Research

AGN Research includes polls and reports that feature data collected as part of AGN’s ongoing research into industry trends and best practices. It represents the perspectives and priorities of today’s advancement professionals. Access to this research is open to everyone.

Click on the titles below to explore AGN’s research topics.

 

Poll: Have the “levels” of your leadership gift society changed at all in the past 3 years?

Published on December 17, 2020  

Poll: Is your institution planning to host any virtual events in the months ahead as a way to steward leadership gift society members?

Published on December 17, 2020  

Poll: How important are volunteers when it comes to soliciting leadership annual fund gifts at your institution?

Published on December 17, 2020  

Poll: How transparent is your institution in terms of sharing fundraising results with alumni volunteers and leaders?

Published on December 15, 2020  

Poll: How many of your alumni leaders are regular donors?

Published on December 15, 2020  

Poll: In your opinion, what portion of your alumni leaders grasp the role fundraising plays at your organization?

Published on December 15, 2020  

Poll: Which of the following best describes crowdfunding results at your institution over the past several years?

Published on December 10, 2020  

Poll: At your institution, how important is video when it comes to marketing your crowdfunding campaigns?

Published on December 10, 2020  

Poll: Do you have a training program for crowdfunding volunteers?

Published on December 10, 2020  

Poll: Is your institution tracking virtual event attendance in your database?

Published on December 8, 2020  

Poll: Have virtual events increased the amount of collaboration your team has with campus partners?

Published on December 8, 2020  

Poll: Is your institution planning to host any in-person donor events in the first half of the calendar year, 2021?

Published on December 8, 2020  

Poll: How collaborative are your annual giving and alumni relations teams?

Published on December 3, 2020  

Poll: Has your institution solicited (or is it planning to solicit) alumni in the Class of 2020 this fiscal year?

Published on December 3, 2020  

Poll: Which of the following feels like a higher priority for your institution?

Published on December 2, 2020  

Poll: How integrated are your institution’s online and offline fundraising efforts?

Published on November 19, 2020  

Poll: Does your institution have a process for generating donor “leads” through digital channels and handing them off to gift officers or using them in marketing efforts?

Published on November 19, 2020  

Poll: Does your institution do a good job curating giving-related content on its social channels?

Published on November 19, 2020  

Poll: Do you know which affinity groups are the most inclined to support your organization philanthropically?

Published on November 17, 2020  

Poll: How often does your program customize fundraising appeals so as to include affinity-based messages?

Published on November 17, 2020  

Poll: How good is your organization’s data related to the interest and affinities of its alumni and other potential donors?

Published on November 17, 2020  

Poll: How well does your organization use data to guide its fundraising strategy?

Published on November 12, 2020  

Poll: How often do you benchmark your fundraising results against peer programs?

Published on November 12, 2020  

Poll: How often do your organization’s leaders talk about/reference the ROI of fundraising efforts?

Published on November 12, 2020  

Poll: Based on your recent interactions with donors, how would you describe their feelings about giving?

Published on November 10, 2020  

Poll: Have you been referencing the SECURE Act in your recent conversations with donors?

Published on November 10, 2020  

Poll: Have you been referencing the CARES Act in your recent conversations with donors?

Published on November 10, 2020  

Poll: How are you feeling about tax year-end giving to your institution this year compared to the same period last year?

Published on November 10, 2020  

Poll: How would you describe the general mood of your advancement team right now?

Published on November 5, 2020  

Poll: Which of the following best describes your advancement team’s current work situation?

Published on November 5, 2020  

Poll: Which of the following best describes your current role?

Published on November 5, 2020  

Poll: If asked, could you accurately/confidently state your institution’s donor renewal rate for the last fiscal year?

Published on November 3, 2020  

Poll: Which channel does your program rely on the MOST for renewing prior year donors?

Published on November 3, 2020  

Poll: Do your renewal appeals to prior year donors contain messages that are significantly different than what appears in appeals to other audiences? (e.g., new donor acquisition, lapsed donor)

Published on November 3, 2020  

Poll: Is renewing support from last year’s donors the #1 priority for your program right now?

Published on November 3, 2020  

Poll: How well does your program adapt appeal messages across various channels (e.g., direct mail, email, social, phone scripts)?

Published on October 29, 2020  

Poll: Do you consider a “clear and visible ask” to be the most important part of a written appeal?

Published on October 29, 2020  

Poll: When you start writing an appeal, do you usually begin by creating an outline?

Published on October 28, 2020  

Poll: How confident are you in your writing abilities?

Published on October 28, 2020  

Poll: Which best describes your program’s approach to segmentation?

Published on October 22, 2020  

Poll: Do you think your program is efficient in the way it allocates resources (i.e., time, budget) to support its direct appeal/solicitation efforts?

Published on October 22, 2020  

Poll: How much confidence do you have in the information in your database related to individuals’ characteristics, interests, and behaviors?

Published on October 22, 2020  

Poll: When #GivingTuesday is over, do you know how its success will be determined/defined for your institution?

Published on October 20, 2020  

Poll: How would you describe your volunteer strategy related to the upcoming #GivingTuesday?

Published on October 20, 2020  

Poll: Which of the following channels will you be using to communicate with your alumni and others about #GivingTuesday? (Please check all that apply)

Published on October 20, 2020  

Poll: As an emergency response to COVID-19, a special #GivingTuesday was organized on May 5th, in addition to the annual #GivingTuesday that will take place on December 1st. Did you promote the May event to alumni and others in a significant way?

Published on October 20, 2020  

Poll: Does your institution produce a printed donor roster/list of donor names annually?

Published on October 15, 2020  

Poll: How would you describe the level of segmentation of your institution’s gift acknowledgements?

Published on October 15, 2020  

Poll: How would you describe your institution’s use of events to highlight and recognize donors in front of others?

Published on October 15, 2020  

Poll: Does your institution publish an online donor roster/list of donor names annually?

Published on October 15, 2020  

Poll: What percentage of their time do you estimate gift officers at your institution devote to prospect research?

Published on October 6, 2020  

Poll: Do you find your institution’s prospect rating system to be reliable?

Published on October 6, 2020  

Poll: Has your institution used (or is planning to use) token gifts/prizes to incentive donations on your giving day?

Published on September 29, 2020  

Poll: How much would you say that your institution focuses on “gamification” as a strategy for engaging donors on your giving day?

Published on September 29, 2020  

Poll: Has your institution considered or tried doing more than one giving day in a year?

Published on September 29, 2020  

Poll: How do the budgetary resources you will have for your upcoming giving day compare to your last giving day?

Published on September 29, 2020  

Poll: What best describes your giving day plans for the fiscal year?

Published on September 29, 2020  

Poll: In your opinion, how good is the experience and stewardship you provide to recurring gift donors?

Published on September 24, 2020  

Poll: Does your recurring gift program have its own distinct name/brand?

Published on September 24, 2020  

Poll: In the past year, has your institution run a donor “challenge” campaign specifically aimed at acquiring first-time donors?

Published on September 17, 2020  

Poll: Which of the following solicitation channels does your institution rely on the most for acquiring new donors?

Published on September 17, 2020  

Poll: Which of the following best describes your institution’s plan as it relates to donor stewardship events?

Published on September 15, 2020  

Poll: From your perspective, does your institution do a good job of regularly communicating the impact of annual gifts to donors?

Published on September 15, 2020  

Poll: From your perspective, is donor relations & stewardship a higher prior for your advancement program now compared to before the COVID-19 panedmic?

Published on September 15, 2020  

Poll: Does your program spend more time soliciting or stewarding annual fund leadership gifts?

Published on September 10, 2020  

Poll: Which channel does your program rely on the most to solicit annual fund leadership gifts?

Published on September 10, 2020  

Report: Alumni Relations in a Changing World

Published on August 26, 2020  

Poll: What role have your alumni volunteers played in soliciting fellow alumni for gifts since the beginning of the pandemic?

Published on August 25, 2020  

Poll: How aggressive was your institution at soliciting alumni for donations during the first several months of the pandemic?

Published on August 25, 2020  

Poll: Do your young alumni appeals include lower ask amounts than your appeals to other/older alumni?

Published on August 18, 2020  

Poll: How often do you segment your alumni appeals and communications by generation?

Published on August 18, 2020  

Poll: Are phonathon callers one of the highest-paid student jobs on your campus?

Published on August 11, 2020  

Poll: What do you expect your student caller staffing levels to be at the start of the upcoming fall semester, in comparison to last fall?

Published on August 11, 2020  

Poll: In your opinion, is your institution taking positive steps to address existing concerns of its underrepresented alumni and donors?

Published on August 5, 2020  

Poll: In your opinion, how prepared are your institution’s advancement staff to work with underrepresented alumni and donors?

Published on August 5, 2020  

Poll: Since the pandemic began, what has been your institution’s approach to parent fundraising appeals?

Published on July 28, 2020  

Poll: Since the pandemic began, how would you describe the tone of your interactions with parents?

Published on July 28, 2020  

Poll: How optimistic do you feel about the fall semester ahead as it relates to your alumni relations?

Published on July 23, 2020  

Poll: How well has your institution pivoted its alumni relations efforts over hte past few months?

Published on July 23, 2020  

Report: Frontline Fundraising in a Virtual Environment

Published on July 22, 2020  

Poll: Has your advancement program done a good job of accurately predicting its fundraising results in the past?

Published on July 21, 2020  

Poll: How do you anticipate your institution’s fundraising results will end up in the year ahead?

Published on July 21, 2020  

Poll: How have your program’s efforts to promote planned giving changed since the pandemic began?

Published on July 14, 2020  

Poll: Do your planned giving research efforts focus primarily on “older” prospects?

Published on July 14, 2020  

Poll: In your opinion, what is a better indicator of alumni affinity?

Published on June 23, 2020  

Poll: Has your program developed an alumni engagement score?

Published on June 23, 2020  

Poll: How much do you expect/predict your advancement budget will be cut next fiscal year?

Published on June 16, 2020  

Poll: How have your staffing levels been affected since the start of COVID-19 pandemic?

Published on June 16, 2020  

Poll: Do your student callers send individual text messages as part of their outreach to prospects?

Published on June 9, 2020  

Poll: How has your program adjusted its student calling efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Published on June 9, 2020  

Poll: Relative to domestic alumni, how much affinity do your international alumni have for your institution?

Published on June 9, 2020  

Poll: Has your institution increased or decreased its efforts to engage international alumni since the COVID-19 pandemic began?

Published on June 9, 2020  

Poll: Are annual fund gifts included in individual goals and performance metrics for all frontline gift officers at your institution?

Published on June 2, 2020  

Poll: How collaborative are the annual fund and major giving teams at your institution?

Published on June 2, 2020  

Poll: Is your team continuing with reunion gift appeals despite the COVID-19 pandemic?

Published on May 28, 2020  

Poll: How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your institution’s reunion plans?

Published on May 28, 2020  

Poll: How has the pandemic impacted budgets and staffing for your alumni engagement program?

Published on May 20, 2020  

Poll: Which of the following best describes your alumni event and activity strategy for the next few months?

Published on May 20, 2020  

Poll: How optimistic are alumni engagement professionals feeling about the rest of the year?

Published on May 20, 2020  

Poll: Has your institution postponed or cancelled a giving day as a result of COVID-19?

Published on May 19, 2020  

Poll: Has your advancement program increased its digital outreach since the COVID-19 pandemic began?

Published on May 19, 2020  

Poll: How much did your institution promote giving around the special #GivingTuesdayNow challenge on May 5, 2020?

Published on May 12, 2020  

Poll: Has your institution run any giving challenges in the past two months, related to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Published on May 12, 2020  

Poll: Have gift officers at your institution been encouraged to conduct virtual meetings with prospects and donors since the COVID-19 pandemic began?

Published on April 28, 2020  

Poll: Besides closing gifts, which of the following appears to be the highest priority for gift officers at your institution?

Published on April 28, 2020  

Poll: How customized are the ask amounts/arrays in your direct mail appeals to leadership donors?

Published on April 15, 2020  

Poll: How has your program adjusted its direct mail efforts amid the COVID-19 pandemic?

Published on April 15, 2020  

Poll: Do you anticipate that the messages and/or “tone” of your institution’s donor stewardship communications will change significantly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Published on April 7, 2020  

Poll: Does your institution do enough to communicate gift impact donors?

Published on April 7, 2020  

Poll: What’s the primary reason your program doesn’t do more surveys?

Published on March 31, 2020  

Poll: Has your advancement program conducted a survey of its donors in the past 6 months?

Published on March 31, 2020  

Poll: Which best describes your institution’s approach to appeals and gift conversations at this time?

Published on March 27, 2020  

Poll: Which best describes your institution’s approach to advancement events at this time?

Published on March 27, 2020  

Poll: Over the past year, has your institution increased or decreased the number of regional events it has put on?

Published on March 24, 2020  

Poll: What’s the highest priority for your regional alumni programs?

Published on March 24, 2020  

Poll: Do you wish you spent more or less time reviewing reports and discussing results with colleagues and supervisors?

Published on March 17, 2020  

Poll: How often do you review reports on the results of your programs?

Published on March 17, 2020  

Poll: How would you rate you/your team’s writing abilities when it comes to producing grant proposals?

Published on March 10, 2020  

Poll: Do you feel that you/your team has enough time and bandwidth to submit all grant proposals you would like each year?

Published on March 10, 2020  

Poll: Does your institution have a discounted gift requirement for young alumni to join your annual fund leadership giving society?

Published on February 25, 2020  

Poll: Does your institution put on events specifically to engage young alumni leadership donors?

Published on February 25, 2020  

Poll: Do you have access to sufficient reports for tracking employer matching gifts?

Published on February 11, 2020  

Poll: Does your advancement department have a staff person with “employer matching gifts” as a responsibility in their job description?

Published on February 11, 2020  

Poll: Are your email appeals well integrated with your institution’s other fundraising efforts?

Published on February 4, 2020  

Poll: Do you think the subject line is the most important part of an email appeal?

Published on February 4, 2020  

Poll: How comfortable are you asking for money?

Published on January 28, 2020  

Poll: Do you prepare a list of talking points prior to meeting with prospects and donors?

Published on January 28, 2020  

Poll: Have your giving day goals been clearly defined internally?

Published on January 21, 2020  

Poll: Do you feel that you have enough staff and budget available to run a successful giving day?

Published on January 21, 2020  

Poll: In your opinion, how collaborative is the relationship between your central advancement team and the various schools and units?

Published on January 9, 2020  

Poll: Who is most responsible for setting fundraising strategy for your organization?

Published on January 9, 2020  

Poll: Do you track the retention rate of your first-time donor population?

Published on December 17, 2019  

Poll: How much do you acknowledge/celebrate when a donor makes a gift for the first time ever?

Published on December 17, 2019  

Poll: Do your annual giving and alumni relations teams meet consistently?

Published on December 10, 2019  

Poll: How collaborative are your annual giving and alumni relations teams?

Published on December 10, 2019  

Poll: How effective are your institution’s events when it comes to cultivating donor relationships?

Published on December 5, 2019  

Poll: Does your institution have at least one staff person dedicated to advancement events?

Published on December 5, 2019  

Poll: Does your organization have staff focused on qualifying prospects through personal meetings?

Published on November 19, 2019  

Poll: How transparent is your organization’s system for assigning prospects to prospect managers?

Published on November 19, 2019  

Poll: How much does your institution engage first-year alumni through volunteer opportunities and events?

Published on November 12, 2019  

Poll: Does your organization conduct surveys of its first-year alumni to identify their interests and preferences?

Published on November 12, 2019  

Poll: How often do your institution’s alumni relations and student affairs teams interact?

Published on November 5, 2019  

Poll: Does your institution offer volunteer opportunities that allow alumni to interact directly with students?

Published on November 5, 2019  

Poll: How strong is the communication between your institution’s admissions and advancement teams?

Published on October 29, 2019  

Poll: Do you think your admissions and advancement teams have a clear sense of one another’s goals?

Published on October 29, 2019  

Poll: At your institution, are volunteers regularly involved in soliciting leadership gifts for milestone events?

Published on October 8, 2019  

Poll: How strongly does your institution encourage donors to make multi-year pledges?

Published on October 8, 2019  

Poll: Please rate the quality of your institution’s endowment reporting systems.

Published on October 1, 2019  

Poll: Is your institution effective at “humanizing” the impact of endowments?

Published on October 1, 2019  

Poll: In general, how much effort do you put into preparing for phone calls?

Published on September 24, 2019  

Poll: Do you often feel nervous or uncomfortable prior to calling on prospects or donors?

Published on September 24, 2019  

Poll: How would you rate the quality of your institution’s affinity-based programming for alumni?

Published on September 17, 2019  

Poll: Does your institution currently have roles for affinity-based volunteers?

Published on September 17, 2019  

Poll: How much do you customize messages in your reactivation appeals?

Published on September 10, 2019  

Poll: How collaborative is the gift proposal creation process within your advancement team?

Published on August 20, 2019  

Poll: Does your department have specific guidelines for creating gift proposals?

Published on August 20, 2019  

Poll: Are you doing enough to steward donors who are giving to special campaigns or challenges?

Published on August 13, 2019  

Poll: How segmented are your annual giving stewardship communications?

Published on August 13, 2019  

Poll: At your institution, which channel/program do you think would benefit the most from doing more testing?

Published on August 6, 2019  

Poll: Has your program done any testing of its appeals in the past six months?

Published on August 6, 2019  

Poll: Do you think increasing the number of current-use scholarship gifts at your institution would have a significant and positive impact on annual giving results?

Published on July 30, 2019  

Poll: How proactive are your institution’s gift officers at promoting current-use scholarships to prospective donors?

Published on July 30, 2019  

Poll: How good are your systems for tracking and measuring faculty and staff volunteer activity?

Published on July 23, 2019  

Poll: Do you have a structured training program for your faculty and staff volunteers?

Published on July 23, 2019  

Poll: Does your organization have a deliberate and coordinated strategy for making second asks?

Published on July 16, 2019  

Poll: How well does your organization steward donors who make more than one gift per year?

Published on July 16, 2019  

Poll: Does your team offer web-based training opportunities for parent volunteers?

Published on June 25, 2019  

Poll: How much does your team track parent volunteer activity?

Published on June 25, 2019  

Poll: How coordinated are your annual giving and campaign communications (in your current or most recent campaign)?

Published on June 18, 2019  

Poll: In your current or most recent campaign, does your institution have annual giving advocates as part of the campaign’s volunteer leadership effort?

Published on June 18, 2019  

Poll: How much input does your team have in goal setting?

Published on June 11, 2019  

Poll: Does your team create a comprehensive annual fund solicitation calendar for each fiscal year?

Published on June 11, 2019  

Poll: How confident are you that you have the information you need in your institution’s database to support a consecutive giving society?

Published on June 4, 2019  

Poll: Does your institution plan to launch a consecutive giving society in the next fiscal year?

Published on June 4, 2019  

Poll: How likely are you to use predictive modeling to inform your direct mail strategy in the upcoming fiscal year?

Published on May 30, 2019  

Poll: Does your program utilize predictive modeling?

Published on May 30, 2019  

Poll: Does your annual giving program do a good job of communicating the impact of unrestricted support to donors?

Published on May 21, 2019  

Poll: How well integrated are your unrestricted appeals with other, restricted appeals?

Published on May 21, 2019  

Poll: How many giving day promotional emails should a program send in the weeks/months leading up to a giving day?

Published on May 14, 2019  

Poll: In general, do you feel that you’re doing enough to integrate annual giving emails with other types of annual giving communications?

Published on May 14, 2019  

Poll: Does your team track and report on direct mail results following each campaign?

Published on May 9, 2019  

Poll: How segmented are the audiences for your annual fund appeals?

Published on May 9, 2019  

Poll: How strong are the partnerships between your annual giving team and other campus units outside of advancement?

Published on April 30, 2019  

Poll: Do you think your annual giving program is doing enough to engage student donors/leaders as volunteers and in programs/activities?

Published on April 30, 2019  

Poll: Does your institution offer advancement training to your alumni board members?

Published on April 23, 2019  

Poll: How involved in fundraising efforts are the alumni board members at your institution?

Published on April 23, 2019  

Poll: How do you think your diverse donors would rate your institution’s current diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts?

Published on April 9, 2019  

Poll: Does your institution have any giving circles for diverse donor groups?

Published on April 9, 2019  

Poll: Does your annual giving team maintain a central calendar of appeals/activities that other units can access?

Published on April 2, 2019  

Poll: How often does your annual giving team meet as a group with other advancement/campus units?

Published on April 2, 2019  

Poll: How integrated or coordinated is your direct appeal strategy/schedule?

Published on March 26, 2019  

Poll: Do you collect social media handles for your donors and store them in your database?

Published on March 26, 2019  

Poll: Does your annual giving team get any support from your institution’s prospect researchers?

Published on March 19, 2019  

Poll: How aggressive is your program at soliciting annual fund donors for increased gift amounts from one year to the next?

Published on March 19, 2019  

Poll: How often do your institution’s gift officers promote annual fund challenges as potential gift opportunities to their prospects?

Published on March 12, 2019  

Poll: Has your institution run a donor challenge in the past 12 months?

Published on March 12, 2019  

Poll: Has your annual fund team considered changing the levels of your gift club in the past 12 months?

Published on March 6, 2019  

Poll: How often do you ask for feedback from your annual fund gift club members?

Published on March 6, 2019  

Poll: Does your institution solicit first-year parents in their child’s first semester?

Published on February 26, 2019  

Poll: How much of a priority are first-year parents for your annual giving program?

Published on February 26, 2019  

Poll: Is your institution increasing the number of young alumni events you hold, compared to last year?

Published on February 19, 2019  

Poll: Approximately how many young alumni events did your institution produce last year?

Published on February 19, 2019  

Poll: How strict is your program about requiring callers to read/stick to a script?

Published on February 12, 2019  

Poll: How many “practice” calls does your program usually require before letting callers make “real” calls?

Published on February 12, 2019  

Poll: Is it clear how members of your team measure their success?

Published on February 5, 2019  

Poll: On average, how often do individual members of your team check in with their supervisor?

Published on February 5, 2019  

Poll: How much has your annual giving program expanded efforts to engage volunteers online in the past 6 months?

Published on January 29, 2019  

Poll: Has your annual giving program integrated gamification into at least one fundraising effort in the past six months?

Published on January 29, 2019  

Poll: Has your program ever used alumni engagement information to determine segments for appeals?

Published on January 22, 2019  

Poll: How clear is your department’s definition of “alumni engagement?”

Published on January 22, 2019  

Poll: On average, how would you describe the size of prospect portfolios at your institution?

Published on January 15, 2019  

Poll: In your opinion, does your institution have a clear and transparent system for assigning projects to gift officers?

Published on January 15, 2019  

Poll: How often do you point prospects and donors to your institution’s website for more information?

Published on December 18, 2018  

Poll: In your opinion, is your annual giving program stronger online or offline?

Published on December 18, 2018  

Poll: How would your rate your listening skills?

Published on December 11, 2018  

Poll: Have you ever practiced active listening?

Published on December 11, 2018  

Poll: How much has your phonathon’s fundraising productivity declined in the past three years?

Published on December 4, 2018  

Poll: Is your leadership encouraging you to downsize or eliminate your phonathon program?

Published on December 4, 2018  

Poll: Does your advancement team have someone who montiors the social media activity of your constituents?

Published on November 29, 2018  

Poll: How much testing of new strategies and ideas does your team do?

Published on November 29, 2018  

Poll: Does your institution communicate with students about the importance of philanthropy prior to their senior year?

Published on November 13, 2018  

Poll: How involved are student volunteers in your school’s graduating class gift campaign?

Published on November 13, 2018  

Poll: How well does your institution explain the impact of annual fund support in communications with young alumni?

Published on November 6, 2018  

Poll: Does your team use unique messaging and segmentation in appeals to young alumni?

Published on November 6, 2018  

Poll: Do you provide a formal written job description for your volunteers?

Published on October 30, 2018  

Poll: Does your team set clear and specific giving expectations for your volunteers?

Published on October 30, 2018  

Poll: In the past, do you think your institution’s appeals have done a good job of making a compelling case for support?

Published on October 23, 2018  

Poll: How personalized are the majority of your institution’s appeals?

Published on October 23, 2018  

Poll: Does your team require gift officers to share itineraries with all advancement staff prior to prospect meetings and trips?

Published on October 16, 2018  

Poll: In your opinion, how productive was your last out of town trip to visit with donors and prospects?

Published on October 16, 2018  

Poll: Does your team have a single page annual fund “dashboard” report that you share with your senior management on a regular basis?

Published on October 11, 2018  

Poll: Which of the following best describes the quantity of the reports used by your annual giving team?

Published on October 11, 2018  

Poll: Has your institution ever used any form of texting as part of its annual giving efforts?

Published on October 2, 2018  

Poll: Do you utilize database codes to flag individuals who have specifically requested that you not communicate with them via text?

Published on October 2, 2018  

Poll: Has your institution ever built a model to predict donor propensity for leadership annual gifts?

Published on September 25, 2018  

Poll: How important do you think predictive modeling is to identifying strong leadership annual giving prospects and allocating resources to support those efforts?

Published on September 25, 2018  

Poll: Does your annual fund apppeal schedule evolve and change throughout the year?

Published on September 18, 2018  

Poll: How personalized are your annual fund appeals currently?

Published on September 18, 2018  

Poll: How well-coordinated are your emails with other annual giving communications (e.g., print mail, phonathon)?

Published on September 13, 2018  

Poll: Does your office receive frequent complaints from constituents that you send too many fundraising emails?

Published on September 13, 2018  

Poll: How segmented are your annual fund gift acknowledgements?

Published on August 21, 2018  

Poll: Does your office have a documented plan for stewardship and donor relations?

Published on August 21, 2018  

Poll: How important is parent support to achieving your annual giving goals?

Published on August 18, 2018  

Poll: Does your institution have a parent council/committee that’s focused on fundraising?

Published on August 14, 2018  

Poll: Did your team have a documented plan for #GivingTuesday in 2017?

Published on August 7, 2018  

Poll: Which of the following best describes your institutions’s attitude towards #GivingTuesday?

Published on August 7, 2018  

Poll: In general, how much does your team rely on volunteers to support your annual giving efforts?

Published on July 24, 2018  

Poll: Does your annual giving program do an adequate job of providing useful tools and information to volunteers?

Published on July 24, 2018  

Poll: How well-coordinated is your phonathon strategy with other annual giving appeal efforts (e.g., direct mail, email)?

Published on July 17, 2018  

Poll: Are your phonathon callers required to use a specific script or do you offer them suggested talking points?

Published on July 17, 2018  

Poll: How complex is your segmentation strategy for soliciting patients?

Published on July 10, 2018  

Poll: Do you regularly include gift impact stories in your appeals?

Published on July 10, 2018  

Poll: How much have your annual giving program’s tactics changed in the past 3 years?

Published on June 26, 2018  

Poll: Does your institution have a loyal or consecutive donor society?

Published on June 26, 2018  

Poll: In your opinion, how strong is your team’s data on the individual interests of your prospects?

Published on June 19, 2018  

Poll: Has your annual giving team tried creating “personas” for donors?

Published on June 19, 2018  

Poll: Are your reunion gift appeals and reunion event communications well-coordinated?

Published on June 12, 2018  

Poll: How much does your institution use volunteers to support your reunion gift fundraising efforts?

Published on June 12, 2018  

Poll: Does your institution do an adequate job of articulating the importance of participation to alumni?

Published on June 5, 2018  

Poll: How segmented are your annual giving program’s direct appeal efforts?

Published on June 5, 2018  

Poll: Does your institution set both quantifiable and qualifiable performance goals for individual staff annually?

Published on May 22, 2018  

Poll: How good is your organization at holding individual staff accountable for achieving annual performance goals?

Published on May 22, 2018  

Poll: Does your institution have a formal committee or advisory board specifically for its annual fund?

Published on May 15, 2018  

Poll: Does your recurring gift program have its own distinct name or brand?

Published on May 8, 2018  

Poll: In your opinion, how positive is the experience you provide to recurring gift donors?

Published on May 5, 2018  

Poll: Does your institution have a reliable way to track and evaluate the productivity of annual fund volunteers?

Published on May 5, 2018  

Poll: What are your percentage revenue growth targets for your annual fund in the 2018 fiscal year?

Published on May 1, 2018  

Poll: Does your annual fund have a documented plan for the current fiscal year?

Published on May 1, 2018  

Poll: How willing are your advancement collleagues to help with annual giving efforts?

Published on April 24, 2018  

Poll: If you had the choice, would you add an additional staff member or additional budgetary funding to your annual giving program?

Published on April 24, 2018  

Report: 10 Drivers of Success in Annual Giving

Published on April 15, 2018  

Poll: Is there a private space available at your office for you to make fundraising calls?

Published on April 10, 2018  

Poll: In your current role, what percentage of your time do you estimate that you spend on the phone?

Published on April 10, 2018  

Poll: Which of the following channels do you rely on the most for acquiring new donors?

Published on April 3, 2018  

Poll: Has your institution run a special challenge in the past year with the specific purpose of acquiring new donors?

Published on April 3, 2018  

Poll: Does your annual giving program do a good job of engaging volunteers based on their interests and affinities?

Published on March 27, 2018  

Poll: Does your team know how many crowdfunding campaigns your institution will run over the next 6 months?

Published on March 20, 2018  

Poll: Does your advancement program have a dedicated budget for crowdfunding?

Published on March 20, 2018  

Poll: Approximately how often do your annual giving and major gift teams meet together?

Published on March 13, 2018  

Poll: How often do your major gift officers include the annual fund as part of the gift proposals for major donors?

Published on March 13, 2018  

Poll: Do your institution’s annual and planned giving teams communicate regularly about prospects?

Published on March 6, 2018  

Poll: How integrated are your annual and planned giving communications?

Published on March 6, 2018  

Poll: What’s the higher priority for your annual giving program – revenue or participation?

Published on February 27, 2018  

Poll: If you could increase your annual giving budget by ten percent, where would you allocate those funds?

Published on February 27, 2018  

Poll: How concerned is your institution that recent changes to tax laws will have a negative impact on your athletics fundraising efforts?

Published on February 13, 2018  

Poll: Which of the following are important elements of your institution’s athletics annual giving strategy?

Published on February 13, 2018  

Poll: Has your annual giving program tried digital ads or retargeting in the past?

Published on February 6, 2018  

Poll: In your opinion, how good is your annual giving progam at creating digital content?

Published on February 6, 2018  

Poll: In your opinion, how personal are your institution’s communications to first-time donors?

Published on January 30, 2018  

Poll: Do you know your program’s new donor retention rate?

Published on January 30, 2018  

Poll: Is a portion of your annual giving budget dedicated to student philanthropy programs and activities?

Published on January 23, 2018  

Poll: How closely does your team work with your institution’s office of student life/services?

Published on January 23, 2018  

Poll: Has your advancement department ever used “Net Promoter Scores” to evaluate its events?

Published on January 23, 2018  

Poll: Does your annual giving team have at least one person dedicated to data analytics?

Published on January 16, 2018  

Poll: How much time do you spend analyzing your data?

Published on January 16, 2018  

Poll: Does your annual giving program have enough resources (staff and budget) to effectively market a loyalty program?

Published on January 9, 2018  

Poll: Does your institution include special recognition for loyal or consistent donors in its annual report roster or donor roll?

Published on January 9, 2018  

Poll: Does your institution have a donor loyalty program?

Published on January 9, 2018  

Poll: Does your annual giving strategy make a clear distinction between “engaging” and “soliciting” donors?

Published on December 19, 2017  

Poll: How much time has your annual giving team spent thinking about the donor experience?

Published on December 19, 2017  

Poll: How much do you change your direct mail pieces from one year to the next?

Published on December 12, 2017  

Poll: Do you think your team is doing enough to integrate your direct mail appeals with other channels?

Published on December 12, 2017  

Poll: Is it clear how your annual fund’s leadership gift strategy measures or quantifies its success?

Published on December 9, 2017  

Poll: Do your annual giving & alumni relations teams meet consistently to discuss alumni communications plans?

Published on December 5, 2017  

Poll: How well-coordinated are volunteer efforts between your annual giving and alumni relations teams?

Published on December 5, 2017  

Poll: How agressive do you feel your institution is when it comes to soliciting graduating seniors for a class gift?

Published on November 30, 2017  

Poll: What percentage of your annual fund staff does some type of frontline work?

Published on November 11, 2017  

Poll: How difficult is it to get meetings with your institution’s donors and prospects?

Published on November 11, 2017  

Poll: Do you feel like most of your colleagues can make a strong case for annual fund support?

Published on November 11, 2017  

Poll: Has your institution conducted an audit of its stewardship efforts within the past 12-18 months?

Published on November 7, 2017  

Poll: Does your institution publish a list of donor names annually?

Published on November 7, 2017  

Poll: In general, how often does your annual giving program use video to support its efforts?

Published on October 24, 2017  

Poll: Which of the following groups do you consider to be key stakeholders in your giving day efforts?

Published on October 24, 2017  

Poll: Does your institution have a formal committee of volunteers to support the faculty/staff campaign efforts?

Published on October 17, 2017  

Poll: Does your institution run a faculty/staff campaign to support your institution along with a seperate employee appeal to support the United Way?

Published on October 17, 2017  

Poll: Which of the following social media channels does your institution use to post messages related to giving?

Published on October 12, 2017  

Poll: Is your annual giving program currently paying for any social media placements?

Published on October 12, 2017  

Poll: How much time did your allocate to planning in advance of your giving day?

Published on October 3, 2017  

Poll: Do you have volunteers specifically recruited to help with your giving day?

Published on October 3, 2017  

Poll: Which of the following best describes the longevity of your class agent program?

Published on September 26, 2017  

Poll: Do you feel your department is adequately staffed to support a productive class agent program?

Published on September 26, 2017  

Poll: Do you think your institution does a good job of preparing students to be engaged alumni?

Published on September 19, 2017  

Poll: How robust is the contact information for young alumni in your database?

Published on September 19, 2017  

Poll: Do you solicit alumni during their first year after graduation?

Published on September 19, 2017  

Poll: Do you have a gift society specifically for young alumni?

Published on September 19, 2017  

Poll: Has your institution held a giving day before?

Published on September 12, 2017  

Poll: What will be the primary goal of your next giving day?

Published on September 12, 2017  

Poll: Do you have money in this year’s budget specifically allocated to support a giving day?

Published on September 12, 2017  

Poll: How often are annual fund results reported to your chief financial officer?

Published on September 7, 2017  

Poll: In your opinion, how data-driven is your annual giving strategy?

Published on September 7, 2017  

Poll: Do you have a written job description for student volunteers?

Published on August 15, 2017  

Poll: Is your student giving program focused primarily on participation as opposed to dollars raised?

Published on August 15, 2017  

Poll: How would you describe your overall level of familiarity with predictive modeling?

Published on August 8, 2017  

Poll: What priority are you most interested in using analytics to advance?

Published on August 8, 2017  

Poll: Has your program produced a video to help with recruiting callers?

Published on July 25, 2017  

Poll: Does your program offer cash bonuses for callers?

Published on July 25, 2017  

Poll: Do you have monthly visit goals?

Published on July 18, 2017  

Poll: Do you send handwritten notes to prospects after a visit?

Published on July 18, 2017  

Poll: How much time do you think you spend on planning for your next annual fund year?

Published on July 11, 2017  

Poll: When do you set your mail segments?

Published on July 11, 2017  

Poll: How many solicitations from all channels do your non-donors receive in a year?

Published on July 11, 2017  

Poll: Have you ever used analytics to determine what drives users to your institution’s giving page?

Published on June 20, 2017  

Poll: Are your giving forms responsive for different device formats (phones, tablets)?

Published on June 20, 2017  

Poll: Who on your team sets alumni participation goals?

Published on June 13, 2017  

Poll: Do you include the senior class when reporting alumni participation rates?

Published on June 13, 2017  

Poll: Does your institution have a discounted leadership giving level for young alumni?

Published on June 6, 2017  

Poll: What is your typical first ask amount for young alumni?

Published on June 6, 2017  

Poll: Do you have a young alumni leadership council?

Published on June 6, 2017  

Poll: Are you currently using storytelling techniques in your fundraising?

Published on May 23, 2017  

Poll: Who is at the center of the stories in your annual fund messaging?

Published on May 23, 2017  

Poll: Has your annual giving program been through an audit in the past 5 years?

Published on May 16, 2017  

Poll: What do you think is the biggest challenge for your annual giving program currently?

Published on May 16, 2017  

Poll: Which segments do you think your institution is doing a great job recognizing?

Published on May 2, 2017  

Poll: How effective is your annual giving program in upgrading donors on a regular basis?

Published on April 25, 2017  

Poll: Is your annual giving program doing enough to upgrade donors through mass appeals?

Published on April 25, 2017  

Poll: How would you describe your annual giving team’s morale?

Published on April 13, 2017  

Poll: Would you say your department is collaborative?

Published on April 13, 2017  

Poll: How integrated are your annual fund communications?

Published on April 4, 2017  

Poll: Do you track the “channel migration” of your donors?

Published on April 4, 2017  

Poll: What percentage of volunteers on your reunion committees do most of the work?

Published on March 28, 2017  

Poll: Does your program do a good job of upgrading donors to higher gift levels as part of their reunion cycle?

Published on March 28, 2017  

Poll: How much time do you spend planning and revising your phonathon calendar and calling schedules?

Published on March 14, 2017  

Poll: How many different reports do you use to monitor the progress of your phonathon program?

Published on March 14, 2017  

Poll: Do you know what percentage of your donors last year were reactivated lapsed donors?

Published on March 7, 2017  

Poll: Does your program focus more of its time and resources on donor acquisition or reactivation?

Published on March 7, 2017  

Poll: What group at your institution is in charge of parent engagement?

Published on March 2, 2017  

Poll: Has your institution conducted benchmarking or donor surveys in the past year?

Published on February 14, 2017  

Poll: Does your annual giving program do a good job allocating resources to areas with high ROI?

Published on February 14, 2017  

Poll: Do you feel like annual giving is less of a priority than major gifts at your institution?

Published on February 14, 2017  

Poll: Has your institution had to face a significant challenge in the past year?

Published on February 7, 2017  

Poll: How would you describe the relationship between your alumni and your institution?

Published on February 7, 2017  

Poll: Are you optimistic about the future of your annual giving efforts?

Published on February 7, 2017  

Poll: Did your annual giving program do a donor challenge in the last fiscal year?

Published on January 24, 2017  

Poll: Is there an expectation from senior leadership for your annual giving program to regularly conduct challenges?

Published on January 24, 2017  

Poll: Do you believe you have the resources necessary to conduct a successful donor challenge in the current fiscal year?

Published on January 24, 2017  

Poll: Which area gets the largest share of your annual fund’s operating budget?

Published on January 17, 2017  

Poll: Do you think that you’re getting the most out of your phonathon program?

Published on January 17, 2017  

Poll: Is your institution’s annual fund spending significantly more money on digital programs than it was 5 years ago?

Published on January 17, 2017  

Poll: How often do you conduct appeal tests?

Published on January 10, 2017  

Poll: How often do you evaluate the results of your direct appeals?

Published on January 10, 2017