Best of CASE District II Award
 

Institution: University of Rochester

Title of entry: Buzz: Good Things for Alumni and Friends

About this entry: In the spring of 2021, the University of Rochester’s Alumni and Advancement office began publishing a new, lifestyle print magazine called “Buzz.” This twice-a-year design-rich publication showcases “good things” for the University’s alumni, donors, friends, and parents. It features inspiring, relevant, seasonally-aligned, and fun stories, photography, and a clean and modern design.

Created in the midst of the pandemic, our objective was, and continues to be, to uplift, engage, inspire, entertain, and surprise our readers—and not make any direct fundraising asks of them. The magazine also serves as a way to advance relationships with key audiences, tell human-interest stories that underscore our strategic programs, and present content that cultivates feelings of nostalgia, pride, and community.

We send the magazine to a group of recently engaged alumni, and friends in the rochester region. We also gift a copy to graduating seniors as they become alumni and send to university volunteers and ambassadors. The magazine’s content is promoted and amplified in other channels, for instance, through email communications, on key websites and landing pages, and across social media.

We chose the magazine’s name—“Buzz”—because it’s familiar to our audience and plays on the University’s beloved mascot: a Yellow Jacket. In the first issue, we showcased a Yellow Jacket and dandelions (the University’s flower), and for the second, sledding on campus (a Rochester tradition). Each issue also includes a QR code to a survey that helps us gauge reader response to the issue while soliciting feedback about our overall engagement and fundraising activities.