Lately, I have been thinking about the similarities and differences between assessment, marketing, and development/fundraising. They might have somewhat different purposes, but there are a few things they have in common that should make us think about how we can better collaborate with each other. And, let me admit upfront that I have a lot of assessment experience, but not much formal education with marketing/communications and development/fundraising. I know, a little knowledge can be dangerous, but I don’t think I’m too far afield.
Audience. In all three areas, your audience is key. For assessment, that may include who you want to collect data from, but it can also be who you need to share information with at the end (for decision making, resource allocation, information, accountability, etc.). The audience could include students, parents, administrators, and more. When I think about marketing and communications in our division, departments, or programs, I think about students, staff, and even external stakeholders. Staff who work in development think about donors and potential donors as their primary audience.
Messaging. In assessment, the message is typically about what improvements you can make based on the data that has been collected, analyzed, and interpreted. It may be more internally based and look like a several-page report with words, numbers, tables, and charts. For marketing and communications, the message is typically about the good things going on—how a program or service has impacted students, an event that is happening soon, or information that external stakeholders should be aware of. It could be a short story, but could also be more graphical, such as an infographic that hits the highlights. The development staff may take that one step further to share the good stories, but with emphasis on how a potential donor could support programs and services that impact students. Testimonials are powerful messages to donors, as are assessment data showing need or excellence.
Process. In our department, we work with a client from the beginning to end, determining what they need to know, from whom, when, and how. We give them back a report for their use that provides results and recommendations to improve their programs. In Student Life Studies, we also post the reports on our website. That’s about where our involvement in action ends. Taking that one step further though, the organization could use that information to target specific groups (program participants, student leaders, staff, etc.) with specific information (satisfaction, learning, needs, etc.) in a variety of ways (website, email, brochure). Even further, the development staff could take that information when talking to potential donors (especially in person) as an evidence-based story that the donor can relate to. Not only is there a tug-at-the-heartstrings story, there could be additional data that enhances the story.
My point is: although there are different purposes in each area, there is overlap that we should pay attention to. Does the development staff talk to department staff about the questions potential donors are asking? How can we get the word out about our impactful programs and services? Are we gathering assessment data that can be used for improvement as well as communicating to people who might care about what we are doing in a way that is meaningful to them? We should be having these conversations on a regular basis, so we all know how best to meet our priorities. If you are interested in talking more about these topics, Student Life Studies would be happy to help.