Ten years ago, the authors of  The Cluetrain Manifesto wrote, “Markets are conversations,” predicting how the Internet would turn the business world upside down. From profit companies to nonprofit entities, people crave authenticity, and on the Internet, they are looking for credible, genuine information to affect their decisions. Web sites such as WebMD, Amazon and Epinions provide consumers unfiltered access to the “conversations” that surround products and services.

CAISAP is committed to encouraging the sharing of ideas between our members and their independent schools. In each eQuarterly we will highlight a topic or insight from a colleague. This is a great way for you to share what's going on at your school, or to find out what others are doing at their school. If you have a Bright Idea for the next newsletter, email info@caisap.ca .

This issue’s Bright Idea comes from Charles Collier, Senior Philanthropic Advisor at Harvard University and CAISAP Conference 2009 keynote speaker.

With major gift prospects, we make personal contact and individual treatment a priority to ensure we nurture our relationship with them.

However, individual meetings with our prospects to discuss projects and the school’s mission could be intimidating and stressful for them.

Consultation dinners are a valuable way to introduce our school’s mission and the role that prospects can play to advance them. Consider selecting ten couples that have similar capacities and experiences with your school and invite them to meet the head, campaign chair and advancement professional for dinner. The event is a great opportunity to educate your prospects, learn how they feel about the project and demonstrate that others in the community are committed to the institution.

Thank you Charles, for sharing your Bright Idea!

The 2011 CAISAP National Conference will be held from January 27 - 30, 2011. The conference will be hosted by Appleby College. Keep watch to coming eQuarterlys for further details!

Enter Angie Foster, who was hired as the Manager, Common Ties mentoring program in 2005. Before joining UCC, Angie worked as an Employment Standards Officer and an Economist for the Province of New Brunswick, and as a Manager at a non-profit in Montreal, responsible for marketing, communications and a community-based mentoring program. Since joining UCC, she has expanded the program to include networking events, career workshops, student to Old Boy University mentoring and a soon to be launched job posting service.  Over 1,100 members of the UCC community have been involved with Common Ties in some capacity with 780 Old Boys or parents who have engaged in mentoring program itself.

Common Ties has a directory component that is a Net Directories service.  Mentors and Mentees complete online profiles, which in turn allow mentees to search the directory based on industry, profession, location, education etc. to find mentors of interest.  An advisory committee was set up of Old Boys and parents to help develop and implement the program with Angie acting as the staff manager.

If an advancement office needs engagement tools, then the Common Ties program is a tool that the UCC advancement office cannot do without.  No other program builds relationships between alumni and alumni, parents and alumni and students with alumni with UCC being the common shared experience.  The program has created a wonderful pool of potential volunteers that who may not otherwise be connected with UCC.   It is the centre piece of the all important and yet elusive young alumni program.  The advancement office engages Old Boys while they are still students by connecting them with Old Boys at University to help with their transition to university.  Angie provides workshops to all grade 12 students to help them prepare for university interviews so they are aware of Common Ties before they graduate.  The numbers speak for themselves with 78% of mentors (average age is 41 years) having made a financial contribution towards UCC and 45% of mentees (average age is 27 years).  Angie is aware of one Old Boy, who after attending a Common Ties networking event, was so touched by seeing so many Old Boys come together under the umbrella of Common Ties that he made a major gift towards a scholarship. 

Angie and her colleagues at UCC have really set the platinum standard for programs of this kind across North America.  Angie is a member of the CAISAP Executive as the Treasurer and is very forthcoming and helpful in sharing her expertise in what will most likely be a growth area in independent school advancement operations.  She can be contacted at afoster@ucc.on.ca .