Email resources
Content strategy
We encourage the use social media and your web page to reduce the burden of telling your story through email exclusively.
- University Advancement emails will announce a save-the-date, create momentum with two teaser emails before Giving Day, start and end of the day with encouragement to give and finally, provide a recap.
- College and program emails should aim to motivate. Share giving stories and prioritize connection and stewardship. College and program emails will be sent on April 5, 6, 8, and/or 12 as well as throughout Giving Day.
We are asking colleges and programs to submit their content to University Advancement by Friday, March 15. Submitted content should reflect the unique communication strategy of the college or program.
Communications timeline
Marketing for Giving Day is short, bold, and intense. This two-week sprint generates urgency and sparks momentum. When communication begins, we hope to see a mix of WMU and peer-driven messaging.
Each of the following communication phases will include a marketing mix of website updates, emails, social media, video, and news posts.
Segment definitions
University Advancement messaging hierarchy:
- VIP*
- Giving Day donors (Past 3 years)
- All other donors and non-donors
VIP* ($5K gift in the past 3 years or $50K lifetime, + others as assigned
Other segments:
- International (international residents)
- Donor Drive recruits (past DD, volunteers, past GD donors??)
- Campus partner segments (To be determined by the partner)
College and unit email schedule
University Advancement will do its best to accommodate preferred send dates as submitted as part of the content submission form. Once the schedule has been created, colleges and programs will be contacted.
Email liaisons
Please utilize the Content Collection form for all email content submissions. All emails will be created and sent by University Advancement in Salesforce Marketing Cloud. For questions regarding Giving Day communications please reach out to Melissa Beck (melissa.s.beck@wmich.edu).
Share content + segmentation plans by March 15
Fill out the Content Collection form to share your Giving Day audience criteria and details about the segmentation you’re planning so that we can begin pulling your lists. Form submissions are due by March 15. Be prepared to review and approve all your emails no later than March 29.
Preparing email assets and requests
Email banners will be created for every college and unit in Marketing Cloud. Please contact University Advancement directly if you need to update your banner. Attach your photographs for your email messages to the email request form*
*Photos are not required for Giving Day emails
Giving Day links
Colleges and programs should submit the desired link for each email on the email request form. Emails being sent before Giving Day on April 5, 6, 8, or 12 should not include giving links.
Email scheduling – mid March
We will review all submitted emails to identify send-time overlaps in mid-March and be in communication with colleges and programs if needed to coordinate sends.
The overall goals:
– spread out emails to avoid a bottleneck in Marketing Cloud
– schedule hourly challenge emails appropriately
Questions about emails? Contact:
- Melissa Beck (melissa.s.beck@wmich.edu) or Rosie Geib (rosemary.c.orchanian@wmich.edu)