Best practices for aligning university brands with fundraising campaigns

Abstract

For a higher education institutional brand to most effectively position the institution and drive missionand business-critical results, it must effectively convey distinctive institutional attributes to three important audiences: students, alumni and donors. Institutions that are able to foster alignment of the brand and positioning among these three audiences are more likely to see investments in brand development result in improvements in market positioning and revenue generation. Two case studies demonstrate best practices. University of Toronto adopted its CAN $2bn ‘Boundless’ campaign as its brand across academic and administrative units. Georgia State’s US$300m ‘Burning Bright’ campaign leverages its main brand attribute — student success.