Company Profile
Company Overview
About Ruffalo Noel Levitz
Technology-enabled services, software, and consulting for higher education enrollment management and fundraising
Ruffalo Noel Levitz is distinguished by its powerful array of technology-enabled enrollment and fundraising services that have been used by more than 3,000 colleges and universities and numerous nonprofit clients worldwide.
CAPABILITIES: Full spectrum of research, data, analytics, and assessments
We help clients identify, reach, and connect with their key markets and constituents at pivotal moments—from admission and financial aid to student success, alumni engagement, and fundraising.
Enrollment services: We offer innovative solutions for recruitment, search, multi-channel marketing, web strategy, and financial aid, with a focus on helping organizations achieve their missions.
Student success services: We help our campus clients accomplish their goals for access, diversity, student preparedness, persistence, retention, and college completion/graduation.
Fundraising services: We help to connect institutions and nonprofit organizations with loyal groups of alumni, donors, members, future alumni, and other constituents for fundraising, cultivation, and stewardship purposes.
Organization-wide solutions: We help to find synergies and develop cross-divisional collaborations for campuses and nonprofit organizations, offering research-based strategies that ensure every initiative is based on solid evidence.
UNDERSTANDING: We know the issues you face
Our 100+ member consulting team provides unparalleled experience and data, innovative strategies, and industry-leading research that help organizations meet their objectives and thrive. The result is more of the right individuals engaged with the right organizations – and a sound financial foundation – to pursue great outcomes together.
Accomplish your goals with strategic approaches that are grounded in data
Success in today’s environment is all about adapting to change. When you do, you have the power to not just meet your goals, but to turn your challenges into opportunities.
By working with us, you’ll not only tap into unparalleled data and experience, you’ll also be able to anticipate trends and increase the return on investment from your operating budget. Throughout our history, we have continued to build innovative solutions to meet the evolving challenges facing the organizations we serve.
Our Mission and Values: HERE FOR A REASON
Our Mission
To make colleges, universities, and non-profits successful and vibrant through inspired and relevant engagement.
Our Vision and Values
To make an impact.
We measure our success by our clients’ outcomes.
Embracing our clients’ missions and helping them do great things.
Guiding and inspiring with smart insights and solutions.
Seeking impact, efficiency, and integrity in all we do.
To break new ground.
We believe that a prosperous future requires bravely moving forward.
Approaching challenges with energy, optimism, and an open mind.
Drawing on data, research, and best practices to inform expert strategies.
Advancing the state of the art.
To take ownership.
We take seriously the trust involved in serving clients and colleagues.
Measuring outcomes and speaking plainly about the results.
Delivering on promises and expecting the same from each other.
Looking for, recognizing, and rewarding performance.
To work together.
We believe talented people are drawn to meaningful work in a collaborative
environment.
Seeing the power of open dialog and ideas from all.
Enacting cohesive approaches that make us better together.
Investing generously in each other.
Company History
The History of Ruffalo Noel Levitz
For over 40 years, Ruffalo Noel Levitz and its predecessor organizations, RuffaloCODY and Noel-Levitz, have helped higher education and nonprofit organizations meet their challenges and exceed their goals.
In 1973, our track record of success began when an admissions consulting group, Williams Crockett, was established in Chicago, Illinois. The firm soon moved to Colorado.
In 1984, Dr. Lee Noel and Dr. Randi Levitz—former executives with ACT's National Center for the Advancement of Educational Practices and nationally recognized authorities for student recruitment and student retention—formed Noel-Levitz Centers for Institutional Effectiveness in Iowa City, Iowa. The firm rapidly grew to become the leading consulting firm for higher education, shortened its name to Noel-Levitz, and merged with Williams Crockett.
In 1991, telecommunications pioneer Al Ruffalo and four partners collaborated on the creation of an organization in Cedar Rapids, Iowa that would support the fundraising and enrollment needs of their clients. RuffaloCODY, as it came to be known, offered innovative marketing services for enrollment and fundraising management for higher education and nonprofit organizations. In 1995, just four years after it began, RuffaloCODY was ranked 26th among Inc. Magazine’s 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. More recently, RuffaloCODY expanded by adding two enrollment-oriented research and consulting firms, Scannell & Kurz (2012) and The Austen Group (2013), as well as ScaleFunder, a crowdfunding platform (2014).
In the fall of 2014, RuffaloCODY and Noel-Levitz joined to form today's Ruffalo Noel Levitz. Their vision: to lead the charge to excellence in enrollment and fundraising management, helping organizations meet their challenges and fulfill their missions. To accomplish this vision, the firm brings unparalleled data, experience, and resources based on collaborations with more than 3,000 colleges and universities throughout North America and numerous nonprofit organizations around the globe.
Today's Ruffalo Noel Levitz team operates from offices throughout the United States and abroad. The firm is owned by Summit Partners, Quad Partners, and its management team, and is directed by an eight-member Board of Directors.