Who Will Answer Your Call? Prioritizing Outreach to Secure Visits with Visit Likelihood Scores

With over 330K alumni and a whole lot of friends, the University of Central Florida (UCF) Advancement team struggled with prioritizing a large prospect pool. UCF is a young university with over 100K of the living alumni population under the age of 32. Searching for a better way to focus on prospects who would answer our call AND schedule a visit with a development officer, UCF partnered with BWF to develop a Visit Likelihood Rating using only our own internal prospect data. Join us to hear how UCF development officers were able to move from securing 1 visit in every 20 outreach attempts, to securing 1 visit in 3 attempts with this score and learn key implementation steps for your organization.

Presenter Bios

Emma L. Hinke is a Director of Data Science with BWF specializing in analytics and implementation. She provides prospect development consulting, data science and analytics training, and counsel in performance metrics, campaign projections and portfolio optimization.  Prior to joining BWF, Emma was the lead data scientist in prospect development for Johns Hopkins University, where she worked with development leadership and fundraising units to create analytical solutions that add strategic value to fundraising operations. Emma is a recognized leader in prospect development and analytics, and highly regarded as a thought leader through her service to the APRA community as a past program chair, speaker, and president of the Maryland chapter. She received her bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Kate Verret is the Assistant Director of Prospect Development with UCF Advancement. In this role, she is focused on prospect identification and analytics and is responsible for producing prospect lists, travel lists, and market analyses as well as managing all screenings for wealth or external philanthropy. Prior to joining UCF Advancement in 2017, Kate was the Membership & Development Officer for Laguna Art Museum in Southern California. Kate has 8 years of experience in the nonprofit sector and has worked in public television, arts, and higher education organizations in a variety of development roles. Kate holds a BA in Art History from the University of Florida with minors in Business Administration and French. She is currently pursuing her MBA with UCF.

Chris Hixon is the Assistant Director of Leadership Annual Giving with UCF Advancement. In this role, he specializes in the strategic identification of donor prospects and provides them with meaningful touchpoints to the university. These touchpoints function to foster affinity and lead donors to make UCF a philanthropic priority and create increased sustained giving patterns. Prior to joining UCF Advancement, Chris was the Manager of Youth Marketing at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, where he worked with over 100 university partners to facilitate Dance Marathon, one of the largest peer-to-peer fundraising initiatives in the United States. These funds went on to benefit each university’s local children’s hospital, thus providing local impact through national programming. Chris is a proud alumnus of the University of Central Florida, receiving his bachelor’s degree in political science and his master’s degree in rhetoric and composition. He values the work of UCF Advancement as he has witnessed the impact on students and faculty firsthand through the generous efforts of alumni, students and friends.