Our University Advancement and External Relations team have been hard at work ensuring we have the tools in place to succeed and to ultimately achieve our FIU’s $750 million capital campaign goal. That’s why we are proud to announce that these groups were recently recognized at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District III Awards for 3 major projects that will help propel FIU forward to its next horizon. Competition in CASE District III is fierce, so it is an honor to be recognized for all of the great work our FIU teams produce. Even more importantly, these awards are validation that our staff’s daily accomplishments are directly moving our campaign and our university forward. We won:
The CASE International Platinum Award Best Practices in Advancement Services for “Transforming Data Analytics into Cash”
This project involved our Advancement Services Technology Department implementing tools that enable data visualization, analytics and business intelligence. As a result, we can better target specific segments of our constituent base to focus on bringing in major gifts. Using dashboards, our senior leadership and fundraising professionals can also analyze giving rates and levels, and track the success rate of their teams. The newly implemented tools also allow the visualization of potential and existing donors using maps, allowing for more strategic travel and budget plans. Senior leadership can now view live data in real-time, and shift fundraising efforts accordingly to benefit our capital and current operating expenditures. This award will advance to CASE’s national competition.
The CASE Special Merit for a Website or Microsite for
“From advancement.fiu.edu to the More User-friendly, Streamlined give.fiu.edu”
Our website needed a new look, feel, flow and user experience to better support our fundraising efforts. Analytics for our old site showed flat traffic, and that essentially it had become an intranet. After launching the redesigned https://give.fiu.edu/, in the first six months alone we had a 568% increase in new visitors to the site, a 1,037% increase in returning visitors, a 26% increase in site visit duration, a 531% increase in page views, and a 5% decrease in page bounces. The site is much easier to navigate now, more visually appealing and is positioned as the main communication hub for our capital campaign. It also now combines the previously two separate websites of advancement.fiu.edu and foundation.fiu.edu into one central hub.
The Grand Prize for “Best Practices in Communications and Marketing“
Our External Relations team also won several awards in media relations, writing for the web, and print and digital publications.