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Dan Giroux / DJG Marketing Insights

DJG Marketing Insights

Published 21 days ago • 2 min read

Weekly roundup: 5 tips you might've missed, and more

Hey friends,

I'm having some fun with a new content series on LinkedIn called AI for Advancement. Honestly, I should've started it back when I did the AI for IA podcast in the spring... but hey, better late than never.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be covering a mix of practical use-cases across areas like productivity, marketing & comms, fundraising, stewardship, annual giving, alumni engagement, research, and more.

No set end date yet, aiming for about 25 tips to start. (Hold me to it.) That should allow me to cover a nice range of applications for different teams and types of responsibilities. And since LinkedIn enjoys burying my content these days, here are the first five in one place in case you missed them.

Tip 01 - Prospecting​
Build a 5-minute donor brief from emails and notes. Read on LinkedIn »​

Tip 02 - Proposals​
Rewrite a case paragraph at an 8th-grade reading level. Read on LinkedIn »​

Tip 03 - Stewardship​
Draft three thank-you notes tailored to donor type. Read on LinkedIn »​

Tip 04 - Annual Giving​
A/B testing: spin up ten email subject lines in 60 seconds. Read on LinkedIn »​

Tip 05: Alumni Engagement​
Gather social intelligence on your alumni community. Read on LinkedIn »​

Got an Advancement use-case you'd like me to tackle? Reply with it and I’ll try to cover in the series.

Dan

P.S. AI helps, but culture multiplies it. I used Perplexity to synthesize findings from hundreds of studies (Gallup, McKinsey, HBR, MIT Sloan, etc.) on the impact of culture on performance. Here's why it matters: Read on LinkedIn »​

P.P.S. I asked AI what the White House might be trying to accomplish with the new 10-point "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” that it just issued to nine top institutions. And it's frightening. Read and weigh-in »​

Dan Giroux, MBA
Principal / Consultant
DJG Marketing

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Dan is an independent strategic marketing consultant helping higher education and nonprofits amplify their brands and drive meaningful engagement.

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Copyright @ 2025 DJG Marketing LLC. All rights reserved.

Dan Giroux / DJG Marketing Insights

Helping higher education and philanthropic leaders build stronger teams, brands, campaigns — and results.

With 20 years across high-impact agencies and in-house leadership, I specialize in Advancement — aligning brand and philanthropic communications to strengthen reputation, deepen alumni and donor engagement, and drive transformative fundraising results. Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter for insights and resources designed to inform, not overwhelm.

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