Gratitude.

That is the all-encompassing word that comes to mind when I think about my experiences at my alma mater, my college, and my opportunity here at EverTrue now.  While gratitude is always an important feeling, it is an especially pertinent word at this time of year for independent schools and colleges in the countdown for the Annual Fund.  Gratitude inspires alumni giving to the Annual Fund, and schools are grateful for alumni and their support.  Yes, in addition to an introductory blog post, this is also a pitch for annual giving!

I was lucky to intern in the Alumni and Development Office at Middlesex for two summers after I graduated where I worked with an incredible Alumni and Development team.  Now, I am a class agent for Middlesex. My experience at Middlesex enforced in my mind how important alumni support is to any institution, and it also got me thinking—what is the ultimate way to inspire alumni to give back to the places that gave them so much?

Well, it turns out there are many reasons that inspire alumni to give back to schools, fundamentally to financially support the school.  No matter how many times I thought about the above question, though, I could not create a formula to both express the importance of annual giving and pinpoint the exact reasons of why alumni give.  I could not find a formula because the answer of my question lies within the gratitude and experience of each alumnus.  Thus, the one reason, the ultimate reason, I find most compelling to give back to an alma mater is unique to each alumnus.

What is my one reason to support Middlesex? I have more than one reason, but here are just a few.  I give for the teachers who challenged me and inspired me to speak up in class.  I give for the beautiful voices of Small Chorus filling the Chapel.  For swimming across Bateman’s Pond, for lounging on the Circle, for the vibrant sunsets behind the Chapel.  I give because people gave before me to make Middlesex what it is, and I give to continue the tradition of gratitude.

This idea of the “one reason” worked for Middlesex’s class of 2013, who achieved 100% participation for the Annual Fund this spring.  As the seniors supported Middlesex, they identified one reason they gave to the Annual Fund—a faculty member or a place or activity on campus, for example.  Everyone has a unique aspect of a school to feel grateful for, and a means to express that aspect can inspire support for the alma mater.

This time of the year is an important window for the Alumni and Development Offices of any institution as the fiscal year winds down.  I believe there is at least one motivation to feel gratitude to an institution such as a high school or a college or university.

What is your number one reason? More often than not, there will not be just one reason, but rather an infinite number of reasons.

Let us know in the comments or drop us a note at marketing@evertrue.com.

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There are 400,000,000 tweets a day and, as advancement leaders know, on Twitter you sometimes feel like you’re talking to yourself, and your content capabilities are limited. However, one of the “original” social internet tools can provide a way for alumni offices to create meaningful and consistent engagement with their constituents. We’re talking blogs.

While there are many excellent examples of alumni office blogs, one of our favorites is MIT’s “Slice of MIT” blog. In a simple, attractive WordPress layout (see how to build one here), the MIT Alumni Association generates the perfect mix of content, including:

• Full-length articles on themes that are relevant to alumni, including events and “alumni-in-the-news” updates

• A diverse range of multimedia content, including photos and videos

• Appropriate promotion of advancement office material

For example, this past week the blog had a very sharply-written (but not too long) piece, shown above on the recent commencement speech of MIT graduate and Dropbox co-founder Drew Houston. The article used extensive quotes from the subject (an alumnus of interest) as well as links throughout to promote relevant alumni office material.

But importantly, the blog also contains many different types of posts, which is essential to developing a consistent blog readership. In particular, the “Photo of the Week” feature by alum Owen Franken gives the blog fantastic visual content while again spotlighting a notable graduate. The blog also allows readers to sort articles with a clear and easy menu and tagging system, which allows alumni to find content of any time that is relevant to them.

That’s what makes “Slice of MIT” successful – it does not blatantly push the alumni office, but instead produces unique, frequent, and interesting content that alumni want to read, which in turn naturally promotes alumni office material. To that end, at the top of the page, there are prominent links to all the alumni office’s accounts to the top social media networks.

In other words, “Slice of MIT” is helping to establish what every advancement office wants – meaningful, consistent contact with alumni who are interested in the school. And even though writing a blog can sometimes be time-consuming, the rewards are also numerous in terms of boosting interaction with your office.

Know of any other excellent alumni office blogs? Share them in the comments below and give us a shout!

The post Long Live the Alumni Blog! “Slice of MIT” appeared first on EverTrue.

A sincere thanks to Elan Alexberg and to Courtney Petrouski for their work in this production.

Alumni Honor RolL

Brent Grinna : Reunion Crasher #1

Jesse Bardo : Reunion Crasher #2

The post Reunion Crashers: Coming to a Campus Near You appeared first on EverTrue.

Here’s how it worked:

• Wofford College created a Pinterest board with photos of potential prizes from their bookstore. Alumni could enter by repinning the prize(s) they would like to win using the hashtag #winwofford.
• The photos were also posted to the WoffordAlumni Instagram account, and alumni could enter by favoriting or commenting on the prize(s) they would like to win.
• They promoted the contest on Facebook and Twitter and told alumni they could enter by tweeting the prize they wanted to win to @WoffordAlumni using the #winwofford hashtag.
• Contestants could enter for as many prizes as they liked, but their name would only be entered once for each prize.
• At the end of the ten day contest, three winners were drawn and received the prize that was associated with their name.

We checked in with Ashley Rowe, Alumni and Annual Giving Communications Coordinator who conceptualized and managed the contest, to learn more.

What inspired “Pin it to Win it”?
“I was looking at blogs and trying to see what other companies, not necessarily non-profits, were doing online. I wanted to find something that used pictures because we had just started our alumni Instagram account. I eventually found a similar contest that Macy’s did using Pinterest, and I decided to adopt the idea. Our bookstore doesn’t have a great online presence, so I connected with them to see if they would be interested in participating, as it was essentially free advertising for their merchandise.”

How did you spread the word about this contest?
“We started out by sending an email to our entire list which is around 10,000 people. We wanted to focus this contest on our young alumni because they are the hardest to engage and the most active on social media. We promoted the contest on Facebook and Twitter, the places we already have a solid following, and drove them to Pinterest and Instagram for the rules. On Instagram, we actually wrote out the rules, took a picture of them, and uploaded that picture to explain how it works. We also had a page explaining the contest on our website.”

Alumni could enter to win on Pinterest, Twitter, or Instagram; on which platform did you see the highest level of engagement?
“Instagram definitely had the most entries which was surprising because we were planning for the contest to really focus on Pinterest. We had just started our Instagram account in April, and when we started the campaign it only had eight followers, but over the ten day contest we had a 150% increase! Today, we’re up to 195 people following our Instagram account which is huge for such a small school. Anyways, 729 people entered on Instagram, 632 on Pinterest, and only 30 on Twitter. Our Pinterest following grew by 43% over the course on the contest.”

How did alumni respond to the contest and what feedback did you receive?
“There was no negative feedback, from everything I heard, people loved it. A few people were really excited and started liking everything–I think they just wanted to win something! People were happy that they had a choice in which prize they could win. A lot of times we have contests where it’s only one prize you can win, like a Terrier Tumbler or a Wofford t-shirt, and you leave people out that aren’t interested in winning those items. I think we had such a high level of engagement because people were excited about getting to pick their prize. Also, the prizes ranged from around $5 to $75, so people had a chance to win the more expensive items that they may have wanted since school, but never wanted to spend the money.”

Did “Pin it to Win it” meet or exceed your expectations?
“It absolutely exceeded what we expected. I thought we would get around 300-500 entries, but ended up with 1,391 entries! It especially exceeded my expectations with Instagram because our account was brand new and we got so many new followers.”

If you were to hold the contest again, is there anything you would change?
“I would eliminate the twitter aspect. I figured it would be helpful because people could use the hashtag, but it just kind of flopped. I think it’s because Twitter is not a graphic platform like Instagram and Pinterest. I would also have more than one person monitor the entries– keeping up with them became like a full time job for the ten days. I used Instagrille, it’s an app you can download on your PC, to track activity from Instagram and found it extremely helpful. You can’t upload photos, but you can search for hashtags and Instagrille will update you throughout the day when people post using your hashtag–it also allows you to see of the number of likes per photo.

The other thing I’ll mention is that a few people complained about the fact that you couldn’t enter the contest on Facebook; they were alumni that didn’t have a Pinterest or Instagram account. Even though our largest following is on Facebook, we decided not to use it because of the restrictions they have for entering contests–you can’t simply like a picture and be entered to win. I recently read an article on WebMarketingToday.com about Pinterest changing their policies for entering contest, so I would recommend for anyone planning a similar campaign to make sure they check out the evolving rules before planning their contest.”

The post How Wofford Grew Their Instagram Following by 150% in 10 Days appeared first on EverTrue.

With a 183 followers and 36 posts to-date, Boston University has done a stellar job building a presence on Vine. We chatted with Kellen Manning, New Media Coordinator at Boston University to learn about his vision for creating an alumni Vine account. Manning explained, “Initially, I really just wanted to capture campus to remind alumni of what it is, and what it’s like to be here. So whether that’s a Vine of waiting for the T, riding the bus, or capturing a campus event, I wanted to make alumni actually miss being on campus.” Using Vine to create nostalgia in your alumni is an excellent use of this platform and a common theme among Vine early adopters in alumni engagement.

Here are three ways that engagement offices with alumni Vine accounts are currently using the platform:

1. Give a mini tour of campus

Remind your alumni what it’s like to be on campus by showcasing your school’s beautiful buildings, strolling through the academic quad, or focusing on distinctive landmarks.

2. Capture alumni event highlights

Show your alumni what’s happening on campus. Below are Vines from commencement and reunion, but sharing clips from any type of student or alumni event is a great use of Vine.

3. Share what your alumni office is up to

Is your alumni office leading a special thank you campaign or giveaway? Spread the word by sharing it with a Vine.

For more tips on how you can produce quality video without a massive budget, be sure to download our free webinar recording: Lights. Camera. Donations. Video 101 for Advancement. 

In the meantime, here are 10 alumni Vine accounts you should check out:

Emory Alumni Association (40 posts)

BU Alumni (36 posts)

Arkansas Alumni (24 posts)

UMHB Alumni (12 posts)

Cornell Alumni (12 posts)

CUBoulderAlumni (11 posts)

FSU Alumni (10 posts)

Penn Alumni (10 posts)

GW Alumni (8 posts)

Duke Alumni Assoc (7 posts)

The post Engaging Alumni with Vine appeared first on EverTrue.

Taking note of the power of data visualization, last year, Michigan State University (MSU) opted for a more creative approach to presenting their 2012 State of the University report. According to Lou Anna K. Simon, PhD, President of MSU, the report “blends the popular ‘dashboard’ format with that of the contemporary corporate and institutional annual report.” The report is easily scannable, but gives a robust picture of the University’s financials, demographics, priorities, and accomplishments. For those who want a higher level of detail, many of the icons can be clicked leading to charts with more information. We loved this modern take on the annual report, especially since it includes an option to be shared via social media. For more examples of institutions using infographics to visualize advancement related data, check out this list in the CASE InfoCenter (login required).

What makes these annual reports awesome? Here’s what we learned:

• Interactive design makes it interesting–give people things to click!
• Graphics bring facts and figures to life–people understand visuals.
• Share your organizations culture–convey how your institution is unique.
• Lead with values–share what you stand for.
• Make it social–if a reader thinks your report is cool, give them the option to share it with their network.

The good news is that to create these kind of reports, you don’t have to be a master at Photoshop or have a web master handy. There are a few great tools available where you can build your own infographic for free. Here are two options worth checking out:

1.) Infogr.am–Infogr.am offers six templates and thirtyone different charts, from the standard line, bar, and pie charts to more unique offerings like the pictoral and treemap options. The charts are Infogr.am’s strongest feature, as they are easily customizable using a native excel like spreadsheet or by importing your data through an xls, xlsx, txt, or csv file. Once you’ve input your data, the software automatically changes the chart into an accurate representation. Another great feature is the ability to import your own photos and videos for inclusion in your infographic–a great way to showcase campus events!

While Infogr.am allows for a significant amount of customization, some seemingly basic features are difficult or not available. Changing font color is considered an advance feature and is not user friendly, and as far as we could tell, changing font size is not an option! It would also be great if this tool had an option for user to add shape and icons.

2.) Piktochart– This is the original online infographic generator. Currently, six themes are available for free–all of which are easy customizable with a vast selection of icons and images. The editor makes it easy to modify color, font, and insert one of 6 chart options or upload your own images. Users can alter the length of their infographic by adding or deleting blocks. Finalized infographics are easily sharable on social platforms, published to HTML, or downloaded as an image file. If you’re not satisfied with the free offering, there is a Pro version available to anyone associated with an educational institution for $39/year (compared to $29/month or $169/year for other Pro users). Piktochart Pro offers over 100 themes and advance customization options.

Check out these tools, and let us know if they’re helpful in jazzing up this year’s annual report.

The post Tips and Tools for Producing a Killer Annual Report appeared first on EverTrue.

Suddenly, I feel like a bad alumnus — I skipped my reunion, I’ve never donated, and I can’t remember the last time I logged in to MIT’s Infinite Connection.  I initially couldn’t remember our fight song! The fact that I just conducted a very thorough job search but did not use my own alumni network is especially troubling.

Cosine secant tangent sine, 3.14159!

I’ve worked the past six years in #nptech.  I’ve built websites, databases, gone to AFP and NTEN events, and feel like an old timer at conferences.  I’ve worked with the Salesforce platform for most of that time and was recently named an MVP (woohoo!).  Over the past three years I built two small startups: one focused on social media fundraising, and the other is a data hygiene tool for Salesforce.  You might think I’d be a little worn out by all that self entrepeneurship, and you’d be right!  After six years I wanted to have more focus, and to find a larger team and some solid mentors.

At NTC, I was also hoping to find a company ready to make a substantial impact in nonprofit technology.  I have great respect and admiration for vendors and consultants who are working to close technology gaps and offer new, great tools, accessible to all sizes of organizations.  However, I didn’t find anyone who had both fire in their bellies and the resources to leapfrog several long years of bootstrapping.

I had no idea EverTrue existed until some “might as well Google it” searches for Boston startups I hadn’t heard of.  EverTrue – a nonprofit related startup, near to my heart – had a technical architect position listed, but while I was starting to figure out how best to get introduced, the position disappeared from the website.  I did something that almost never gets you a job: I filled out the “Contact Us” form and crossed my fingers.

It worked! With thanks to some friends who knew EverTrue from TechStars, I met with Eric and Brent. We had a lot to talk about.

I think EverTrue’s approach to improving alumni engagement and fundraising technology is very smart. Schools across the land are struggling to update cranky old systems to meet the needs of modern communities. I know from personal experience that upgrading or changing CRM is no small feat. EverTrue’s clever approach is that there’s no need to supplant Raiser’s Edge, Salesforce, or another monolithic CRM when you can just add a mobile friendly, LinkedIn-enhanced layer to place on top.

I can already see what a challenge it has been for alumni officers to do their jobs in the web era.  I look forward to doing what I can to help!

The post An Alumni Confessional appeared first on EverTrue.

Making the Annual Report a Visual Story with Instagram

EverTrue wasn’t the only one contributing to the CASE blog this week, Cassie Dull, communications specialist at the Park Tudor School, published an awesome post on Calgary Zoo’s annual report. As she explains, the year-end report represents an opportunity for nonprofits to tell the story of their many accomplishments and to illustrate how their donors, volunteers and staff made it possible. This year, Calgary Zoo did something amazing with their annual report…“They used Instagram to present a visual story line of the zoo’s past year, its successes and even its financial reports.” As one clicks through the well thought-out (and sometimes adorable) photos “…the whole story of the zoo begins to unfold—from tourist attraction to community landmark to worldwide conservation outreach.” Aside from being visually captivating, using social media to create an annual report is huge cost saver over traditional print. This approach is truly innovative, and we agree that higher ed should take note! Take a look at the full report and Dull’s analysis of it here.

University Engagement: 5 New Ways to Think About Alumni Engagement

With the emergence of social media, the way we communicate has changed drastically in the past decade. Like everything else, alumni engagement tactics are evolving to keep pace with this constantly changing landscape. In a recent post, Jay Sharman, CEO and founder of TeamWorks Media, outlines 5 new ways to think about how to engage with alumni. His first piece of advice is to “think of the university as a media company.” Universities produce vast amounts of “content,” from guest lectures and performances, to multiple magazines and social channels. In most cases, there is no one dedicated to organizing, packing, and communicating this content to the intended audience.

Sharman warns engagement officers that their correspondence is assumed to be an ask for money, and recommends using the principle articulated in the old adage  “if you want money, ask for advice and if you want advice ask for money,” as a way to counter this assumption. Ultimately, he states that there is no one size fits all message as ‘the emotional engagement button is different between (and often within) generations.” Thus, outreach must be tailored to resonate with your target audience. Check out the full post here for tips on how to refocus alumni engagement at your institution.

Yahoo Buys Tumblr, Promises to Not ‘Screw it Up’

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer made her biggest move to-date this week when she announced a $1.1 billion deal for blogging site Tumblr. Mayer disclosed the deal, which had been rumored since last week, through a Tumblr post of her own in an attempt to assure fans of the site that they need not panic. With nearly 300 million unique monthly visitors, Tumblr has captured a younger, active online user base and we love seeing institutions leverage this platform in engaging and hilarious ways. For many users, part of Tumblr’s appeal is based on the site remaining free of the traditional display advertising that brings billions of dollars a year to Yahoo. To quell concerns that Tumblr may soon be overrun with ads, Mayer and Tumblr CEO and founder David Karp have presented a united front–stating that Tumblr will be an independently operated as a separate business with Karp staying on as CEO. Mayer likened the deal to what she claims are the most successful tech acquisitions of the past, including Google’s purchase of YouTube and the purchase of PayPal by eBay–we’re hopeful that Yahoo’s purchase of Tumblr will one day be considered in the same regard.

The post beTrue Bulletin: May 24, 2013 appeared first on EverTrue.

Brent Speaking at TechStars Demo Day 2013

At a packed House of Blues near Fenway Park this morning, investors, mentors and entrepreneurs gathered to hear the pitches of the 6th graduating class of TechStars Boston. The TechStars team asked if I would say a few words reflecting on our experience in the TechStars alumni network. To this year’s class – welcome to our alumni community!

For those of you familiar with our business, when Reed and Katie asked if I’d be willing to say a few words about life as part of the TechStars alumni network, I really had no choice but to say yes.

It’s been almost two years since my peers from the Class of 2011 and I were on stage presenting our companies.  I think for many of us, our assumption was that we would “finish” TechStars, go our separate ways and continue building our companies.  But that isn’t what happened. What happened is that we finished TechStars, went off together, and have continued to build our companies alongside one another and alongside many of you.

TechStars is very transparent about quantifying results around funding and job creation.  If you Google the phrase “TechStars results”, you’ll learn that 5 classes of TechStars Boston alumni have raised over $80 million and have hired over 350 people. 85% of our alumni companies are still in business and several have already been acquired.

But what the stats can’t illustrate is how the TechStars network continues to influence our companies and contributes to these results after the program ends. I wanted to share three specific ways TechStars has helped our business and our peer companies since Demo Day.

• Teambuilding – at every stage of a company’s life, recruiting talent is the most important and most challenging task. The TechStars network has had a tremendous impact on early stage recruiting.  We met our second engineering team member through TechStars mentor Ty Danco.  We met our first marketing team member at Demo Day. Fellow alum Ryan Light of CoachUp introduced me to our lead designer after a 3am conversation at SXSW last year.  And my fellow founders each have their own examples.  Our market size is far less important than the quality of the people we have pursuing it, and TechStars has without question given us an advantage in this regard.  
• Follow-on Funding – I know the market has been strong the last couple of years, but raising a seed round is really hard.  Raising a Series A is even harder.  If you’re a venture firm, you’ve gone through the Series A process many times. If you’re a first-time entrepreneur like many of us, you’ve done it zero times. Having a trusted community of TechStars founders who’ve gone through the process was hugely helpful to me in understanding the nuances of deal terms and avoiding potential pitfalls.  
• Ongoing Mentorship – TechStars prides itself on being a mentorship driven accelerator.  But the mentorship doesn’t stop when the program ends.  When we have a question about scaling our sales & marketing efforts, I know that I can call TechStars Mentor Eric Groves who lead Sales & Marketing at Constant Contact for 14 years.  If we want to talk about building our technical team, Brightcove founding CTO Bob Mason or Hubspot’s David Cancel are both accessible. And while the official mentors continue to be supportive, my fellow TechStars founders are emerging as an important source of mentorship as well.  If I need advice about building my senior management team, I know that I can talk to Sravish Sridhar of Kinvey.  If I want to talk about achieving gender balance, I can turn to Ben and Sonciary at Promoboxx.  For product or design feedback, no one is better than the team at HelpScout.  And if I need advice on contemporary European fashion, I can reach out to Hardi from GrabCad. In a certain sense, we’re all competing with one another, but we’re doing so in a collaborative way that helps all of our companies and strengthens the startup community more broadly.  

Ultimately TechStars and each of us will be measured based on the success or failure of our ventures.  But over the longer team, TechStars is building a deeply connected network of founders and mentors who collectively will play a large role in shaping the Boston ecosystem for years to come.  The impact of the network and the relationships that are being formed will last much longer than the 18 months of runway we get from our seed rounds.

In closing, most of you will not invest in most of the companies that present today. But each of you can help in some way.  I’d like to challenge you to not only evaluate these companies through the lens of an investor, but also through the lens of a member of this community. See if you can think of one introduction, one sales lead, or one potential candidate who could be a fit for each company. It is the cumulative effect of those very little things that contribute to the success of our companies and to the strength of our startup community. Thank you all for your continued support of TechStars!

Ever True!

Brent

The post Three Take-a-Aways from a TechStars Alumnus appeared first on EverTrue.