Higher-education institutions have experienced record levels of donations in the 2017-2018 year. However, the reason for this is not what you might expect. These campaign successes were driven primarily by major gifts, and alumni engagement at large has declined, particularly in comparison to recent years (source: CAE’s 2017 release). We wanted to know why. So, we took an in-depth look at the industry to understand what successful development departments were doing differently to find and engage with past alumni, ultimately increasing contributions.
Contact information for alumni changes frequently, and the complexity of online communities shifts even faster. This can pose problems for your development team as new communities rely more heavily on these online networks, as younger alumni change their phone numbers and addresses. Many organizations have reported this trend, noting that connecting and engaging with alumni through traditional means poses an ever-increasing challenge. Moving forward, major gifts will likely remain the largest percentage of the donations pool, and managing the low contributing majority will present an ever greater challenge. This will impact organizations of all sizes, whether their alumni total five thousand or five-hundred thousand.
The most successful campaigns have accepted and adapted to this complexity. Not only do they utilize social media platforms to promote alumni engagement, their network of alumni information is consistently and accurately curated. Additionally, these universities and colleges focus their intention and efforts on community building, rather than simple direct outreach.
This means not only is aggregating accurate, clean data important, but utilizing it in an effective, efficient way is critical. The institutions who build large annual giving campaigns outside of the major gifts departments recognize the importance of not only reaching out to their alumni, but consistently arming themselves with the best and most accurate information available.
Accurate data helps the development team to navigate the shifting landscape of alumni relations, building and fostering relationships, saving time and resource, and increasing donation returns.
Alumni Unite’s verified data solutions provide a thorough and accurate picture of each alum, allowing you to grow and connect with your community. While past alumni feel passionately about the institutions that educated them, no contributions can come from the disconnected and lost. We bridge the gap between you and your lost alumni, combining unparalleled accuracy with all the information you need to conduct a successful campaign.
