Alumni Interest Group at the University of North Carolina
Fraternal organization raises $16,700 as a retirement gift for beloved house mother
Alumni participation inspired by strategic communications and deep, meaningful relationships
House mothers are not as common as they used to be in the past. However, one fraternal organization at the University of North Carolina boasts of a wonderful lady by the name of Meg that has dedicated the last 30 years to the fraternity house. Members describe Meg as a woman with many hats: their “property manager, chef, house mom, and all-around heartbeat of the chapter at UNC.” After touching the lives of three decades of alumni, there were multiple members searching for ways to show their appreciation for someone they see as their second mother. Now that the time has come for Meg to retire, alumni asked for our help in spreading the word about a celebration to honor Meg and her service to their organization.
After a debriefing with fraternity leaders on what they had in mind to show their appreciation for Meg, we knew exactly how to help them. The goals included this: Raise a total of $10,000 as a retirement gift for Meg and plan a weekend that would honor her and everything she has done for the fraternity. Through our extensive experience in email campaigns, we were able to set up a string of communications to connect and inform members on plans for the weekend and links for donating. Our up-to-date database of alumni members helped maintain a 49% open rate on all emails, which led to 66 brothers sending gifts of money to Meg. We registered 28 members for a banquet in her honor and reached multiple more to be involved in other events during the weekend of festivities.
In two months, the organization was able to raise over $16,000 to gift Meg as well as plan a celebration weekend of events to honor her time and commitment to the fraternity and its members.
"Meg has had an incredible impact on so many lives over the years, and all of us that have passed through the house - as a Brother, a significant other, a parent, or just a friend of the chapter - are better for having met Meg.”
What We Did:
Received a 49% open rate on all email communications
Executed communications and registrations from start to finish in just two months
Facilitated registrations for a banquet in honor of Meg
Connected with 66 brothers that eventually donated over $15,000
Set up forms to collect photo and video tributes
Consistent collaboration with alumni leaders to coordinate communications and reports
Kept an up-to-date database of the membership in order to effectively connect with alumni
Wondering how you can show appreciation for your members?
We would love to help!
