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05.01.12

What is next, #casesmc?

Avid readers of this blog know that Michael, Susan, and I attended the CASE Social Media Conference in Chicago last month. It was a great conference and recaps and resource lists have been compiled to share key take-aways with the rest of higher education.

But, what is next? Everyone at #casesmc felt the energy and excitement around using social media in higher education. The faculty helped us think about evaluating our efforts in new ways and backchannel conversations carried on for at least a week after the conference ended. I know I’m not the only one who has a #casesmc search still running in TweetDeck!


This post is for the attendees who are looking to further their professional development with other conferences, want to add new blogs to their Google Reader, and hope to keep the conversation alive. I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite #highered resources and linked to a number of thought-leader’s twitter accounts. And please feel free to add your favorite resource by leaving a comment below!

The four higher ed resources I couldn’t live without:


  • Higher Ed Live is a weekly web show network focused exclusively on higher education. Currently there are three shows: Student Affairs Live, Admissions Live, and Higher Ed Live. The guests are top-notch and the hosts do a great job leading the conversation. Bonus? The blog is just as informative as the weekly shows.

  • EDUniverse is a hub where education professionals can find inspiration, share solutions, and build their networks. Some of the featured topics include social media, video, marketing, and design. And anyone can create a profile and upload content to the site. Full disclosure: mStoner designed, built and maintains the site. But since launching in February, EDUniverse has quickly become the first place I check when I’m looking for new ideas.

  • LINK is the journal of higher education web professionals maintained by the HighEdWeb association. (More on them later.) LINK has multiple content contributors from institutions across the nation and Canada, which means you’ll often hear two different sides. In fact, their newest feature ALL CAPS focuses on bringing differing opinions together on various topics.

  • followEDU is a searchable directory of Twitter users in the education community dreamed up by Mike Petroff. This is a great resource for #casesmc attendees who are looking to grow their list on twitter and connect with other education professionals. For example, if you’re looking to discuss admission-related topics, you can find a list of 310 professionals interested in admissions under the “Department” category. Bonus? Mike is also behind the twitter account @EDUtweetups. This account serves as a directory of events and chats on Twitter in higher education and is an excellent resource.

My favorite conference presentations from the last year:

Other conferences you’ll want to check out:


  • HighEdWeb is an organization of web professionals working at institutions of (mostly) higher education. This conference is roughly 3 times larger than #casesmc with over 500 attendees and 5 or 6 tracks to select from at any given time. The national conference is in October and I highly recommend checking it out.

  • 140cuse promises attendees that they’ll “leave with a fresh outlook on how the real time web can be used in your business and/or personal life to do something meaningful.” Unfortunately it overlapped with #casesmc this year, but check out the backchannel and see for yourself!

  • Confab: The Content Strategy Conference focuses on talking and thinking about content strategy. What opportunities exist? How does content impact user experience on your site? And mStoner is hosting the conference’s first higher ed lounge! Confab is sold out for 2012, but keep it on your radar for next year.

Three higher ed blogs I have to read:


  • EDUCheckup is a video review of higher education websites hosted by Nick DeNardis. Nick scores sites on visual, information, and code.

  • CASE Social Media blog is a great resource. Some #casesmc faculty and attendees regularly contribute content.

  • Meet Content, co-authored by Rick Allen and Georgy Cohen, aims to “empower higher education to create and sustain web content that works by providing a resource for sharing and learning.”

Some non-higher ed links to check out:


  • Seth Godin’s blog tops this list. Simply put, he is insightful and thought-provoking.

  • Six Pixels of Separation is Mitch Joel’s blog on the Twist Image site. There is a wealth of information and links to other resources here.

  • Comscore is a great resource if you are looking for surveys and data to support your work. I find their monthly U.S. Online Video Rankings to be particularly helpful.

  • Dribbble is an excellent resource for design inspiration. Designers from all industries contribute snippets of what they’re working on to the site. And it was recently pointed out to me that a quick search on responsive design brings up a number of interesting results.

If I think of any more resources I’ll be sure to update this post.

Update: CASE will be hosting the first #casesmc twitter chat on May 8 from 2:00-3:00 PM ET. See you there.

Posted by Mallory Wood
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04.30.12

Reel Deal Monday: A day in the life of Gettysburg College, Leap Day Photo Project

I love starting my week with video. Here’s one from Gettysburg College. What better day than Leap Day to capture campus life via photos and short video?

Perceived Goals


  • To showcase life on Gettysburg College campus.

  • I believe there are broader purposes for this video than simply using it as a recruitment-focused marketing tool.

Evaluation


  • If I was giving out points, I’d give Gettysburg 279 points for creating an interactive and integrated social media campaign for the Leap Day Photo Project. Not only was this video shared on Gettysburg.edu and YouTube, the College promoted the project on Facebook and encouraged user photo submissions on Tumblr and on a special Posterous account for the project. .


  • YouTube Insights gives valuable information into the success of your videos. As a regular viewer, I am able to view the top three gender + age demographics for any YouTube video. Of course, when you are trying to recruit a traditional undergraduate student the goal is to have “Female 13-17” and “Male 13-17” among the list. A day in the life hit a home run with the “Female 13-17” demographic. I’m going to roll with awarding arbitrary points and grant Gettysburg 78 points for connecting with half of their target market.

  • As you know from my last review, I think it is extremely important to update description, tags, and the category for YouTube videos. Because this project has an interactive component, I think Gettysburg should have encouraged photo submissions with a link to Posterous or Tumblr right within the video description. And why isn’t “Leap Day” a tag? 40 points awarded for not leaving these sections blank. 18 points taken away for missing an opportunity.

  • The length is perfect. The video moves along and the visuals are nicely timed with the music. (Little details like that make all the difference.) This is the type of video where length can easily get away from you, so kudos for keeping it to just over one minute.

  • Campus looks great, students look happy, and a woman was wearing a Gettysburg hoodie. “Duh,” you might be thinking, “why would I show trash or unhappy faces?” Well, getting these images isn’t as easy as you might think when you are snapping candid photos and shooting random video clips. And most of the photos and videos have that raw, “I just pulled out my iPhone” feel.

  • Academics, athletics, and food. I think my one complaint is every photo or video can be placed into one of those categories. What about the impressive performing arts groups? Or photos of students volunteering with the local youth?

Results


  • By sharing the video in multiple places, the view count is over 1,000.

  • I’m wondering if Gettysburg can attribute new photo submissions on either Tumblr or Posterous directly to this video. (Paul, are you out there? Have any insights?)

Rating

I give this video a 9 because Gettysburg paid attention to details. Lining up the images and music may have been something a less-experienced video editor would have overlooked. And this video will be easily repurposed, increasing the return on investment. The length is perfect and I walk away feeling good about life on campus at Gettysburg.

Paul Fairbanks, Director of Web Communications, Communications and Marketing, submitted this video and says, “We feel the video was successful in both capturing the day and reflecting life at Gettysburg College. We are pleased with the view count and will re-use the video in the future.” Well done, Paul.

What rating would you give this video and why? Leave a comment below. And don’t forget to submit a video from your institution.

Posted by Mallory Wood
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04.24.12

Resources from #casesmc

Wow! The CASE Social Media Conference was terrific. Kudos to the conference chair Susan T. Evans for pulling together some of the best minds in higher education to serve as conference faculty and presenters.

Here’s what some of the attendees had to say:








If you were unable to attend the conference, I’d highly encourage you to check out the session slides, live blog posts, and conference hashtag. I’ve taken the liberty of pulling together some of these resources for you here.

Slides from the presenters:


  • Succeeding with Social Media: The latest CASE/mStoner/Slover Linett survey

    • Blog posts recapping the presentations:

    Posted by Mallory Wood
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    04.23.12

    Reel Deal Monday: Pop quiz: the beginning

    Confession: I had every intention to feature the latest video from the Boston College Minute video series, “Problem in A minor.” The BC Minute series produced by Ravi Jain consistently tops my list for effective, interesting, and engaging web video content.

    I went to Boston College’s YouTube channel to get the embed code for Problem in A minor and their feature video Pop quiz: the beginning started to play. And I was instantly hooked.

    Usually I am not a fan of using auto-play and I never suggest clients take that approach with their YouTube channel. But I’ll admit that I probably wouldn’t have thought to watch the video otherwise, because I was on a mission to find another link.

    Please note, I have not interviewed BC staff about the production, goals, or outcomes of Pop quiz: the beginning.

    Perceived Goals


    • To educate current students, prospective students, and the greater Boston College community about the Sesquicentennial Celebration.

    • I do not believe using this video as a recruitment-focused marketing tool for the institution was a primary goal.

    Evaluation


    • The video is funny. I see a diverse student population, a beautiful campus, and students who seem friendly, interesting, and most importantly—real. I don’t care if they can spell Sesquicentennial (heck, I’m not sure I can either!) but it is funny watching them try.

    • The video is fast-paced, the audio is high-quality, and even though Pop quiz is nearly 4 minutes long—my attention was held the entire time.

    • The host does a great job interacting with the unsuspecting students. I think this was key to the success of the video. The side commentary at :11, :36, and 3:26 kept the balance between light-hearted Q&A and information overload.

    • It is clear from the Sesquicentennial site that Boston College is celebrating the anniversary all month. Pop quiz was filmed before the festivities began (+1 for thinking ahead) but wasn’t published until April 18 (-1 for failing to capitalize on potential web traffic for the entire month).

    • Nothing gets me more upset than seeing video information (description, title, tags) that isn’t filled out on YouTube. It is so simple and provides context for your viewers, this should be a must. Boston College always does an excellent job filling out this information. By giving viewers further information about the College’s 150th celebration, they were able to keep the video light and funny.

    Results


    • No matter what audience I belong to, by watching Pop quiz I learn something new about Boston College.

    • I am not sure how or if BC promoted this video, but 347 views in five days is pretty typical of higher education web video. They are missing an opportunity to link to this video from the Sesquicentennial home page and the main Boston College Facebook page.

    Rating

    I give this video an 8 because it delivers otherwise “boring” College facts in a way that is fun and funny. And while it was a bit longer than I’d usually suggest, my attention was held throughout the entire video. If a prospective student interested in BC finds this video, I believe they’ll be interested and enjoy seeing the authentic student-to-student interaction. Pop quiz doesn’t scream “marketing” and the video is well produced.

    What rating would you give this video and why? Leave a comment below.

    Posted by Mallory Wood
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    04.19.12

    Why College Presidents Aren’t More Social

    You can’t be a university president and be anti-social. In a president’s ceremonial role, she’ll have to attend luncheons, dinners, meetings, cocktail hours, fundraisers, all kinds of athletic contests. So this blog post isn’t about how painful it is to be a president and attend all those events. No, it’s about why presidents aren’t more active on social media.

    And let me just say this right up front: I’m talking about the full range of social media here: blogs, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and other tools for communication and engagement. Like the rest of us, presidents who use social media make choices about what channels make the most sense for them.

    For the past month, I’ve been doing research on how CEOs, including college and university presidents, use social channels to build relationships and communicate about themselves and their institutions. Clearly some presidents—like Paul LeBlanc at Southern New Hampshire University; Dan Porterfield at Franklin & Marshall; Beth Stroble at Webster University; and Robert Wyatt at Coker College—are comfortable and adept in social media. Walter Kimbrough, soon to be the president at Dillard University, has been dubbed “the HipHop president” (he tweets as @hiphopprez), a sobriquet that has followed him onto TV and into the pages of magazines like People.

    These presidents, and others like them, understand that social media offer them opportunities to reach more people in ways that other channels simply don’t. For example, Paul LeBlanc said that his blog and Twitter stream allow him to communicate outside the formal and ceremonial channels that that often characterize his role:

    “If you think about the way presidents get to communicate, there are a fairly limited number of tools. I can only do a little bit of walking around. I can send out formal communications but they don’t allow me to talk about aspects of my life that are more personal. These channels allow me to reach a lot of people and give them a more personal view of my thoughts and my life. I really love that.”

    Tech users, but not social
    Many college and university presidents use technology heavily. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project,

    “College presidents are major adopters of new digital technologies such as e-readers, tablets and smartphones: 87% use a smartphone on a daily basis, 32% use a tablet computer such as an iPad daily and 15% say they use an e-reader such as a Kindle or Nook every day.”
    Yet, despite this, only about a third report that they use Facebook weekly or more often and only 18% occasionally use Twitter.”

    In one sense, it’s not surprising that more college and university presidents aren’t more active on social media: their job is incredibly demanding and complex. James Duderstadt, former president of the University of Michigan, reminds us in The View from the Helm:

    Today’s university president is expected to be part chief executive officer, intellectual leader of the faculty, educational leader, occasional parent to the students, political lobbyist with both state and federal government, cheerleader for the university, spokesman to the media, fund-raiser, entertainer, and servant to the governing board. Large institutions require strong executive leadership; public institutions need political acumen; and smaller institutions seek a greater degree of hands-on engagement with faculty and students in academic issues. And the performance in any particular one of these roles is usually considered as the singular basis for evaluating the president’s performance by the correspondingly affected constituency.

    Duderstadt’s book was published in 2007, before the Edupocalypse was in full swing. Now, of course, he’d have to include several chapters addressing changing education paradigms, alternative credentials, financing, for-profit ed, and other contemporary issues. In short: the president’s job has become even more complex.
    Given that reality check, here’s why presidents say they have chosen not to be active on social channels:

    • Time: Where they will find the time to blog, post, or tweet is a major concern for men and women who find little enough time in a day for their many responsibilities and commitments. And what’s a private life for a president?

    • Control: Given the nature and scope of their responsibilities, presidents are reluctant to cede control over their message and open up in public channels that can easily be subverted by critics. “It’s not that I don’t welcome dialog: I do,” one president told me. “But I’m concerned about trolls and people who have a grudge against me, or my university, taking over these channels.”

    • Risk: Some corporate CEOs aren’t active on social media because they work in regulated industries like banking or financial services and they are rightfully concerned about saying something can can be seized on by regulators or investors. University presidents have told me that they don’t tweet or blog because their legal counsel has advised them against it. Others consider the lack of control, especially over responses, a risk they aren’t willing to take.

    • Unproven channels: Some presidents aren’t convinced that social media is worth their time because there’s no way to show that these channels are successful. To someone with this view, they aren’t worth the investment of precious time.

    • ROI: Similarly, their most important audiences (donors, the board, significant influencers) don’t pay attention to social channels. So there’s no ROI to show for the time invested in them.

    • Social pressure: Since relatively few presidents are active on social media, people don’t expect them to be there. So there isn’t a lot of peer pressure from other presidents. And constituents such as students, faculty, parents, alumni, or other significant constituent groups don’t expect presidents to blog, tweet, or post on Facebook.

    • Age: Many older presidents aren’t comfortable with some of the norms of social media, especially Facebook, which tends to be informal, open, and chatty. They’re simply more formal and reticent about opening up on public channels.

    • Performance anxiety: Taking the first steps on a social platform can be pretty intimidating. Anyone is bound to wonder what will happen if they make a mistake. [Honestly, I remember rewriting my first tweets.] Then imagine what it’s like for a president, who’s very much in the public eye, to stumble in public with fans and followers watching.


    Of course, norms and expectations are changing. And presidents are beginning to realize that social media can be important, if not downright essential, in their personal engagement and communications. I’ll share insights from presidents who are active on social media in future posts.

    Posted by Michael Stoner
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    04.18.12

    On day one of #casesmc we crowdsourced the opening session.


    I’m in Chicago right now and we are well into day one of the CASE Social Media and Community Conference. I’m joined by 156 of the most passionate social media professionals in education. So, yes, it seemed only fitting to “crowdsource” the opening session. Earlier today, we kicked off #casesmc with a panel of our faculty and speakers responding to five crazy questions I wrote:


    1. If you were traveling against your will to another planet, and could only bring one social media tool with you, which one would you bring and why? And, while you’re thinking about your answer, there’s one caveat, you can’t bring Facebook.

    2. What is the craziest comment you’ve heard about social media from a highly paid senior executive?

    3. If you were the handler for Charlie Sheen (or Lindsay Lohan or some other in need of help celebrity), how would you have used social tools to quickly improve their public image?

    4. Please complete this sentence and feel free to use fiction for your response. If I could ___, my school’s Twitter feed would be a CASE Circle of Excellence award winner in a new category called, “The Most Unexpected Use for Social Media.”

    5. Pretend you are the Wizard of Oz and you have the power to do anything. What is the one thing you would want people who use social media to stop doing? What one social media practice would you ban forever from the Emerald City?

    Halfway through the session, I checked in on the back channel and asked the audience to share their favorite tweets (so far) from the opening session.

    One tweet: Great idea from @mherek: Live-tweet “beloved” professors’ courses.

    We even used the audience to wrap up the panel. I called on them to summarize what they’d heard and to share any ideas they were already planning to try on their own campuses. They did! (Not really a surprise from a social media crowd.)

    For an even deeper dive into audience participation, we gave everyone at the conference the chance to answer any of the five questions we asked our panelists.

    One answer to Question 5: People who tweet pictures of their babies and their dinners.

    Follow the #casesmc hashtag for the rest of the week for more from social media rock stars taking over #Chicago.

    Posted by Susan Evans
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    04.17.12

    Reel Deal Mondays

    Let’s get right to the point. Video speaks to viewers in a way that evokes emotion, passion, and action. Video adds interactivity, increases your reach, and encourages sharing. And simply put, it’s entertaining.

    Video helps institutions reach prospective students.

    In an early 2011 eduGuru survey 95% of respondents reported that they create video for the web. And video production has only increased and become more important since the survey was conducted. Where’s the evidence? Just look at the ever-increasing statistics on video uploads and views released by YouTube and ComScore. People love to consume video online.

    55% of students watch video on college web sites according to the 2011 Noel-Levitz E-Expectations Report. This number is up 13% from the 2010 survey. And 27% of students report that they visit other video sites (like YouTube) to find information about institutions on their list.

    But simply producing video is not enough. There is a lot of noise out there. You aren’t just competing with sneezing pandas and double rainbows for video viewership. You’re competing against any other activity prospective students could be engaged in. That includes homework, soccer practice, and Facebook. Therefore, video produced by institutions must be effective: well thought-out, relevant, and supportive of institutional goals.

    Let’s talk video.

    This June you’ll find me at SUNYCUAD presenting Reel Deal: Online Video, It’s Time To Get Smart. And every Monday leading up to the presentation I’ll be reviewing interesting and effective marketing videos in higher education.

    Want to see your video featured?





    Here are some resources to get us started:

    Posted by Mallory Wood
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    04.11.12

    Device-iveness Webinar Recording Now Available!

    Two weeks ago Doug Gapinski delivered an informative and engaging webinar titled “Device-iveness: Delivering a High Fidelity Experience on Desktop Browsers, Tablets, and Phones.” And today I’m excited to share the recording with you.

    Who should view the webinar:


    • People who are considering a web relaunch and want to know more about site delivery on devices
    • People who have a live site and are thinking of a mobile solution

    The webinar will address:


    • a look at the current state of custom mobile sites and responsive design in higher education
    • an exploration of examples in both higher education and the commercial sector
    • data: facts and figures connected to mobile and responsive examples
    • resources for anyone considering a web relaunch or mobile site



    I promise in the future our recorded webinars will be available within 48 hours and thank you for your patience as we sorted out a few tech issues in order to make this recording available.

    Do you have a follow-up question for Doug? Tweet him or leave a comment below.

    Posted by Mallory Wood
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    04.10.12

    Great Expectations: a Peek into the Mind of the College-Bound Student

    An Examination of the April 2012 Noel-Levitz Research on Communication Expectations of College-Bound High School Students


    Illustration showing a profile of a head, symbolizing ideas and decision making.

    College-bound junior and seniors have high expectations from colleges and universities they are investigating. These expectations form as they are wooed by counselors at admissions events, courted by web sites and admissions materials, and romanced by idyllic on-campus tours. For many students, this courtship process will happen with more than one institution.

    A college bound student—and parents of the student—should have high expectations. The student or family will pay top dollar—and in many cases accept a burden of debt—for a degree that’s seen as mandatory or nearly mandatory in many fields. But what do college-bound students expect, and how do they prefer to be contacted? What admissions efforts have the biggest impact on decision making? We can’t assume that we know the answers to these questions without research.

    As luck would have it, our friends at Noel-Levitz just released another research report based on surveys from nearly 1,000 college-bound students (and just over 350 parents or guardians of future students) to help us all better understand the expectations of these audiences. I spent some time reading this document, rereading it, and thinking about it. Here are my top conclusions.

    All seven highly influential factors for college-bound students are strongly connected to one another.
    There are seven factors (including a campus visit, the institutional web site, college search sites, and talking to counselors and students) identified as highly influential—with an average rating of 3.5 or higher on a 5 point scale. We can look at this as good news: an institution has up to seven powerful chances to help a college-bound student make a decision. Even though the report separates these factors for purposes of comparison we can think of them as additive. For example, a live chat is a chance for positive influence but is also a chance to point a prospective to a campus visit or a helpful area of the website. One influential factor can point to the next, and all factors can point to “yes.”

    All or nearly all of your efforts should support a visit to campus as a next step.
    According to the data, the on-site campus visit still wins as the most influential factor for prospective students and parents. If we acknowledge that none of the decision factors exist in a vacuum, most efforts need to point to the most powerful decision maker in some way. The campus visit should have obvious calls-to-action across communications channels, and any web presence should make it as easy as possible for prospectives to schedule a visit.

    You need an outstanding website.
    The main college or university website is the second most influential factor for college bound students and their parents. Websites were ranked as more influential than speaking with a current student, talking to an admissions representative, and even more influential than college search sites or guidance counselors. It’s worth remembering that in addition to being nearly as influential as an on-site visit, a website offers a very high level of convenience (it can be accessed without much of a time investment) and immediacy (it can be accessed at the moment of inspiration).

    Facebook loses to other sources of influence (including print!) by a pretty big margin…
    This was the biggest shocker to me. Facebook was the only choice identified as a middling source of influence, with an average rating of only ~2.5 on a 5 point scale.

    … but is still worth maintaining based on the level of ease and because curating for Facebook has other benefits.
    Facebook can be set up in minutes and a moderate Facebook presence can be maintained relatively easily. In the process of combing for content, a person curating for Facebook will likely turn up stories that are appropriate for other feeds or even feature interviews.

    You need a good admissions email campaign.
    For juniors, seniors, and parents, email was chosen as the most comfortable method of online communication. All other methods (live chat, social media, webcast, webcam) were fairly close to one another for comfort level. It is worth noting that the convenience level of social media might beat some of the others (webcam or live chat). In other words, social media has a nearly equal level of influence to efforts such as webcam chats but social media probably represents less time and effort to maintain.

    A big thumbs up to Steph Geyer for being friendly about sharing research and for her permission to blog about it. She’s a smart lady and you should listen to what she says.

    img

    Posted by Doug Gapinski
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    04.05.12

    Campaign Websites: I have some answers but I also have a lot of questions.

    What school is not in the midst of a campaign, in the silent/leadership phase of a campaign, or planning for a campaign? Okay, all two of you get a pass and don’t have to read this post. The rest of you, I’ve got some questions I need answered.

    The point is this: most educational institutions rely on the web for fundraising campaigns. In December, I wrote a blog post about what makes a good giving site. Today, I’ll extend that topic a bit and share some thoughts about websites designed for fundraising campaigns.

    First, here are five trends that I’ve observed about campaign websites.

    1. Microsites
    Most of the development folks I’ve met are convinced they need microsites for fundraising campaigns. It seems potential donors have become accustomed to something splashy and unlike the .edu site. But consider the case where the .edu site is exceptional. In that case, could a campaign site be created successfully within the main web presence? Frankly, I’m not sure microsites are always necessary and I’d love to hear what you think. Please comment below and share your insights and experiences. I really want to know.

    2. Video
    I think video on fundraising sites is expected and it seems almost standard to include clips about how a school uses private support for an exceptional student experience. Again, I’m told donors want highly produced, professional quality video. Is this because that’s what we always show them? Or, is there a scenario where a student-produced (think YouTube quality) video would be equally compelling for a campaign? Would it be more authentic? Do donors want authentic? I’d love to hear your opinions and see your examples.

    3. Photography
    Big, splashy photography is common on campaign microsites. (Hmm…incredible photography works well on any site, right?) Typically, you find these sorts of photos:

    • Pics of new facilities and buildings

      (After all, donors help pay for bricks and mortar and they expect to see photo galleries that feature them.)

    • Pics of professors
      (Campaign contributors fund endowed chairs and donors want evidence of a direct tie between the dollars they give and the faculty-student connection that results.)

    • Pics of happy and sincere students

      (Generous donors fund scholarships that make transformative education possible for students. Understanding what the student was able to do because of the support is key.)

    4. Research
    Featuring faculty research and scholarship on campaign sites can be a bit tricky because “expanding knowledge” is a hard sell. It seems to work best when the research can be summarized by a lay person and tied to popular, current topics. I think donors might be a bit put off by what they would view as arcane research that doesn’t seem to contribute to solving a world problem or issue. Yes, individuals are often sensitive and prickly about the ivory tower stuff. But does that mean we stay away from it or should we do a better job of explaining it? (True confession: my husband is a college professor.)

    5. Naming Names
    Campaign sites usually offer a list of names as a way to thank and recognize donors. These web pages get a lot of traffic because people love to look for their own names or their friends’ names. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard more than one fundraising professional say that mentioning gifts from peers is a way to influence a potential donor. Make it easy for me. Your wall of donors should be database-driven and thus searchable.

    Next up, four things I’ve noticed that we need to work a little harder to get right.

    1. Integrate with the .edu Site
    IMHO, features and content on a campaign site should be integrated with the main .edu website. For example, student and faculty profiles developed for the campaign should be repurposed and even bubble up as sidebars on the main website. The idea that the best content has to be walled away in order to be special doesn’t make sense to me. Prove me wrong on that.

    2. Stay on Message
    I mean the same message. Too often, separate messages developed for a campaign do not sync up with the articulated values and priorities of the institution. I understand that you can’t crowdsource the campaign strategy or case statement. Still, when alumni and donors visit a campaign site, the themes should complement the institutional messaging. And, if you plan to rely on faculty and students as ambassadors during a campaign, their authentic story is grounded in the campus, not in the campaign. Might offend you alert: The dog should wag the tail.

    3. Use Social Media
    Michael Stoner wrote about two of my favorite examples of incredible alumni-related campaigns. In 2009, both Emory’s Blue Pig annual fund campaign and Nazareth College’s Flight of the Flyers alumni engagement campaign demonstrated the power of social media. Yet, three years later, most advancement/development VPs and fundraisers that I’ve met don’t think social media is worth the time because the resulting gifts are so small. I say, social media increases alumni engagement and that should lead to increased giving, right? It seems social media is more acceptable in discussions about annual giving and less acceptable within large-scale campaigns. At a minimum, I think integrating the university-level social channels into the campaign strategy is a good idea.

    4. Give Now
    Give now rarely means give now. Because we are still relying on cluncky systems for online giving, give now actually means go through a few horrible steps and eventually click submit without the option to split gifts or give as a married couple when you are both alumni donors. We need to do better on this front. Prove me wrong, please. Does your college or university have an Amazon-like experience for online giving?

    So what’s a communications professional to do? Get inspired!

    We can learn from each other. CASE District II sponsors an annual Accolades Award program with more than 40 categories, including recognition for the best websites for fundraising and development. I was a judge for this category in 2012; perhaps you’ll find some inspiration among these award winners.

    Okay, your turn. Jump in everybody. Share your thoughts, examples and differing opinions. Show us what you’ve got.

    Posted by Susan Evans
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