Self-Study Cover Sheet

Advancement Communications-1

Self-Study cover sheet

Date:December 4, 2008

Area:Advancement Communications

Coordinator of self-study:Megan Scott, director, advancement communications and editor, Knox Magazine

Participants in the self-study (list all who were part of the self-study process):

Cheri Siebken, associate director, advancement communications

Beverly Holmes, vice president for advancement

List of reports from sub-areas:

List of supporting documents:

Annual communications plan (delivered to Penny Gold)
College president’s report (delivered to Penny Gold separately)
All Flash Communications on a disc (delivered to Penny Gold)
Knox Magazine samples (delivered to Penny Gold)
Gizmogram sample (delivered to Penny Gold)

guide for the self-study

WITHIN YOUR AREA

1)Look over the last ten years in your area. What were:

a)Key markers (critical moments or events, good or bad)
Expanded and advanced usage of the Internet to communicate, network with others, and solicit for gifts.
TheKnox Online Community, allowing alumni, friends, and parents to interact with each other and obtain current directory information, debuted in 2000. Encouraging online registration has continued to be a challenge with around 2,500 out of a 15,000 alumni/friend base registered, however, the number of users using the community to register and pay for events and make online donations has grown significantly. These transactions could not be done online without the community. Last fiscal year, 5% of total dollars raised came via online and 9% of donors gave using this vehicle.
In 2006, Advancement began to use Flash technology as a way to solicit for Knox donations. Flash technology allows us to create short, easily downloadable Web presentation, featuring audio, photos, and videos. These presentations help us highlight students, faculty, and alumni in an engaging way and allow alumni and friends around the world to better connect to Knox and its community. We have done at least one such application each year since, including two in 2008-2009. The Flash solicitations in FY07 and FY08 both raised close to $15,000 each that we can directly track back to them. The cost to produce each has been between $1,500 and $2,000.
Re-focusing the Knox Magazine to truly be an alumni publication.
Editorship of the Knox Magazine has moved back and forth between Advancement and Public Relations several times at Knox. In 2003, it returned from Public Relations to Advancement. The focus of the magazine became more directed toward speaking to alumni versus speaking on behalf of the College and readership has grown significantly. Just before this switch, the magazine also assumed a new title moving from the Knox Alumnus to the Knox Magazine.
Development of a formal communications plan to strategically plan communications to alumni, friends and parents (example included with report)
In 2004, Advancement Communications created the first of annual plans and calendars that tracked the flow, timelines, and target audiences of all communication and solicitation materials. To our knowledge, this is the first such comprehensive communication plan used by the College in communicating with alumni and donors. The plan maps solicitation and non-solicitation communications to assure that all communications are timely and strategic. This plan paralleled a similar communications plan developed for the Office of the President in 2006 and each year after.

b)Significant changes

Print communications supplemented with online communications.
TheKnox Magazine moved from a quarterly magazine to three times a year to twice a year primarily due to budget constraints. The latter change to two issues coincided with growth of Web usage by alumni, so what would appear to be a decline in alumni communications was supplemented with the advent of the Gizmogram online newsletter in 2003, which first published four times a year and has since grown to monthly. Starting in 2005, the magazine also was put online so that it could be viewed by all College audiences. The online version of the Knox Magazine also contains supplemental content not included in the print version, due to space constraints.

Using the Web requires constant updating to keep up with current usage trends.
Advancement and alumni & friends and parent sections of the overall College Web site were redesigned in 2002, 2005, and 2008 to better integrate the pages within the site, as well as to make them more user friendly to the alumni audience and to keep up with changes in Internet usage.
Parents once again were identified as a significant audience to keep engaged.
With the advent of so-called helicopter parents, communications to current parents of Knox students began again after a hiatus of a decade or so. These communications happen primarily via online newsletters, but also include targeted Web pages and incorporation with Student Development orientation and Commencement materials. A parent steering committee, organized in 2005, focused on networking and communications with other parents, both current and prospective.

c)Biggest challenges (and how were they met, or not)
The Knox Magazine was the key communication vehicle, but lack of a consistent and timely schedule was a detriment to readership.
While there were several issues of the Knox Magazine scheduled for each year, the publication schedule was sporadic and thus the readership had no idea when the next magazine might arrive. And when it did, much of the information, including classnotes from alumni, were out-of-date. To rectify this situation, we established two firm mailing dates—one in the spring and one in the fall—and these dates have been consistent since 2005.
Knox only contacts alumni when they want money.
A common complaint in 2000 was that alumni said the only time they heard from Knox was when the College asked for money. With the re-focusing of the magazine, combined with the online newsletters and the communications plan, which allowed us to better time various communications and solicitations, this complaint has virtually gone away. What is most interesting about these changes is that we solicit our alumni much more frequently today than we did in 2000.
Alumni felt Knox was not proud of them.
Another complaint from alumni was that the College did not appear to have pride in them once they graduated. College communications focused on internal things like faculty and academics, and alumni profiles were infrequent and, if done, commonly the same few alumni were profiled over and over. To alleviate this complaint, alumni profiles were incorporated more regularly into the KnoxMagazine, as well as featured in online communications via the Gizmogram. Today, alumni profiles are on every page of the alumni Web site and span the decades from 1904 to current.
External communications with alumni tended to have a formal style and didn’t always reflect the personality of the College.
Most Advancement communications prior to 2006 were extremely formal and serious in tone. The same communications were used with all audiences and ages. Since that time, communications now vary by audience and the language used is less serious and, when appropriate, humorous. Communications have also taken a more direct and honest approach, in line with our motto, Veritas.

d)Biggest successes
Re-focusing of the Knox Magazine to make it appealing to alumni.
Conversations with alumni confirmed that the Knox Magazine was primarily read for classnotes and not for further College communications. We were told that it did not speak to them nor highlight alumni, but instead focused on the internal workings of the College, which were not the primary reasons why alumni wanted to read a magazine. In 2004, we instituted “theme” issues of the magazine in order to make the information more newsworthy and engaging to the audience. Such themes have included: Globalization, Community Service, Knox in the Middle East, Decision 2008, and a look at the history and significance of the College’s main building, Old Main. Each issue also focused on alumni whose life or work related to the theme. A key way that we have gauged success has been through letters to the editor. Prior to 2004, there were virtually no letters to the editor in the magazine, but with the debut of the theme issues, we now average two pages or more of such letters in each issue. This is in addition to just general verbal feedback gained from alumni that say they have seen a difference and like it.
Gizmogram efficient way to get information to alumni on a timely basis.
The online newsletter Gizmogram debuted in March 2003 and has in 2008 become a monthly communication versus quarterly. The content has increased significantly to include news on all campus constituencies, including alumni, students, faculty and staff, and general College news. An upcoming alumni events listing is also included in each newsletter. In 2008, roughly 54% of our alumni receive the newsletter. Within 12 hours of receiving it, over 30% of that group has opened the newsletter. General overall readership is about 40% of the alumni base. Reporting allows us to monitor readership and top stories read. Based on this information, we can focus content of future issues.
FYC Bulletin Rejuvenated
The Fifty Year Club Bulletin, a communication to those who graduated from Knox 50 plus years ago, was redesigned in 2005, using larger type for that older audience and a fresher, more current, and less academic design. In addition, the publication schedule was changed so issues came out right after significant College events (Commencement, Homecoming and Founders Day), thereby making the news of each issue more timely. We also increased usage of photography, as it was clear that alumni like to see pictures of each other.
Segmentation of communications and stewardship by donor level.
In addition to the alumni-wide communications, communications were debuted to alumni based on donor level or affinity. The President’s Circular e-mail and printed newsletter began in 2004 and went only to members of the President’s Circle, donors of $1,000 or more annually. The newsletter provided inside information on decisions made by the College and went out as needed based on the timeliness of the news. In 2006, the chair of the Knox Board of Trustees began to write an e-mail newsletter after each board meeting. Again, this newsletter went to President’s Circle donors. E-mail updates are sent as needed by the President of the College to the Board of Trustees and also to the Business Advisory Council (BAC), a group of alumni and friends who meet once a year on campus to engage with Knox’s business & management program.

2) Consider your mission.

a) What are the fundamental goals of your area? (Keep your list under ten items.)
- To educate and inform alumni, parents, and friends

- To connect and excite alumni, parents, and friends

- To cultivate and solicit donors

- To steward and recognize donors

- To build a culture of philanthropy among our alumni

b) Looking at the Elements of the Mission Statement (enclosed): How do your area's goals mesh (or not) with this list?
If we are truly doing our role as communicators, all Advancement communications should highlight aspects of the College’s mission. We do this by: promoting alumni who have made significant contributions to the world, by highlighting students who are doing world class research; and focusing on faculty and the academic programs. The FYC is a strong example of fostering a lifetime of learning.

c) Consider what you might learn from the comparison of departmental and college missions. Are there ways in which the mission of your area is illuminated by the college's? Are there elements present in your area mission but absent from the college mission that you think could be more widely applied?

Nothing relative to Advancement Communications.
3) Assessment
a) How do you know whether the goals of your area are being achieved? What evidence/indicators do you look to? Is any regular method of review carried out? If so, how often?
A reader survey of the Knox Magazine was conducted in 2001, which led to a redesign of the magazine and a name change from the Knox Alumnus to the KnoxMagazine. A subsequent survey in 2004 at Homecoming helped develop the theme strategy undertaken in 2005 and the need for more alumni profiles.
Another way we look at each issue of the Knox Magazine is through the “letters to the editor,” as noted previously, general feedback to Advancement staff, and the increase in number of alumni contributing to classnotes, which now make up half of the magazine.
With the move to iModules as our online community provider in 2006, we were able to fully track the readership of the Gizmogram, including how many recipients open the e-mail and what stories they read. We look at this information after each issue to guide and improve the next issue.
We can also track each Flash solicitation through iModules to see how many people open it and whether or not they viewed the entire piece and then made a gift and the amount.
During 2008, we conducted focus groups with the members of the Alumni Council and did usability testing that helped us re-design the alumni and giving pages of the current Web site. Earlier usability testing also was done in 2006 by an outside group as part of an overall plan to redesign the entire Knox Web site. Feedback from both these endeavors is being used as we redesign the site for debut in 2009.
b) If you do not currently have regular methods of assessment, this is an opportunity to begin--and you'll have lots of company! Pick one of your goals and implement a plan to examine it:

i)Design a means of gathering information that will enable you to see if the goal is being achieved, and include in your self-study a description of what you have devised. (The next two parts will be done later in the year; we'll ask for a report in summer 2009.)

ii)Gather the information during 2008-09.

iii)Analyze the data and make recommendations for improvement where the data suggests such is called for.
We plan to do a Knox Magazine reader survey in spring 2009 with 10% of the readership.

2)Thefuture

a)What are the strengths of your area that you will most rely on in the next ten years?
Professional talent—both the director and associate director clearly relate to their goal of communicating externally for Knox. They bring to the job previous editing, writing, and public relations skills that have transferred well to the new role.
Key skills of the staff include excellent writing, editing, as well as audio editing. They also keep abreast of new technologies.
Ability to react quickly and versatility
Ability to relate through the eyes of the alumni audience
The entire Advancement office understands the value of what Advancement Communications has done to engage alumni and donors.

b)What are ongoing challenges that you face?
Further need to segment communications by age and affinity. Younger alumni do not respond to mail, while older alumni are less willing to give via online solicitations.
Budgetary constraints
Keeping our online community relevant with so many social networking competitors.
Keeping communications fresh and relevant in light of changing technologies and budget issues.

c)What new challenges may be on the horizon?
The need to keep up-to-date with the changing face of communications technology and the use of mobile devices (IPhones, Blackberries, etc.) and social networking sites.
Archiving of photos, podcasts, video and e-communications. By not having a comprehensive digital archiving system in place and by not having a printed yearbook for the past few years, we have most likely lost a generation of alumni photo records.
Sustainability in communications and solicitation.

d)What important agenda items do you anticipate for your area in the next couple of years? the next five-ten years?

Digital archiving

Need for integrated marketing to avoid the redundancy of communication efforts between Advancement, Admission, PR, and Web. Lack of a central focus on the message and marketing endeavors.

We are also interested to know your thoughts on the college as a whole, beyond your particular area. (See reverse for next set of questions.)

FOR THE COLLEGE AS A WHOLE

1)Look over the last ten years of the college's history. What were:

a)Key markers (critical moments or events, good or bad)
Murder of a student in 1998
Four presidents in a decade
Return of the functioning belltower on Old Main
The Hobbs $10 million gift
Arrival of Roger Taylor as president
The run of Commencement speakers - Obama/Colbert/Clinton/Albright

b)Significant changes
Bringing down the endowment spending rate
Bringing back institutional pride
The Renewed Knox curriculum
Campus development-refurbishing of campus buildings even if they are not brand new, campus gates, improved lighting, banners, landscaping