UTSA receives four Best of CASE District IV Awards for excellence in marketing and philanthropy

First Lady Peggy Eighmy and UTSA President Taylor Eighmy turn dirt during the UTSA School of Data Science Virtual Groundbreaking in 2021.

NOVEMBER 14, 2022 — The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District IV awarded UTSA four Best of CASE District IV Awards for university initiatives in marketing, special events and advancement services. These awards honor initiatives that exemplify the passion of university teams working to advance their institution’s educational mission.  

“This is a great honor for UTSA and yet another example of the innovation, talent and skill of our outstanding staff,” said Karl Miller-Lugo, UTSA vice president for advancement and alumni engagement. “To be among the award recipients is reflective of our continued work toward becoming a model public research university of the future. I applaud the efforts of everyone involved in the exemplary work behind these prestigious accolades.”

The UTSA Office of University Relations received an award in the “Marketing: Branding” category for the rollout of Creating Bold Futures, the university’s new brand platform.

“This is a great honor for UTSA and yet another example of the innovation, talent and skill of our outstanding staff.”

Creating Bold Futures was the first branding effort for UTSA in over a decade, designed to be easily translatable to prospective students, donors, research partners and other stakeholders. The campaign was executed completely in-house by a 12-person team in University Marketing with exceptional results. San Antonio market surveys conducted before and after the campaign’s rollout showed that 46% of all respondents saw elements of the campaign, and 70% felt the creative advertising elements improved their perceptions of UTSA.

University Relations received another award in the “Special Events: Online” category for the UTSA School of Data Science Virtual Groundbreaking, which took place on January 25, 2021. The event represented a creative solution for a milestone celebration that would have traditionally been held in-person but was moved online due to the pandemic. It engaged virtual attendees and drew wide participation via “voices of support” videos from elected officials, donors and community supporters.

“These recognitions by our CASE peers are a testament to the powerful storytelling and professional commitment of our University Relations colleagues to advance the bold brand and reputation of UTSA,” said Vice President for University Relations Teresa Niño. “Moreover, they reflect on our deep passion to create an environment where all of our students benefit from a world-class education and achieve lifelong success.”

“It was phenomenal for the team to pull together to design and execute these two major projects in the midst of the pandemic,” said Anne Peters, associate vice president of university marketing and special projects. “They were both beautiful examples of metrics-driven, impactful marketing that elevated UTSA’s brand within San Antonio and beyond.”

The UTSA Office of Advancement and Alumni Engagement received an award in the “Special Events: Online” category for the Virtual Celebration to Honor Carlos and Malú Alvarez for their $20M gift to UTSA. Originally planned as a hybrid in-person and virtual celebration, the event pivoted to completely virtual with less than 72 hours’ notice. University Advancement launched an ambitious gift announcement and virtual event plan. Efforts included a targeted e-communications plan, social media strategy, a tribute video, webpage development and numerous news placements in local and national press.

The celebration invigorated the university’s philanthropic community. In December 2021, when Margie and Bill Klesse made a $20 million gift that resulted in the Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, the donors credited the Alvarezes for inspiring them to invest.

CASE also honored the UTSA Data and Analytics and Prospect Management Research teams with an award in the “Advancement Services: Data Analytics” category for the Creation and Implementation of a Linkage, Ability, and Interest (LAI) Scoring Method. The LAI scoring method identifies prospects in three major areas of giving: annual giving, mid-level giving, and major gift giving—measuring the most important and relevant data points that speak to the likelihood of giving by constituents.

First implemented in FY 2019, the LAI method contributed to revenue gains for UTSA in FY 2020 compared to a previous two-year decline. The system was also credited for helping to improve results for UTSA’s inaugural Giving Day in 2021. The current long-term goal for the LAI is to develop the analytics in real-time on a dashboard platform for leadership and fundraisers to utilize.

“We are humbled by our CASE awards this year. There are few institutions in the nation with UTSA’s combined attributes of diversity, urban growth, maturity, athletics, arts, innovation, and research.  Many outsourced models tend to be more effective with alumni and donors from older, less diverse institutions,” said Greg Cortez, assistant vice president for advancement information & strategic analytics. “Through our years of capturing, curating, and analyzing data on our own unique donor and alumni community, we were able to arrive at a scoring model that allowed us to improve our results.  We have an excellent and dedicated team, and our custom LAI scores are helping us to be even more strategic and effective.”

CASE District IV represents about 2,900 members from over 260 institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

— Jennilee Garza