Colleges and universities rely largely on alumni donations to fund their institutions. The Council for Aid to Educationreported that in 2017, alumni donations made up 26.1% of all voluntary support for higher education institutions. Getting alumni to donate is no small feat, and universities with high rates of alumni donations must invest time, effort, and money into an alumni engagement strategy to secure donations.
Why Do Alumni Donate?
When thinking about your alumni donors, consider why alumni continue to donate and what will fuel their desire to give back. The best alumni engagement strategies try to invoke an emotional response from students via nostalgia and shared experiences at your university. According to data from The Alumni Factor, “The schools that rank highest in alumni giving are able to create campus environments where students are academically challenged while developing deep bonds with each other and ties to their college community.” Creating a positive experience for students is key to securing donations after they’ve graduated.
Alumni are also more likely to donate if they feel like their alma mater still supports them somehow, or they are still in touch with and care about the organization. Keeping alumni engaged and interested in their former school will drive donations much more than simply cold calling after years of no contact.
Create an Alumni Engagement Strategy
Engaging with alumni begins while they are still students. The better a relationship your university has with its students, the more likely they are to donate post-grad. To bolster alumni donations, you should aim to foster and maintain an engaged relationship with students during their time in school, as they transition into post-grad life, and beyond.
Start While They’re Students
Schools with the highest level of alumni donations build lifelong relationships with their alumni base while they are still students. College students may not have the money to donate, but getting them involved with volunteer work as students will not only improve school pride, but may encourage them to donate later in life.
One great example is Penn State’s THON - THON 2019 raised over $10.6 million, in part from alumni donors. Alumni with fond memories of raising money during their time on campus will feel connected to the organization later in life and will be more likely to donate, especially to charitable campaigns like THON.
Build a Strong Alumni Program
Many alumni choose not to donate because they feel that their relationship with their college or university is in the past. A strong alumni program can help alum feel like they are still involved with and supported by their alma mater. Keep alumni engaged through school newsletters, an alumni blog, regular calls from student volunteers, or any other tactic to keep lines of communication open.
Connecting with alum through a blog or via newsletters can keep them up to date on university projects, successes, and more, which can make them feel like they are still involved. Blogs and newsletters are also great platforms to place subtle links to donation pages, encouraging donations without appearing overly solicitous.
If you’ve graduated from a four year institution, you’ve probably received calls from a bubbly young student looking for a donation. For many alum, these calls are generally unwelcome because they know that the initial questions about how you’re doing will inevitably lead to a request for money. To improve the efficacy of cold calling alumni, try calling to genuinely ask how alum are doing or promote alumni events without asking for a donation. This can improve the alum’s relationship with your institution so that next time you ask for a donation they’ll be more inclined to give back.
Engage With Young Alumni
Recent graduates may not have the income to offer large donations, but it is vital to keep up with young alumni to keep them engaged. It’s important to be sensitive about how and when you ask for donations from younger alum, as many may still be paying off student loans for tuition.
Your strategy with recent graduates should be different than that of older grads. Offering young alumni professional development assistance and events or networking opportunities can go a long way. Young alumni especially will appreciate their school offering assistance as they begin their careers, and while they may not have much money to donate, they can still contribute smaller amounts of money.
Building positive relationships with young alumni will also fuel their desire to donate later in life when they have a larger income, thanks to the opportunities offered by their college.
Make Giving Convenient
If the only way to donate involves cutting a check, finding stamps, and mailing an envelope, you’re doing it wrong. The easier it is for alumni to donate, the more donations you’ll receive. A difficult donation process can discourage even the most supportive alum, so make it easy on them by creating convenient opportunities to donate.
Set up simple channels online to donate; most schools probably have an online donation form, but update it to be as simple to use and as efficient as possible. There are programs available to set up mobile giving via text message, which could be especially effective amongst younger, tech-savvy alum. Some alumni will be more likely to donate in person if they attend an event, but may not carry cash or a checkbook. Consider investing in a credit card swiper to make it easier for alumni to donate at events.
Use Social Media
Social media should already be apart of your university’s marketing strategy, but keeping up with alumni on social media can help with both alumni engagement and donations. Younger alumni especially will be more likely to keep up via social media, allowing them to feel connected to their alma mater well after graduation. Social media is also a great way to track alumni interests and demographics, which can inform how you choose to contact them about donations. Putting links for donations directly on social media pages can also help encourage donors and drive traffic to your donation page.
Target Specific Interest Groups
One factor that affects alumni donations is the knowledge of what the money is going towards. Think about it: you would feel more inclined to donate if you know the money is going towards something specific that you care about rather than just the institution as a whole. If you have information about personal interests available, use that knowledge to fund specific projects. Contact alumni based on interests including:
● Academic departments
● Scholarships (if they received a scholarship as a student they may be inclined to donate to a scholarship fund)
● Athletics
● Volunteer organizations
● Campus religious groups
● Community service projects
Even if you can’t target the specific interests of each alumni group, letting them know how their donation will be used can fuel their interest in helping and lead to more donations.
Employ Crowdfunding or Peer-To-Peer Fundraising Techniques
Rather than eliciting donations solely through direct contact from the university itself, use crowdfunding or peer-to-peer campaigns to drive donations. Alumni can share their own donation goal with friends as well as a personal story about why they support their university or a specific project. You can reach a larger audience through crowdfunding techniques, potentially reaching alumni with whom you’ve lost contact. Those alum, as well as friends of alumni will likely be more inclined to give to a familiar face than to a large institution.
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