Teaming Up With Your Rival School to Boost Young Alumni Participation

Noble and Greenough School and Milton Academy are rival schools that team up for an annual young alumni challenge to boost participation early in the fiscal year. The competition between the two schools athletic teams is an event that attracts many young alums back to campus. Nobles and Milton saw this as an opportunity to engage them in giving.

After the first couple years of running the challenge, both schools took a step back to the drawing table. They wanted to find new ways to make it easier for their young alumni to give and take their numbers even further.

The solution was:

• More social media
• More peer-to-peer asks
• Mobile Giving option
• “Click to Pledge” landing pages

With BCG Connect’s help, the schools rolled out a new direct mail and email plan that worked in conjunction with their social media, text-to-give, and on-campus student volunteer efforts.

First, a postcard with a QR code and personalized URL to click-to-pledge page was mailed.

Second, an e-mail, mirroring the postcard design, was sent with the link to their personalized click-to-pledge page, which included a targeted ask array.

Third, weekly follow-up e-mails, including the link to the click-to-pledge landing page and updated stats tracking each schools progress and lead in the competition, were sent out.