GoalQuest, Inc. and Miami University today announced highly encouraging results from their joint Web-based parent communication and fundraising campaign. The interactive program, written and produced by GoalQuest, was designed to reach out to parents of first-year students during the course of an entire academic year. During the program’s debut year, Miami realized a 14 percent increase in Parents Fund contributions from first-year parents.

Miami began using GoalQuest’s PICS:FYRe™ product (Parents Involved in College Success: Freshman Year Retention) in 2004. The program, called Parent Lantern, provides regular news updates, expert-written advice and outlets for parents who wish to become more involved in university life and institutional initiatives. Parent Lantern features editorial content on student privacy, campus safety, academic expectations, student activities, campus support resources and a range of other topics.

Parent Lantern also allows parents to give instant feedback on top-of-mind subjects, such as student housing, academic policy, career services and tuition finance. The program also encourages parent participation in Miami’s Parents Fund.

“While our Parents Fund has seen significant growth overall during the past two years, we were particularly pleased to see a spike among first-year parents,” said Brent R. Seelmeyer, Director of Development for Student Affairs. "We were also extremely encouraged by the feedback we received regarding the GoalQuest program content. The program has allowed us to better welcome first-year parents into our community, while giving them the tools and information they can use to better support their students from home.”

According to Tracy Howe, GoalQuest’s Executive Vice President of Sales and Co-founder, “By involving parents as early as possible in the university experience, Parent Lantern increases donor participation in the first year and beyond. The service-oriented content in our PICS:FYRe programs builds parent satisfaction, which in turn increases the likelihood that parents will look favorably upon future capital initiatives.”

About Miami University
Founded in 1809, Miami University is a state-assisted university located in Oxford, Ohio. It enrolls 15,300 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students. The University’s mission is to preserve, add to, evaluate and transmit the accumulated knowledge of the centuries; to develop critical thinking, extend the frontiers of knowledge and serve society; and to provide an environment conducive to effective and inspired teaching and learning, promote professional development of faculty and encourage scholarly research and creativity of faculty and students.

About GoalQuest
GoalQuest, Inc. is a New York City-based software company specializing in innovative solutions for higher education. The Company's proprietary software assists colleges and universities in maximizing recruiting, enrollment yield, retention, parent communication and advancement efforts. Its suite of products, including eCRUIT™, FYRe™, PICS™ and AlumNet™ as well as its Universe™ tools such as UPeers™ and UPortfolio™, are based on a revolutionary technology that immerses participants in highly interactive content. The tools provide clients with a full-featured reporting center and automated activity alerts that monitor the real-time interest trajectory of users. GoalQuest is a NASPA strategic partner. For additional information about GoalQuest, please visit the Company's Web site at http://www.goalquest.com or e-mail info@goalquest.com.