Category: marketing

Furman’s ‘no-call’ fundraising campaign: will it ring up more donations?

Furman University has launched a new alumni fundraising campaign that takes a new approach to the typical phone solicitation. With DoNotCallMeAtDinner.com, Furman promises alumni that if they make a donation before May 15, “we promise not to call during dinner, or any other time for that matter, for the rest of the academic year.” It’s a clever approach.

Furman engaged Greenville, S.C., marketing firm HillMullikan to come up with the approach. According to the firm’s website, “The campaign was designed to create alumni awareness and increase participation with Furman University while raising funds through online donations. Like most universities, Furman has a Spring Call-a-Thon that yields results but is perceived as an annoyance to many donors.”

The site‘s centerpiece is a Mac vs. PC parody video — not the most creative approach (it’s been done before, again and again), but not overly annoying. More impressive, from an alumni pride standpoint, are the testimonials of donors who answer the question, “Why do you give back to Furman University?”

How well will this campaign work? I guess we’ll have to wait until after May 15 to find out.

In-house gets it done cheaper, faster

These days, just about everyone working in the PR, marketing or creative services field is looking for information to help show the value of their work — especially when talk turns to outsourcing and budget reductions. If you happen to be part of an in-house PR, marketing or creative services team, then you might want to make note of this little nugget I picked up from an American Marketing Association webinar from a few years ago:

In-house PR, marketing and creative services staff are more efficient than outside agencies, according to information presented during this webinar by Aquent.

As the chart below illustrates, in-house services can get the work done at 40 percent of the cost of a typical agency, and in one-third the time. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

Click image for full size
Click image for full size

Of course, this is only one data point, from one source. But it’s a third party resource that may come in handy when talk turns to outsourcing work as a cost-cutting measure.

I’m not writing this to slam consultants. Consultants provide valuable services to our colleges and universities. But these days, we need to consider the value and expertise our in-house people bring to our marketing operations.