VPUA Operations

What is the program’s mission statement or statement of purpose? Why does the program exist?

University Advancement Mission Statement

University Advancement builds and enhances relationships with alumni and friends, creates awareness of university accomplishments and raises funds to support excellence at Eastern Illinois University.

How does the program mission align with the university mission?

We provide opportunities for students through the generosity of our alumni and friends by securing private gifts for scholarships, programs and facility enhancements.  Our alumni also assist with networking to help our current students become responsible citizens and leaders.

Whom does the program serve?

Our program serves our students and our alumni.  It also provides contributed support for academic units and athletics. We coordinate and assist with donor and alumni events for the entire campus and community.

We enhance relationships with alumni all over the country through a variety of events, activities, Presidential updates and one on one visits.

We serve the highest level of Eastern's volunteers by providing organizational support to the Board of Trustees.  We also, through Alumni Services  and Foundation staff, provide organizational support to the the Alumni Association Board and the EIU Foundation Board.

What are the services provided? How do these services align with the university mission and program mission?

University Advancement is the external relations division of the university.  We provide throughout all our divisions, opportunities for alumni and friends to give back to Eastern Illinois University.  Giving back can take several forms such as: an annual gift for a favorite academic program, an endowed scholarship for a high achieving students or supporting students with financial need.  Our alumni also give back by volunteering on boards and advisory councils, by serving on Campaign Fundraising committees and by participating in the classroom as an Executive in Residence or guest lecturer.

Advancement through Marketing, Media Relations and Brand Strategies promotes EIU in award winning fashion through news stories, web, social media, etc.  Our staff designs major promotional materials for admissions, campaigns, Doudna events and academic units.

Describe the program’s origins (e.g. year established, purpose, expectations).

The program started as External Relations several years ago and evolved into University Advancement in 2010 under the leadership of President Perry and Vice President Martin. The main purpose has always been to actively engage alumni in activities and services  to the university and to encourage philanthropic support. The program also provides marketing and media relations expertise.

How has the unit changed or adapted over time?

While the unit continues to serve alumni and encourage their involvement, a stronger emphasis has been placed on raising significant funds to support excellence and provide opportunity at EIU.  In 2010 we kicked off the public phase of the university's first comprehensive fund raising campaign. We set an ambitious goal of $50 million.  Thanks to the generosity of dedicated alumni and hard working volunteers and staff we exceeded the goal early and by $13.7 million raising just under $64 million.

We have actively engaged alumni across the country providing "wow" experiences for them such as standing on the star in the Dallas Cowboy stadium, being entertained by the magical voice of world famous tenor and EIU alum Matthew Polenzani, watching the Cardinals win and the Cubs lose (after a Wrigley Rooftop experience), enjoying musicals such as Jersey Boys and Billy Elliott and cheering for the Panthers across the country.

We have enhanced our marketing efforts through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Presidential blog, etc. while continuing to use traditional media outlets.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program’s history and relevance to university mission.

Provide data, if available, on the numbers of students, faculty, staff, or others served by the program during the past four years. If no data are available, please estimate the numbers served annually.

During the EI&U Campaign we raised $63,696,747 in contributions and pledges from 21,050 donors.  Thanks to a great job by student callers for the Annual Fund and Development Directors for Major and Planned gifts we had 10,725 first-time donors to EIU.  During this time period 203 new scholarships were created to benefit students. Twenty-four rooms, labs and buildings were named for generous donors and exemplary service to Eastern. By keeping alumni engaged across the country our Regional Campaigns from Coles County to Florida, Arizona, St. Louis, Chicago, Atlanta, Springfield and more raised $19.5 million dollars.

The past three years have been record breaking fund raising years with FY11 at $9.8 million, FY12 at $13.8 million and FY13 at $15.8 million in total gifts and pledges.  Total average gifts and pledges for the past four years have nearly tripled over the previous decade.

An emphasis has been placed on increasing planned gifts with a record $10 million + pledged in FY13. During the campaign which ended in FY12 we raised $24 million in bequests which was double our goal.

For annual gifts, those under $20k, FY12 was a record of $2,217,589.  In the last three years combined we have received gifts from over 21,200 donors.

Everything we do serves the students, faculty and staff of EIU.  From starting the relationship through friend raising with alumni, that first gift through the annual fund, volunteering to serve on a board or advisory council, or raising that major gift and/or final bequest.

Does the program offer any co-curricular opportunities for students (e.g., internships, RSO support, service-learning activities)? Please describe.

N/A

Does the program contribute to the delivery of academic programs (e.g., providing professional expertise, serving as adjunct faculty)? Please describe.

N/A

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the internal demand for the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., curriculum changes made by another program) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

Is the program accredited or approved by a recognized external agency or otherwise certified to meet established professional standards? Provide an executive summary of and link to the program’s most recent accreditation or certification report, if available.

N/A

Is the program required to meet any regulatory or legal requirements? Is the program subject to any special auditing requirements?

The EIU Foundation is audited and it is a separate non-profit corporation.

What are the most important outreach or public service activities supported by the program?

We change lives by providing opportunities for an excellent college education through scholarships to deserving students both on academic achievement and financial need.  We enhance personal relationships with alumni and friends while providing opportunities for students through scholarships and program support and alumni networking.

How do the local community and the region benefit from the program?

Advancement strengthens the town and gown relationship by participating in regular meetings with city and county leaders and also by advocating in Springfield on behalf on Eastern.  Providing scholarships to students from the local community and region gives  them the opportunity to receive an excellent education from EIU.

We build community and EIU spirit and pride through the "Real Panthers Wear Blue" initiative.

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the external demand for the program.

What are the two or three more important measureable outcomes tracked to assess program quality? Does the program conduct an outcomes assessment, and if so, what has been the impact?

1. EI&U Expect Greatness Campaign Goal $50 million.  Actual raised $63,696,747.   127% of goal.

2. Legacy Gifts - Fund for the Future Goal $12 million.  Actual raised $24 million.  Double goal.

3. Targeted outreach efforts through alumni events, segmented annual fund requests and documented personal visits by major gift Directors resulted in 10,725 first-time donors to EIU during campaign which was just over 50% of our total donors.

What are the two or three most effective best practices that the program has implemented? What benefits have been gained from implementing these best practices?

1. Working with Development leadership we established set standards for expected alumni/donor personal visits per month and  expected major gift solicitations per month.  We also, track and document initial visits, stewardship efforts, and solicitation follow ups.  Results are: Campaign over goal, Legacy gifts over goal, and three consecutive record breaking years in gifts and pledges received.  Total gift and pledge average over the past four years have nearly tripled over the previous decade.

2. Disney Quality Customer (alumni/donor) donor service.  Wow events such as Regional Campaign kick-offs in the Willis Tower and Busch Stadium, tour of Cowboys stadium, traveling Broadway musical events, donor cultivation at the Autobahn Club, volunteer stewardship and donor cultivation alumni events at St. Louis Cardinal games, Roof-top reception for alumni at Wrigley Field.  See item 1.  Keeping our alumni active and happy with quality and exciting alumni and development events has resulted in and/or served as great stewardship for the record breaking fundraising efforts noted above.

What external recognitions (e.g., awards, accommodations, professional certifications, references in trade publications) have the program and its staff received in the past three years?

• EIU Campaign Case Statement won 2012 Pride of CASE District V first place Gold Award for Best Publication over 400 universities
• 2012 Pride of CASE Bronze Awards for Excellence in Photography for People and Portraits and Photo Essay
• Faculty Staff Campaign Website won national UCDA Silver Award
• EIU Philanthropy Day Video "Once a Panther, Always a Panther" won a CASE District V Bronze Award for Best Video Feature
• Philanthropic Planning Practical Planned Giving Conference Award: Wills Kit/Guide
• 2013 MarCom Awards: (over 6,500 entrants)
• Platinum:  EIU Viewbook and the Doudna Program Guide
• Gold: EIU.edu website and ACT post card

Is the program active with any regional, national, or international professional organizations?

CASE - Council for the Advancement and Support of Education

Note any presentations, publications, or offices held in the last three years.

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the quality of program outcomes.

Note any special benefits (e.g., personnel support, equipment, permanent improvements) that the program has received in the past three years from its grants and other sponsored programs.

We provide support to others.

How does the program benefit from donor gifts (e.g., scholarships, endowed chairs)? Does donor support provide a significant percentage of the program’s overall funding?

University Advancement is the fund raising unit for the entire university.  We assist alumni and friends through donor centered fund raising connected to university priorities.

List two or three key relationships that the program maintains with external constituencies (e.g., community colleges, other universities, government bodies). How do these relationships advance the university mission or otherwise benefit the university?

We have a Director of Constituent Relations who serves as an EIU advocate with the State Legislature.  This Director partners with the President's Office and Alumni Services, advocating on behalf of Eastern for state support, performance based funding, scholarship waivers, etc.

Advancement, Grants and Research and President's Office work with federal agencies, legislative staff and representatives for grants and higher education advocacy.

Advancement serves as the university liaison and provides service to the EIU  Board of Trustees, the EIU Foundation and the EIU Alumni Association.  These groups are key supporters of the university either through volunteer service, advocacy and/or contributed support.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the resources generated by the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., revenue pass-throughs) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

Provide an executive summary of and link to any metrics or benchmarks that the program tracks to measure productivity.

Each Director of Development has the following accountability standards:

They will carry a portfolio of 150 major gift donor/prospects. Prospects are divided into A,B,C categories.

A - Will be solicited during current fiscal year - 50 prospects

B - Cultivate current fiscal year and solicit next fiscal year - 50 prospects

C - Initial qualifying visits to gauge interest and gift capacity - 50 prospects

In addition to the 150 assigned prospects, once a donor has made a major gift they are moved to stewardship mode until they are ready to be cultivated for a major gift.

A major gift is a contribution starting at $20,000 payable over a five year period.  If a prospect is unable or not interested in making a gift at the major gift minimum or above, they are removed from the Development Director's prospect portfolio and will be solicited by the Annual Fund program.

The Development Director has the following monthly requirements: 16 face to face donor visits and 3 major gift solicitations.  Directors are to make 24 initial visits per year.  Based on assigned colleges a Major Gift Development Director should bring-in between $500,000 to $2,000,000 annually.  A Planned Giving Director should raise between $2,000,000 to $4,000,000.

A prospect management review is held monthly to recognize leaders in dollars raised, initial visits, solicitations and stewardship.  Special recognition is provided to Directors who have secured six and seven figure gifts.

Marketing and Communications productivity is tracked via Work Zone which lists projects by unit, responsible party, duration, start and end and status.  Projects for Admissions are the number one priority.  Currently 29 different projects are in production.

Each College and the Athletic Department has an assigned Major Gift Director.  The Lumpkin College of Business and Applied Sciences has two Directors, one with expertise in Planned Giving.  The AVP has a portfolio of top prospects and the VPUA is assigned the top prospects along with the President.

What initiatives has the program implemented to enhance staff productivity (e.g., access to training, workflow improvements)? Briefly describe the costs and benefits of these initiatives.

All Advancement staff have a planned training program under the direction of their Assistant Vice President.  Costs vary based on the program.  Benefits are satisfied and better prepared staff.  Training has been attended for Major Gift Solicitation, Planned Giving, Annual Fund Development, Alumni, Donor Stewardship, Social Media, Marketing, Disney Quality Service and more.

We have established an Advancement Quality Service Team with our customer service stars.  Through their dedication and enthusiasm for EIU, each unit is working on projects to enhance both internal and external customer service.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the productivity of the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., accreditation requirements, curricular changes, program restructuring) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the costs associated with the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., expenditures made centrally or externally, expenditures made on behalf of other units) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

University Advancement expenditures assist with expenses for the entire division such as University Development, Alumni Services and Communications and Marketing.

How does the program seek to distinguish itself from similar programs at other institutions?

We seek to be a donor centered fund raising team like the leaders in our field.  For friend raising and donor stewardship we strive to go above and beyond with Disney like quality service.  It is our goal to put the "wow" factor in our events. From fireworks to flash mobs, to standing on the star at midfield at Cowboys stadium, to EIU volunteer sponsored events at the Autobahn Club, all of our activities are meant to show our supporters  and volunteers how special they are to Eastern.

Note any unique and/or essential contributions that the program makes to the university.

Highly successful EI&U Campaign raised $63,696,747 nearly $13.7 million over an aggressive $50 million goal. Funding was generated to support students, faculty, facilities and programs.

EI&U Expect Greatness Campaign  or    http://iameiu.com/

Advancement provides the social media updates and expertise through Marketing and Communications.

Provide any program-specific metrics that help to document program contributions or program quality. Examples of some commonly used program-specific metrics may be found here.

Alumni Services sponsors 30+ special events and activities each year.  Development provides support to donor specific stewardship events  and Presidential special events.

The Development team tracks on a monthly basis their productivity. They submit a 90 day plan which shows dates, location, prospect, purpose of visit, solicitation amount, events and professional development.  All out of town visits start with securing the anchor (top prospect) visit.  All visits are expected to be to prospects with the minimum major gift potential of $20,000 over a five year period.

Since July 1, 2010 through the present time our all-star Development team has had 4,294 personal face to face donor visits, 1,742 first time donor visits, 629 major and/or planned gift solicitations, and 1,112 solicitation follow up visits.

The Campaign Major Gift Summary is as follows:

• 58 gifts of $20,000 to $99,999
• 68 gifts of $100,000 to $999,999
• 15 gifts of $1 million or higher
• 90 bequests of $20,000 or higher
• 203 new scholarships

We followed up on the Campaign success with a third consecutive record fundraising year.  We set a Scholarship Mini Campaign goal of 100 new scholarships by June 30, 2017.  We currently are ahead of schedule with 42 new scholarships to date.

Social media updates provided by Marketing and Communications to EIU (19,105 likes) and Alumni (7,741 likes) Facebook pages, President's blog and Twitter (6,029 followers).

According to an IBHE Alumni Satisfaction Survey the percent of respondents who have a positive attitude towards EIU is 99% after nine years and 96% after five years.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program impact on the university mission.

Provide a link to or listing of the program’s goals and/or strategic plan.

Financial Sustainability 

Increase gifts and endowments, and strategically target the effective use of these funds.

• Completed | Continue efforts to achieve a successful and early completion of “EI&U: The Campaign for Eastern.” Implementation Phase I.

  Update 4.15.13 - The campaign concluded with $63,696,747 raised, $13.7 million and 27% over goal.

  Update 6.21.12 - The campaign has exceeded its $50-million goal by more than 13%. A celebration of the campaign success is scheduled for September 2012.

• Completed | Conduct a formal review of the campaign. Implementation Phase II. Estimated cost, $30,000.

  Update 4.15.13 - Campaign Review was conducted by University Advancement Staff and Campaign Volunteers. The following areas were evaluated with subsets for each: Gift Goals; Regional Campaigns, Events and Volunteers; Support Services; Consultant and Planning; and General. These areas were then rated in three sections: Successes, Needs Improvement and Enhancements Moving Forward.

• In Progress | Begin the stewardship phase of the campaign, and initiate new specialty campaigns to fund strategic initiatives. Implementation Phase III. Estimated cost, $250,000 annually.

  Update 4.15.13 - Stewardship phase officially underway with larger events conducted in Arizona and Florida and smaller dinners and events in St. Louis, Chicago and Florida. More cities will be scheduled for FY14 including Chicago, Champaign and Springfield. Development and Alumni staff continue to express appreciation to our donors and volunteers on an ongoing basis.
  
  The specialty campaign will be a university-wide initiative to raise both endowed and annual scholarships. Efforts are currently underway and a goal will be announced by September 2013.

What role will the program have in the implementation of the university’s strategic plan (provide link to strategic plan)?

Strategic Plan link. Advancement's role is in part of Financial Sustainability and Marketing and Communication.

In the next two or three years, what best practices, improvements in operations, or other opportunities to advance the university’s mission are likely to be implemented?

Our Development Team will conduct extensive prospect research to further qualify which prospects we focus our efforts on based upon several factors.

The entire division, but more specifically Marketing and Communications, will work with Admissions to promote enrollment.

For Annual Fund we will work on such initiatives as crowd funding and donor segmentation mailings to solicit more support for academic excellence.

We will work with the Foundation to enhance the gift agreement process and develop a print on demand endowment report.

Marketing and Communications will enhance our social media and other web  communications.  They will work with Academic Affairs to promote signature programs and athletics to promote excellence and service on the field and beyond.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand future opportunities for the program.