Marquette University - Utilizing Safer and More Efficient Technology

A group of Marquette University's advancement team meets monthly to identify how they can use their website and Internet technology to connect with and engage alumni.  At the same time, they are looking for ways to increase efficiencies.

Annual Giving is a critical element of every university in the world.  Without annual giving, contributions from alumni, and other fundraising techniques, universities wouldn't be able to offer as fully rounded an education, and other benefits, to their students, faculty, and alumni.  With this fact in place, Marquette University Alumni Association has long since utilized an annual phonathon to help receive the funds they require.

In the fall of 2006, Marquette University's advancement team discovered that the phonathon software they'd been using was not in compliance with the University's policy.  This forced them into searching for an immediate solution to accepting credit card payments online.  Obviously, they still needed to be able to accept these payments from their constituents, but they needed to find a safer way to process them.

The advancement team's solution was to continue using the capabilities of their current online giving page, but in a much more specialized method.  Using Verisign, the card from the constituent could be charged immediately.  The caller could still enter the transaction information into the calling application with a false credit card number.  This would insure that internal reporting would not be affected. 

The next step, with the assistance of IAC, was to begin building a new online giving form similar to their current one, but with less required information from the constituent.  Instead, the donor services team would match the results from the online transaction with internal reports for gift updates in their main fundraising database. 

There have been many benefits to this change.  First, the University is no longer storing credit card numbers in a database on a University server.  This makes Marquette University completely compliant with University policy.  Second, callers can reassure the constituent they talk with that the number is being instantly submitted securely, and that the number wouldn't be used at a later date.  Third, the gift processors no longer need to submit the number to Verisign.  Through the online page, it is done instantly.  Finally, they took advantage of newer and safer technologies available and improved how things are done throughout the process. 

Ed Leonard states, "We took advantage of newer and safer technologies available to us and improved how we do things in the process."