Volume 11 (2026-27)

This paper presents a comprehensive case study of the Mitch Daniels School of Business at Purdue University and its implementation of progressive profiling to advance graduate enrolment marketing. Facing rising expectations for personalised communication and heightened competition, the Daniels School adopted a phased, student-centred approach to data collection and engagement. Through cross-functional collaboration and strategic integration with the customer relationship management platform and marketing automation systems, the initiative delivered measurable improvements in engagement, data quality and operational efficiency. This paper synthesises institutional experience with the current literature, details practical challenges and distills lessons learned, providing a replicable framework for higher education marketing professionals seeking to enhance personalisation and trust in student recruitment. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: progressive profiling; data-driven marketing; student experience; graduate enrolment marketing; prospect engagement

Higher education advancement teams are increasingly expected to make strategic decisions using real-time, reliable data, even as many institutions undergo large-scale customer relationship management conversions. This paper examines how Carnegie Mellon University addressed this challenge through a collaborative project that paired annual giving strategy with advancement information services analytics during a multi-year migration from Advance to Salesforce. Rather than replicating legacy reports, the teams designed a sustainable reporting framework using Snowflake as a centralised data warehouse and Tableau as the primary visualisation layer, embedded directly within Salesforce. Three core dashboards were developed to replace operational reports and enable deeper insight into donor behaviour. These tools support year-to-date analysis, donor movement across giving bands, and data for improving financial reporting, while maintaining consistency with institutional business rules. Outcomes included significant reductions in manual reporting time, improved transparency, and greater confidence in data-forward decision making across the division. This paper demonstrates how intentional collaboration, paired with modern data architecture and a structured technology adoption strategy, can strengthen data culture and position annual giving programmes for long-term scalability during systemic change. This paper is also included in The Business & Management Collection, which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: data; storytelling; visualisation; CRM conversion; collaboration

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how educational institutions interact with donors, alumni and stakeholders. While early applications focused on automating routine tasks, the emergence of generative AI (GenAI) and large language models (LLMs) has introduced a new paradigm: AI as a strategic thought partner. This paper explores how GenAI can enhance leadership, creativity and decision making within university advancement, drawing on personal experience during a large-scale university merger and the applied use of multiple LLMs — including Microsoft Copilot, Claude and ChatGPT — as strategic tools. It presents principles of effective prompt design and use of ‘personas’ that enable advancement professionals to collaborate productively with AI and proposes a values-led advancement AI governance framework to support ethical and responsible use. The discussion highlights both opportunities and risks — emphasising the importance of human review, data privacy and the need for advancement-specific guidelines. The paper concludes that GenAI, when implemented with clear guardrails and institutional integrity, has the potential to elevate advancement from an operational function to a strategic, mission-aligned partner in shaping the future of higher education. This paper is also included in The Business & Management Collection, which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: generative AI; university advancement; philanthropy; leadership; higher education marketing; governance; AI ethics frameworks

In the evolving landscape of higher education, advancement professionals face increasing pressure to demonstrate impact, foster collaboration and drive philanthropic growth, which is particularly challenging within large, decentralised academic units. This paper presents a case study of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia, which created and implemented a liaison-based development model to address these challenges. Through faculty engagement and cross-functional alignment, supported by a process of strategic sub-branding, the college achieved a 100 per cent increase in fundraising dollars and a sixfold lift in major gifts within one fiscal year. This paper outlines the two years following the appointment of both a new Dean and Sr. Director of Development and Alumni Relations. It addresses the model’s design, implementation and measurable outcomes, and offers actionable insights for advancement leaders seeking scalable and collaborative solutions in complex institutional environments. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: transformational organisational change; philanthropic giving; fundraising; marketing and branding; arts and sciences

Fundraising often requires a complex and flexible infrastructure. Compliance and policies must be executed in a uniform manner. Two crucial tools can help to bridge the gap between agility and compliance: a coordinated gift policy framework and effective reporting. This paper provides a framework through which the highest risks in an institution’s gift cycle can be identified, analysed, addressed and then reported. Through Eugene Bardach’s eightfold path for policy analysis, a solution for a given gift issue can be developed and documented. From there, best practices are provided for disseminating and implementing the solution throughout an institution of any size. Effectiveness of a given solution must be measured and made clear to decision makers. This paper then provides a case study that examines the reporting of impact to identify patterns and successes within a complex and large institution. This paper is also included in The Business & Management Collection, which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: gift policy; gift guidelines; gift administration; fundraising reporting; impact metrics

This paper examines how alumni programmes can design and implement dynamic digital engagement strategies that strengthen connection, participation and long-term institutional affinity across geographically dispersed communities. Focusing on Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy Development and Alumni Relations department, it explores how a diversified engagement model combining social media, targeted communications and initiative-led programming can enhance alumni interaction and visibility. The paper highlights the importance of authentic, alumni-generated content, platform-specific strategies and data-informed decision-making in building meaningful engagement beyond surface-level metrics. It presents two case studies, ‘#DogDaysOfSummer’ and ‘Sanford Serves’, demonstrating how creative, low-barrier initiatives and purpose-driven campaigns can significantly increase participation, foster peer-to-peer interaction and reinforce institutional identity. The analysis shows that engagement is strengthened when programmes align content with shared values, such as community, service and storytelling, while maintaining simplicity and accessibility. Findings indicate that successful digital engagement depends not only on reach but on creating opportunities for alumni to contribute, interact and see themselves reflected in the institutional narrative. The paper concludes by offering practical guidance for practitioners, emphasising the role of intentional design, audience segmentation and mission alignment in developing scalable digital engagement strategies that build enduring relationships and support sustained alumni involvement. The Sanford School of Public Policy offers undergraduate, masters, and doctoral degrees in public policy – it’s alumni base is around 10,000. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: alumni relations; digital engagement; engagement; social media; communications; community development; service-learning

A university’s website is one of its most visible and essential assets, yet redesigning it requires more than just technical expertise and the best tools — it demands institutional buy-in, clear and consistent communication, and a collaborative approach that builds trust. When the marketing and communications team at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock began planning for its massive redesign — a project that included reviewing and updating all more than 180 sites and communicating with more than 300 site owners — they knew that for a project of this scale to be successful, it would require continuous communication and numerous opportunities for stakeholders to be engaged and provide input. Communicating with editors and stakeholders along the way was essential in order to avoid creating resistance and frustration. The team developed a multi-tiered communications plan that focused on the campus stakeholders’ needs and building relationships with them. From campus e-mails and department meetings to focus groups and personalised messages, the marketing and communications team spent two years communicating about the redesign prior to the new site’s launch in February 2025. This intentional work resulted in a smooth and successful launch with zero pushback, praise from the Chancellor, and with faculty and staff feeling respected and appreciated. By executing an intentional, multi-tiered, strategic communications plan, a university can have a successful website launch where the team is positioned as the authority and expert and where faculty, staff and leadership feel supported and included. This paper is also included in The Business & Management Collection, which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: website redesign; internal communication; strategic communication plan; stakeholders; relationship building

Advancement leaders have long relied on staffing ratios as an indication of organisational health, yet benchmarks often fail to account for institutional mission, programme maturity or return-on-investment (ROI) expectations. This paper reframes ratios not as fixed formulas but as dynamic levers that shape how effectively advancement teams deliver on philanthropic and engagement ambitions. Drawing on published benchmarks alongside sector case studies and institutional analyses like Cambridge University Advancement’s Size and Shape project, the paper examines how fundraisers, alumni relations, communications and advancement services staff are balanced in practice. It argues that the smartest teams resist copy-and-paste approaches and instead calibrate ratios to their context, recognising that strong alumni staffing underpins pipeline growth, robust services infrastructure drives fundraiser productivity and communications capacity sustains engagement at scale. The paper highlights both the promise and the limits of benchmarking: while ratios illuminate broad patterns, they can obscure structural differences such as decentralised models or collegiate systems. To address this, the paper advocates coupling external benchmarks with internal experimentation, using pilots and hypothesis testing to determine where additional investment yields measurable returns. Ultimately, staffing ratios should be understood not as sector averages to emulate but as strategic choices that determine resilience, efficiency and long-term fundraising success. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: advancement staffing ratios; fundraising; return on investment; ROI; advancement benchmarking; organisational design

This paper presents a five-year case study (2020–5) of Simon Fraser University (SFU), a globally under-resourced alumni relations office into a data-informed, strategically aligned unit capable of articulating and demonstrating measurable return on investment (ROI). The study traces the incremental implementation of data governance protocols, centralised customer relationship management (CRM) usage, performance dashboards and tools designed to quantify alumni engagement in monetary terms. Notably, the case reveals that sophisticated analytics are not a prerequisite for compelling ROI narratives. Instead, low-barrier tools — such as spreadsheet-based dashboards and simplified data models — can be highly effective in constrained environments. By embedding quantitative language into daily practice and aligning activities with institutional priorities (including brand awareness, student recruitment and philanthropy), the SFU team enhanced both internal accountability and external credibility. Key interventions included (1) gaining deep understanding and streamlining of existing workflows, (2) consolidating engagement data within a single CRM, and (3) developing minimalist yet actionable dashboards that linked alumni activity to strategic outcomes. These dashboards served as valuable tools for internal advocacy, enabling the team to secure increased operating funds and translate data into the economic value of alumni contributions. Modest programmatic adjustments — when consistently tracked — contributed to more compelling impact narratives and strengthened resource mobilisation. This paper offers a replicable framework for ‘managing up’ within higher education institutions and contributes to a growing body of practice-based knowledge on data-informed engagement strategy. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: metrics; tracking; strategy; influence; data

Universities operate in an environment of heightened scrutiny, constant change and amplified voices. The question for leaders is not whether crises will occur, they will, and any given moment, a Vice-Chancellor’s inbox might contain a letter from a minister seeking assurance, a breaking news story about a staff member’s social-media activity, a student petition on international affairs, or a donor requesting reassurance about the use of their gift. And all this unfolds within a shifting policy landscape, where behaviours once expected — or even mandated — can swiftly become contested, and at times condemned. These are the daily complexities of leading institutions expected to be, simultaneously, neutral and principled, cautious and bold. The challenge for leaders is not simply how to respond in the moment, but how to ensure that a short-term crisis does not derail long-term reputation building. How a university behaves under pressure reveals its values and shapes how it will be remembered long after the headlines have moved on; and these are not competing priorities, they are intertwined. This paper explores that tension and how to manage it. Drawing on examples from universities globally, it considers how institutions can balance the urgent with the important, the immediate with the enduring. It argues that short-term crisis response and long-term reputation building must be integrated rather than treated as discrete or competing priorities and how to do that. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: university reputation; reputation management; crisis management; strategic communications; institutional trust; higher-education leadership

This paper examines Vanderbilt University’s multi‑year advancement growth initiative, which transformed a historically under‑resourced Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) operation into a data‑driven, strategically aligned and sustainably scaled fundraising enterprise. Following the University’s 2016 organisational restructuring, DAR faced limited frontline fundraising capacity, insufficient operational support and a lack of insight into its full philanthropic potential. Leveraging a modernised CRM system and enhanced analytics developed with the Office of Data and Strategic Analysis, DAR quantified a substantial prospect coverage gap and modelled the staffing and investment required to close it. This analysis formed the basis of a successful business case that secured a four‑year institutional investment to expand DAR by 88 full‑time roles. The paper outlines how data‑informed scenario modelling, coupled with clearly articulated organisational values and leadership principles, enabled rapid scaling while maintaining cultural coherence. It further examines DAR’s intentional strategies around talent recruitment, professional development, performance management and flexible work practices. The results—record‑breaking fundraising years, improved ROI, strengthened staff retention and enhanced cross‑campus alignment—demonstrate how targeted investment, cultural clarity and performance discipline can catalyse transformational growth in higher‑education advancement operations. The Vanderbilt case offers a replicable model for institutions seeking to pair analytical rigour with purpose‑driven organisational development. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: fundraising growth; prospect coverage; development officer capacity; operational support; organisational culture; performance management; higher education advancement; return on investment

In an era of heightened scrutiny and rapid information dissemination, higher education institutions face increasing pressure to respond swiftly to crises while safeguarding their long-term reputational capital. This paper explores the strategic integration of crisis communications within reputation management frameworks, offering insights into how universities can navigate immediate challenges without compromising their enduring brand values. Drawing on the experience of the University of Glasgow, alongside communications theory, it proposes an approach for resilient and values-driven crisis response that supports long-term reputation enhancement. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: crisis communications; reputation management; higher education; strategic communications; stakeholder engagement; institutional trust

In today’s data-driven environment, senior leaders in higher education demand greater accountability and strategic alignment from marketing departments. Babson College has implemented a highly effective system for annual marketing impact reporting, designed to clearly demonstrate the role of marketing in supporting institutional goals, enrollment and brand reputation. This paper outlines the value of reporting on the efforts of marketing teams, what a strong reporting infrastructure includes, and how Babson College has developed a scalable, data-informed model that educates leadership, aligns teams and informs decision making and future investments. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: marketing return on investment; ROI; strategic communications; higher education; data-driven culture; impact reporting; enrollment marketing; institutional alignment

This paper explores the factors affecting the current perceptions of the value of a degree among traditional undergraduate students in the UK. Against a backdrop of financial pressures, government scrutiny and shifting societal expectations, the paper explores whether universities are sufficiently transparent about the experiences they offer and the outcomes they promise. Issues addressed include the impact of rising costs and student debt, the increasing need for students to work alongside studying, and the influence of parents and teachers in the university decision-making process. The paper highlights the challenges universities face in adapting to rapid changes in the market, maintaining relevance and managing student expectations to prevent buyer’s remorse. Alongside sector examples, the paper poses questions for practitioners to consider in the context of their own institution and circumstances. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: marketing; branding; campaigns; strategy; reputation; authenticity; strategy; communications