[22748] in APO-L
Re: [APO-L] Extension efforts
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (John Grossi)
Mon Jul 8 21:54:45 2002
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 01:54:39 +0000
Reply-To: jgrossi@ATTBI.COM
From: John Grossi <jgrossi@ATTBI.COM>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
Essentially the question posed is how do we go out and
cold call for a chapter?
Who can we cold call?
We can cold call the school, we can cold call a feeder
organization, and we can directly target the students.
Realistically we know the certain schools are nearly
impossible for APO to ever get a foot hold in. Such as
Harvard or Vanier where organizations of our type are
not allowed to exist. That mayhaps eliminates 10-15% of
the schools. (speak with Randy for more detailed numbers)
Okay so we've culled down to 85% of target campuses...
if your trying through feeder organizations you have to
realize 75% of your audience has no interest in your
message. Then of that 25% reamining half won't have the
ability to do anything with your message. Of that 12ish
percent, half won't be the right person, and then half
or more will be someone you would rather not have found...
then let's cycle over to the student body... 90% will
look at you and not differentiate APO from ATO from AXO.
Of those that try and differentiate, half won't have the
time and interest. Of that remaining 5% a large chunk
again won't be the person you're looking for.
in the end whether schools or feeder organizations you
need to find that key person that networker who is going
to pull it together. As Riz said. That takes time, that
takes effort, and that requires a variety of techniques.
All of which take time and effort. You also have to
remember that you can quickly tarnish your good name in
the process of cold calling. Once you are tarnished, it's
a five year wait before you can go back and try again.
Publicity is fineky that way.... just think of
telemarketers, like your school alumni office...
Now you've got that name on the other end of the phone?
What next? A lot of time and attention, and a realization
that 90% of those folks are going to walk, no matter what
you do. Whereas jobs cluster around major cities in this
country, schools do not. So where as I live in the Boston
Metropolitan Area (6th largest in the US), the extension
effort I'm working on is a ten hour (one way) drive away,
so on hand attention is time and dollar consuming, but
the personal touch is arguably the best touch. The problem
becomes it's a Wednesday, there's an APO event you probably
should be at at 6pm, but you've got to be to work the next
day...
So in the end where does this leave us? With a time
consuming and dollar consuming effort that requires
the right touch on our end, AND a lot of luck and good
karma on the other end. As I said earlier today, give me
5-7 full time staff and a reasonable budget for salaries
and travel, sure we can load up the pipe. Time and money
works everytime... in the end though you've got to ask
the philosphical question of;
If we build a professional field staff, geared towards
expansion with a slick message are we any better than
any other greek organization
that does philanthropy?
If you answer that in the affirmative, I don't see
money growing off trees... so rather than asking about
extension, ask about fund raising... only through a
strong donation pipeline do any of these things become
possible. You need to have about 2 million a year coming
through to support a reasonable sized field staff.
figure roughly: 40K a year in salary per person
then 40K a year per person for benefits.
200K a year in office space costs (light heat phone
computer)
then figure each person will run up nearly 150K a year
in travel costs, figuring 180 road days a year.
then on top of that lump off 500K a year to pay for
marketing materials.
but a closing though, sure you can go the professional
route, but also look at the size of our organization with
a 90% volunteer staff.
just some thoughts...
-John
