With Thanksgiving just behind us, like many nonprofits, colleges and universities, you’re probably getting ready to publish the annual “year-end giving” information on your website or send out an email appeal to prospective donors. If so, that’s great. If not… you’re missing a huge opportunity. Consider the following statistics: “The average person makes 24% of […]
Colleges, and those charged with articulating why institutions matter, seldom lack for words… yet rarely learn to speak their school’s one true voice. Why so? In my experience, it has to do with how comfortable any of us can be in that stage before sudden insight arrives — in sitting with “not knowing.” I like […]
I have four pieces of advice. Pilot then scale First, follow the timeless principle of pilot then scale. Take one course online rather than offer an entire degree online. Then take one degree online instead of taking half a dozen degrees online. Start with unique programs Second, build early successes by piloting with a unique […]
While we heed one alarm after another signaling the decline of higher education as we know it (brick and mortar campuses made irrelevant by more, better and cheaper online courses and degree programs) a counter revolution can be seen and heard, in the form of heaving equipment digging foundations, paving roads and pouring fresh concrete. […]
Unfortunately for higher education marketers, there is only so much program-specific information a University can espouse before its branding message becomes just another noisy, unrecognizable foghorn on the mist-cloaked, higher-ed seas. To differentiate your school’s programs, brand and message, consider marketing sideways. “Use a peripheral but more human and interesting component of your brand to […]
Here are Q2 charts from Google that shed light on what’s happening with higher education related searches:
I’ve been speaking to lots of prospective clients these days about branding in higher education. I like these early conversations. Listening to people talk about their individual challenges and opportunities is one of my favorite parts of the job. Working in higher education isn’t easy, but in my experience, the people who make a commitment […]
Tonight, the Pittsburgh Pirates host their first playoff game in more than two decades, just a few blocks away from Elliance headquarters. What might anyone involved in higher education branding take away from the most surprising team in Major League Baseball? We offer 5 brand “signs” worth stealing from the Pittsburgh Pirates: 1. Be real… […]
Experienced non profit fundraisers will tell you there are many steps in planning a successful philanthropy campaign. For a large comprehensive or capital campaign, one of the more critical phases is the development of the case statement. The case statement plays a key role in articulating the rationale for fundraising and energizing gift officers and […]
This is part 1 of my 3 part blog post about the best solution to your .edu website. Please stay tuned for the following posts. Now that nearly a quarter of web traffic is coming from mobile devices*, we’ve come to a crossroads over the best solution to a large webpage such as an .edu […]