Case Study: University of Chicago doubles pledge rate and amount pledged from international alumni with Ruffalo Noel Levitz

University of Chicago - Customer Case Study

The University of Chicago faced the challenge of engaging a large population of alumni living abroad—including 10% of Booth School of Business graduates—where international mail was unreliable and time zones made outreach difficult. To address this, the university partnered with Ruffalo Noel Levitz to deploy a customized phone outreach campaign (via Ruffalo Noel Levitz’s Buffalo Consulting UK call center) supported by targeted mail and email communications.

Ruffalo Noel Levitz’s multichannel program produced strong measurable results: a 38% pledge rate (vs. 20% goal), $77,763 pledged (vs. $30,000 goal, beating the goal by ~160%), an average gift per contact of $129 (vs. $60 goal), and 605 alumni contacted (29% vs. 25% goal) from 8,591 dialing attempts and 2,057 mailed pieces. The UK-based callers and coordinated email/mail preparation helped secure many gifts from lapsed or first-time donors and materially expanded the school’s international fundraising success.

University of Chicago

Adam Niermann

Director of Leadership Giving and Annual Fund