We recently sat down with Anne Murphy at the Oregon State University Foundation about 100% portfolio coverage: why it’s elusive, why it matters, and how to get there by the end of the year.
Anne gave us ten easy, effective ways to deepen relationships with every single prospect in your portfolio: the super-engaged ones, the hard-to-reach ones, the inherited ones, the slow-burning ones.
So far in this series, we’ve covered how to be a confident creator; what you should talk to your prospects about (and when); and how to get more organized.
This week, we’re talking about how when you visit prospects, you should knock with your feet because your hands are too full of gifts. In simple terms – bring something of value to your alums. In every single interaction.
I'm the person who represents the institution that you give to. I share great content with you. I help communicate impact. I help report out to you. I help educate you.
As you share valuable and relevant content with your alums, you cultivate a type of teacher-student relationship that will reap many rewards in the future. If you establish yourself as donors’ go-to source of information about campus news, goals, and priorities, then you will become a trusted guide for building their impact and legacy in the future.
The best way to build this trusting dynamic is to bring value to your donors in every interaction. A few simple ways to do that? Build your alums’ networks. And connect the dots of their historic relationship with your institution.
1. Build their network
Connecting alums in your portfolio will strengthen their ties to your school, and it will also be a value add for them. Plus, if you’re the connector, you become a really valuable part of the equation.
With EverTrue, you can look at your portfolio on a live heatmap to see which of your prospects live or work near each other.
Zoom in on a certain area, click into your prospects’ profiles, and offer to connect a few folks for a small group gathering.
Not using EverTrue yet?
Without EverTrue, always keep in mind who from your alumni network might be helpful or beneficial to a prospect in your portfolio – and make the connection.
Or request a demo today and learn how to achieve 100% portfolio coverage with EverTrue.
2. Connect the dots
It’s really important to show your alums that you know as much about their history with the institution as possible.
With EverTrue, you can easily search past contact reports by keywords like “professor,” “center,” or “group” to find out about their known interests. Reference something about their history with the institution to spark conversation and dig deeper into their interests and passions.
We all know that gift officer turnover is high, so doing some quick research will help prospects feel like you know their whole story and can pick up where the last gift office might have left off.
Not using EverTrue yet?
Without EverTrue, read through past contact reports! It’s time consuming, but there’s a lot of valuable information in there. And you can use insights about favorite professors, student groups, and places on campus in your next outreach. Put those keywords right in the subject line of the email.
Or request a demo today and learn how to achieve 100% portfolio coverage with EverTrue.
ICYMI: Here’s our full webinar featuring Anne Murphy, Mike Nagel, and Other Mike Nagel. Watch this terrific trio in action: