Executive Summary
Emory University Advancement and Engagement was looking to push beyond the traditional approach to advancement. Josh Newton and his team approached Bluespark with a single question: Why can a hotel personalize my experience, yet we struggle despite the rich data we have on our constituents? Through extensive industry research, we developed a formula that provides a clear path to constituent engagement. As such, our digital strategy has focused on creating a content strategy, story-forward design, and streamlined giving experience that puts constituents in control of their relationship with Emory; and using personalization technologies to break down internal silos and connect constituents to the stories and causes that matter to them. This truly revolutionary approach will lead to increased engagement and contributions.
Key Results
- Content Engine and Workflow that allows a small marketing staff to publish content from around the university and create a continuous cycle of engagement with their constituents
- Designed and implemented an Engagement Engine with Acquia Personalization as the backbone, delivering news, causes, and events that constituents are actually interested in.
- Redesigned, modern commerce engine that fully integrates with complex backoffice workflows and includes recurring donations.
Digital Strategy
We defined a comprehensive strategy that addressed all aspects of their digital strategy. Some key aspects of our strategy include:
- Key Insight: As constituent engagement is the after effect of maintaining a strong and meaningful relationship, building that relationship should be your #1 priority.
- Virtuous Cycle that would... And focused in on the piece that would kickstart that cycle
- Engagement Formula based on research that demonstrates the steps required to build long-term relationships with constituents.
The current model of advancement and engagement was built for an era when attending university was a privilege that elevated your career prospects. Graduating from a university meant that you were part of an exclusive club and people felt pride in belonging to that club. Since the 1990s, a university education has become an expectation. It has become a minimum requirement to compete in a crowded marketplace. This shift in perspective has had unexpected and significant cultural consequences. Coupled with the rising cost of education, younger generations now view their college education as purely transactional; a transaction that ends as soon as they graduate.
Continuous Engagement
Alumni organizations face one of the biggest branding challenges: they are always asking for money. At least, that’s the perception amongst most alumni. To combat this, we helped them define a cycle of continuous engagement that put the constituents interest at the center of their communication and lays the groundwork for building strong relationships with the elusive Zoomers, Millennials, and GenXers.
Engagement through Storytelling
Modern Design, Traditional Feel
- We created a modern design that had a traditional feel. We call it Modern Heritage.
- Throughout the site, we tell the living story by highlighting the various schools and departments current efforts to serve humanity (their mission) and truly make a difference.
- We added clear, culturally and Emory-relevant calls-to-action that connects people to causes (not funds) that matter to them.
Connect people to the causes that matter to them
We reinvented the stale giving experience. Browsing through funds is a visual experience now. We emphasize causes all along the way. And the actual purchase experience is more modern and streamlined.
Built for Growth
