In a world that has evolved from Henry Ford saying, “you can order our car in any color you like as long as it’s black” to one in which you can use your mobile device to design your new Ford to the exact specifications and color you want, one size definitely does not fit all any more. If you don’t see and hear a compelling message that makes you feel that your needs and desires have been personally catered to, then there are plenty of other places where you can spend your time and money. This applies to everything from cars and clothes to charities and organizations. College fundraisers, take note: One size does not fit all in terms of communicating with alumni and donors.

Last week, I attended the CASE conference for fundraising professionals in Chicago. It was a great, two-day conference where fundraising professionals come together to share and listen to the latest trends and topics presented by leaders in the industry. Major topics from this year’s conference included:

• The need to segment donors according to what motivates and engages them attitudinally in addition to their donation and engagement levels
• The need to communicate with different segments of alumni and donors in ways that they will find meaningful and compelling

Music to my ears. At Converge, data and analytics drive everything that we do. We work with colleges and universities across the country to help them better understand why their alumni give or don’t give, what motivates them, and what their preferred ways of communicating are. Do you know who your Champions, Friends, and Acquaintances are? Do you know what motivates them and what messages they will find compelling?

Here is a white paper authored by Converge that will help you answer these important questions. It summarizes a national study of more than 2050 alumni at colleges and universities nationwide and introduces our segmentation model. It can be downloaded by clicking here.