Prepared by Kathy Bhana & Catherine Harder Annual Giving Strategic Directions

The mission The mission of the U of C Annual Giving program is to build donor participation through annual gifts from alumni, friends, matching gift companies, parents and students by educating them on the needs of the University and involving them in the life of the University. Our program is the primary fundraising method used to broaden support and upgrade giving levels to provide ongoing support for key institutional priorities. Through various fundraising approaches we aim to connect with our donors and cultivate future major and legacy gift donors.

Motivators for change In August of 2008, Ray Satterthwaite of Engagement Analysis Inc. was hired to do a comprehensive review of the U of C Annual Giving program including our current performance, programs, strategies and resources and make recommendations for strategic enhancements that would make the greatest impact.

Motivators for change continued Highlights of the recommendations include: –Gain clarity and increase understanding of the purpose and impact of Annual Giving –Redefine ‘an annual gift’ at U of C –Refocus Annual Giving solicitations on institutional priorities to generate unrestricted dollars for areas of greatest impact –Increase the pool for renewing current donors

The purpose The purpose of the Annual Giving program at U of C will be keenly focused on creating the intent in our donors to give again: -Build retention; create a sense of ‘giving loyalty’ -Introduce donors to Legacy Giving, and move into the legacy gift pipeline -Where possible, move donors into major gift pipeline

The purpose continued The best predictor of an alumnus making a Legacy Gift to the U of C is their giving loyalty! (Rather than their current wealth, family profile or status in the community.)

The typical major gift of an alumnus is 20 times their largest annual gift, the typical completed legacy (planned) gift is 200 times their largest annual gift. Recognizing that the vast majority of our alumni will not be able to make a major gift in their lifetime (they will be earning between $60,000 to $180,000 annually on average), it is imperative we consider the majority of our loyal Annual Giving donors as future Legacy Giving prospects in order to contribute substantially to the sustainable fundraising program at the University of Calgary.

The definition To maximize the potential of annual giving and allow major gift fundraisers to focus on securing 6-8 figure gifts, we are redefining an annual gift as any gift with the possibility of renewal on an annual basis. This will include gifts up to $25K and pledges of up to $50K over 5 years.

Flexibility We also understand that there are circumstances in which gifts of $5K and over are not repeatable by the donor, these gifts will be solicited & stewarded as Major Gifts at the discretion of the Development Team.

The focus In order to maximize the impact of annual gifts, we need to emphasize the collective difference people can make when they come together and give. Annual Giving solicitations need to focus on building unrestricted revenue for institutional priorities, enabling the collective group of donors to make a significant impact. This will help us align Annual Giving communication with key institutional messages and allow for more relevant stewardship that is focused on the impact of gifts.

The focus continued This focus means that in general annual giving solicitations will shift from a faculty based focus to an institutional focus. An opportunity will be provided within the solicitation cycle for faculties to solicit their alumni for faculty based priorities.

What does this mean for you? While we will be focusing our fundraising efforts on generating as many unrestricted dollars as possible, institutional solicitations will still provide the opportunity for donors to designate their gift to greatest needs in their faculty and/or a specific project if they choose. For Faculty Development Directors, you will no longer have to write 2-3 letters a year, but you will still have the opportunity to send one direct mail piece specifically from your faculty with the support of the Annual Giving team.

What does this mean for you? We still need to know the key successes and fundraising priorities of each faculty. Alumni often ask our Student Callers for faculty specific information and we need to have as much information in their toolbox as possible so they can have meaningful conversations about faculty priorities.

Who’s in the pool? In theory, the solicitation pool for annual gifts should include alumni acquisition as well as all donors who have the potential of giving a renewable annual gift in support of key institutional priorities. This should expand to include major and even principal gift donors, where that has been identified as appropriate for the particular donor.

Who else is in the pool? It is our intention that every donor who is not currently being approached or stewarded for a major or principal gift should be considered a potential prospect for an annual gift. There currently exists a group of donors who are no longer ‘in the pipeline’ anywhere. The number of donors in this gap can be reduced through annual solicitation, by mail, or face to face meetings. The Annual Giving team will identify these donors and provide faculties with opportunity to add to their pipeline. Those not taken into faculty pipelines will be included in the annual giving program pipeline.

What does this mean for you? The Future Leaders program is evolving. We will continue to share a list of potential Future Leader donors as well as donors identified ‘in the gap’ from your faculty with you so you can let us know which prospects you would prefer to manage in your Faculty pipeline. In February we will pull the master list again and anyone who has not had any “action” recorded in RE will be put back into the Annual Giving Future Leaders pool and will be targeted for solicitation in mid-Feb/March. The result will be that all prospects with the potential of giving an annual gift will be solicited at least once by the end of the fiscal year.

Solicitation Segments Alumni (segmented into Future Leaders, Current Donors, Lybunts, Sybunts, Young Alumni, & Non-donors) Friends (Divided into Current Donors, Lybunt, Sybunt and Future Leaders) Memorial and Tribute donors Associate Programs Faculty & Staff Students (currently no programs in place)

Solicitation methods Student Calling Program Direct Mail (now includes acquisition donors that scored as high likelihood and high target gift range in datamodelling project) E-solicitations Face to Face visits Pledge reminders Faculty and Staff Campaign

Stewardship for Annual Giving donors includes (but is not limited to): All gifts greater than $500 get a hand-signed thank you card All new donors with gifts over $50 get a New Donor Packet All pledges are followed by a confirmation All donors get a thank you call from the Student Calling Program Future leader donors get a thank you phone call from Director of Annual Giving and will also get a stewardship visit where appropriate All donors between April – August receive premium with thank you letter

New Stewardship initiatives All donors to institutional priorities will receive reports/brochures on how their gifts made a difference in May We will work closely with faculties to create stewardship pieces that highlight how unrestricted donations were used in their faculty, to be sent during the summer/before the next ask

In summary These changes will enable Annual Giving to align more fully and strategically with the Key Focus areas of the Development Office at the U of C. Those areas include: Contributing to a sustainable pipeline Aligning with institutional and faculty priorities Practicing excellent & innovative stewardship Growing our Legacy Giving program

Summary continued Part of the mandate of the Central Development team is to work effectively and collaboratively in everything we do. Utilizing new fundraising methods and technologies will allow the Annual Giving team to reduce costs and create interactive giving experiences for donors that will encourage them to give again and again.

Solicitation Schedule 09/10 If Yes If yes If no response August DM Donors, LY, SY, NON Nov. Prem – thank you letter yes SCP followup until Oct 15 No Response Nov Premium Solicit letter If no response February DM, special mailing – faculty & project specific asks, Donors, LY, SY, NON - all others get institutional e-solicit excluding TF donors and Refusals SCP followup Dec1-15 SCP Thank you calling, Dec (finals) If no response