on new approaches to alumni and donor engagement in #highereducation and #healthcare.

2020 transformed alumni engagement as an industry and practice, but how, to what end, and what happens whenever things return to “normal”? Join me as we explore these questions and others and discuss the newest trends in global alumni relations programs and strategies in this on-demand webinar.

What are pitfalls to avoid and things to look forward to for alumni engagement practice? In conversation with Kayan Varma, co-founder & CEO of Almabase, we unpack the lessons of 2020 and make our predictions for strategies that will gain traction in 2021. #1 on the list - Digital engagement delivery is about consistency, not content. Also, why did San Francisco take down its iconic Coca-Cola billboard?

Join me in conversation about careers in higher education and my ultimate frustration with advancement work (hint: lack of research) Also, I share my favorite alumni relations brainstorming exercise, thoughts on alumni identity making and the alumni experience, and our attempt to create professional community without “gurus.”

In cased you missed it or want to go through it again, here’s the recording and slide deck from my Flash Class Webinar on Donor Identity. I hope you enjoy it!

Curious about taking the first step in measuring and influencing Alumni Identity? Start by reading the eBook, published by Salesforce.org.

How do you identify alumni who are most likely to give to their alma mater? It's one of the biggest challenges facing advancement programs today.

The good news is this: social psychology and data analytics have made a wealth of new information available about what truly motivates alumni to engage and give. Stick around until the end of the episode for a little bonus content, including some musical talent! 🎧

It's official. I've been at this Alumni Identity work full-time for a year now and I have you to thank. Sharing meaningful content with you has been the best part of my year. 👋

To celebrate, I created something overarching and new - a two-part podcast episode recapping the resources and research that I’ve put together in the past year. It's the most comprehensive podcast that I’ve done so far - the one you'll want to share with those colleagues who scratch their heads about alumni engagement and giving. 🎧

Not too long ago, a client asked me to create an age, gender, and race profile of alumni most likely to donate to the university. I refused. Why?

Because it is a self-perpetuating myth of the advancement profession’s own design that chasing demographics leads to increased alumni engagement and giving.

Recently, Walmart announced it is getting rid of its venerable welcome greeters. There are multiple facets to this change, and clear implications for real people and their jobs, but what interests me is the “why,” because therein lies a lesson for education fundraising.

What makes a good alumni fundraising metric? Get the inside track on alumni metrics in the digital age in these highlights from my Keynote at West Coast Marketing Group conference at Fresno State University.

Higher education is decades behind private industry in using social psychology + data science to cultivate relationships. Listen in on this conversation for Tactics & Tools that can really make a difference in the everyday work of the modern Alumni Fundraiser. 🎧

Enjoy this comprehensive conversation with on the science of Alumni Identity. What are the implications for the art of fundraising? Which engagement strategies matter most in converting prospects to donors? How can alumni feelings of connection predict giving? 🎧

The well-worn ruts in the advancement road are comfortable and difficult to leave behind.

Do you agree?

Enjoy the finale of my 6-part series on #AlumniIdentity with a look ahead to 21st-century alumni fundraising + take a chance at testing your own identity. Can it be used to predict your giving?

“Wealth screening is amazing at filling our donor pipeline!” – said no fundraiser ever.

When it comes to prospect discovery and pipeline development, no two strategies are as tried and tired as wealth screening and RFM models. Here’s a case study on how alumni identity - as both tactic and tool - blows everything out of the water when it comes to predicting giving.

Fundraising strategies are often tripped up by the persistent myths and black holes that permeate higher education fundraising. 

They grab hold of new and innovative ideas and suck them into oblivion. 

If you're frustrated and looking for an escape route, here's a quick look at the new science that's opening new doors in the alumni fundraising conversation. 

Presented by Salesforce.org, follow along with this brief overview of Alumni Identity and implications for advancement CRM technologies. There are myths to be busted and new insights to be gained in higher education fundraising by looking carefully at what contributes to a graduate's own self-concept of who they are in relation to their alma mater.

What’s the difference between alumni role identity and organizational affiliation?

Dig in to the research behind role identity theory with guest author Dr. J. Travis McDearmon, whose seminal work on the topic disrupted the alumni fundraising paradigm.

Volunteers care more about your institution than anyone else. And you have more volunteers out there than you think.

Research into alumni giving has revealed the secret sauce - it matters not how institutions view volunteering, but how alumni volunteers think of themselves and their alumni identity.

When it comes to new ideas, higher education is on the bleeding edge in the classroom and noticeably behind in advancement. Need proof?