In her role as Director of Alumni Relations & Annual Giving, Stephanie Carroll wanted to bring the gap between alumni relations and career services, using these bridges: 1. Common Thought from Alumni: “We want to help the students” 2. Looking for a mentorship program that wouldn’t require a lot of staff time 3. Increase Alumni Affinity and Engagement 4. A desire to not have our alumni on multiple platforms

1. Leveraging Wisr
Beyond Mentorship
Stephanie Carroll
Director of Alumni Relations & Annual Giving
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit

2. • Founded in 1887
• Located in Cedarville, OH
• 3,963 students
• 85% residential campus
• Largest Programs
• Business Administration
• Engineering and Computer Science
• Nursing
Cedarville University is a Christ-centered learning community equipping
students for lifelong leadership and service through an education marked by
excellence and grounded in biblical truth
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit

3. • 28,000 Alumni
• 5 Full-Time Staff Members
• Alumni located in all 50 states and
internationally
• Majority of Alumni Career Fields are
in Education, Nursing, or Ministry
• Under the Advancement Division
• Career Services Located under
Student Life Division
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit
Alumni Relations & Annual Giving Office

4. Bridging our Career Services
vs. Alumni Relations Gap
1. Common Thought from Alumni:
“We want to help the students”
2. Looking for a mentorship
program that wouldn’t require a
lot of staff time
3. Increase Alumni Affinity and
Engagement
4. A desire to not have our alumni
on multiple platforms
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit

5. Pilot Program
• One of the first 5 pilot
programs
• Always Changing and
Always Improving
• Ability to speak in to the
program based on our
needs as a faith-based
institution
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit

6. Launching of Wisr
• First Priority was branding
that fit our institution
• JacketConnect
• Coming up with our test
group
• Donors or High Affinity
Alumni
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit

7. Launch to Alumni
• Building“Hype”
• Business Cards, Event Slides,
Targeted E-mails
• Personal Requests through
Gift Officer Outreach
• Approx. 500 alumni pre-
registered
• 2 Month Process
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit

8. Launch to Students
• Spring Career Fair
• 150 Students Registered
• Emails with Incentives
• Fall Career Fair
• 30 Students Registered
• Class Presentations
• Wisr student survey
• 100 Students Registered
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit

9. Current Use of Wisr
• Conversations with Students to Alumni
• Constant Work in Progress
• Students using this to acclimate after graduation
• Gaining advice on transition from student to
alumni
• Prospect Research to find up to date information
on our constituents
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit

10. The œUnseen” Benefits of Wisr
• The Data
• 100 New Email Addresses
• 600 New Alumni Volunteers
• 25 Alumni moved from
Inactive to Active
• New Segment of Alumni
• A Reason to Reach Out
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit

11. The Future of Wisr at
Cedarville University
• Improvements in Marketing
• Student Testimonials
• Increase in emails to students
• Increase Conversations between students and advisors
• Create additional incentives through career services
• Mandatory requirement in introductory classes
• Alumni Communities
• Giving Alumni a way to use the platform in additional ways
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit