support unit review · alumni attitude survey which documents the alumni programs’ reputation and...

Support Unit Review

March 2009

UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT SUPPORT UNIT REVIEW March 2009

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Table of Contents

I. Overview of University Advancement………………………………………………………………….…………………..…3

II. Vision and Mission………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3

III. Advancement Services……………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………4

IV. Alumni Affairs & Annual Giving……………………………………………………………………………………………………6

V. Communications & Public Affairs…………………………………………………………………..………………………….10

VI. Development………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..16

VII. Special Events…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..19

VIII. Resource Allocation…………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………20

IX. Evaluation of Management………………………………………………………………………………….……………………23

X. Customer Satisfaction…………………………………………………………………………………………….…………..…….24

XI. Employee Satisfaction………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………24

XII. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………….25

Appendix: Organizational Chart Staff Names & Titles Office of Communications & Public Affairs Tasks & Strategies


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I. Overview of University Advancemen

University Advancement has struggled and suffered over the past several years as a result of constant transition and inconsistent leadership. In November 2007, however, a new and permanent Vice President was hired to lead University Advancement. She immediately began to plan and implement structural changes that have led the division to success in achieving specified goals and objectives.

The division consists of five separate units, including Advancement Services, Alumni Affairs & Annual Giving, Communications & Public Affairs, Development, and Special Events. Each unit has its distinct role and mission, but all of them work collaboratively to promote California State University, Stanislaus to a variety of constituencies, including donors, alumni, elected officials, reporters, community members, and others.

The Vice President is supported by an Executive Assistant who also serves as Office Manager. All of University Advancement, including its individual departments, relies on work‐study students and student assistants for general clerical support.

In addition to her fund‐raising and management responsibilities, the Vice President for University Advancement serves as Executive Director for the CSU Stanislaus Foundation Board. Board members include top business, civic, and community leaders who enhance the mission of the University by pursuing private and public resources for University priorities. The Board also oversees the investment and management of Foundation assets.

II. Vision and Missi

A. University Vision Statement

CSU Stanislaus strives to become a major center of learning, intellectual pursuit, artistic excellence, and cultural engagement for California’s greater Central Valley and beyond. We will serve our diverse student body, communities, and state by creating programs, partnerships, and leaders that respond effectively to an evolving and interconnected world.

B. University Mission Statement

The faculty, staff, administrators, and students of California State University, Stanislaus are committed to creating a learning environment which encourages all members of the campus community to expand their intellectual, creative, and social horizons. We


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challenge one another to realize our potential, to appreciate and contribute to the enrichment of our diverse community, and to develop a passion for lifelong learning.

To facilitate this mission, we promote academic excellence in the teaching and scholarly activities of our faculty, encourage personalized student learning, foster interactions and partnerships with surrounding communities, and provide opportunities for the intellectual, cultural, and artistic enrichment of the region.

C. University Advancement Mission Statement

The mission of University Advancement is to promote California State University, Stanislaus by strengthening institutional relations, enhancing private support, encouraging alumni involvement and commitment, communicating effectively with diverse constituencies and publics, and articulating the University’s excellence.

III. Advancement Servic

Advancement Services serves as a central reference guide and vehicle for the stewardship of non‐state support and also supports the fund‐raising/development team. The staff of four honors the generosity of the University’s donors by setting high standards for handling their gifts, treating them with the utmost care, honesty, and integrity. Alumni records management, prospect research, scholarship and donor relations, gift processing, reporting, database management, and budget analysis are all part of the Advancement Services side of University Advancement.

A. Goals and Achievement Strategies

1. Keep donors informed on how their gifts benefit students and/or programs by sending them thank you letters from students and annual fund reports, and also by introducing them to the students who benefit from their support.

2. Track endowments and scholarship accounts to ensure that they are sufficiently funded to award advertised scholarships.

3. Identify potential donors and provide information about existing and potential donors to development directors.

4. Increase the number and amount of scholarships available for students.


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B. Strengths

• Advancement Services benefits from having staff with experience and institutional knowledge. Two of the staff members have worked in University Advancement at CSU Stanislaus for many years and have been able to provide a historical perspective and knowledge that has benefited the entire Advancement team.

• The Scholarship and Donor Stewardship Coordinator provides timely responses to daily information requests from scholarship donors. She has greatly improved the University’s relationship with existing donors since starting in her position last year.

• The Vice President has strengthened the Advancement Services team by adding a full‐time staff member dedicated to Prospect Research. The prospect researcher provides necessary information on new and existing donors to assist in fund‐raising efforts. Research profiles help match prospective donors to identified university needs.

C. Weaknesses

• Advancement Services has difficulty responding to database requests because it does not have a database analyst. Instead, the budget analyst works with the Office of Information Technology to respond to a plethora of requests for mailing lists, donor lists, alumni lists, and so on. Due to budget constraints, a database analyst will not be hired in 2009‐10 as originally hoped.

• The current Banner software is not ideal for University Advancement’s database management needs due to its poor functionality and lack of integration with other systems.

D. Measurement Tools

• To measure its success, Advancement Services primarily relies on verbal and written feedback from donors. It also receives verbal and email feedback from the development directors, vice president, and president regarding research profiles and data provided.

• Timeliness of gift processing and report generation.

• Accuracy of research information on alumni and prospects.

• Data integrity, including accuracy of alumni mailing addresses.


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E. Plans for Improvement

1. Increase the frequency of contact with donors.

2. Increase the quality of what donors receive in terms of annual fund reports and other collateral.

3. Improve records management.

4. Implement a new, more efficient database software system.

5. Expand the unit’s goals and objectives to cover all of Advancement Services’ roles and responsibilities.

IV. Alumni Affairs & Annual Givi

CSU Stanislaus has approximately 39,000 alumni with over 70% living in the University’s six‐county region. The recently formed Alumni Council works to engage alumni in the academic, professional, cultural, and financial growth of the university. The Alumni Director’s overarching goal is to promote and engage alumni with one another to maintain strong ties with the University through an active and dynamic organization.

The Office of Alumni Affairs & Annual Giving has five distinct functions. 1) marketing and communications; 2) programs and services for current students and alumni; 3) corporate relations program; 4) recognition and special events; 5) annual giving

Annual Giving programs look to garner financial support from alumni to obtain gifts on a yearly basis in order to maintain, in part, the general operations of the University. Alumni are also given the opportunity to direct their funds to a specific college, department, or athletic programs. The Annual Fund is an organized effort where funds are typically raised through mail or direct solicitation efforts.


The department’s goals, objectives, and strategies are developed by the Director in collaboration with the Vice President for University Advancement. They are, then, presented in draft form to the Alumni Council for feedback and to identify strengths and weaknesses. Feedback is also solicited from the college deans and other faculty and staff as necessary. Now that an event coordinator has been reassigned to this department, she will also be included in the goal development process.

In all of its functions and activities, the alumni department strives to highlight academic and professional successes of current students and alumni. It supports the goals and


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objectives of the University by creating a culture of engagement and encouraging alumni to give back to their alma mater through time, talent, or treasure.

MISSION

The mission of the Office of Alumni Affairs & Annual Giving is to advance the University by developing and strengthening lifelong relationships between alumni and the university community, by benefiting current and future alumni and friends, and by serving as a catalyst for communications, engagement, and financial support.

GOALS

1. Create lifelong relationships between alumni and CSU Stanislaus and create opportunities for alumni to engage with current students, serve as mentors, and encompass lifelong relationships in support of the University’s mission.

Marketing & Communications Goals 1. Launch a 5‐year Collaborative Planning Process 2. Evolve Alumni Association 3. Launch a Comprehensive Branding Initiative 4. Prepare a Six County Analysis 5. Develop Communication Systems 6. Alumni Benefits

Programs & Services Goals 1. Support student learning by identifying programs and services that are crucial to

the long term development of our students. For example, in partnership with the Student Leadership and Development team, the department is developing a “Life Skills” program where current students have the opportunity to learn etiquette techniques, resume writing, job interviewing, and other valuable real world skills.

2. CSU Stanislaus Office of Continuing Education Collaboration 3. Student Alumni Program 4. Young Alumni Program 5. Warrior Advocacy Network 6. Warrior for Higher Education 7. Warrior Volunteer Network

Corporate Relations Program Goals 1. Identify special event sponsorships and raise $20,000 in corporate sponsorships

to help cover the cost of event programming 2. Career networking and internship opportunities 3. Campus Tours


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Recognition and Special Events Goals 1. A Spring Reunion Program 2. Fall Homecoming Program 3. Hall of Fame Banquet 4. Distinguished Alumni Banquet 5. Alumni Spotlights

Annual Giving Goals 1. Create a culture of philanthropy and pride in CSU Stanislaus 2. Raise $50,000‐$100,000 through the Alumni Donor Society for the operation of

the Alumni program

B. Strengths

In partnership with 18 of the CSU campuses, the Office of Alumni Affairs & Annual Giving contracted with Performance Enhancement Group to conduct an Alumni Attitude Survey which documents the alumni programs’ reputation and effectiveness. The survey is already serving as a guidepost for the unit’s strategic planning process and has been very helpful in determining the most effective CSU Stanislaus alumni programs and communication methods.

An experienced event coordinator with institutional knowledge was reassigned to the department in February 2009. She is a great addition to the unit’s effectiveness and will be a tremendous asset to helping the department achieve its programming and special event goals.

The department has a strong work ethic and enthusiasm for building an engaging, fun, and successful program.

The director of the department is an alumnus himself.

C. Weaknesses

The department does not have administrative support other than from a part‐time work‐study student.

The workload is very heavy, particularly because the program is being re‐built from scratch after not having a CSU Stanislaus alumni director or program for about two years.

Very little up‐to‐date information exists in the Banner database on the alumni of CSU Stanislaus as it relates to e‐mail addresses, alternative contact information, employment status, and so on.


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Data, both qualitative and quantitative, is the backbone of the unit’s evaluation procedures. The Director examines participation numbers, costs versus expenses, survey results, and more.

The unit’s ability to engage alumni and provide a quantifiable pipeline of alumni support, whether through time, talent, or treasure.

The level of alumni and student participation in events and/or programs.

A monthly report to the vice president tracks communication methods and individual contacts.

Surveys have been the most effective measurement tool for the Office of Alumni Affairs thus far, particularly the recently completed Alumni Attitude Survey referred to above. After analyzing the survey results, the unit shifted its focus to building programs that are most appealing to alumni: 1) career services, 2) networking, 3) engagement with current students, and 4) faculty lectures and symposiums on research projects or programs. Prior to the survey, the unit incorrectly assumed that alumni would be most interested in coming back to campus for special events.

For Annual Giving, measurables have included breakdowns of cost per piece, cost per dollars raised, participation rates, and so on.


1. Develop a strong Alumni Council and use its support in each of the functional areas as well as for the development of a long‐range strategic plan that includes the identification of revenue channels.

2. Identify an ongoing source of revenue to fund operational expenses.

3. Use Donor Society revenue as discretionary funding or for increasing scholarship endowments.

4. Identify a database software system that can be used to regularly send communications to alumni and that tracks the respondents. Currently, the unit is exploring whether they could use systems that the University already has, such as Kintera through the Office of Communications & Public Affairs and the Chancellor’s office.

5. Develop and implement a strategic plan in conjunction with the Alumni Council.


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6. Further define the necessary internal processes for alumni paperwork, communications, and system updating.

7. Plan ahead in order to better utilize the Office of Communications & Public Affairs for the development of direct mail campaigns and other marketing initiatives.

8. Create corporate partnerships to reduce the expense of special events and the printing of marketing and communication materials.

9. Further define the roles between the Director and the Special Events Coordinator in order to avoid duplication of effort.

10. Long‐term: It would be ideal to have an Alumni House that could be used as a facility and conference rental as well as for offices and storage.

V. Communications & Public Affa

The Office of Communications & Public Affairs is made up of nine people who promote the University to a variety of constituencies and provide marketing and creative services to the campus.

The Communications group – also called the Visual Branding team ‐ provides leadership for branding and marketing CSU Stanislaus through publications, Web and graphic design, photography, and writing. The department manages the University brand by striving to ensure that a consistent message and image are sent from all colleges and departments across the campus.

Public Affairs is the source for media relations as well as government and community relations. The public information officers report news, maintain contact with the media, build awareness of programs and developments at CSU Stanislaus, and develop messaging and strategic communication plans for the University. Government and community relations personnel advocate for CSU legislative objectives and promote public higher education to local, state, and federal officials and agencies, the University’s alumni, and key community and business leaders.


The Office of Communications & Public Affairs develops its goals, objectives, and strategies through meeting and discussion. Last summer, roughly four months after the separate Communications and Public Affairs departments merged, a half‐day “retreat” was held to help build relationships among team members and to discuss and develop a mission, vision, and goals. Since March 2008, staff meetings have been held every other Monday to generate ideas, share stories, and ensure that the team is on task.


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The department’s goals seek to incorporate, promote, and support the University Mission and Strategic Plan. The department helps implement the University’s mission by “communicating effectively with diverse constituencies and publics, and articulating the University’s excellence.” In addition, effective branding of CSU Stanislaus will “convey the ideals of cultural, artistic, and academic excellence” as embodied in the University’s mission statement.

When necessary, the Assistant Vice President leads the way in any push for change, while bouncing ideas off staff before modifying any unit or project policies or goals.

VISION

The Office of Communications & Public Affairs will become THE brand stewards for California State University, Stanislaus (print, Web, signs, etc…) in order to achieve maximum marketing effectiveness and image enhancement goals. While doing so, the department works diligently to enhance the University’s reputation for definition and distinction.

MISSION

The Office of Communications & Public Affairs at California State University, Stanislaus strives to maintain and enhance the University’s reputation for excellence by creating artistic materials and marketing campaigns that promote CSU Stanislaus, “wow” our clients, and produce desired results; by protecting the identity and image of the CSU Stanislaus brand; and by fostering interactions and partnerships with external communities including the media, community leaders, and public officials.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES

1. Produce quality products that promote and protect a consistent identity for CSU Stanislaus, that make our clients successful, and that result in award‐winning recognition and team pride.

2. “Wow” our customers with our products, customer service, and results.

3. Be recognized for “best practices” and “best products” within the CSU system so that CSU Stanislaus is seen as the benchmark to follow.

4. Gain trust as the communication experts on campus.

5. Focus on high volume, high visibility projects.

6. Meet deadlines and, thereby, increase satisfaction among our clients.


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7. Improve our reputation on campus as more responsive

8. Earn positive media coverage.

9. Secure passage of local, state, and federal initiatives (policies, appropriations, etc…) that seek to benefit CSU Stanislaus.

10. Build strong relationships externally and internally.

11. Improve communication within our department, division, and with others, including faculty.

12. Position ourselves to help the campus community better understand our role and services.

13. Support and assist University Advancement’s mission of seeking private support for CSU Stanislaus.

14. Move to a “charge‐back” system in the areas in which we can in order to convey value of services in concrete terms, respond to the heavy workload demand, and transform the Visual Branding unit of the department into one that is cost‐neutral or revenue generating.

NOTE: Department strategies and tasks for achieving these goals are provided in the Appendix.

B. Strengths

• Talent. Each member of the team is very skilled in his or her particular job, especially as evidenced by our photography, Web pages, and printed materials.

• The addition of Web technology experts has greatly enhanced the department’s efforts to expand communication methods and broaden the distribution of University news and messages.

• A full‐time photographer enhances the entire communication process and allows the department to design printed and electronic materials that are unique to CSU Stanislaus and that help elevate the University’s brand image.

• Close working relationships are maintained with other departments to maintain the flow of information. Strong interaction with faculty, staff, and students help the department achieve its goals and strategies.

• The department meets regularly to keep lines of communication open and projects on task.


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• An office turned into a Creative Room allows for brainstorming and idea‐generating sessions, client meetings, team building activities, and more.

• Staff is able to “feel the pulse” of the students thanks to a younger generation of professionals working within the unit.

• The Assistant Vice President typically returns proofs to staff within 1‐24 hours.

• The department promotes student learning by facilitating communication between faculty/staff and current students, as well as communication between the University and prospective students.

• Products and messages that help academic colleges and their departments raise funds and increase student awareness of their programs help create a learning‐centered, scholarly environment.

• The department provides internships and work‐study opportunities to students. Additionally, the Public Information Officers offer their assistance to the Signal staff (although such assistance has not been requested since originally offered).

• The AVP has strong, positive relationships with local, state, and federal elected officials and their staffs.

C. Weaknesses

• The workload is extremely heavy, especially for the Graphic Designers and Web Designers who have 45‐65 active projects at any given time. As a result, staff has less time than desired for creative and strategic thinking on high visibility projects. This could be alleviated somewhat if the department were able to turn away some smaller jobs that have little impact.

• While it has greatly improved, the department’s success rate at meeting deadlines – particularly for graphic design projects – still needs improvement.

• An occasional lack of willingness to function as a team and communicate with each other constructively instead of forcing one’s own opinions on everyone else tends to exacerbate staff frustration over individual roles in the department and how they inter‐relate. This practice leads to process inefficiency and diminishing morale.

• Excessive staff absences in one sub‐unit cause many projects to be delayed.

• Sometimes, Web efforts between OIT and the Office of Communications & Public Affairs are uncoordinated and at odds. Also, it occasionally causes


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confusion as to whether people on campus are supposed to go to OIT or Communications for Web services.


• The department uses software called Timefox to track time on projects and keep both organization and communication at a maximum. Staff time is tracked by client and project. As a result, we have learned that over the last year, the Visual Branding group’s projects have fallen into the following categories:

30% ‐ University Advancement 25% ‐ Academic departments and colleges 15% ‐ Admissions/Enrollment 15% ‐ Student Affairs departments, including Housing and Athletics 15% ‐ Other campus clients

• Through Timefox, we have also been able to calculate an optimum efficiency level for members of the creative/visual branding team. Based on workable hours using industry standards, the creative team should be working at a 70% efficiency level. Efficiency is tracked weekly, monthly, and annually to determine whether staff is over‐worked or under‐worked, over‐performing or under‐performing. If our efficiency level reaches or exceeds 80% on a regular basis, we will need to consider hiring additional staff or turning away projects to reduce workload.

• Success/failure rate at meeting deadlines, as agreed upon by client, designers, and coordinator.

• Client feedback, which is typically extremely positive as to the level of design and content. Many clients state that they receive more value and more deliverables from the Office of Communications & Public Affairs than ever before. At times, however, clients continue to express disappointment over not receiving proofs or final products when expected. All feedback is shared with the full staff at bi‐weekly department meetings in order to reward quality performance and to learn from mistakes.

• The frequency of positive media coverage, and the ratio of story placements to press releases distributed, helps measure the effectiveness of the department’s media relations efforts.

• Feedback from the media about how they want to receive news is invaluable in making sure that the information gets to the right person and is put to use. We


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regularly reach out to reporters to make sure they are receiving the information they need in the way they need to receive it.

• Feedback from alumni and other constituencies to the reinvented STAN magazine has helped determine the most effective communication approaches to engage alumni, donors, and others.

• The number of stories submitted by faculty and staff and the number of online hits helps measure the level of readership and interest in the University Digest. Thus far, it remains strong.

• Various pages on the CSU Stanislaus Web site include contact e‐mail addresses for providing feedback. In addition, Google Analytics help us monitor the flow of traffic on the University’s Web site, including the number of hits on pages, the amount of time spent on a page, the most popular pages, and so on.

• Success rate in moving initiatives forward that require approval from government officials.


• Review goals quarterly and post them in the Creative Room in order to keep them top‐of‐mind and to measure progress.

• Develop client surveys to solicit formal and regular feedback. Share survey results with the full staff in order to reward and praise employees, and to provide improvement suggestions.

• Fine tune key messages for targeted audiences based on the Noel‐Levitz market research and Alumni Attitude Survey.

• Screen photo requests to ensure photographer’s time is used wisely, for maximum efficiency and branding exposure. For example, photographer’s time should not be used to take head shots of students for filing purposes.

• Expand the University’s presence on social networking sites.

• Purchase basic video equipment and editing software. Add more video clips to the Web site and to some news releases.

• Continue to seek ways to make processes more efficient and satisfactory to employees and clients alike, particularly as it relates to communication with clients and printers.


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• Expand the use of Timeflox blogs as a way to enhance communication within the unit, particularly about project status.

• If given authority to do so, move to a charge‐back system – at least in some areas ‐‐ to help offset the cost of operations and to help clients understand the true value of the department’s services. Eventually, such a system could be a revenue‐generating opportunity for CSU Stanislaus if we begin to accept jobs from off‐campus clients.

• When budget resources or campus reorganization allows the addition of one graphic designer, divide the graphic designers into a production sub‐unit and a creative strategy sub‐unit. Generally speaking, the production group would focus on flyers, stand‐alone advertisements, quick brochures, posters, etc… while the creative strategy group would focus on projects like magazines, viewbooks, marketing campaigns, high‐profile events, and so on.

• Develop strategies to devote more time to government relations efforts, especially in light of the ongoing and growing need to protect and advocate for scarce budget resources for higher education.

VI. Developme

The development team serves as the hub for all University fund‐raising efforts. The three Directors of Development, each assigned to specific colleges and entities, are responsible for identifying, cultivating, and soliciting prospects to generate income and seek external support for University needs. The Vice President also spends more than 50 percent of her time on fund‐raising.

Working closely with administration, deans, faculty, alumni, and friends, development is also charged with maintaining good relations with existing donors to ensure fulfillment of obligations. Funds raised from philanthropists, corporations, and foundations for student scholarships, faculty scholarships, academic programs, and unrestricted gifts ultimately benefit student learning.

All members of the development team serve as ambassadors for the University throughout the six‐county region. One of the pillars of CSU Stanislaus’ mission is carried out through their work in that they are on the forefront of fostering interactions and partnerships with surrounding communities. These relationships bring financial and human assets into the University, strengthening its ability to promote academic excellence in teaching and scholarly activities. Fostering relationships with diverse groups also helps contribute to the University’s desire to diversify its community of students, faculty, staff, and community partners.


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The goals and strategies for fund‐raising are developed and reviewed in regular “Quarterback” meetings that involve the vice president for university advancement, the directors of development, the prospect researcher, and the scholarship and donor stewardship coordinator.

1. Each Director of Development (DOD) is to raise $200,000 by the end of the fiscal year ‐ June 30, 2009.

2. Together, the development team will raise $2.6 Million by the end of the fiscal year – June 30, 2009, and another $3 Million by the end of the 2009/10 fiscal year.

3. Raise money from individuals, corporations, and foundations to support student scholarships, enhance faculty salaries, construct new buildings, add equipment, etc…

4. Help Deans and faculty promote and enhance their colleges’ reputations and program offerings as well as articulate their needs and opportunities for giving to support their work.

5. Help the University provide more and greater quality programs to students.

6. Work with the deans to create and engage advisory councils for the colleges that don’t already have them.

7. Provide exceptional customer service for donors, ensuring consistency and accuracy in their services.

B. Strengths

• The development team is now fully staffed with the addition of two new DODs, for a total of three experienced fund‐raisers.

• Each college benefits from working with an assigned DOD. One DOD works with the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Education; a second DOD works with the College of Natural Sciences, College of the Arts, and College of Human and Health Sciences; the third DOD works with the College of Business, the Stockton Center, and the Library.


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• Through the development of Advisory Councils, the DODs are able to identify internships and/or research sites and other partnership opportunities that benefit student learning.

C. Weaknesses

• The faculty, staff, and students do not fully understand the fund‐raiser’s role and how the position is designed to help their efforts.

• Low credibility, especially with faculty.

• The lack of a robust database and adequate staffing for prospect research and data analysis.


1. The net amount of dollars raised through special events, proposals, personal solicitations, and so on.

2. Benchmarks for the amount of money raised per fund‐raiser.

3. Contact reports kept by each DOD help track the number of calls/notes/visits that are being made.


1. Implement strategies to reduce function overlap. Currently, other staff and faculty fund‐raise for separate projects without coordinating their efforts through University Advancement. As a result, situations occur where two to three CSU Stanislaus staff or faculty in different divisions ask the same sponsors and donors for money for multiple projects, causing frustration among donors and hampering success.

2. Improve decision making by implementing more policies and procedures that support the fund‐raising function.

3. Putting contacts into a robust database, instead of into an excel spreadsheet, to help eliminate duplication of work.

4. Evaluating more closely the number of staff members who need to attend events to ensure the “best” person(s) attend – those who can develop the most relationships and have the most time.


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5. Develop a master communications plan – including donor appeals – for each unit within UA and the entire University so that DODs can gauge how many “touches” they have had with specific audiences.

VII. Special Even

The Special Events unit provides coordination and planning services to all areas of University Advancement as well as the President’s office and other departments on campus, including Athletics and Student Affairs. Such events include fund‐raising galas, crab feeds, alumni receptions, commencement, and more.

The Events staff also coordinates all private, rental events that desire to use state facilities on campus for weddings, receptions, parties, camps, and conferences, complete with catering services.


The Special Events unit is new to University Advancement, with its staff member reassigned from another division on campus just a few months ago. As a result, the unit is still in the process of working with the vice president to develop its goals, objectives, and strategies. In the meantime, the unit is focused on the following goals:

1. Increase revenue by generating rental sales and putting on fund‐raising events.

2. Help implement the University’s mission by offering an opportunity to engage the local community, alumni, and businesses to visit our campus and host their events, in hopes that this will expose them further to CSU Stanislaus and its offerings.

3. Foster solid relationships on behalf of CSU Stanislaus by coordinating dynamic and memorable events.

B. Strengths

The Special Events coordinators enjoy strong relationships with departments across campus, including Public Safety, Facilities Services, Financial Services, catering, and others.

C. Weaknesses

The staff members in this unit are still adjusting to their new environment as University Advancement team members. Currently, the events staff feels uninformed about goals and objectives.


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Profitability

The amount of money raised at events. The 50th Anniversary Inaugural Gala was a tremendous success, raising about $225,000 for the University.

Customer feedback – thank you letters, surveys, referral letters, and so on. Policies and procedures have been developed to assist with getting positive feedback.

Rankings ‐ On the 2008 KCRA A‐List, based on customer votes and reviews, CSU Stanislaus placed in the top five wedding venues in the greater Sacramento area.

Feedback and input from other campus departments on how to improve operations. Such feedback is regularly solicited by the unit staff.


As this area is so new to the division, plans for improvement are still being developed. In the meantime, the unit is working to become more efficient by using event monitors rather than full‐time staff as much as possible.

VIII. Resource Allocation

University Advancement (UA) is a high‐performing division at California State University, Stanislaus, despite limited resources. Workload demands are very high across all Advancement units, and staff feels that better products would be achieved if given more time to spend on projects. Nevertheless, all units have greatly improved over the past year with current resource allocations.

All UA departments could benefit from additional training. It is very important that researchers, designers and Web programmers, marketers, fund‐raisers, and others stay current and on the cutting‐edge in their knowledge and skills. Unfortunately, current budgets going into the 09‐10 fiscal year are insufficient to cover training funds. In the meantime, we use listservs, free Webinars, magazines, and other tools to provide basic training opportunities.

A receptionist is greatly needed for University Advancement because the division relies solely on two part‐time student workers to answer phones and provide other clerical assistance as their work schedules allow. As the campus venue for reaching out to the


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external community of alumni, donors, Foundation Board members, supporters, elected officials, and others, University Advancement really needs a full‐time receptionist to provide a consistent and welcoming face for visitors.

An AVP for Development and a Director of Advancement Services would help reduce the number of direct reports to the vice president and would free up her time to focus more on fund‐raising and less on administrative responsibilities. Currently, 10 people report directly to the vice president.

Perhaps the greatest need in all of University Advancement is for a database analyst in the Advancement Services unit. Currently, UA relies on its budget analyst to work closely with the Office of Information Technology to respond to constant requests for mailing lists, donor reports, database screenings, and so on. All units within University Advancement would be better served with the addition of an experienced database analyst.

Alumni Affairs & Annual Giving

Current financial resources allocated to operate the Office of Alumni Affairs & Annual Giving are not sufficient. The department only receives $10,000 for operating expenses. Beyond that, the only funding available is approximately $60,000 in reserves that is to be used cautiously to fund alumni activities and materials for two years. The department needs to develop a strategy for generating an annual flow of money to more adequately fund expenses that will make alumni programs sustainable for the long term.

An administrative assistant is needed to support the department. Such an addition would allow the alumni director to spend his time communicating with alumni constituents and recruiting new Alumni Council and Alumni Donor Society members. It would free up the event coordinator’s time to focus on event planning and logistics. Currently, the director and event coordinator are too often mired in day‐to‐day administrative duties.

Finally, the Alumni Office needs a software system that sends electronic messages (e‐newsletters, notes, event information, etc…) to alumni, tracks respondents, and links to the Banner database. Such a system would be a great measurement tool to track the success of the department’s marketing and communications efforts. Staff is exploring whether it could use the system used by Communications & Public Affairs or whether it needs its own, separate system.

Communications & Public Affairs

The department’s greatest need is for better staffing. Currently, the Assistant Vice President personally handles responsibilities that are often divided between two or three people on many university campuses. In addition, she is her own administrative assistant, apart from intermittent help from the vice president’s executive assistant and a work‐study


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student who works about 10 hours a week. The addition of a full or part‐time administrative assistant, along with a full‐time government relations coordinator, would truly take the department to new heights in its effectiveness. The government relations coordinator could report to the AVP, or to the vice president for university advancement, or directly to the president.

The Office of Communications & Public Affairs could serve a greater number of clients in a more timely fashion with the hiring of another graphic designer and Web designer. In the absence of more designers, though, the department has been able to creatively manage workflow by using its multi‐talented writer as well as designers in other campus departments.

Finally, proper equipment and staff expertise to handle video capabilities would be a positive addition to the department in that it would help advance the University’s marketing and communication systems. The department is starting to receive more and more requests for video projects, but they are hard to accommodate since the department has to borrow equipment and has an amateur level of expertise in this medium. The photographer also needs lighting equipment to enhance his portfolio of service offerings.

Development and Advancement Services

One part‐time student assistant serves as administrative support for all three Directors of Development. Additional administrative and support staff is needed, along with an expanded fund‐raising team that can provide more support for researching individual prospects. Additional assistance in researching foundations is also needed.

A more effective database than the current Banner system, along with additional prospect research software, would help improve the quality of data that the development team receives. It would also shorten the turnaround time on profiles. The database needs to enable the development officers to track contacts in one place, track solicitations and next steps, rate prospects, and so on.

The department, in working alongside advancement services, needs personnel who are well trained in how to extract data from the database for analysis. People resources are also needed for preliminary research. This would allow current prospect researcher to put greater focus on production of finalized profiles, analysis of prospect data for fund‐raising strategies, and more time spent in proactive research.

Current resources and policies do not allow employees to use a company credit card for donor stewardship and solicitation expenses. Development directors would have the opportunity to engage more potential donors if they didn’t have to pay for associated expenses upfront with their own money or their own personal credit card.


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Special Events

The workload in the special events unit is often excessive during prime event season of April to October. Currently, the unit is recruiting hourly casual workers for the event season to reduce overtime expenses for full‐time staff. A part‐time assistant would also be helpful to the unit.

IX. Evaluation of Management

Management in the division seeks to foster an environment where feedback and recommendations for improvement are solicited and welcomed in a professional and collegial atmosphere. Managers maintain open‐door policies, and reports from staff confirm that their managers are willing to listen to feedback, suggestions, concerns, etc… In addition, management highlights successes and praises employees for excellent work in staff meetings.

The vice president holds semi‐weekly meetings with each of her directors and program leaders. These one‐on‐one meetings have to be cancelled when she is called to other meetings or priorities, however, and staff voices a desire to talk and meet with her more often. The vice president also holds weekly “quarterback meetings” with her development directors, prospect researcher, and scholarship coordinator; semi‐weekly meetings with her program leaders; and monthly meetings with all University Advancement employees. Staff reports that the vice president responds to feedback in a professional and encouraging manner, but some would like to receive more specific direction and more timely responses. E‐mail communication is often used since the vice president is so busy and required to attend many meetings, but it is not the ideal way for communicating clearly and making decisions. In addition, some staff report frustration over their e‐mails not being responded to by the vice president.

The AVP for Communications & Public Affairs welcomes feedback and differing ideas from staff on matters that affect day‐to‐day operations and processes. She asks that staff members support their claims and opinions with examples. Several staff members indicate that she is an effective leader and promptly addresses suggestions and concerns brought to her attention. While all suggestions are treated respectfully, they are measured against the department’s goals and University mission before being adopted or denied. Weekly one‐on‐one meetings are held with senior staff members. One‐on‐ones with other staff members take place at least once every six months. Regular meetings are held every other Monday morning with the full staff to provide opportunities for communication and input and to foster a sense of teamwork, cover project updates, provide client feedback, and keep everyone informed on issues such as policies, budgets, priorities, etc…


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The AVP’s busy schedule sometimes necessitates postponements of one‐on‐one meetings, but they are typically rescheduled within a day or two. She will meet with any employee one‐on‐one if there is an issue to resolve. A few staff members on the Communications & Public Affairs team feel too micro‐managed and seem to feel that their opinions and suggestions are not valued or followed up on. However, other staff members provided opposite viewpoints.

X. Customer Satisfacti

Customer satisfaction is an area that has seen the greatest improvement over the past year. Historically, University Advancement has suffered from low credibility on campus – slow to perform, poor attitudes, lack of substantive results, and so on. The division is delighted that opinions of University Advancement are drastically changing; the division and its units are gaining credibility, respect, and praise.

Most customers – including those from on and off‐campus ‐‐ are very pleased with the services they have received from the various departments and units housed within University Advancement. Currently, there is not a formal system for capturing and sharing donor and customer satisfaction feedback. Moving forward, Advancement units plan to develop more formal feedback tools.

Positive reports from couples who have had weddings on campus led KCRA‐TV to ranking CSU Stanislaus as one of the top five venues for weddings in the greater Sacramento area.

See Appendix for samples of customer satisfaction.

XI. Employee Satisfacti

Most employees in University Advancement feel a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment in their work. They feel they are part of decision‐making processes and that they have the opportunity to help advance the division and the University. They enjoy positive relationships with co‐workers.

Nevertheless, staff expresses a desire for more training and professional development opportunities and would also like to feel more informed about goals, objectives, and decisions.

Employees in University Advancement’s Office of Communications & Public Affairs are divided in their level of satisfaction. Several employees are very happy in their positions, their work products, their relationship with management, their ability to contribute to


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decision‐making, and so on. Others feel their input isn’t taken seriously and desire a greater level of control and participation in decision‐making.

Designers desire more interaction with clients and more time to exercise their creativity on jobs. Steps have recently been put in motion to provide for more interaction between clients and designers, so the department expects employee satisfaction to increase as a result. However, employee dissatisfaction over the large quantity of jobs to accommodate is not likely to dissipate any time soon.

XII. Conclusi

As University Advancement continues to evolve, the division is pleased that it has demonstrated great progress over the past year and a half in terms of productivity, effectiveness, customer satisfaction, and fund‐raising.

Moving forward, University Advancement and its five units – Advancement Services, Alumni Affairs & Annual Giving, Communications & Public Affairs, Development, and Special Events – will continue to strive for excellence and implement the improvement plans discussed above. In doing so, we will focus on our mission to strengthen institutional relations, enhance private support, enlist alumni involvement and commitment, communicate effectively with diverse constituencies and publics, and articulate the University’s excellence.

support unit review · alumni attitude survey which documents the alumni programs’ reputation and...

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