BETTER TOGETHER. Partners? The Development-Communications Partnership. Sonny and Cher. T. Swift and Kanye. Hattfields & McCoys

Transcription

1 BETTER TOGETHER The Development-Communications Partnership Partners? Sonny and Cher T. Swift and Kanye Hattfields & McCoys

2 Partners Andy and Barney Barack and Joe Han Solo and Chewbacca Why our partnership matters Transfer of wealth Now or never Disinvestment in higher education If not YOU, then WHO?

3 MISCONCEPTIONS 101 DEVELOPMENT OFFICERS What People Think

4 Truth COMMUNICATIONS STAFF What People Think

5 Truth Communicators are specialists Who did the hiring? Who did you hire?

6 A creative writer? A news person who is also a writer? A graphic designer? A web designer? An IT person who has the keys to your website? Someone else? Development Officers are also specialists, but often move between these areas: Annual Fund Director of Development Corps and Foundations Major Gifts Principal Gifts Planned Gifts

7 Work together from the beginning Pre-plan and combine resources Identify objectives and goals Jointly advocate WHAT S YOUR BANDWITH?

8 Letters Websites Brochures Case Statements Proposals Annual Reports E-Marketing Social Media Development Communications vs. General Communications

9 Where does Communications report? Enrollment? Development? President? Dean? CAN T YOU GET A STUDENT TO DO THIS? Anne s favorite question!

10 OK, YOU RE IN A HURRY BUT Please don t.

11 PHOTOGRAPHY MATTERS.

12 This? Or This? Bert and Tillie Hood, Planned Giving Donors

13 An Endowed Chair IT TAKES TWO TO MAKE A THING GO WRITE (It takes two to make it outta sight.)

14 Development staff can feed impact stories to Communications staff Communications staff can strengthen fundraising message LET S TALK WEBSITES

15 The Fight for Space vs. The Courage to Stand Out Which do you prefer? Crowded Site Simplicity

16 Who is managing your website? We measure what matters, right?

17 Impressions are Impressive. But do they really translate to dollars? Print is dying, right?

18 Not yet! Our readers don t want donor stories!

19 Meet Harris Rosen

20 Meet Red Hat Guy

21 Hard Hats and Heartbreak Missed Opportunities Powering Pomolong Honors College supplies a South African community with electricity Experiential learning as a fundraising priority

22 Guiding Principles for Magazines Full time editor Editor makes final decisions Resource it Don t scrimp on design It s not a direct mail piece VIDEOS FOR DEVELOPMENT

23 Meet the Professor Or meet the person she helped Choose Goosebumps!

24 Which one for fundraising? Conveying Data Think chunk-able Think snack-able Think scan-able

25 A COMPREHENSIVE CAMPAIGN

26 What People Plan for First Fundraising Consultant Feasibility Study Hiring of Development Staff Ramping up on Research But, wait! What are we raising money for? Vision Campaign Communications Plan Case Statements

27 The Challenge $500 million 12 colleges 64,000 students 217 funding priorities Building Faculty Athletics

28 How do we make it all fit? WE CAN T. JUST ACCEPT IT. But, we can create a suite of communications pieces that will address development needs.

29 The best case statements have BIG ideas.

30 CREATING CAMPAIGN COLLATERAL What resources do you have? Can you hire freelancers? Do you have leadership buy-in? Can you start small?

31 White papers FAQs One pagers Best Fundraising Friends Start small. And grow. White papers Case statements CASE-style summit Briefing book

32 What goes and what stays? SHOW ME THE MONEY! Calculate ROI by category

33 Lapsed and non-donors To Mail or Not to Mail? One high-ask proposal? Or hundreds of direct mail letters?

34 DO S AND DON TS Do sweat the small stuff details matter Do use freelance writers Do hire professional photographers Do use printed materials as an enhancement to your visit Don t overthink it Don t promise a big cardboard check Don t promise a press release Don t explain show don t tell Don t underestimate the power of a strong image or video in storytelling

35 Show staff what you re doing Pick your top 3

36 Know your staff s strengths and weaknesses One size does not fit all Be prepared to buy your deficits Reach out to colleagues in other cities

37 USE REAL WORDS. Avoid development speak and shop talk. Most people don t know what we re talking about. Endowment Underwater Endowments Corpus Planned Gift Spendable In Perpetuity Unrestricted Gift Principal Gift Transformative Gift

38 MAKE YOUR MESSAGE CLEAR Tip: Read it out loud. CAMPAIGN ROLLOUT Can we do this?

39 Guiding Principles Budget Audience Task Force Shared Responsibility Start Early, Meet Often Touch People s Hearts.

40 Announcing Gifts Do you have a publicity plan for announcing gifts? Is permission written into the gift agreement? Don t wait until the gift is already received to make a plan. Don t promise a press release. TOO MUCH INFORMATION Things to keep in mind.

41 Information Overload Individuals must sort through more information than ever before Split-Second Decisions Appeals for money or attention elicit gut-check responses from busy consumers Top of Inbox Wins Endless influx of communications means focus on the last organization to reach out Relevance is Paramount Donors stay tuned in as long as the organization is engaging them with the content that is relevant to their lives IS COMMUNICATIONS AT THE FUNDRAISING TABLE?.

42 You know you re at the table when Fundraisers include communications at part of a strategy, not just a service provider Fundraisers lose that loving feeling for logos and brochures IS FUNDRAISING AT THE COMMUNICATIONS TABLE?.

43 You know you re at the table when Communicators ask your opinions and advice Communicators are checking in regularly to see what you are doing When in doubt

44 QUESTIONS? Anne Botteri Associate Vice President for Advancement Communications and Donor Relations UCF Foundation