ANNUAL REPORT ON GIVING - Thunderbird Magazine ...

Making headlines
Top news organizations worldwide taking notice
as Thunderbird embarks on changes, new mission
Thunderbird professor Paul Kinsinger is one of many
faculty members whose expertise was called on by
print, radio and television outlets worldwide in the
past two years.
THUNDERBIRD CAN’T COMPARE with
a field of hard-charging presidential
candidates or the adoption-addicted
combo of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, but the
school is getting its fair share of media attention.
Some of the world’s most influential news
organizations—CNN, BBC, The Wall Street
Journal, the Financial Times, BusinessWeek,
the Economist and Forbes, to name a few—have
taken increasingly greater notice of Thunderbird
in the past few years, drawn to the school as it
has more clearly staked out its positions on
ethics and sustainability, and embarked on a
concerted public relations strategy.
“What Thunderbird stands for in terms of
incorporating ethics and sustainability in its
curriculum is resonating with the media,” says
Carol Sunnucks, Thunderbird’s senior director of
corporate communications. “Attention also has
been turned our way because of the new degree
programs and other changes we’ve made across
the organization. And it doesn’t hurt that quite a
few of our alumni are reaching milestones in
their careers that are also garnering media
attention.”
From June, when Thunderbird signed with a
new media tracking service, through the end of
2007, 950 stories were written about the school
or its alumni, which amounts to more than
$15 million worth of exposure. Stories about
Thunderbird alumni and their accomplishments
made up about 61 percent of the total media
hits, 52 percent of the total circulation reached
and 20 percent of the total advertising value.
“The alumni make a significant contribution to
the school’s public relations successes and help
maintain and solidify Thunderbird’s brand in the
marketplace,” Sunnucks says.
Since the media tracking service looks only for
articles that include the Thunderbird name, it’s
impossible to estimate exactly how many other
stories are written about alumni, she says.
Alumni can help the school not only by
mentioning their academic background when
interviewed, but also by using the current
name—Thunderbird School of Global
Management—rather than any of the former
names.
In early 2006, Thunderbird restructured its
public relations department, hired new staff and
began a coordinated media push. Since that
time, the school has seen its total media
exposure—and the advertising value of that
exposure—rise to a level never seen before in
the school’s history.
To see highlights of who’s writing about
Thunderbird and what they are saying about the
school, visit thunderbird.edu/newsclips.
All Thunderbird news June 1 – Dec. 31, 2007
Total number of stories: 950
Total circulation: 197 million
Total ad value: $15 million
Alumni contributions June 1 – Dec. 31, 2007
Total number of alumni stories: 586
Total circulation of alumni stories: 102 million
Total ad value of stories about alumni: $3 million
10 spring 2008