Advancement Marketing & Communications

Client Challenge: Sweet Briar College aimed to launch a large fundraising campaign, encouraged by its large base of consistently loyal alumnae but knowing those alumnae were unaccustomed to making major, capital gifts. The situation called for a comprehensive study of what would motivate the majority of alumnae who give to the College to make larger commitments.

Our Approach: Art & Science Group had recently completed a student recruitment marketing study for Sweet Briar. The College then retained us in the early stages of campaign planning with the express intent of understanding the views of their alumnae about the distinctive college experience at Sweet Briar and, in particular, its relevance today. We were able to compare their views with those of prospective students on women’s education, career prospects, and interests.

Segmented into five groups based on giving history, the alumnae study yielded surprising, indeed counter-intuitive findings both for particular segments and the alumnae population as a whole. By comparing the student and alumnae studies, we were able to make recommendations about how the campaign should be named and how the case was made. We significantly shifted the emphasis away from building projects per se to focus on gifts that, taken together, would create the essential conditions for a successful liberal arts education for women in the 21st century.

What We Accomplished Together: With one year remaining in the fundraising campaign, Sweet Briar again retained Art & Science to benchmark the initial study and to determine how to take the campaign to a successful conclusion. Sweet Briar raised an unprecedented amount in the last year of the campaign, exceeded its $110 million goal, and recommitted itself as an institution to its distinctive niche as a provider of single-sex education.