Offline Fundraising Priorities Online
An article in the May 2 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, “Colleges Step Up Fund-Raising Efforts to Support Student Aid,” focuses on scholarship fundraising initiatives at six institutions.
Three-Franklin & Marshall College, St. Olaf College, and Loyola University Chicago-are in the planning stages for campaigns that will have significant student aid components.
The article cites another trio-University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Purdue University, and Grinnell College-as schools that have significant endowments, but still “have pumped up their fund raising for student aid.”
The article made me wonder: How would this acknowledged fundraising priority be presented on the schools’ development websites? Would the sites reflect the institutional commitment to raising private support for scholarships? Here’s what I found.
The site that best “talked the talk” is University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. On the development homepage and throughout that site, Michigan staffers have added numerous references to two scholarship-related endeavors: the President’s Donor Challenge and M-PACT, a program to increase financial aid for in-state undergraduate students. On the giving site, “Need-Based Support for Undergraduates” is the second fund listed and two scholarship funds are available in the separate Schools and College Funds list. Michigan did such a good job of including the scholarship priorities throughout its development site, I wondered if the presidential challenge had made its way to the president’s website. Alas, I wasn’t able to find a link or mention there.
Notes on the other schools’ sites:
Scholarships are mentioned on the annual fund page and donors may earmark “Scholarships and Financial Aid” for any online gift made to the Franklin & Marshall Fund.
The Grinnell site focuses primarily on annual gifts to the Pioneer Fund. That page promotes class gifts and “Grinnell’s current green decisions,” but oddly does not include any mention of scholarships. The FAQ for the fund does explain that the fund helps pay for financial aid. The giving form accepts Pioneer Fund gifts, as well as “special” gifts, where the donor could write in a scholarship designation.
“Students and Faculty” is one of nine “Giving Opportunities” on the development homepage. On the actual “Giving Opportunities” page, it’s the first priority mentioned. Once you’ve landed on the giving form, the “Magis Scholarship Program’ is the seventh designation option in the drop-down box, while “Student Scholarships” is the 19th.
From the University Development homepage, scholarships are included in the “Where Your Gift is Needed” page. That includes a link to a 20 meg (20 meg!) case statement for “Student Scholarships and Fellowships” that’s from the comprehensive campaign that wrapped in mid 2007. The old campaign site did feature the “President’s Scholarship Campaign,” although the content on that page is quite lean now. On the giving form, scholarships designations are available as the 19th, 20th, and 21st options on the drop-down menu. The Chronicle article mentions a $300 million campaign for student aid that was announced in April, but information about that hadn’t made its way to Purdue’s development site.
On the “Giving to St. Olaf” homepage, “Endowed funds and scholarships” is the 26th link in the navigation bar. Also, the annual giving page explains that 22 cents of every dollar donated to the Annual Fund go toward financial aid and scholarships. The gift form doesn’t specifically mention scholarships, but they do provide an “other” field for gift designations.
The takeaway here? If you’re in the quiet or even active phase of raising funds for specific initiatives, especially something as broadly reaching as student scholarships, make sure your site is telling the stories of how private support for that endeavor would make a difference on campus. Even if you’re not ready to share specifics about the campaign’s aspirations, your site should pave the way for upcoming solicitations by making the case for how that support would change lives.
Here, Michigan’s done a good job of integrating that kind of message throughout its development site. Theirs is a site to watch and emulate.
Discuss this article
