[picapp align=”none” wrap=”false” link=”term=graduation&iid=8893873″ src=”http://view2.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/8893873/vassar-college/vassar-college.jpg?size=500&imageId=8893873″ width=”500″ height=”333″ /]
My son is set to graduate from a top 15 university this weekend. His sister and father graduated from the same school. I, however, went to a state university. This is the tale of two very different schools with very different endowments and how one botches the ask for donations. No, it’s not the state university.
University with the lofty ranking has a BIG endowment (think billions) and it never misses a chance to ask students, parents, alums for money. But what it doesn’t do is establish a relationship with these target audiences first – a relationship that shows knowledge and sensitivity about the potential donor. It also doesn’t do a very good job of explaining exactly what all those billions are doing in the endowment at the current time and why they need billions more.
Lowly state university keeps in touch. Sends information about the school’s successes. Also details the plight of financing based on lack of state funding and money needed to endow scholarships for the underprivileged.
The lesson here is for any nonprofit. Communicate about your needs in a way that resonates with your target. Don’t just keep asking for money blindly because people will not give unless they understand why.
C2C Blog 
