The Full Story
With the original timeline wrecked, Desmond trusted his instincts and leaned into ThankView. He pitched the idea during a leadership meeting—emphasizing that a direct video from the president would be more meaningful than a generic email. It worked. The message was filmed, the campaign was built and sent in just a few days, and donors noticed.
It also sparked something bigger: a shift in culture. After seeing the results, ETSU leadership embraced the platform. Campus partners began asking how they could use ThankView too. And the answer was: easily. With AI-generated copy, fast campaign setup, and intuitive tools, Desmond now uses ThankView to empower others across campus, even training them to run campaigns themselves.
The Impact
What started as a one-time fix became a catalyst for change:
- More reach: The holiday video went to 50,000 more people than the prior year’s card.
- More usage: Four major mailings have already been replaced with ThankView (and counting).
- More buy-in: Desmond’s strategy of sending internal ThankViews—like birthday videos to faculty—got colleagues curious and excited.
- More inspiration: Other departments are now leveraging ThankView for campaigns and stewardship, seeing firsthand how impactful and easy it is.
As Desmond puts it, “It’s never too late to change. This platform gave us the data, the ease, and the impact we needed to pivot—and now we’re using it from the president all the way to our youngest alums.”
And yes, the yellow blazer made an impression too.
P.S. While this particular print issue was caused by their previous vendor, it sparked a broader shift at ETSU. The team has since adopted Pledgemine by EverTrue for their direct mail needs—choosing a more reliable, integrated solution to support future personalized print campaigns.
