Building Foundations to Meet the Needs of Graduates
In his 2018 Netflix special Kid Gorgeous at Radio City, comedian John Mulaney described receiving a letter from his college. After the usual formalities— “Hi John, it’s college. You remember?” —the letter proceeds to ask for a gift. Or as Mulaney phrased it, “Give us some money! As a gift! We want a gift...but only if it’s money!”
Four months into the COVID era, rapid change has become the new normal. And in every conversation about it, the talk inevitably turns to: what are you seeing? What are others doing? What might happen next?
Nonprofit, higher education, and health care organizations are all facing similar challenges when it comes to layoffs, furloughs, and hiring freezes. Amid today’s underlying budget constraints many are taking a strategic approach when it comes to human resources: redeployment.
We hope this message finds you and your family safe and well, during these turbulent times.
In the spirit of “virtual” community and professional development, we will continue to offer you best practice blogs authored by CASE DI leaders and generous sponsors.
To that end, we are pleased to bring you the latest CASE District I blog post from Opus, “A Sponsor Update and Giveaway” written by Opus Creative Director Lily Robles. Because Opus was unable to connect with you at the CASE DI Conference, Lily shares the latest news from Opus and asks what’s new with your institution. Connect with Opus through their newly redesigned website for a chance to win some dynamic infographics and $100 Amazon Gift Certificate.
Nonprofits put in place leadership structures, accountability measures, and dedicated teams to prevent them as much as possible. And yet even the most well-prepared, best practice-driven, and finest mission-oriented nonprofits are not immune. News of misconduct at community foundations, cover-ups of abuse within religious denominations, and accusations of misuse of donor funds at service organizations has risen to the surface in the past several years alone.
As development professionals, you aim to successfully influence how your audience thinks and feels to get their support for your organization. A key component of reaching and influencing your audience through creative direct marketing efforts is by storytelling.
There is an old parable I have come across at various points throughout my career. I’ve adapted it for my work with nonprofits to illustrate the ability of vision and purpose to inspire generosity.
If your company serves multiple markets, the prospects you attract to your website can vary greatly in terms of their individual needs and areas of interest. A diverse or expansive product line brings additional complexity to the task of quickly getting the right content to the right prospect, at the right time.
Live experiences are one of the most powerful ways for institutions to bond with their most important communities. For campaigns in higher education, no single event or series of events sets the tone more than the campaign kickoff.
Early in my career, every time I brought up the idea of brand development, I was greeted with one of three general reactions. The reaction I loved the most because of the instant affirmation, “Awesome, I can’t wait. We need this so much.”
