How to run a successful alumni fundraiser

Alumni are the lifeblood of your institution. They share in the passion for your school and have the means and propensity to give back to your community. But for so many advancement teams, alumni engagement is virtually disconnected from fundraising efforts due to team silos, detached technology and uncertainty on how to engage alumni in fundraising initiatives. 

Don’t miss the opportunity to empower your most vocal and engaged supporters to give back this giving season. Follow these tips to run a record-breaking fundraising campaign by engaging your alumni base meaningfully and effectively.

What is alumni fundraising?

First, let’s cover the basics. Alumni fundraising is the practice of engaging former students of your institution to donate money to support its programs, initiatives, and overall financial health. Alumni fundraising relies on building and maintaining strong relationships with alumni, often through communications, events and personal outreach. The funds raised can be used for scholarships, facility improvements, research, and other critical needs of the institution.

The landscape of alumni giving today

With constantly evolving preferences, a migration to digital-first communication and an uncertain economy, it’s hard for advancement teams to know where and how to engage alumni to give back. We set out to take a pulse of alumni engagement and giving today, with results summarized in our 2024 Alumni Trends Report. 

What the insights told us about alumni giving was surprising: engagement is the key to philanthropy. Over 93% of alumni who had previously given to their institution engage via their institution’s alumni platform. What’s more, alums who participate in mentorship are 209% more likely to donate to their alma mater. So it’s clear – engagement correlates with giving. 

Keep reading for best practices, tips and creative ways to engage, solicit and steward alumni donors. 

10 steps to running a successful alumni fundraising campaign

Set clear goals

The first step to succeeding in any fundraising initiative is to set clear and measurable goals. What do you aim to achieve by engaging alumni in your fundraising campaign? Tie a specific target to the fundraiser, whether it’s a financial goal, engagement level, or funding for a specific project. Make sure your goals align with the rest of the institution. Document the goals so all involved teams have visibility and are working towards the same outcomes. 

Understand your alumni base

You can’t engage your alumni in fundraising efforts without first understanding what they care about, how they prefer to engage and how they give. First, get a high-level understanding of alumni today by researching industry trends, peer benchmarks and institutional metrics. 

Then, dig a little deeper to get a clear picture of your current alumni base. Run surveys through your alumni platform, and create segments based on factors like graduation year, major, interests and past involvement. You’ll use these segments to tailor your outreach and messaging.

Build a strong team

A campaign is only as strong as its team. Your team should be a mix of current alumni and students who volunteer their time to the campaign, as well as staff and faculty responsible for the campaign outcomes. Assign specific roles and responsibilities to each member of the team to establish clear expectations for everyone involved. 

Plan your fundraising campaign

The next step is planning the fundraising campaign. Develop a compelling theme and consistent messaging that aligns with the goals. Here are some tips for coming up with a creating and compelling fundraising campaign theme:

• Draw inspiration from peer institutions and nonprofit organizations
• Lean into your institution’s brand and identity
• Inspire action with a bold title or slogan
• Get creative with campaign branding and visuals
• Choose a “shareable” slogan – something that invites curiosity and interest
• Create a hashtag to boost engagement and virality

Once you’ve nailed down your theme and messaging, lay out your campaign timeline with specific due dates and milestones. Tip: Find a sample campaign schedule in our giving day handbook. 

Choose the right fundraising mix

Finding the right mix of fundraising tactics and channels is essential to a successful campaign. Based on the alumni data you gathered previously about engagement and giving preferences, determine how, where and when you’ll engage alumni in the campaign. Your fundraising mix should account for digital and in-person engagement opportunities and consider alumni segments. 

For example, Gen X alumni more than other generations prefer to receive video communications from their alma mater. Additionally, alumni who participate in mentorship are more than 200% more likely to donate to their institution. 

Here are fundraising tactics you might consider using in your campaign:

• Digital fundraising platform for crowdfunding and giving day campaigns
• In-person and virtual events
• Social media
• Peer-to-peer text
• Video messaging
• Ambassador phone calls
• Alumni fundraising letters and direct mail

Use alumni giving tools & tech

Alumni today expect a digital-first, omnichannel experience. Make sure your tech stack is equipped with the tools and functionality you need to give alumni a seamless giving experience. 

Select a digital fundraising platform that incorporates everything you need to create an easy and engaging giving experience for both first-time and recurring alumni donors. Your digital giving platform should be fully branded to your institution’s campaign, offer giving tools like alumni gift matching, digital wallets, “abandoned cart” emails and retargeting to help you capture every dollar available. 

It should also integrate with omnichannel engagement tools like video and text messaging to reach alumni where they are before, during and after the campaign. 

Motivate & engage alumni donors

Now that you have a fully baked fundraising campaign complete with a timeline and techstack, it’s time to kick alumni engagement into high gear. Engagement is a core pillar of alumni giving – your alumni should feel inspired and excited to give back to their alma mater. 

Here are a few ways to inspire alumni to give:

• Offer incentives like event tickets or exclusive merchandise
• Share impactful stories about how their donations make a difference
• Encourage matching gifts from employers to double the impact
• Keep alumni informed throughout the year about the institution’s achievements and upcoming projects
• Organize exclusive events like class reunions, galas and networking dinners to build a sense of community and belonging
• Leverage your fundraising platform to host giving challenges and foster friendly competition

Monitor and evaluate

Once you’ve kicked off your campaign, it’s important to track progress and evaluate, pivoting or optimizing when appropriate. 

During the campaign: Review the status and metrics of the campaign as it’s running, whether it’s a single day of giving or a months- or years-long initiative. Analyze key performance indicators like donations, dollars raised, and donors week over week to identify any unexpected declines and create a plan to mitigate it for the following week.  

After the campaign: Once the campaign is over, pull numbers to determine whether you hit your goals. Identify areas of success – i.e., exceeding dollars raised – as well as areas for deeper analysis and improvement – i.e., low recurring donor rate. This will help you when planning for next year’s campaign.

Celebrate the wins

Congratulations! The campaign is over and it was a huge success. Spread the word about the incredible impact your alumni and other donors made. 

Use your exclusive alumni community to share the specific impact your alumni had on the entire campaign (dollars raised, challenges, goals hit, engagement, etc.). Use video to send inspiring impact stories and say thank you to all who participated in any capacity to your campaign. Don’t forget to showcase campaign successes beyond your community through social media, email and other channels. 

15 creative alumni fundraising ideas

Alumni giving starts with engagement. An alumni platform is the perfect place to form a welcoming community, drive engagement and inspire action. Use your alumni platform to rally donations and participation with these 15 creative tactics.  

1. Virtual run/walk: Organize a virtual 5K run or walk where participants can join from anywhere. Provide a platform for tracking progress and sharing photos.

2. Online auction: Host an online auction with items donated by alumni or local businesses. Items can range from memorabilia to experiences.

3. Cooking class: Partner with a renowned chef who is an alum or a local celebrity to host an online cooking class. Participants can pay to join the live session.

4. Talent show: Organize a virtual talent show featuring alumni performances. Charge an entry fee or offer voting for donations.

5. Webinar series: Offer a series of webinars led by successful alumni on various topics of interest. Charge for access or ask for donations during the sessions.

6. Trivia night: Host a virtual trivia night with teams of alumni competing. Charge an entry fee for teams and offer prizes.

7. Silent disco: Organize a silent disco where alumni can join from their homes, with music streamed through an app. Sell tickets for access to the event.

8. Art auction: Showcase and auction off artwork created by alumni or local artists. An online gallery and auction platform can be used for this purpose.

9. Gala dinner: Host a virtual or hybrid gala dinner with entertainment, keynote speakers, and an online auction. Sell tickets and offer sponsorship opportunities.

10. Online book club: Start an alumni book club with a subscription fee. Include author Q&A sessions or discussions led by experts.

11. Wine tasting: Partner with a winery to offer a virtual wine tasting event. Participants can purchase a wine tasting kit to join the event.

12. Sports tournament: Organize a virtual or in-person sports tournament, such as golf, tennis, or eSports. Charge entry fees and offer prizes.

13. Networking event: Host a virtual networking event where alumni can connect and share experiences. Charge a registration fee for participation.

14. Charity concert: Organize a virtual concert featuring alumni musicians or local bands. Sell tickets or ask for donations during the live stream.

15. Photo contest: Run a photo contest with categories like “Best Alumni Memory” or “Most Creative Home Office.” Charge an entry fee and offer prizes for winners.

The best alumni giving platform

Gravyty empowers schools to build a thriving, supportive network to fuel their missions with features like automated mentoring, job and internship board, embedded giving forms, custom newsletters, dedicated affinity groups, and built-in video messaging. 

Interested in taking a tour of Gravyty’s end-to-end donor engagement and fundraising platform? Contact us today.