{"id":113,"date":"2026-01-29T11:04:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T16:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/colindarling\/?p=113"},"modified":"2026-01-29T11:04:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T16:04:52","slug":"alumni-giving-empowerment-design-thinking-action-plan-take-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/colindarling\/2026\/01\/29\/alumni-giving-empowerment-design-thinking-action-plan-take-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Giving Empowerment: Design Thinking Action Plan (TAKE 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before diving into our third face-to-face session tomorrow at SMLS, I thought it might be important to re-center myself in my how might we question while amending my previous post. So here goes:<\/em><\/p>\n

Design Thinking Challenge:<\/b> How might we help alumni discover ways to give back that align with their financial capacity while helping them see how their contributions directly support the transformative experiences that shaped their HTS education? Excellent, yes! Still want to run with this as my question.<\/em><\/p>\n

Your Vision<\/b><\/h2>\n

Create a personalized, historically-grounded giving experience<\/b> that:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Honors alumni’s past experiences and contributions to HTS<\/li>\n
  • Provides transparency through personalized updates and class-based crowdfunding dashboards<\/li>\n
  • Empowers alumni as giving ambassadors within their peer networks<\/li>\n
  • Scales as technology (Almabase\/Graduway) becomes available<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Some of this is years away, but yes! As encouraged by other Cohort peers, I will give my how might we question a big runway to evolve and develop with the needs of our community and my capacity to deliver this program.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Phase 1: Foundation (December 2025 – January 2026)<\/b><\/h2>\n

    Experiment A: Pilot Case for Support<\/em> Story<\/b><\/h3>\n

    Goal:<\/b> Build the complete narrative for ONE case for support<\/em> (e.g., Debate Program, Arts Initiative, etc.)<\/p>\n

    Deliverables:<\/b><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Historical timeline: Where this program came from, key milestones, why it’s important<\/li>\n
    • Giving menu: Multiple entry points, but also complete cost and endowment models<\/li>\n
    • Impact promise ex: “Your $500 gift will [specific outcome]”<\/li>\n
    • Personalization template: How you’ll communicate back to donors about their specific impact<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Success Metric:<\/b> One fully-developed giving category ready to launch<\/p>\n

      Have changed this to fit better with internal team goals and current projects!<\/em><\/p>\n

      Experiment B: Identify Giving Ambassadors<\/b><\/h3>\n

      Goal:<\/b> Identify 3-5 alumni influencers who are passionate about this category and willing to champion it<\/p>\n

      Approach:<\/b><\/p>\n

        \n
      • Look for alumni who: participated in\/benefited from this program, have given before, are active in alumni networks<\/li>\n
      • Reach out personally: “We’re re-imagining how alumni give back. Would you help us tell this story?”<\/li>\n
      • Invite them to a brief call to share their experience and get their input on the giving strategy<\/li>\n
      • Position them as “founding ambassadors” for this initiative<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Success Metric:<\/b> 3-5 committed ambassadors who understand the vision<\/p>\n

        Absolutely! These people have been identified.<\/em><\/p>\n

        Phase 2: Pilot Launch (February 2026) – TBD<\/em><\/b><\/h2>\n

        Experiment C: Ambassador-Led Peer Outreach<\/b><\/h3>\n

        Goal:<\/b> Test whether peer influence + compelling narrative drives giving<\/p>\n

        Approach:<\/b><\/p>\n

          \n
        • Provide ambassadors with: the giving story, talking points, personalized email templates<\/li>\n
        • Ambassadors reach out to 3-5 peers in their class\/network with the story<\/li>\n
        • Track: How many people they reach, conversion rate, average gift size<\/li>\n
        • Gather feedback: What resonated? What questions came up?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Success Metric:<\/b> 10%+ of contacted alumni engage; at least 3-5 gifts received<\/p>\n

          Experiment D: Personalized Impact Communication<\/b><\/h3>\n

          Goal:<\/b> Test your personalized update model<\/p>\n

          Approach:<\/b><\/p>\n

            \n
          • For each gift received, create a personalized thank-you that includes: how their gift will be used, connection to HTS history, invitation to see impact (campus visit, video update in 3 months)<\/li>\n
          • Send first impact update at 3-month mark showing real outcomes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            Success Metric:<\/b> Donors feel seen and connected; they’re willing to give again<\/p>\n

            Phase 3: Refine & Scale (March – April 2026) – TBD<\/em><\/b><\/h2>\n
              \n
            • Analyze what worked: Which ambassadors were most effective? Which giving amounts resonated? What stories moved people?<\/li>\n
            • Refine the narrative and process based on feedback<\/li>\n
            • Plan Phase 2: Expand to second giving category OR expand ambassador network<\/li>\n
            • Prepare for dashboard integration when technology arrives<\/li>\n
            • Document lessons learned for your exit ticket\/blog post<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              Key Principles Throughout<\/b><\/h2>\n
                \n
              • Yes, and approach:<\/b> Build on what alumni already care about; don’t replace it<\/li>\n
              • Transparency first:<\/b> Always show where money goes and who benefits<\/li>\n
              • Legacy honored:<\/b> Every ask acknowledges the past while inviting future impact<\/li>\n
              • Multiple entry points:<\/b> Different giving levels for different capacities<\/li>\n
              • Peer power:<\/b> Ambassadors are your most credible messengers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                Quick Wins to Start This Week<\/b><\/h2>\n
                  \n
                1. Choose your pilot giving category<\/li>\n
                2. Gather historical materials (photos, stories, alumni testimonials from that program)<\/li>\n
                3. Identify your first 3 potential ambassadors<\/li>\n
                4. Draft one personalized thank-you email template<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  The quick wins are done – next is about building this sustainably and slowly.<\/em><\/p>\n

                  You’ve got this!<\/b> \ud83d\ude80<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  Before diving into our third face-to-face session tomorrow at SMLS, I thought it might be important to re-center myself in my how might we question while amending my previous post. So here goes: Design Thinking Challenge: How might we help alumni discover ways to give back that align with their financial capacity while helping them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":512,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/colindarling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/colindarling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/colindarling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/colindarling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/512"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/colindarling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/colindarling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/colindarling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113\/revisions\/114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/colindarling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/colindarling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/colindarling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}