International House Marketing & Fundraising Campaign
IUPUI is a large urban research university, an unusual shared campus between Indiana University and Purdue University in downtown Indianapolis. Between 2012 and 2017, IUPUI increased its international student enrollment by 44% and its study abroad participation by 52% and set additional goals for increasing internationalization on campus.
​
The International House—known simply on campus as I-House—is a multinational living-learning community open to international and U.S. students interested in cross-cultural understanding.
Fundraising email for the 30 for 30 Challenge, featuring stories and quotes from distinguished alumni panelists.
​
Tools used: Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Illustrator, Canva
Feature article written for the IU Newsroom profiling two Global Scholars at I-House as well as program highlights.​
​
Tools used: DSLR photography, audio recording for interviewing
Campus flyer written and designed to promote the international I-House panel coinciding with IUPUI's anniversary celebration.​
​
Tools used: Adobe InDesign
Challenge
The international office at IUPUI sought to increase the visibility of one of its oldest programs, the International House, to 1) Promote the house for its intercultural programming and residence among the campus community; and 2) Obtain long-term funding for two student scholarships per year.
​
Though more than 20 years old, I-House wasn’t well known on campus in comparison to the larger, newer dorms. In addition, the alumni network for I-House was fragmented, with students belonging to separate alumni associations, and no coherent stream of communications.
Research & Planning
I worked with the IUPUI’s Office of International Affairs and the I-House director to identify opportunities to showcase I-House’s impressive alumni and current students. We quickly identified the department’s 30th Anniversary, IUPUI’s 50th Anniversary, and the university-wide IU Day as three timely events that we could tie into.
I worked with the IU Foundation and the Purdue Alumni Association to develop an up-to-date list of not just I-House alumni, but all international alumni.
Execution
I led a team that planned and promoted an alumni panel to coincide with its annual international festival and obtained a grant to fly three I-House alumnae back to campus, all three successful female entrepreneurs from three continents.
Starting three months before the event, I wrote and designed an email drip campaign encouraging alumni to return to campus for the event, but also to submit their stories and memories to an online form that we had created. Simultaneously, I interviewed student leaders currently residing at I-House and profiled them in a story on the IU Newsroom and a new video on social media to highlight the residence.
During the event, the office launched the “30 for 30 Challenge,” encouraging 30 supporters to give at least $30 for programming and scholarships in honor of its 30th anniversary. The campaign targeted first-time donors and ran for six weeks, culminating at IU Day, a global celebration of all things IU.
​
​
Outcomes
The panel was a major success, attracting 150 attendees from both on and off-campus. I retained and managed a video vendor for the event, allowing us to republish the best clips after the fact. The crowdfunding campaign raised $785, many from first-time donors, and my social media promotion earned us partial matching dollars from the IU Foundation. As a result of the communications efforts, the international office was able to partially fund its scholarship for the following year and had re-established a link with many of its disengaged global alumni.
Tools used:
-
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
-
Adobe Creative Suite
-
Canva
-
Photography
-
Audio Recording
-
Microsoft Office
​