The University of Warwick is one of the UK’s leading new universities, with a strong international focus: of 23,000 current students, over 8,000 come from outside the UK from over 120 countries. We asked Gretchen to help us to engage more fully with our international alumni during the Fall of 2012. Gretchen undertook an extensive round of interviews and focus groups with existing students, alumni, academic and administrative staff, and presented us with a comprehensive set of recommendations, many of which we expect to adopt. People responded well to her approach, which enhanced the quality of the report, and gave us a flying start to begin implementation.
James Kennedy
Director International Office
University of Warwick
Gretchen provided a review of Exeter’s Alumni Relations strategy as part of the planning for our new campaign. Her advice was thorough, thoughtful and spot-on. It resulted in several clear recommendations for how we can quickly and easily improve our programme, including how we should focus our resources and what we should stop doing, saving us time and focusing our activities. With her years of experience, Gretchen was able to look at our programme and quickly assess its strengths and weaknesses. Her input was invaluable.
Holly Peterson
Deputy Director of Development and Alumni Relations
University of Exeter
With a view to strengthening the fundraising function of the unit, our Development Office invited Gretchen to conduct a training workshop for our executive and managerial staff members in early 2012. Gretchen’s workshop excelled in its capacity to tailor for the needs of teams with different portfolios, to render in-depth analysis to specific case studies, and to provide useful pointers that help us to land on possible solutions. It proved to be an effective tool for our office to consolidate previous experience and map out our next strategic plan.
Ada Leung
Associate Vice-President (Development)
City University of Hong Kong
“After engaging Gretchen, within a matter of 4 months we had an alumni association. She was persuasive, she was clear, she was direct, she could use case studies, and deal with very tiny institution.”
“I think Gretchen, in her book Being Global, makes quite good points all the way through. She really makes the point about the lifecyle of alumi: from a student, into an alum, into a donor, into a major shaper of policy within an institution.”
“Ultimately, Bruford Connects is looking for opportunities for the institution. This new network of alumni engagement raises the flag for us. It’s really helped now because when I go around the world people know who we are and they didn’t know that three years ago.”
Professor Michael Earley
Principal & Chief Executive
Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance
