President’s Welcome

Please read! Special Offer Announced at the End!

Welcome everyone to the final NZ Chapter eNews of 2023. I’d like to say thank you to everyone who attended the recent online AGM meeting on 17 October 2023, where our NZ Chapter Executive Committee of volunteers was elected for the upcoming year. 

I am honoured to be serving as your new President of the NZ Chapter. Thank you for putting your trust in me. 😊 I will do my best to carry on the great work that has been done by all our past Presidents. Please see in the next section an overview of the new Executive Committee with a farewell to outgoing volunteers and a warm welcome to our new team. 

I myself have only been a member of Educate Plus (EP) for the past three years, and I highly value my membership, because truth be told, it makes me feel not so alone in the oftentimes lonely work we do in our organisations. So many of us are in ‘small shop’ operations or one-man-bands, sometimes with leaders who don’t quite know or understand what we do. Those lucky enough to work in larger departments may still feel a bit isolated, especially in our small country of Aotearoa New Zealand. 

However, being a member of EP reminds me that there is much more out there. I should know this, because as some of you know, I recently spent over 16 years living overseas and 12 of those were working in international schools doing Educational Advancement. And that is why, I feel so lucky to have EP at my side as the channel that links us to each other across Aotearoa and provides resources, support, best practice and learning from the world beyond our school or university gates. It reminds me that I am not alone. We are not alone! 

In fact, we are an EP team of nearly 200 members in New Zealand and over 2300 members across the organisation! That’s fantastic! So I urge you to celebrate as I do, that you are members of EP! And feel glad that we can learn from each other, share ideas, and enjoy being part of a community of Educational Advancement professionals ‘down-under’…yes, we are professionals and belonging to this membership helps me and others realise this too! EP itself is in a growth and expansion mode and it is an exciting time for all of us to be involved in this organisation. 

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our valued supporters, our NZ Chapter Partners, who have been at our side for the past two years (and some even longer):

• Greg Campitelli and Carmel Brewster from ENQUIRY TRACKER 
• John Batistich and Isabella Blick from POTENTIALITY 
• Clive Pedley from GIVING ARCHITECTS 
• Sue Skeet from NOTICEMATCH 
• Alison Barnett from NZMS 

Without them, we couldn’t do what we do for you as members, and so please take a look at the Valued Partners section for their End of Year messages. (There may be a few special offers in there for you too… so don’t miss those!)

There are many exciting things to look forward to in 2024 with Educate Plus. Your new Executive Committee is working towards implementing some new-styled networking and professional learning events for our members, especially since there is no NZ Summit (next one will be in 2025). Throughout the year, we want to organise some half-day learning workshops, similar to the pre-Summit ones, host Special Interest Group (SIGs) meetings in cafes on certain topics like Alumni Relations, Archiving, Admissions etc, run a hot topic Webinar and continue to hold regional networking events held at member institutions or special venues. And, of course, there is the almighty EP International Conference taking place in glorious Perth in September. Please do take a look at the NZ Events, Upcoming Events and Upcoming Training sections to read about all the good stuff coming up (and keep watching out for updates throughout the year).

Lastly, I want to let you know of a special ‘End of Year’ Member offer to apply for one of several Professional Development Scholarships. All our NZ members can apply for these, for the following:

• Advancement Practitioner Training: 18-19 March, 2024 (Brisbane)
• International Conference: 10-13 September, 2024 (Perth)

These PD Scholarships are valued at up to $750 pp (for Brisbane) or up to $2,000 pp (for Perth) and will be awarded on a first come first serve basis and on fulfilling the application criteria. In most cases, they can be combined with Head Office travel grants as well. Take a look at the Professional Development Scholarships section in this eNews to apply. Don’t delay. Get your application in ASAP (by the latest, 19 December), as we must award this round of Scholarships before 31 December! 

There you have it. So much to look forward to. So much to be involved with. So much collaborative support from each other as a collective… and that really is the key. The more you engage with us, the more you will feel part of our wonderful community of NZ Advancement Professionals and the more you’ll truly benefit from your membership! 

I wish you, your work teams, your friends and your families a very merry festive season and Happy New Year. Hope to see many of you in 2024 getting involved and loving it. 😀

Kia kaha e te whānau.

Emma Zigan
NZ Chapter President | Educate Plus

Director of Advancement
Dilworth School

Introducing the 2024 Chapter Committee

Congratulations and Welcome …

The NZ Chapter Committee is made up of Educate Plus members who work as volunteers in their own time, alongside their day jobs, to benefit all our members. We are passionate about Educate Plus and want to see the Association succeed for everyone’s benefit. 

A large thank you must go to Nicole Bassett for being an outstanding Chapter President this last year. Nicole left her role as Chapter President earlier than expected due to taking up an exciting new Advancement role in Australia, and we wish her well on her new life and career journey in Melbourne. 

We also had 2 other committee members leave us this year, after several years of service, namely Ross Scrymgeour, and Graeme Mullin. So I’d like to take this moment to also thank them for their service to all our members and for their dedication to our NZ Committee and to Educate Plus. We are grateful for what you have done and we hope you will stay in touch.

We’d like to also congratulate all our current Chapter Committee members who were re-elected. A heartfelt THANK YOU for all their hard work over the past couple of years… maintaining and growing our membership, working with Partners, advocating and growing awareness amongst sector leaders and of course planning events and implementing our amazing NZ Educate Plus Summit held in Christchurch (and in 2022 in Auckland). They are all outstanding EP volunteers and we are looking forward to another great year ahead.

And of course we’d like to extend on behalf of all our existing Committee a very warm welcome to our newest committee member, Aroha Webster from Kristin School in Auckland’s north shore. We look forward to working with you and appreciate your commitment as a newbie volunteer to this Committee. 

More information about the new 2024 NZ Chapter Committee and other news and information relevant to the NZ Chapter can be found on the Educate Plus website, HERE.

Please see an overview of our new Committee below and feel free to get in contact with any of us if you would like to. You are not alone! 😎

New Member Welcome

We can’t wait to meet you … 

We extend a very warm welcome to the Members who have recently joined us in 2023. We are thrilled to have you as part of our NZ Chapter community, and as part of the wider Educate Plus community, with currently in excess of 2300 Members across Australia, New Zealand and Asia!

Member Benefits

For those that are new (and as a refresher for those who have been Members for a while!), below are some of the many benefits of being a Member of Educate Plus:

	Professional Development [International Conferences, Chapter Summits, In-Person Events & Online Webinars, Advancement Practitioner Training]
	Networking & Knowledge Sharing [Networking / Connecting Opportunities, Mentoring Program, Member’s Hub (Forum), Knowledgebank, Members’ Directory, Online Resources (Blogs, Videos, Podcasts, Event Recordings)
	Information & Communication [Weekly Communications, Quarterly eNewsletters, Weekly Jobs Board, Annual Face2Face Magazine, Surveys and Benchmarking Results]
	Awards & Post Nominals [Excellence Awards Program (Industry Recognition), Chapter Recognition Awards (Peer-to-peer Recognition), Post Nominals recognising professionalism, knowledge and expertise (M.EdPlus, F.EdPlus)
	Advocacy & Affiliations [Access to advocacy – influencing policies, driving innovation, building positive public perception and addressing challenges, collectively. Affiliations with other like-minded organisations (eg CASE, FIA, FINZ), Global collaboration (Asia), Partnerships with executive educational bodies (eg AHISA, ISNZ)]

As this is the last eNEWS for the year, we’d like to again welcome all of our NZ Chapter Members who have joined in 2023: 

2024 NZ Events – Term 1

Upcoming Member Events Around New Zealand – March 2024

At our recent NZ Chapter Committee Planning Meeting in November, it was decided to plan some new regional events in Term 1. We are delighted to let you know these events will be held in the following venues and cities:

• John McGlashan College, Dunedin
• Medbury School, Christchurch
• Rutherford House, Victoria University, Wellington
• Palmerston North Boys’ High School, Palmerston North
• Waikato Diocesan School, Hamilton
• Kristin School, Auckland

We are looking at dates in the first two weeks of March 2024, and checking with all those hosting in the regions, to find the best time for their institutions and for members attending. Once dates are set, invitations will be sent out to members, well ahead of each event. Look out for that information and be sure to mark your calendars to attend.

It will be fantastic to see you again and we look forward to welcoming you to what are always very refreshing meetings and learning discussions.

Your NZ Member and Events Team

Upcoming Events

Register now … 

We invite you to join us for the International Conference in Perth! 

Get ready to embark on a transformative journey!  

With six streams on offer, including the recently introduced ‘Leadership’ stream, and a new stream added this year relating to ‘People & Culture’, you will be treated to an unparalleled learning experience!

The Empowering Success Conference will include:

• 2.5 Days of Professional Development sessions, with 6 concurrent streams
• Choice of 4 pre-Conference Workshops
• International Speakers and expert and experienced practitioner-led presentations
• New ‘People and Culture’ stream (for Legal, HR & Business Managers)
  ‘Leadership’ stream (for Heads, Executive Teams as aspiring team members)
• Admissions, Alumni & Community Relations, Marketing & Communications and Fundraising streams (for all levels of Advancement teams, from beginner to experienced)
• Excellence Awards showcasing best practice in our industry
• Vibrant Social Program, including a Welcome Event, an Industry Excellence Awards Lunch and a Conference Celebration Dinner, with multiple Networking Lunches and refreshment breaks
• EdX presentations
• An invaluable opportunity to network and enjoy leisure time with colleagues in an environment that will empower success!

Click below to visit the Conference Website to register, or to find out more!

Conference Website		Speaker Information		Program (Soon!)
Registration Fees		Support Package		Accommodation

For more information and to register, click below

More Info / Register | International Conference

Upcoming Training

Register Now …

TRAINING | Advancement Practitioner Training

We are excited to announce that registration for the face-to-face 2024 Advancement Practitioner Training in Brisbane is NOW OPEN!

The training provides a wonderful foundational platform for participants who are newer to the Advancement industry, empowering them with knowledge and tools to confidently impact their institutions and further their career growth.

Suitable also for intermediate-level practitioners wanting to brush up on their skills, the training is designed to equip participants with the latest industry insights and cutting-edge skills to master the complexities of our ever-changing Advancement industry.

Take the opportunity to gain incredible insights from industry experts and to build invaluable networking relationships with fellow colleagues in Advancement, from across Australasia!

Event Details
Date: Monday 18 March – Tuesday 19 March 2024
Place: Amora Hotel Brisbane, 200 Creek Street, Brisbane 4000
Includes: Networking Drinks (Monday, from 4.45pm-5.45pm)

Course Details:

• Admissions (2 Days)
• Alumni & Community Relations (1 Day)
• Marketing & Communications (2 Days)
• Fundraising (2 Days)

Registration Fees:

• 2 Day Course: $1000 (+gst) Members; $1200 (+gst) Non-Members
• 1 Day Course: $600 (+gst) Members; $720 (+gst) Non-Members

For more information and to register, click below:

More Info / Register | Advancement Practitioner Training

Hurry – Professional Development Scholarships Available (NZ Only)

End of Year NZ Member Offer

Act quickly to secure your special ‘End of Year’ Member offer to apply for one of several Professional Development Scholarships. NZ members can apply for these, for the following:

• Advancement Practitioner Training: 18-19 March, 2024 (Brisbane)
• International Conference: 10-13 September, 2024 (Perth)

These Professional Development Scholarships are valued at up to $750 pp (for Brisbane) or up to $2,000 pp (for Perth) and will be awarded on a first come first serve basis and on fulfilling the application criteria.

Don’t delay. Scholarship Applications must be received by COB on Tuesday 19 December, 2023. 

To apply, click below:

Professional Development Scholarship Application 

Potentiality Leads the Way with ‘Privacy Detector’ Booth

Article supplied by Isabella Blick | Head of Asia Pacific Customer Experience | Potentiality

At the recent Northampton conference, we rolled out an unprecedented experiment: a “Privacy Detector” booth. Participants from academic institutions across the UK and beyond had the opportunity to delve into the privacy health of their school websites. Utilising a custom Chrome extension and some smart circuitry, this detector would trigger an alerting siren if it detected user engagement data being channeled to marketing powerhouses like Google or Facebook. Instead of the “out of sight, out of mind” approach, we turned it on its head and sirens took center stage! Schools with no data leakage would walk away with a £50 gift voucher. Over 100 schools dared to test, but the results were staggering: none passed. *

We were aware these tools were common, but the unanimous adoption was a jaw-dropper. As the time-honored saying goes, “if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.” but here the narrative takes a more sinister turn. When schools or software providers decide to use free tools offered by giants like Google or Facebook, they turn their communities into the product without any reasonable opportunity to consent. There’s a lot of controversy about the privacy implications of individual usage of online resources like Facebook and Tik Tok, but at least with those sites it’s a conscious decision which each individual controls.

In today’s digital landscape, schools and educational institutions are increasingly leveraging potent web analytics to optimise their online presence. Industry bigwigs such as Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel offer insights that can significantly enhance the user experience and amplify website functionality. So if all this is free, who’s footing the bill?

On inspecting one site, we discovered that user donation amounts were shared with these marketing companies. The eventual fallout? The user ends up being marketed to based on a donation made to the school. That’s a pill I doubt they’d swallow willingly…

Navigating the privacy policies of these companies can feel like walking through a maze. Google Analytics, arguably the most guarded, sports a very complex set of policies. They claim data anonymisation, but truthfully, they don’t need to know who you are to market to you. They also note that site visitors can control their marketing exposure via their Google profiles – a process trickier than visitors would reasonably anticipate. I won’t dive into all the legal intricacies in this article, but if these companies weren’t planning on marketing based on site usage, wouldn’t they simply state “we don’t use this data to target marketing to your visitors”? 

A recurring misguided belief among the UK schools we interacted with was that these tools were vital for boosting their Google Search visibility (SEO). That’s a completely different ballgame. They were also caught off guard to learn that switching to incognito mode or disabling cookies had zero impact! These tools aren’t cookie-dependent so that makes no difference. In my view, the offer to disable cookies which is creating a false sense of security is not just misleading, but ethically questionable.

In almost all instances, schools were employing website providers that had their products integrated with these free tools. Marketing companies simplify this integration, consequently bolstering the website provider’s product offerings. However, at day’s end, it’s a shortcut that compromises the privacy of the client’s community to enhance their own product features. Implementing private and secure analytics tools does require time and effort, but the payoff is retaining ownership of the engagement data within the school, yielding more profound and relevant analytics than what Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel can offer. As an example, our latest product release – “Potentiality Shield” (purposefully named) enables us to track not just the hits, browsers, devices, and locations of each visitor, but often precisely who is visiting what pages. This can be used collectively with all other automatically collected engagement data such as purchases, event attendances, archive views, click and reads on emails etc, to build warmth profiles for fundraising or volunteer management. You can even use the data to train our bulk AI comms tools which draft mass individually personalised messages based on user engagement. The possibilities are powerful, exciting and scary all at the same time. Which is the reason why these companies want schools to give the data to them. For a school to manage and utilise this data themselves also introduces a host of ethical questions, but at least the school and their community retain control and aren’t unknowingly feeding data to major marketing companies.

So what can we learn from this experiment and where to from here? There was certainly a lot of surprise amongst our stall visitors when they saw what was going on. So it’s certainly a positive that our participants are more aware and perhaps making a more informed decision on what technologies they use. However the tricky part here is that it’s their community paying the price, so shouldn’t their community be granted the same awareness if the commodity in question is their engagement data? Do schools replace the cookie control popups with warning banners telling visitors that there’s nothing they can realistically do to prevent marketing companies targeting advertising to them based on their use of the site? One suggestion by a school, as the only way to guarantee privacy, was for their site visitors to use a Tor Browser (a browser used mostly to access the dark web). I’ll leave it to the readers of this article to decide if they want to put that on their school website!

While I loathe being the purveyor of grim tidings, I can’t see that these tools are acceptable or even ethical to use in an educational environment. Schools aren’t just institutions; they’re communities, distinct from regular websites. If an airline site shares data with marketing sites, they might just shrug it off as “business as usual”. Schools however embody a community and should hold the privacy and security of that community sacrosanct. If community members are uncomfortable being tracked by marketing companies without their express permission or even knowledge, then their data simply shouldn’t be shared.

It’s time to shield our communities and ensure their digital safety. Remember, privacy matters. Let’s act like it does.

* Potentiality clients were excluded from the free voucher giveaway, as we utilise our proprietary analytics tools which naturally pass the privacy test. The data collected stays wholly owned by the school and is not shared or used by other companies or clients in any way.

AI in Education Marketing: 4 Insights and Strategies for Schools

Article from Higher Education Marketing

Over the past few months, there has been a lot of talk about the pros and cons of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Though it might seem like these tools are new and coming out of nowhere, AI marketing tools have been around for a while, working in the background and helping businesses reach their marketing goals. To keep up with the market, schools looking to develop a strong marketing strategy should start thinking more actively about ways to integrate AI into their lead-generation efforts. If used adequately, AI in education marketing can lead to a turning point for many schools.

Although many institutions are already thinking about the ways in which AI can be used inside the classroom, knowing how to leverage these tools for marketing purposes is becoming a must. From chatbots to language processing and image editing tools, using AI marketing tools can contribute to institutions’ efforts to gain a competitive edge.  Here’s an overview of helpful AI tools and how your school can use them to generate new leads!

Understanding the Use of AI in Education Marketing

A study suggests that 73% of marketers are now using AI-powered tools as part of their marketing campaigns. As AI tools get better, it is clear that they are here to stay and transform the way in which marketing is done. Some platforms like Meta and Google have been using artificial intelligence for some time now for target marketing purposes. Other platforms like HubSpot are now offering a variety of AI-powered tools to help users improve their productivity.

In addition, over the past few years, new AI-powered tools like ChatGPT and Grammarly have been developed. Although these are not marketing-specific tools, they can be used by marketers to increase their return on investment. But, how can AI help with education marketing?

To continue reading click here.

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Higher Education Marketing

Article written by Firdosh Khan

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been transforming various industries in recent years, and higher education marketing is no exception.

AI is a branch of computer science that focuses on developing intelligent machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, and decision-making.

Higher education marketing refers to the process of promoting and advertising higher education institutions, programs, and services to potential students, faculty, and stakeholders.

With the rise of digital technologies and increasing competition among higher education institutions, marketing has become a crucial aspect of attracting and retaining students.

The impact of AI on higher education marketing has been significant. AI-powered tools and techniques have enabled institutions to gather and analyze large amounts of data, which can be used to better understand student behavior and preferences.

This has allowed institutions to create personalized marketing campaigns that are more effective in engaging and converting prospective students.

According to a report by MarketsandMarkets, the global AI in education market size is expected to reach $3.68 billion by 2023, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 47% during the forecast period.

The report also highlights the increasing adoption of AI-powered tools such as chatbots, learning analytics, and virtual assistants in higher education institutions.

AI in Higher Education Marketing

AI has revolutionized the way higher education institutions approach marketing by enabling them to personalize their campaigns, make data-driven decisions, and improve the overall student experience.

To continue reading click here for further ways AI is transforming higher education marketing in personalised marketing, data-drive decision-making, improved student experience, plus the “Challenges of AI in Higher Education marketing.

Messages from our Valued NZ Chapter Partners

Extending best wishes …

We’d like to extend a huge ‘Thank You’ to our valued Educate Plus NZ Chapter Partners, who support us in our activities and enable us to provide wonderful opportunities to our Members and Non-Members.

Like you, they appreciate the opportunity to network and learn from colleagues in the Advancement field and wish to extend to you best wishes for the upcoming Festive season.  

Potentiality: As we enter the festive season, we’d like to say a huge thank you to Educate Plus and take a moment to reflect on the opportunity 2023 has had to bring. One of our biggest highlights was meeting and connecting with many new faces in Christchurch and Lincoln University this August – not to mention participating in the famous gumboot throwing challenge! Lots of great memories shared at this event.

We are looking forward to more face-to-face catch ups with our New Zealand clients in 2024, until then though – wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ahead! 

Warm regards, Potentiality 

Giving Architects: The Giving Architects team across New Zealand and Australia extends a warm thank you to all Educate Plus members, it has been a pleasure to engage with so many of you at various networking events across New Zealand and at the Summit this year. We have had the privilege of working on some truly transformational Advancement programmes this year with several amazing institutions, developing sustainable and effective Advancement approaches to achieving their mission in 2023 and beyond. As increasingly large gifts continue to make headlines, much of the research addresses important questions around how to effectively prepare for, attract, and steward gifts of a magnitude that will have significant impact on your institution. As you consider how to increasingly use Advancement strategies to help your institution meet its philanthropic potential, we invite you to contact us at impact@givingarchitects.com to discuss your goals for 2024.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ahead!

The Team at Giving Architects

Notice Match: Match against the Government Death Register in 2024 with NoticeMATCH. We’re thrilled to offer an enhanced service in 2024 which will bring the Government Death Register (GDR) into the matching mix. It’s taken many years to see a law change that makes it possible for organisations to use this data to “do the right thing”, so YAY! and …  FINALLY! For existing users, if you opt to match against this data set also, a free 20-minute training session and contract upgrade is all that’s needed. If you’re not already using NoticeMATCH, call us for a free trial. We look forward to blowing your socks off 🙂 How else are you going to match against up to 40,000 deaths a year and ensure you don’t mismanage an important relationship? 

Until then, happy happies, enjoy the festive break and the promise of sunshine and smiles.

Wishing all the NZ members of Educate Plus a very merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the team at NZMS.

Thank You to our Educate Plus Strategic Partners

 

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Stay Connected … 

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