The president of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education talks about why college advancement officers need to rethink, restructure, and communicate better about their fund-raising campaigns, in light of public perceptions that the institutions are greedy and not managing resources efficiently. Emphasis is on carefully defining…

Basic principles of designing a reunion gift program include beginning small, researching class prospects, gathering volunteers, determining the financial goal, communicating needs and intentions, organizing volunteers, advertising well, and making the donation at the reunion a major event. More ambitious plans can be tied into the program later.…

Suggestions for creating a memorable inauguration of a campus chief executive officer include careful attention to public relations goals, forming an effective committee, creating a realistic budget, developing an ambitious media strategy, and following up with thank-yous and archival records. Involvement of faculty, staff, alumni, and students,…

A bad attitude can sabotage recruiting volunteers. After examining attitudes, alumni administrators need to set goals, make plans, write job descriptions, recruit the right people for the job, and delegate properly. Ways to ensure good continuing relations are offered. (MLW)

The efforts to develop a long-range plan for the Wisconsin Alumni Association are described. Steps to take to set up a long-range plan for alumni associations include: needs assessment, volunteer committee to advise staff, situation analysis, alumni census, mission statement, goals, implementing the plan, and evaluation. (MLW)

A public relations model provided the basis for the five-step ROPES college fund-raising model: (1) research on the institution, the funding opportunity, and the publics targeted; (2) objective setting for both office output and program impact; (3) programming to meet those objectives; (4) evaluation of the effectiveness, not just efficiency, of…

Guidelines for establishing an effective fund-raising board include knowing the group's and the institution's mission, getting expert help, recruiting helpful individuals, making expectations clear, giving trustees honest information, promoting trustee self-examination, getting a key leader to direct recruitment, welcoming new leadership, having…

Issues college fundraisers must address before beginning a campaign include organizational readiness, administrator and trustee readiness, administrator willingness to lead, availability of volunteers, development staff readiness, information systems capacities, firmness of policy and procedures, use of consultants, funding sources, and…