Quirky Cautionary Tale
Futuristic Fun Entices Prospective Students
A time portal that allows prospective students to glimpse their future at the U.K.'s University of Huddersfield drives this entertaining yet informative five-minute video. Produced to promote Huddersfield's 2015 open days, the project was designed to be shared on social media and create buzz while demonstrating the university's openness. The time travel theme lets Huddersfield have some cheeky fun while highlighting its academic programs, faculty, and access to career opportunities. Emeritus Chancellor Sir Patrick Stewart, of Star Trek: The Next Generation and X-Men fame, makes a cameo during the dramatic plot twist when one prospective student learns from his future self that he made a huge mistake by not enrolling at Huddersfield. The video, coupled with a digital advertising strategy, paid off with a 45 percent increase in visits to Huddersfield's open day online booking form and contributed to 380 students enrolling.
The University of Huddersfield won a 2016 Circle of Excellence Award, Silver, in the student recruitment videos (long) category.
Readers First
Lively Emails Win Fans, Grow Connections
The University of Chicago's Short List email newsletter offers one-stop shopping for news, job listings, events, and stories ranging from the enlightening to the offbeat. Produced by the alumni association, the biweekly newsletter reaches 150,000 alumni, parents, families, and friends. It employs a clean, easily scannable design and brief bites of information accompanied by a bounty of links to university news as well stories from outside sources such as The New York Times. With an open rate of 23 to 28 percent, the newsletter has generated positive feedback and more than $35,000 in contributions from its "give" button.
The University of Chicago garnered a 2016 Circle of Excellence Award, Silver, in the external audience newsletter (digital) category.
Philanthropy education
Students Energize Peer Giving
In 2013, just 20 Towson University students gave to the Maryland institution. By 2016, more than 950 students had raised over $31,000 as a result of the new Student Philanthropy Program. Towson's Presidential Ambassadors expanded their mission of educating peers about the importance of philanthropy by creating the university's first student-giving campaign, "Gold and Black Giving Back" in 2014. Events such as the stress-relieving pumpkin smash and a Valentine's Day hug-a-thon raised money and awareness for the campaign. During their visits with each of the campus's 200-plus student organizations, ambassadors emphasize that participation is more important than gift size. Ambassadors promote giving amounts equivalent to the price of a latte or pizza. The effort has grown young alumni giving: Towson's retention rate is 70 percent among young alumni who gave as graduating seniors and 80 percent among students who contributed in the past two years.
Towson University collected a 2016 Circle of Excellence Award, Silver, in the emerging fundraising programs category.