how to get alumni to donate

by Kelsi O'Connell II 6 min read

How to Increase Alumni Donations to Your Fundraiser
  1. Recent alumni are familiar with crowdfunding.
  2. Host a fundraising event for alumni.
  3. Foster a genuine connection to your cause.
  4. Spotlight shared experiences.
  5. Appeal to their interests.
  6. Re-engage with alumni on social media.
  7. Make giving easy.
  8. Cultivate long-term relationships.
Apr 23, 2021

How can I get more alumni to donate to my event?

Mar 27, 2018 · How to Increase Alumni Donations to Your Fundraiser Recent alumni are familiar with crowdfunding. In How to Pay for College, we show students how to use crowdfunding to pay... Host a fundraising event for alumni. Beyond immediate alumni donations, the goal of fundraising events is to remind... ...

How do alumni give to development offices?

Jul 08, 2017 · Luckily, there are five alumni engagement tactics your college can bank on time and again: Use prospect research to tailor alumni outreach. Use wealth screening to determine gift ranges for alumni. Host an alumni-only university fundraising event. Create (and promote!) an alumni matching gift program.

Should you ask alumni to give large or small gifts?

Feb 18, 2015 · Alumni have to contact one department for their transcripts, another for career services, and another for financial issues. Development officers are perceived as just another cog in the machine. If universities want to succeed in converting alumni into donors, they must deal with the unique circumstances of these relationships.

Why donate to young alumni organizations?

Advice on how to get alumni to donate more. Our chapter has a lot of rich alumni if anyone has advice on how to get them to donate that would be great. 0 comments. 100% Upvoted.

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1. Market to your recent alumni strategically

If there’s one thing recent alumni can’t stand, it’s advertisements. One place this can be seen is in the rise of ad-free television streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, or with the growing use of ad blockers online.

2. Adjust your alumni fundraising expectations

For younger alumni, one of the greatest barriers that stands between themselves and donation is their modest giving capacity.

3. Make giving convenient for recent alumni

While convenience is key when engaging with any donor, this is especially true for recent alumni. Compared to their parents, these donors are more likely to favor online giving opportunities.

4. Maintain relevant donor data for recent alumni

The key to perfecting your alumni fundraising strategy for recent grads? Through every interaction you have with these young supporters, your nonprofit should be collecting relevant donor data to improve your engagement tactics in the future.

5. Maximize recent alumni engagement through social media

When devising your organization’s engagement strategy for recent alumni, the first thing your marketing team probably discussed was how to better connect with recent grads on social media.

How to maximize alumni charitable giving?

One way to maximize the impact of your alumni’s charitable giving? Automate the matching gift process! Consider adopting matching gift software to help guide donors through the gift matching process to ensure that their contribution is doubled by their employer.

What is an alumni association?

Alumni Association. A typical alumni association is comprised of a group of university graduates. These groups, often categorized by city, state, or region, are responsible for hosting events and creating publications, surrounding the college’s interests and morals.

Why is it important to share pictures of alumni?

It’s incredibly important for alumni associations fundraising for their universities to share pictures of their school and their engagements or projects. Photographs will help donors build a connection to your cause and see your passion.

When you post updates regarding your campaign, your fundraiser stays relevant?

When you post updates regarding your campaign, your fundraiser stays relevant. Keep in mind, donors are more likely to donate if you’re close to reaching your goal. Plus, you can publicly thank and acknowledge your donors, which shows them that you care about more than the money.

Can students fundraise on their own?

If the current students can’t fundraise enough on their own or don’t have the time to, then the class could look to their university’s alumni for help. If the senior class is short of their fundraising goal to fund their senior week, for example, you, as an alumn, can use crowdfunding to cover of some of the expenses.

What do you do as an alum?

As an alum, you’ll have an interest in how your alma mater performs and succeeds. One of your responsibilities may be to fundraise for the university’s new library or biology lab in efforts to better the school.

How to spread information about a campaign?

Social media is the easiest and main way you’ll spread information about your campaign. Use your social profiles to ask for donations, share significant milestones, and thank your donors. The more exposure your fundraiser has, the more contributions you’ll receive!

Nurture Young Alumni

A successful alumni giving program unfolds over decades, not months. This can be a frustrating reality for development departments that want to see results, but only a fraction of your audience is prepared to give now.

Offer More Ways to Help

A great way to cultivate relationships with graduates who aren’t ready to make a donation is to ask them to support the school in other ways. University events frequently require volunteers and this can keep a young alumnus connected with the school and its activities.

Appeal to Their Interests

While the size and number of people at universities can make them seem disjointed, they also allow for a proliferation of academic and extracurricular groups. Tapping into these more tight-knit communities is one way that development officers can make more personal appeals.

Win the Minds of Donors: Download the Fundraising Psychology Guide

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Why Is Alumni Giving So Important?

Trends and Statistics in Alumni Giving

  • As you already know, alumni giving depends on multiple donor factors and current trends, so it makes sense to keep up with both. The better you understand your alumni giving data and how that works with the current alumni fundraising environment, the better you come up with relevant insights and actionable decisions for future fundraising efforts. Let’s go over a couple of alumni …
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Alumni Fundraising Best Practices

  • After reviewing key alumni giving trends and getting a comprehensive look at some of the important statistics, it’s clear that relationship building personalized to each alumni is key. However, as your alumni base grows, these types of engagements seem almost impossible to tackle. Continue on for some tips to help!
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How Can Prospect Research Help Your Alumni Giving Efforts?

  • Prospect research is a strategy used by many universities that want to better understand their alumni. Using your your alumni database, prospect research will screen each past student based on personal details, giving histories, wealth markers, and philanthropic motivations. These data points represent key metrics that make up an alumni donor. For ...
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