Driving attendance at your alumni events is no easy feat, even for the largest educational institutions. Check out these strategies to boost your headcount!
As a fraternity or sorority leader, you know just how much of an asset your alumni are. Not only are alumni involved in fraternities or sororities more likely to donate, but they also provide in-kind support as well. They make valuable volunteers, can help with recruitment, and provide networking opportunities for current chapter members, so you’ll want to nurture your relationships with them. That’s where alumni events come in.
When you hear that term, you might think of college sports watch parties or a fancy dinner. If these types of gatherings aren’t your chapter’s preference or you want to try something new, don’t worry. Luckily, there’s no one right way to host an alumni event—your chapter has the freedom to make it your own.
However, there are some best practices to follow that will make your alumni event run smoothly. Here are three tips for boosting your alumni event attendance and invoke nostalgia.
Let’s explore how to optimize your alumni events to raise more money and sustain long-term support.
One of the biggest challenges in outreach is hooking your target audience. After all, you have a mere 8 seconds on average to get their attention, which leaves you very little room for error.
The best way to get your alumni interested in attending your events is by writing specific messages that resonate with them. Since your alumni base is likely quite diverse, both in background and interests, it’s difficult to write an email that appeals to all of them. Luckily, you don’t have to.
Segmenting your alumni is a great way of sending targeted messages that pique your alumni’s interests. It’s crucial to keep your data input methods standardized. There are numerous criteria you can use to segment them by, such as:
This is a lot of information to keep on hand for one person, let alone hundreds of your alumni. That’s why fraternity and sorority management software comes in handy during the segmentation process. According to OmegaFi, fraternity and sorority management software is tailor-made to help you store alumni data. Seamlessly send promotional event materials and create segmented mailing lists that will boost registrations.
But be mindful to always include the essential need-to-knows in your materials regardless of how specifically you’re tailoring your message. Start by including your fraternity or sorority’s branding, such as your logo, slogan, and photos of your chapter members in motion. This will not only help your alumni identify who you are, but it’s also likely to bring up great memories from their time in the chapter. Furthermore, personalizing your alumni communications is key. Use mail merge templates to include the alumni’s name on the message, or you could include photos from their time in the chapter.
Though in the past in-person events were the norm, times have rapidly changed. Now, with interactive communications platforms right at our fingertips, you can host events with attendees all over the world without them needing to leave the house. But, if you do have alumni in the area who want to come in person, you can have the best of both worlds with a hybrid event.
Hybrid events are the most flexible and inclusive type of get-togethers you can throw for your alumni. As long as they have an internet connection and a device (which is over 90% of the population), any alumni can attend your event. Here are some great hybrid events to try:
Nobody knows your fraternity or sorority quite like you do, so ask for their input during the planning process. Ask your current members or involved alumni which events were successful in the past, and consider adding a hybrid element to it going forward. Adding a hybrid component will broaden the possibilities and allows you to incorporate the best elements of both event types.
It’s easy to forget that your alumni want to support your current members and shape your future. But, it’s up to your chapter to put on attractive events that encourage alumni to get involved. Catch their attention by offering opportunities and rewards for giving that they can’t get elsewhere. Some exclusive items include:
Whether you’re throwing an auction complete with a paddle raise or a casual peer-to-peer event, you should incentivize your alumni to become recurring donors. Part of this process is offering them useful prizes as a reward for their support, so make a concerted effort to access the most desirable items and experiences around.
Chances are, your alumni joined your chapter for lifelong friendships and to make an impact on their community. Leverage this fact by reminding them of the great work you’re doing and the amazing people they’ve met through the organization. After your event, be sure to show your appreciation for their support and connect them with awesome opportunities. They’ll appreciate that you value their membership, even after graduation.
Fred Maglione, Chief Executive Officer
With primary responsibility for leading the day-to-day operations of the entire OmegaFi Company, Fred’s duties vary from one moment to the next. Advising nonprofit organizations on operational efficiency, expanding payment processing solutions, developing database management systems, raising money and enhancing our customer’s experience are all part of his job. As an attorney with nearly 20 years of experience in the nonprofit management industry, Fred has earned the prestigious designation of "Certified Fund Raising Executive" from CFRE International. He voluntarily serves as the House Corporation President for the Epsilon Sigma Chapter of Alpha Tau Omega, and is licensed to practice law in the states of Florida and Georgia. Away from work Fred, enjoys time with his wife and their two energetic sons. As often as possible, they travel to visit their extended family scattered throughout the United States. Fred also finds time to cheer for his favorite football team – The Florida State Seminoles!
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See how modern advancement teams bring alumni engagement and fundraising together.
Back in 2020, advancement teams across the country had to shift to rethink their programming to find unique ways of engaging alumni and donors. Fundraising professionals have since leveraged virtual platforms to engage donors through more accessible programs and events. With the fall spirit of giving upon us, now's the right time to start thinking about ways to boost donations at your Fall Giving Day 2024.
Giving Day is a powerful online fundraising campaign conducted for 24 hours with the purpose of raising money and finding new donors. Giving Days provide alumni with the ideal opportunity to serve their alma mater by helping the institution in a time of need.
As the pandemic continues, it's evident that Giving Day 2026 will be unlike any of the previous traditional Giving Days. With advancement teams shifting their focus to raising money online at their fall Giving Day and upcoming Giving Tuesday, here are 5 innovative strategies to help them get started.
It's always a best practice to start promoting your Giving Day as early as possible and build-up to the day of the event. While you can't invite your alumni to campus to let them know about your fall Giving Day, countdown posts on social media are a great way to spread the word.
Instead of merely creating posters or event notifications at intervals like, say, 15, 10, and 5 days before the Giving Day, think of ways to incentivize donors to participate. For instance, along with every countdown post, you can also share testimonials of past donors on social media. Seeing a friend believe in your institution’s cause can be a strong motivator for more alumni to donate.
Including photos and videos of how your institution has utilized funds raised at past fundraising events is another great way to motivate potential donors. Scranton Preparatory School's fundraising campaign is an excellent example of how they leveraged countdowns to their benefit.
As the pandemic forces us to be confined to our homes, now more than ever, is the perfect time for your institution to invest greatly in building and growing an online community that your constituents can benefit from.
While an online community is great for driving engagement, not all potential donors will react the same way to your fundraising asks. For instance, an alum who's been working as an investment banker for 10 years might be more receptive to your fundraising ask this Giving Day than a young alum who's just graduated college and is still reeling under the pressure of repaying his student loan.
Personalizing your fundraising asks, therefore, plays a crucial role in building a unique connection with each constituent and paving the way for lasting relationships. Check out Archbishop Riordan High School's campaign that encouraged alumni to contribute towards improving their school campus.
Use dynamic segmentation to segregate your constituents based on class year, location, donation history, interests, etc. and personalize your emails right from the first message to the final thank you.
While promoting your Giving Day via in-person events does not look likely this fall, an increasing number of advancement teams are contemplating virtual events.
In the past couple of years, the industry has seen a ton of successful virtual events being implemented by institutions, big and small. Many have seen a steady rise in participation at virtual events because they're easily accessible irrespective of location or time. Virtual events, therefore, can help you tap into a wider network of donors and be a valuable addition to your marketing plan for Giving Day 2026.
As an added tip, you can use virtual event management software to engage alumni and drive participation at your fall Giving Day 2026.
As online engagement becomes pivotal for a successful Giving Day campaign in 2026, it is equally important to make the best use of the channels at your disposal.
Social media is the ideal place to meet and connect with new people, with platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook enabling you to explore potential donors. Calvert Hall College's picture slideshow on Facebook went viral to help them boost their fundraising campaign.
While you may already be connected with some of your donors on shared groups, use the network of your existing supporters to influence new donors. In addition to social media, emails and personal one-on-one calls are popular channels employed by most institutions for fundraising asks. If you are worried that alumni might ignore your email requests, here are some tips for you.
While driving more donors online may be your priority, also ensure that the online giving experience is smooth and flexible.
Now that you have done your bit to promote the campaign, how can you leverage your supporters to maximize the impact? Your donors are the ones who can carry your fundraising campaign forward by spreading the word through their networks.
You can find ways to make social sharing easy for donors and create more incentives for them to influence others in their network. For example, encourage your supporters to broadcast and share their contributions on social media. Offer them a customized template and prompt them to share this message on social media right after they've completed a gift.
You can also create a filter for Instagram or Facebook that donors can apply to their profile photos. Seeing their peers support their alma mater's cause can act as a strong driving factor for other constituents to contribute to the same cause. Here are other ways to build stronger online communities in today's times.
Gamification techniques like leaderboards, challenges, and tributes are some additional great ways for invoking a healthy sense of competition amongst various constituent groups and amplifying the impact of gifts at your Giving Day. Need more information on how to run crowdfunding campaigns? Learn more here.
Planning a Giving Day has never been an easy task, but, with the pandemic leaving a majority of institutions around the world with a severe financial crisis, Giving Day 2026 is a big opportunity.
5 Fundraising Tips for Fall Giving Day in 2026
As institutions across the country start preparing for their Fall Giving Day 2026 and Giving Tuesday campaigns, here are 5 fundraising strategies to help them engage donors and boost donations this year.
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Nonprofit and university websites have made significant strides in the past several years to improve the accessibility of their websites. Web accessibility means that your organization’s website pages, including your online donation page, are usable and legible for all visitors.
Making your donation page more accessible involves following accessibility guidelines, but it also includes your efforts to make your donation form more visible and recognizable across your website and other digital platforms.
Specifically, we’re going to look at four ways to craft a more accessible donation page:
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Offering supporters an accessible, easy-to-use donation process is the first step of your overarching donor stewardship plan. When your donation form is easy to use, donors will face fewer barriers to giving, providing them with a positive experience.
The first step in making your organization’s online donation page more accessible is following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These are universally-recognized regulations for creating web content that’s usable for all.
When it comes to nonprofit and university web accessibility, these guidelines provide a clear checklist to review when updating your organization’s website. Here are just a few of the features your online donation page should include, according to the WCAG:
A WebAIM study of the top 1,000,000 home pages found that the most common accessibility errors include low-contrast text, missing alternative text for images, and empty links. The study points out that addressing just a few of these most common errors would significantly improve accessibility across the web.
The same concept is true for your organization’s donation page. Just a few quick updates can dramatically improve the accessibility of the page, making it available to a wider audience.
Another aspect of making your donation form more accessible is ensuring that it’s usable on all devices. This includes desktops, tablets, and mobile phones.
Bloomerang’s guide to donation page best practices recommends the following tips for creating a mobile-friendly donation form:
With a mobile-friendly donation page, your audience members can give online whenever they want without having to pull out their laptops.
Calls to action (CTAs) are links, buttons, and other digital elements you use to direct traffic to your online donation page. CTAs make your donation form easier to find, reducing the time required to submit an online donation.
Your digital fundraising strategy should include a variety of CTAs across your online marketing platforms, including:
Use eye-catching colors and large font sizes to make your donation page CTAs stand out. Also, make sure any buttons you create follow the recommended WCAG color contrast guidelines.
You can also use strategic wording to vary your CTAs. For example, instead of saying “Donate Now” on every CTA, you might say “Show Your Support” or “Leave a Legacy.” This catches donors’ attention and helps draw the connection between their donations and your organization’s ability to make a positive impact.
Supporters will feel more comfortable filling out your donation form when it’s fully branded to your organization. Including your organization’s branding makes it clear that donors’ gifts will go directly to your organization.
Familiar branding makes your donation page more trustworthy for supporters, especially first-time donors who aren’t as familiar with your organization’s donation process.
For example, your donation form should feature your organization’s recognizable:
Ensure that these branding elements adhere to accessibility standards. For instance, make sure your font is large and legible, use simple language in your written copy, and ensure there’s sufficient color contrast between your brand’s foreground and background colors. Include accessibility policies in your web style guide so that all of your online branding is uniform and accessible.
Creating an accessible donation page can improve your organization’s fundraising results for any campaign, from your annual fundraising efforts to your giving day and more. Your accessible donation page will make your giving options available to a broader audience, creating a more user-friendly experience for your supporters.
4 Strategies to Make Your Donation Page More Accessible
Making your donation page more accessible ensures all supporters can easily access and fill it out. Incorporate these four donation page accessibility tips.
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December 13, 2022
12 minutes
Peer-to-peer fundraising is a powerful social giving tool that many educational institutions have employed to increase donations while expanding their donor base. Through these campaigns, schools of all sizes empower their donors to raise money on their behalf.
Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns have become a mainstay of fundraising for higher education causes and charities because they tap into the power of your donors’ social connections. Plus, they’re extremely flexible and easily adapted to today’s virtual and hybrid fundraising landscapes.
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Schools are especially well-positioned to benefit from peer-to-peer fundraising since they have large communities of alumni, current students, and family networks who have emotional connections to their mission and the overall institution. These supporters are also likely to share your campaign online, and the social proof of their support encourages their wider social networks to get involved, too.
This guide will cover six key strategies that higher ed institutions need to succeed with peer-to-peer fundraising. But first, let’s review how these campaigns work.
There are a few core steps to executing peer-to-peer fundraisers. Every campaign will follow this general structure:
Within this easy-to-launch campaign process, there are plenty of other steps, tools, and strategies that you’ll need to succeed. Although your supporters are doing the actual fundraising, these campaigns aren’t hands-off. Use these six strategies to help you reach (and exceed) your campaign goals:
Providing an easy giving experience is one of the most important things you can do to drive supporter engagement and increase donations. The fundraising software you use directly impacts the donors’ experiences with your campaign.
Peer-to-peer fundraising software should allow you to:
By leveraging dedicated tools designed specifically for peer-to-peer fundraising, launching and managing your campaign and individual giving pages can be easy. Using peer-to-peer fundraising software that offers robust features, mobile-optimized giving pages, offline donation tracking, real-time reporting, and CRM integrations allows you to easily launch new campaigns and meet and exceed your annual fundraising goals.
Before launching your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, you’ll need to create a core campaign page. The next obvious step would be to spread the word online, allowing anyone to get involved to help you fundraise. While this approach definitely works, we also recommend taking a more strategic approach by actively recruiting ambassadors for peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns.
Fundraising ambassadors are your most passionate and well-connected supporters. Rather than hope they’ll join your campaign, personally reach out to them in advance! Ambassadors can help your campaign by:
This strategy is particularly effective for peer-to-peer campaigns leading up to an annual gala or other large-scale events. Just be sure to provide your ambassadors (and all of your volunteer fundraisers) with the resources they need to succeed.
When you prepare to launch a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, it’s important to offer training opportunities to your supporters. Most supporters might not have a ton of experience as fundraisers, so getting them set up on the platform and providing them with resources will boost results and engagement. This is particularly important for ambassadors, who you may work with to set specific fundraising and event sign-up goals.
To make fundraising easy for these supporters, be sure to provide the following resources:
In order to reach your institution’s fundraising goal, your supporters must communicate to their networks in the way you need them to while offering them a way to put their own personal touches on the campaign. Training and support are also essential for making your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign a positive experience for your fundraisers. This will help ensure that the campaign pulls double-duty—raising donations and boosting alumni relations.
While your students may be online constantly, it’s a good practice to diversify your fundraising campaign’s promotional strategies to create maximum reach and appeal to a wide range of donors.
Donor and alumni networks consist of different generations, so you and your volunteer fundraisers will need to meet all of them where they are.
According to the OneCause guide to peer-to-peer fundraising, this means using a mix of traditional and modern marketing methods, including:
The various approaches you and your fundraisers use should be tailored to your donor audience to maximize impact. If you’re trying to reach a broad range of alumni and donors, you should use outlets that will help you reach a variety of age and location demographics. But if your fundraising campaign is mainly geared toward younger alumni, focusing on email and social media (and forgoing expensive direct mail) can be a smarter way to focus your efforts.
It’s helpful at this stage to review the performance of your previous fundraising campaigns. What marketing tactics worked best to engage particular donor segments? Use these insights to guide your new promotional strategy, and encourage your volunteer to rely on those outlets as well.
Peer-to-peer fundraisers work well with events, and you have tons of flexible options. Organizations often host a range of kickoff events, mid-campaign gatherings, and grand finale events like walkathons or galas for their fundraising campaigns. The rise of virtual fundraising events has opened up even more opportunities to efficiently plan and host a variety of events.
Take some time early in the planning process to brainstorm a few options based on the scale of your campaign. As you’re brainstorming, keep these top of mind:
Pairing your peer-to-peer fundraiser with an event or two can be an impactful way to bring your campaign full circle. Using peer-to-peer fundraising software that’s part of a broader suite of fundraising tools, including registration and virtual event features, makes it easy to diversify all of your future campaigns with a variety of events and donor engagement options.
Who isn’t motivated by a little friendly competition? Donors love to be recognized for their contributions, and your institution can benefit from leveraging gamification tools throughout your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign.
Classic gamification tools include:
Gamification and goal-setting are especially important if you’ve recruited fundraising ambassadors for your campaign. Give them plenty of support and specific goals to reach. This will help them better motivate their audiences to give. During your grand finale event, honor your fundraising ambassadors, have them complete fun challenges, and reward your top fundraiser.
And don’t forget that gamification and add-on strategies can help to boost your donations in more direct ways, too. Try implementing a matching donation challenge during which a corporate partner matches all incoming donations. Or challenge your fundraisers to see who can secure the most employer-matched gifts overall through any corporate philanthropy programs that donors may be eligible for—more on that in the next section.
Meanwhile, appended employer information can help you identify more opportunities among your alumni and guide your matching gift strategy during the campaign.
Peer-to-peer fundraising isn’t just about tapping into your alumni and student networks—it’s also about unlocking the extended networks they’re connected to. One powerful and often overlooked strategy is to leverage corporate giving programs, such as matching gifts and volunteer programs, to amplify peer-led efforts.
After all, many companies offer matching gift programs, where they’ll match donations their employees make to eligible nonprofits. This can double—or even triple—the impact of every peer-to-peer gift. Encourage your fundraisers to check if their employers (or their donors’ employers) offer these programs. Better yet, embed a matching gift search tool into your campaign pages or emails so supporters can find their company’s guidelines in seconds.
In addition to matching gifts, corporate volunteer grants are another valuable opportunity. Many companies reward volunteer hours with financial donations. If your peer-to-peer participants are also volunteering (for example, by hosting events, organizing campaigns, or participating in service projects), their employers may provide funding in recognition of that time.
To make the most of these opportunities, consider using an employer appends tool to identify where your supporters work. These resources can fill in employment information gaps in your donor database, helping you target the right individuals with corporate giving messaging.
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Peer-to-peer fundraising has proven to be one of the most flexible and effective ways to reach donors in recent years. For higher ed institutions with a large alumni community, launching a campaign that capitalizes on all those connections is a win-win: more donations to support your work and strengthened donor relationships.
Study up on these tips and other expert peer-to-peer fundraising best practices, equip your team with the right tools, and be prepared to help your volunteer fundraisers promote your campaign. You’ll be reaching your goals in no time!
Peer-To-Peer Fundraising in Higher Ed: 7 Proven Strategies for 2026
Peer-to-peer fundraising is a powerful way to tap into your institution’s network of alumni and donors. Learn how to get started with these 6 top strategies in 2025.
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