University Advancement & Marketing 2008-2009 Unit Action Plan

Presented by Shelly Armstrong, Ira Childress, Rick Duffett, Ted Halm, Mary Kay MacIver, Amber MacKenzie, Jeremy Mishler, Sarah Rice and Susan Starkey

Feb. 6, 2008 

UA&M At a Glance

 

Advancement

• Campaign planning• Donor relations• Foundation board

• Major gift fundraising• Planned giving

• Prospect management• Prospect research• Stewardship

 

Alumni Relations/Advancement Operations

• Alumni Relations activities/services• FSU Alumni Association

• Annual giving – direct mail, telephone and e-mail• Millennium alumni/donor database

management/data analysis• Advancement accounting/analysis

• University gift processing, receipting and acknowledgement• Alumni Association/Advancement Web

site management

 

Marketing and Communications

• Campaign communications • Crisis communications

• Image/recruitment advertising• Market research

• Media relations/public relations• Photography/videography/

multimedia services• Publications/writing/design services

• Web site management

 

Collaboration• Partnered with Ferris-Grand Rapids to provide photography support for advertising campaign and Kendall College of Art and Design for their award-winning viewbook.

• Collaborated with Admissions to ensure success of new Chicago student recruitment initiative and recommendations made by the President’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Enrollment.

• Assisted The Ferris Foundation with facilitating the 9th Annual Foundation for Excellence Benefit noting a 12% attendance increase to 530 guests and a 70% sponsorship increase to $160,000+.

Collaboration• Worked collaboratively with the University and Big Rapids community to host alumnus Chris Kunitz and the Stanley Cup.

• Teamed up with other units to manage the Bulldog mascot and his appearances, creating the potential for increased exposure for Ferris State University.

• Partner with academic units to engage in comprehensive campaign readiness.

• Collaborate cross-divisionally to develop an integrated marketing and recruitment plan based on the University’s mission, vision and strategic plan.

Collaboration• Expand cross-divisional relationships to identify image-enhancing stories.

• Continue partnering with Enrollment Services/Admissions to support ongoing/new student recruitment initiatives.

• Engage in discussions to determine how University videography needs for student recruitment and other uses can be most effectively met with existing and/or new resources.

• Collaborate with University Archives and Record Management Program staff to obtain hardware to store and protect Ferris State University’s photo history.

Diversity• Identified a UA&M Diversity Committee to respond to University-wide initiatives.

• Recruited and hired a diverse major gift officer team.

• Support the efforts of the Alumni Relations office to identify and enhance gift opportunities for diverse populations.

• Implement UA&M Diversity Committee recommendations and partner with other divisions to achieve diversity initiatives that require marketing and communications support.

• Ensure that all communications produced by UA&M accurately and effectively portray the diversity of the Ferris State University community.

Engagement• Engaged 3,500+ alumni and friends at more than 20 events in Michigan, Florida, Arizona and Illinois. • Expand outreach to alumni in other states.

• Continue to engage alumni by maintaining and improving the quality of Crimson &Gold alumni magazine.

Expansion• Continue stewardship program to engage and recognize donors.

•Increase corporate and foundation outreach activities.

• Enhance communications and the fundraising potential of parents of current Ferris students. • Meet the growing demand for regional/out-of-state alumni programming.

Expansion• Continue to commit resources to meet a growing campus-wide need for constituent data.

• Continue to provide an optimal level of photographic service support to the University community.

• Provide adequate graphic design resources to effectively integrate University communications.

Expansion• Pilot a program with the College of Technology and Office of the Provost to support marketing and public relations needs of the College of Technology.

• Continue to commit resources for Web development and Web design to effectively maintain and improve Ferris’ Web site.

Fundraising

• Received $2,588,286 in cash gifts as of 12/31/07 (1% increase).

• Experienced a 15% increase in number of donors, totaling 4,110 as of 12/31/07.

• The Foundation’s investments produced a 19.5% return on investment, outperforming its benchmarks.

• Increased major/planned gifts by 119% to $1,751,247.

• Strategized to increase the number of alumni giving to Ferris via the annual fund in 2007 by 34% or 4,108 and increased the amount they gave by 25% to $297,163.

Fundraising• Developed comprehensive regional constituent-based fundraising program and hired stewardship coordinator.

• Enhanced prospect management strategies.

• Developed new Planned Giving marketing strategy.

• Conduct internal readiness audit and strategies for launching comprehensive capital campaign. •Increase total cash gifts from $4.5 million to $5 million in FY09 (excluding in-kind gifts), an increase of 11%.

• Continue to provide resources for annual fund direct mail solicitations and telemarketing to build on current successes.

Fundraising• Complete the Jim Crow Museum expansion project.

• Complete 2,008 personal visits in 2008 with alumni and friends of the University.

• Ensure success of fundraising efforts by monitoring and assessing performance measures of major gift team.

Image Building• Built awareness of Ferris State University through increased exposure on billboards, public and commercial radio, media releases, print advertising, sponsorships and parade participation.

• Formed team of graphic designers from across the University to help strengthen graphic identify of Ferris State University.

• Collaborated with Academic Affairs and the College of Technology to arrange appearances for the national championship-winning Rube Goldberg team on the “Today Show” in New York City and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in Los Angeles.

Image Building• Created the new Points of Pride quarterly print publication to celebrate the accomplishments of faculty, staff and students.

• Partnered with the Pioneer and 2008 Festival of Arts organizers to market and promote the festival.

•Continue to expand the Ferris State University brand through a statewide marketing campaign.

• Utilize external marketing expertise to assist with statewide branding initiatives.

Improvements• Increased stewardship activities including enhancing the endowment tracking and reporting system and scholarship awarding process.

• Improved financial and graduate roll-over reporting processes, as well as streamlined systems including pledge reminders, quarterly board reports and electronic journal entries.

• Expanded the Millennium seat license to provide access to All major gift officers and selected staff throughout the University.

• Respond more effectively to constituent needs through ongoing market research program.

Student Recruitment• Produced far-reaching, award-winning personalized student recruitment “search” piece and other one-of-a-kind recruitment materials for prospective students and their parents that have positively impacted enrollment growth.

• Partnered with Television and Digital Media Production to publish multimedia content on the Ferris homepage that showcases student life and academic programs.

• Created multimedia-driven Future Students site to give prospective students a real slice-of-life experience.

Student Recruitment• Work with marketing personnel and Admissions to develop a new Virtual Tour.

• Expand the Ferris presence on the social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube.

Technology• Improved contact data in the Millennium system to an 89.02% accuracy rate. This is significant considering we made 20,779 address updates and an additional 114,289 updates noting changes in phone/cell phone, e-mail, employment, etc.

• Completed Phase II of the AlumniFinder Data Cleansing Project for The Ferris Foundation which resulted in the updates of 12,581 addresses, 9,674 phone numbers, 170 death notices, 2,258 e-mail addresses, 8,000 (top 25%) wealth scores and 14,671 work locations.

• Added tracking and analytical capability for Web pages through Google Analytics software.

Technology• Added “Lift-Mobile” interface that allows users of handheld devices to receive a customized, text-view of Ferris Web pages. A text-only version of the entire Ferris Web site was continued for the visually impaired who use special text-reading software.

• Utilized in-house staff expertise to produce commercial quality video for Ferris Foundation Benefit.

Video Presentation

Technology• Continue using upgraded and expanded Content Management Systems to redesign and improve the usability and appearance of college Web sites and other key areas.

• Continue to seek external expertise to keep Ferris State University’s rankings high in the search engine keyword searches.

• Increase the number of registered users of the Alumni Online Community Web site (25,000) by continuing one-time funding to keep the site fully operational and interactive.

• Continue to implement a new platform for the Alumni Association Online Community Web site, www.ferrisalumni.org.

Technology• Utilize University-Wide Notices to promote Ferris in the News, which mentions Ferris State University media placements locally, nationally and internationally.

• Develop FYI Online into the campus’ primary resource for current news and events about Ferris State University faculty, staff and students.

Training • Developed comprehensive training program for major gift and administrative assistant staff.

• Established formal mentoring program for new employees.

• Expand professional development/training opportunities for major gift team to ensure campaign readiness and provide them with adequate staff support.

• Continue to improve crisis communications by supporting the recommendations of the Information Technology Communications Task Force and participating in Emergency Response Team and other training and seminars.

• Engage in campaign communications readiness planning.

THANK YOU