As part of a massive overhaul of the way it raises money, the LSU Foundation this fall will roll out the first phase of a revamped annual giving campaign.
The new program will include a more targeted and strategic email, telephone and direct mail appeal to nearly 200,000 university alumni, whose giving potential has never been fully realized by the university, according to LSU Foundation President and CEO Stephen Moret.
In 2015, the three-year average alumni giving participation rate for LSU was lower than at any other university in the Southeastern Conference.
“With our new annual fund strategies being kicked off this fall, we expect to move from last in the SEC in alumni giving participation to at least the top half of the SEC within three years,” says Moret, who took over at the Foundation 15 months ago and has been working on the new strategies ever since.
As part of the new initiative, the foundation has hired several new development officers to work specifically in the area of annual giving. It is also developing a new call center that will be operational in October, and is working on updating its alumni database.
Stepping up the LSU annual appeal is one component of Moret’s overall strategy to greatly increase the amount of money the LSU Foundation raises for the university. It’s also part of the “quiet phase” of an upcoming capital campaign that Moret expects will be the largest capital campaign of any kind in Louisiana history.
Though plans for the campaign are still in the works, it will likely kick off in 2018 and have a goal of at least $1.2 billion. Annual fund contributions, as well as large gifts, received during the quiet and public phases of the capital campaign will count toward the overall goal, Moret says.
Some of the tools and approaches used during the annual giving campaign will be novel. Others will be straightforward, simple tactics that many other universities have been doing for years but LSU never has. Moret says it will be easier for alumni to contribute to their alma mater and he believes response will be positive.
“I expect that our alumni will exhibit their love and appreciation for LSU with their philanthropy when we provide a variety of straightforward ways for them to contribute—and when we point out how much of a difference annual giving has on the quality of an LSU education, the reputation of the institution, and LSU’s national rankings,” he says. “Everyone associated with LSU can play a meaningful role in the advancement of the institution.”
—Stephanie Riegel
