As a recent alum (2012) and a development/advancement professional (with an emphasis on annual fund giving), my thoughts:
- Pitt, as a whole, does not do a good job cultivating new donors. Since graduating I've received exactly one appeal from the university, which was to support one of the two departments I studied in. I never responded, and they never sent another appeal. Flash forward to this past week, when I actually made my first gift through an
Engage Pitt campaign supporting the alternative break program. I went on an alternative break program and it was an extremely formative experience; they have that data. Why wasn't I solicited? Why was I not solicited to support PMADD, which I also participated in? As a transfer student, why have I not received an appeal telling the story of a transfer student? Soliciting according to one's area of study is not a bad idea (in fact, it is a good idea), but the university has a literal trove of information at its finger tips. I'm not sure how comprehensive IA's database is, but they need to make a significant effort to increase their segmentation. The same problem applies to the AD's department; they know who went to games, so why aren't they targeting those young alumni?
- The Panther Club messaging off. Yes, Pitt fans want the athletic programs to succeed, but that is not compelling enough to move someone enough to give on the spot. Why not juxtapose 'student-athlete'? Tell the stories of athletes who have succeed both on and off the field/court. Highlight the extremely small percentage of Pitt athletes who will play professionally, and position the Panther Club for what it is, which is a
scholarship fund. Sure, giving a gift to support athletic success is nice, but at the end of the day it supports their education. In the e-mails I've gotten, there is some language to that extent, but it is woefully understated and not at all the focal tone.
- Plain and simple, cultivating younger donors is hard. They have student loans (an especially onerous hurdle to leap if you are the institution which caused those loans), car payments, are trying to buy homes, etc. Not to mention the mediums which work for older generations, such as direct mail appeals, don't work with nearly the same level of success. For pretty much any organization, cultivating consistent annual fund donors under the age of 35 is like hunting for unicorns and leprechauns.
- I very much think that, 10-15 years from now, we will be in a much better position. When I was at Pitt, and in talking to people who attended both before and after me, the amount of spirit and pride on campus was palpable. The statistics now aren't a function of losing the recent generation, they are a function of losing the previous ones.