How these 5 colleges & universities use Gratavid to stand out and stay top of mind with donors and alumni

Connecting with a diverse donor and alumni base isn’t easy in an era saturated with competing messages and solicitations. Cutting through the noise to reach donors in meaningful and impactful ways is the only way to stay top of mind over months and years. 

Gratavid is designed to help you do just that. With an easy-to-use, intuitive platform, request, record and send videos in just minutes. You can even send requests via text to campus partners like deans and athletics coaches to create experiences tailored to each donor. 

Explore the ways five university advancement professionals use Gratavid to stand out in the crowd and build lasting constituent and donor relationships.

Alfred University shares inspiring messages from their president and other campus partners

Erin Martinovich, Vice President of Advancement at Alfred University finds value in Gratavid on both the enrollment and advancement functions. On the enrollment side, the team taps the school president to record a personalized message to each individual accepted student. This hyper-personalized touch has resulted in an incredible response from the students and community. 

Gratavid has also been a game-changer for the advancement team. They send personalized “happy birthday” messages to each donor on their birthday, thank-yous following a giving day, and work with campus partners to send personalized videos to donors – boosting stewardship in a big way, all in a few clicks.

Butler University creates Instagram-worthy reels to drive engagement

Let’s face it – it can be tough to stay ahead of trends in advancement and donor engagement. Gratavid makes it easy to create heartfelt messages a donor or alumnae will watch over and over again that also feel like a personal Instagram story. 

Caitlin Schile, Associate Director of Advancement Marketing & Communications, who leans on Gratavid for endowment reporting, personal outreach, and thank-yous after days of giving, says the feedback the team gets after sending Gratavids is amazing.

MSU College of Human Medicine adds a spin to alumni stewardship

Stewardship is an essential part of the donor journey. Without adding that human-centric touch, a donor will likely feel out of touch and like just another record in your system. 

Claire Timber, Stewardship Coordinator at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine saw the opportunity to reach alumni more impactfully that would encourage them to engage more often with video messaging. With Gratavid, they are able to build and strengthen these relationships and connect more meaningfully with their alumni base. 

Harper College converted a constituent into a volunteer with a single video

Kristyn Meyer, Associate Executive Director, Foundation/Major Gifts at Harper College Educational Foundation was sold on Gratavid from the first time she used it. The team had send personalized videos to attendees after a recent event to say thank you. 

After this one video, they received new donations from a stewardship communication and even more exciting – a constituent who she had been trying to get involved for months signed on to be a volunteer. 

Central Oregon Community College automate their thank-yous with CRM integration

Brittany Nichols, Director of Foundation Programs at Central Oregon Community College was looking for an authentic way to connect with donors when she discovered Gratavid. While the personal touch and the simplicity of the tool drew her in, it’s the seamless integration with their Blackbaud CRM that has made the biggest impact on their donor stewardship.

The team relies on automation to send donor thank-yous upon the gift being received, no manual tracking or uploads needed.

Interested in seeing Gratavid for yourself? Get a demo today.