 Welcome to the nonprofit show. We are glad you're here joining us if you haven't checked the calendar today's a Wednesday. So you might be listening to this any other day and we're so glad that you're here. Julia Patrick and I are here with LaShonda Williams and you might know her from Fundraising Academy which she's still a part of. But we wanted to bring LaShonda on to talk to us about the other role that she plays in our community. So she serves as the associate director alumni engagement as well as annual giving at South Texas College of Law Houston. So LaShonda brings a variety of experience from her career to us. So we're really glad to have you here to talk to us specifically about transitioning affinity into philanthropy. So LaShonda we are thrilled you're here. Julia and I are so glad to have you on deck Julia Patrick is here American nonprofit academy where she serves as the CEO and I'm Jarrett Ransom Julia's personal nonprofit nerd but I can be yours too. Also the CEO of the Raven group. And again, we are so very honored to have the ongoing support, the trust, the investment from our loyal presenting sponsor. So a huge shout out of gratitude to our friends at Bloomerang American nonprofit academy your part-time controller, nonprofit thought leader fundraising academy at national university staffing boutique, nonprofit nerd and nonprofit tech talk. I always like to say that their mission is your mission because they are literally here to support all 1.8 million nonprofits registered in the US. So check them out. They're great people. We have really enjoyed getting to know them every single month a representative from each of these companies joins us here in conversation. So I definitely check out these companies because they have some good resources. They have also helped us produce over 800 episodes in fact over 830 episodes. So you can find us. Yes, take out your smartphone scan this QR right here and now where you can download the app and in just a couple of hours after our conversation that we're going to have with Lashonda it will be live and you'll receive the notification. So we're also on broadcast platforms as well as podcast platforms. So no excuse. You can consume us anywhere you consume any other entertainment. I love it, I love it. So there's a lot to talk about and we have those recordings. And as we dive deep with you my friend Lashonda Williams, MPA CFRE and again she serves as the associate director alumni engagement and annual giving at South Texas College of Law Houston. Welcome. Thank you both so much for having me this wonderful wins, yay. Love it. I love it. You know, a hundred of anything is a lot. It is. And to think that your organization is celebrating their 100th year when I was getting ready to look at this conversation with you the South Texas College of Law is the oldest law school in Texas. It is and we recently celebrated our centennial we had Founders Day in April and it was phenomenal and reflective of a century of phenomenal service that supports our Houston community. That's amazing. What an achievement. You know, I think some of our viewers that are coming to us maybe from the east even the Midwest where you know there are older communities. A hundred is like, okay, whatever. But you know, in the West we don't have institutions that, you know as many as they do in older parts of the country that have reached a hundred years. And so this is a really big thing to celebrate. And I'm thrilled that you're able to be there and be a part of that historic piece. But more importantly, I'm really thrilled to have you here to talk about the nexus between alumni institutions where there is an alumni factor and then how that moves into philanthropy. So first off, talk to us and maybe explain what you do to foster student engagement, you know with your alumni and building this trajectory of a relationship. You know, fostering student engagement is the platform or the foundation to create a substantial, sustainable, productive alumni donor base. And I tell everyone that the student experience plays a major role in how the individuals transition into becoming an alumni experiences as a result of their engagement with their professors, with their engagement with their peers and then with their internship experiences all of those things play a major role. But most importantly, when you think about the philanthropic space and you think about alumni engagement and annual giving specifically it is really critical for us to maintain communication with students during their tenure at the school. So one of the things I found to be most effective in prior roles as well as the current role is making sure that we have a connection with those student organizations as well as those individual students. So there are two different variables when you're thinking about that. There is engagement from a philanthropic standpoint and one of the things that I've done with successful cultivation is created a student giving day at a prior institution where we had a senior gift challenge so to speak which was a way to make that very first gift and become an official donor prior to graduation. But before we even get there we want students to be aware of the philanthropic space and the importance of philanthropy and its role that it plays in their educational experience. So specifically with those individuals who are scholarship recipients these are, it's very important to make them cognitively aware that the money didn't just magically appear out of the sky that someone has invested in you via an endowment or a current use scholarship or even any type of government funding. And so with that it's an opportunity for the development division or your advancement division to foster stewardship because stewardship is very important by connecting those scholarship recipients with their donors because that makes it real. It creates a meaningful experience. It's a wonderful way for students to demonstrate their gratitude directly with the donor. It is a stewardship piece. And most importantly it's a cultivation piece as they prepare to transition to become alumni about the importance of giving back because they'll be connected with someone who has invested in that next generation. Wow. Love that. It makes so much sense. Thank you. And I'm going to witness to everyone. When I was in, in particular my undergrad and even my master's to be honest, I did not think about like becoming a donor of the institution. That was never on my radar, honestly. And so I love what you share here LaShonda about like really building that into the entire culture of engagement and then also like the stewardship piece. As soon as you said, you know, like much didn't fall out of the sky although I know a lot of people think that it does. It does, of course, yeah. And so I love that you bring this into in particular the scholarship. That to me is just so brilliant. Yeah. And it works very effectively and it just really creates a phenomenal experience not only for the student but for the donor but then it also transitions into more because once the student has had the opportunity to meet with the donor, they forge their own relationships. And before you know it, they have a mentor and the mentor is a lifelong mentor because the individual has played such a vital role in their educational experience. And not only that, that person is in some instances, they become family members because of that connection. And so being able to be a part of that connection and a conduit to that wonderful relationship that manifests long-term that obviously will transition into another generation contributing in a different kind of way. It really is a wonderful experience because you can learn so much from donors, like why they give their educational experience, who were some of their favorite professors, what are some study tips? When you're getting ready to start that first job, what were some of the concerns or what are some of the things that I need to be cognitive of in interviewing skills and just simply referrals for opportunities. So that helps create a wonderful experience for the student and it's a cultivation piece that the advancement team or philanthropic arm of the institution can help foster. So, I'm sorry, go ahead. Oh, I was gonna say, so higher education, I mean, it's more or less kind of like a short-term plan. So talk to us then about the long-term benefits of the short-term plan, right? Specifically connecting alumni when they leave the institution. What does that look like? Like how can you continue to foster this student engagement once they've graduated? So it's really important that you start that relationship while they're students because you want them to be very cognitive and familiar with the division, but most importantly by securing that information, their next step for a permanent address, working in concert with your registrar's office, with career services where they'll have to be registered because they wanna make sure that they receive that degree because they wanna make sure they hear about career opportunities. And also creating an opportunity, like I mentioned earlier, for them to make that first gift. And I love to be the person that delivers the first piece of alumni swag and making your first gift in recognition of those gifts and providing that updated information. You receive your complimentary first piece of alumni swag, that's worked very, very well. But most importantly, having the opportunity and the space to ask students and soon to be graduates, what is most important to them? And so one of the things that I've also found to be very effective is implementing surveys. And we work in concert with either career services and or with the registrar's office and ask students, what are some of the things that they're looking for with the alumni affairs or alumni relations division upon graduation? What are some of their top priorities? When it comes to career placement and career support, what are some things that they'd like to know about? What are some topics that they'd like to hear about so we can help pair up alumni who may have those levels of expertise in sponsor sessions where the students can come back to the campus or in the virtual space and receive that additional professional development. We've done a variety of different things ranging from, identifying alumni to not only mentor, but also instances where alumni are seeking employment opportunities at their organizations and connecting those students. And most importantly, you want the students to understand that the Office of Alumni Relations, Alumni Affairs, Alumni Engagement, whichever name that you use, but that's the resource for them upon graduation and keeping them informed as well with some of the things that are going on at the institution post-graduation. So newsletters are very important because it helps them maintain a heightened level of connection. But most importantly, if your organization has the resources, creating reunion programs where the class years can stay connected. And so in my previous employment, I've worked with reunion class years and that's proven to be very effective with keeping individuals together. And then in addition to that, identifying and understanding what affinity groups the students were engaged in in their undergraduate or post-graduate experience and keeping them immersed in that type of environment with information and updates with those affinities. So just really curtailing the information to specify that, okay, I know Jared was a Marcom Theater major. So if there's something that's Marcom Theater, we've got an email for those individuals so that they will be engaged with the institution post-graduation. Go ahead, Julia. We have so many questions. I know, so many questions. So one of the questions I have is how many of your students, the alums, do they stay not only in Houston but maybe in your state? Because it seems to me with law school, a lot of times you're in for that period of time and then you head to a completely different environment. So it's not top of mind. You're not driving past the campus. So what does that look like for you and in your world, LaShonda? So fortunately, South Texas College of Law, Houston, the majority of our students remain in the, our graduates remain in the state of Texas. So this is our highest saturation. We have a, also we have a significant constituency in the Tampa, Florida area, but the majority of our alumni reside in the Houston greater metropolitan area and then also Dallas, which is roughly about 250 miles away. So we have a significant saturation that stay here in the city and they work in a variety of spaces in the public sector advocacy. And so they're able to really make significant impact and change in the environment in which they were able to study in. Interesting. That's amazing. Great. So my question is, and this is really, you know, my experience through going through school, I wasn't re-engaged as an alumni until, gosh, years later, right? So how might you recapture alumni that has left and maybe, you know, wasn't involved in philanthropy? How to recapture their interest? So it's a combination of approach. So one, there is, you know, obviously sending out the emails and the mailers, but most importantly, it's the referrals. It's the word of mouth, just like we're thinking about the philanthropic space and we're seeking to secure additional donors with engagement, it is all about relationships. And so having your champions or influencers who are actively engaged and encouraging them and bringing them into the space and asking them to be ambassadors for helping increase engagement and, you know, begin to reignite that passion that may have dwindled because you've been removed for a while, has proven to be very effective, especially with those affinity groups. Now in instances where individuals may not have been a part of an affinity group, there are a variety of different ways to reach out to individuals. And that is, you know, when you have those notifications about your alumni who are receiving acknowledgments or accolades or awards, you know, having that on your radar, and then I can reach out to Jared and say, oh, congratulations, I hear that you're approaching your 1,000th show of the nonprofit show. We're very excited. And most importantly, when we're engaging them, have meaningful engagement to the point where you're wanting to also transition that engagement into sharing their story and having the conversation with Jared about what was your undergraduate or graduate experience like at the law school? You know, what were some of the pluses? What were some of the misses? But most importantly, how are you using your law degree? Whether you are in the legal space or if you may have chosen to not be in the legal space, however, that law degree is playing a major role with you securing the position and also has an advantage in the role that you're currently working in in terms of being able to provide some extra value to that organization. Let's talk about that a little bit further because law school is grueling. I mean, and you think about the trajectory, I mean, from kindergarten, you've gone for the most part straight through, you know, this arc that is really arduous. How do you kind of loop back in or recommit to folks when they are just flat out exhausted and ready to put law school in the rear view mirror? Like, how do you keep coming back to that magical point, especially if they didn't have a magical, you know, period of time during your education? So I love to think of things on the very high level of the glass is always half full. And with that concept, there always has to be at least one shining star in that experience. And I hone in on that star for dear life. I do. You brought it and you're not letting it go. I'm not letting it go. And so this, it really makes me think about like, just recently we had commencement, which was absolutely phenomenal. And being able to be a part of commencement, simple things, you know, making those connections with the students there in real time as they're preparing to go out in the processional, you know, and I'm the calm voice that they get to hear before they leave out and, you know, take a moment, breathe, enjoy this moment, providing that affirmation. But most importantly, taking the time to say simply hello. Because, you know, sometimes we're in such a rush. And so when I see the students throughout, you know, the day I'm always talking to students. But again, as your question, which is once they've gone away and they're not so much as engaged, it is thinking about what was happening during that particular year. That is something that is really significant. Who was that significant professor? What was that unique historical moment? Because law school is very different from undergraduate because you're very laser focused on a particular content area. And then you're also thinking about what area of practice, you know, are you going to be on law review? Are you going to be with advocacy? You know, all of the different things. And there are tons of affinity groups. And so with our law school, because it's a private law school and it's very tight-nitched, I would say that one of the major things that helps keep our students connected to the institution is the fact that because it's a private institution and it's a smaller institution, it's an extended family. And you know, you can say family in all size institutions, but when you're a 1L or 2L and you're moving through the trajectory with 30 people that are in your cohort and all of your classes, there are going to be some people who may not be as engaged. But again, I mentioned referrals. That's where the friend referral comes in handy to re-engage you because nine times out of 10, we're in a position where we have a significant number of our alumni who want to be engaged. And if they don't simply have the time to be engaged, then we identify ways that we can meet them where they are. And that means something as simple as providing some webinars. We had a group that recently launched a new program that proved to be very effective and well, you know, attorneys need to have these VLEs. And so we worked it out and we were able to create some virtual VLEs, which is an opportunity for our alumni to be connected to the institution. That's brilliant, brilliant to do that. Is that a unique thing? It is a unique thing for us specifically. One of the affinity groups that I'm working with was really adamant and very excited about creating this new opportunity to re-engage alumni. And it has proven, as I mentioned to you, proved to be pretty effective in terms of regaining the connection with some of our students, our alumni now. And most importantly, within that particular community, it allowed us the opportunity to get updated information because there were some individuals that had not been connected. And then we can re-engage them in meaningful ways. And, you know, we're able to discover some of the phenomenal things that they've done post-graduation that we may not have known had that opportunity not been made available. Sure, yeah. Yeah. You know, again, I reflect on my personal trajectory and, you know, there is so, so long in my career and I moved thousands of miles away from my undergrad, right? So I certainly, Julia, did not drive by campus, right? Right. Well, that's why I was thinking about that, Julia. Yeah, it's really hard. And so like I would have had more time to give, you know, like earlier in my career. And so I just love to hear all of these opportunities because just as you and I talked about LaShonda in the green room chatter, like you were, you know, criminal justice majors and here you are working at a law school. I was a mass comm major. Here I am, you know, essentially in a broadcast. And so how this full circle comes around and I would say now I'm really primed as a potential prospect and donor for my alma mater because I don't have the time, I have more of the financial resources later in my career, right? And so looking at that and then looking at how it has played a role in the trajectory of my career. So. Absolutely. And you're right, you know, at different stages, post graduation as an alum, you go through different phases. The first phase is that phase when you're starting your career, you may have a little more time but you don't have as many resources. And those more recent groups, the five year reunion group is the perfect example. Those are the individuals that you wanna keep the momentum, keep the excitement and connect them with recent students with those one L students sharing their experiences, creating that mentorship opportunity for them because they may not have the financial resources but in some instances, they may be able to have time. There's instances, you know, with law, with attorneys, they have billable hour requirements if you're a junior associate. And so there are also instances where they may not necessarily have the time but they may have resources. They may be able to provide insight about career opportunities for internships for some of our upcoming students and be a referral because referrals are the best way to be able to create momentum within any engagement piece. And then as you mentioned, there's the instance where, you know, once you become a little more settled, you're starting your family, you may not have as much time, you may not have as many resources but we still wanna keep you engaged. And so with that, we're asking our alumni, especially with this centennial year to try to commit to at least one of the many offerings that we have available and we continue to provide you with that information. And once the information that you receive, you have a chance to look it over and identify what works best for you in your schedule. And I often share, it's really important when you're talking about alumni engagement that you offer a variety of types of engagements that will appeal to the variety of your particular constituency. We have a plethora of events planned over the rest of the years. We're celebrating the centennial year. We had the wonderful kickoff. We're preparing for an alumni awards luncheon. We'll have a gala and then we'll have our family and friends alumni picnic and see all of these things are different opportunities with different constituencies. You may not be able to bring your children out to our documentary premiere. However, you can bring them to the family and friends picnic. Bring your hope. And so we offer a variety of things to make sure that our alumni feel appreciated and we also create a space for them to congregate but most importantly, we want to educate them as well because we know the importance of the value of time, talent and treasure. In all roads, we want to eventually transition that affinity, that love, that fondness, that wonderful experiential learning to transition that into a philanthropic support, whatever that may mean. And that's why annual giving is so important because it's not focused on a specific dollar amount. However, it's focused on the engagement and that is the opportunity to give, creating that opportunity to give at what a level that is comfortable to you and that also can be impactful to others when all of those resources are pulled together. So I love what you shared this concept and pulling this across. Let's in the little amount of time we have left talk about expanding that affinity group. I loved what you said about the difference between attending a gala and a picnic and family and friends. Talk about this because we were sharing in the green room for both my daughter's private high school and private college, her father and I, and we still are, you know, are solicited to make gifts for those two institutions. So talk to us about how you all look at this and pull, expand that donor base if you will. So affinity groups are really a driving force for philanthropic support in many ways because it has a heightened sense of engagement. And so we're launching a variety of different affinity groups based on areas of practice as well as areas of interest. And with that in mind, one of the things that sometimes is often overlooked and people will be surprised about Julia, believe it or not is that families are also prime participants in opportunities to support the institution. And some people will say, well, why would you ask family and friends? Well, because they too are having a wonderful experience and they are beneficiaries of that said experience of the student. And they also will have an affinity for the institution because they're supporting their loved ones. There are a variety of different ways. With my prior employer, we actually had a family program where we had the Panther parent program where we literally solicited the parents of the undergraduate students and asked them to make an annual fund gift. And we also had a giving society associated with it in which they received recognition. When you're thinking about the professional setting and employers, employers are also potential donors from a variety of standpoints. One corporate gifts because a significant contingency of your alumni may work at that particular law firm. There are instances to secure matching gifts from various organizations. And I can recall working specifically with an alumni who worked at an organization and she was really committed to the institution and we pulled together an employee giving program. And with the employee giving program, we were able to transition that into an opportunity for the organization to make a substantial contribution as a result of 100% participation of the alumni that worked at that said organization, which was phenomenal because it was impactful beyond measure. So there are a variety of ways to incorporate the family, the friends, employees because all opportunities create greater opportunities for the next generation. You are so passionate about this and I love it. I really love it. And I've really enjoyed hearing and learning the intersection, right? Like knowing you from fundraising Academy, phenomenal fundraiser, seeing you as your associate director role now here with South Texas College of Wall Houston, LaShonda Williams, you have been, again, another phenomenal guest. Congratulations on 100 years. I know you haven't been there for the entirety. I don't think anyone has, but no one has. But we are very excited about this continue year and we have a lot more in store for our alumni as a transition affinity into the philanthropic support. I love it. This has been great. I mean, I agree, Jarrett, it's really fun to see, and we know LaShonda through Fundraising Academy and all of the wisdom and passion she shares, but to see this other side of her with her job there in Houston, really cool. And so thank you so much, LaShonda. Check out stcl.edu, really an interesting program. And again, the oldest law school in Texas, which is saying something. Again, celebrating their 100th year, the centennial is a major, major thing. And so thank you, LaShonda, for coming on and sharing all of your wisdom. Again, I'm Julia Patrick, been joined by Jarrett Ransom today and always as my co-host and nonprofit nerd. We also wanna thank our amazing presenting sponsors. They include Bloomerang, American Nonprofit Academy, Your Part-Time Controller, Nonprofit Thought Leader, Fundraising Academy at National University, Staffing Boutique, Nonprofit Nerd, and Nonprofit Tech Talk. These are the folks that make our days possible. You know, don't they, Jarrett, in so many ways. Yeah, absolutely. And having the guest like you, LaShonda, again, just so very grateful. So I'm so glad that all of you could join us today. Again, either live or in the recording. And there's plenty of places. Hopefully you downloaded that app because you'll get the notification in just a couple of hours that it's been uploaded because you're gonna wanna re-hear, re-hear, re-listen to everything that LaShonda shared. I mean, there's so many nuggets of wisdom that I'm gonna send it to my alma mater, that's for sure. Yeah, it's was really powerful. Sounds like a winner. Subtle, subtle. Yeah, really powerful, really, really powerful. Well, ladies, as we end every episode of The Nonprofit Show, we wanna remind ourselves and our viewers and our listeners to stay well, so you can do well. We'll see you back here tomorrow, everyone.