Giving Days for

Independent Schools:

Nobles Rally Day 2014

Casey Hassenstein, Director of Annual Giving

Greg Croak, Director of Graduate Affairs

Heather Sullivan, Director of Communications

Noble & Greenough School

• Located in Dedham, MA

• 7th – 12th grade (day school & 5 day boarding)

• 603 students

• 5 to 1 student / teacher ratio

• Annual Nobles Fund 2014: >$4.3 mm

• Current Endowment: approx. $130 mm

Setting the Stage:

ANF Graduate Giving

43%

44%

45%

46%

47%

48%

49%

50%

51%

52%

$0

$200,000

$400,000

$600,000

$800,000

$1,000,000

$1,200,000

$1,400,000

$1,600,000

$1,800,000

$2,000,000

FY 10 FY 11 FY 12 FY 13 FY 14

Grad Dollars

Grad Participation

Weighing the Decision

CHALLENGES

• Timing

• Lack of challenge money

• Finite resources

• Independent school

• New territory

OPPORTUNITIES

• Internal collaboration

• Raise ANF awareness

• Mobilize volunteers

• Streamline workload

• Reverse trends

Developing a Concept

• “No Bad Idea” Culture

– #Gradiators

– Selfies / videos after giving

– Personal faculty emails

• Target Audience – Grads / CP’s / POG’s / Faculty

• Channels – Print, video, email, social media

Could be improved

The Concept

• Rally Day 2014:

Let’s Make History!

• Target EVERYONE

• Utilize print, email, phones

• Create promo videos

– “This is Sportscenter” spoof

– Goal to go viral

• Social Media

– #SpesSelfieQuisque

– #RallyDay

Action Plan

• Finalize date

• Set gift goal – 500

• Get buy-in from school leadership

• Engage relevant departments

• Create communications timeline

• Assign responsibilities

• Check-in regularly

• Spread the word

• Mobilize volunteers

Timeline: 3 Week Promo Period

Week 1:

March 24-28

Week 2:

March 31-April 4

Week 3:

April 7-11

Rally Day:

April 11

• Print Appeal

• Launch Video

• Calls

• Postcard Appeal

• Video #2

• Calls

• Video #3

• Email to

Faculty/Staff

• Assembly

Announcement

• Calls

• Phonathon

• RD T-shirts

• “Jeans Day”

• Click to Pledge

• Email Solicitation

• #SpesSelfieQuisque

Challenge

• Facebook updates

• Student Thank-you’s

• Launch Video

Direct Mail Appeal

Postcard Appeal

Day of Pledge Email

Launch Video

Promotion Video #2

Promotion Video #3

Day of Social Media - TwitterCross-platform social media campaign on Rally Day – Friday, April 11th – utilizing Twitter, Facebook,

and Instagram. Included #SpesSelfieQuisque “selfie” challenge, whiteboard thank-you’s from Nobles

faculty and students, and general updates/photos.

Day of Social Media - Instagram

Day of Social Media - Facebook

Post Thank You Email

Results – GivingMarch 24 thru April 11

• 650 new gifts/pledges for over $136,512

– 520 Grads for $77,529

– 64 Current Parents for $53,438

– 66 Parents of Grad’s for $5,545

• Graduate Participation increased from 22% to 34%

• Current Parent Participation increased from 60% to 78%

Results – GivingApril 11

• 401 new gifts/pledges for $62,570

• Average $156 per gift/pledge

• 115 credit cards for $18,204

• 217 Pledges for $41,836

– 29 Text Gifts

– 207 via phone

– 35 online click-to-pledge

• 3 Paypall for $43.11

• 12 checks for $2,530

Results – Social Media

• 80+ submissions to #SpesSelfieQuisque

• 1,000+ views on the three YouTube Videos

• 36 unique tweets and retweets on Friday alone, reaching an

average of 560 people with the John Gifford video peaking at

1,200 views

• All Rally Day-related Facebook posts over the three week

period showed up in 8,544 unique news feeds

Key Learnings

• Keep it simple

• Make your own rules

• Challenge money is NOT always critical for success

• Involve students and faculty – improved giving and educated

EVERYONE on ANF

• Social Media was critical in bringing in over 200 new gifts /

pledges from class of 2000 onwards

• Get help – collaborative effort between ANF, Graduate

Affairs, Communications, Administration, etc.

• Think big – a true community initiative

ARE YOU READY

TO RALLY?