Announcement

Aaron Riley joins Almabase as VP of Sales

Aaron Riley joins Almabase as VP of Sales

By

Manasa

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April 29, 2025

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Almabase is thrilled to welcome Aaron Riley as its new Vice President of Sales. With a decade of experience leading high-growth SaaS sales organizations, Aaron brings deep expertise in scaling revenue, enabling teams, and delivering enterprise value to customers.

Aaron joins Almabase at a pivotal moment. As the company continues its mission to empower advancement teams with modern, unified digital tools, Aaron’s leadership will play a crucial role in accelerating growth and strengthening customer impact.

Aaron Riley

Over the years, Aaron has led sales at multiple fast-scaling technology companies. At Cirrus Insight, he helped drive growth from $3M to $12M in ARR. At PerfectServe, he joined at around $30M ARR and contributed to significant growth. Most recently, he served as VP of Sales at ThankView and EverTrue, leading revenue expansion from $5M to approximately $35M in ARR. His proven ability to scale teams and revenue makes him a valuable addition as Almabase charts its course toward the next growth milestone.

Fostering Lifelong Alumni Communities

Aaron joins Almabase with a shared passion for building enduring alumni connections. As he puts it:

“Community has always been a big part of my life. My alma mater gave me a strong connection through athletics, but as I moved through my professional career, I realized how much more alumni communities can offer. In today’s world, building those connections isn’t easy—but Almabase makes it possible. That mission really resonated with me, and I’m excited to help institutions create communities that add value long after graduation.”

This commitment aligns perfectly with Almabase’s mission to provide a unified platform that simplifies communication, event management, and donor campaigns—giving advancement teams the tools they need to cultivate vibrant, lifelong networks.

A Customer-Centered Vision for the Future

In his new role, Aaron will focus on ensuring that Almabase continues to deliver the most personalized and modern constituent experiences in the industry.

“Almabase has an incredible team, a strong culture, and the best product suite in the market,” he notes. “Over the next 6–12 months, our focus is simple: make our customers proud of the modern, personalized experiences their constituents receive when interacting with the organization.”

With a product that already empowers hundreds of institutions to run digital engagement, fundraising, and event campaigns from a single platform, Aaron is poised to deepen Almabase’s value to advancement teams.

Strategic Blueprint for Sustainable Growth

At the heart of Aaron’s approach is a belief that great outcomes start with great people. His experience leading successful sales organizations has taught him that talent, enablement, and a sharp customer focus are the foundation of any scalable system.

“True growth comes from bringing the right people together, empowering them to succeedexcel, and making customer needs the centerpiece of every decision,” says Aaron.

He plans to prioritize sales process optimization, proactive enablement, and aligning closely with institutional goals—ensuring that every engagement delivers measurable impact for Almabase’s partners.

Cultural Fit That Goes Beyond Skills

Aaron was equally drawn to the culture and values at Almabase. In his first conversations with co-founder and CEO Kalyan Varma, he found a shared belief in transforming how fundraising and alumni engagement should work in the modern world.

“It wasn’t just about building great software; it was about changing an entire approach to alumni and donor engagement,” says Aaron. “Combined with Almabase’s commitment to care deeply for both colleagues and customers, it was clear this team leads with both heart and ambition.”

That alignment—both in values and vision—made it clear that this was the right next step in his journey.

Looking Ahead

As Almabase moves into its next phase of growth, Aaron’s leadership will be instrumental in scaling operations and deepening relationships with advancement teams. His arrival strengthens Almabase’s commitment to helping educational institutions engage alumni meaningfully and grow donor participation through data-driven, personalized experiences.

Kalyan Varma, Co-Founder & CEO of Almabase, shares,

“Aaron brings exactly the kind of experience and leadership we need right now. His track record of scaling revenue, deep understanding of enterprise sales, and alignment with our mission make him an ideal fit. We’re excited to have him guide our next chapter of growth.”

Aaron began his journey with Almabase in April 2025.

Almabase is thrilled to welcome Aaron Riley as its new Vice President of Sales. With a decade of experience leading high-growth SaaS sales organizations, Aaron brings deep expertise in scaling revenue, enabling teams, and delivering enterprise value to customers.

Aaron joins Almabase at a pivotal moment. As the company continues its mission to empower advancement teams with modern, unified digital tools, Aaron’s leadership will play a crucial role in accelerating growth and strengthening customer impact.

Aaron Riley

Over the years, Aaron has led sales at multiple fast-scaling technology companies. At Cirrus Insight, he helped drive growth from $3M to $12M in ARR. At PerfectServe, he joined at around $30M ARR and contributed to significant growth. Most recently, he served as VP of Sales at ThankView and EverTrue, leading revenue expansion from $5M to approximately $35M in ARR. His proven ability to scale teams and revenue makes him a valuable addition as Almabase charts its course toward the next growth milestone.

Fostering Lifelong Alumni Communities

Aaron joins Almabase with a shared passion for building enduring alumni connections. As he puts it:

“Community has always been a big part of my life. My alma mater gave me a strong connection through athletics, but as I moved through my professional career, I realized how much more alumni communities can offer. In today’s world, building those connections isn’t easy—but Almabase makes it possible. That mission really resonated with me, and I’m excited to help institutions create communities that add value long after graduation.”

This commitment aligns perfectly with Almabase’s mission to provide a unified platform that simplifies communication, event management, and donor campaigns—giving advancement teams the tools they need to cultivate vibrant, lifelong networks.

A Customer-Centered Vision for the Future

In his new role, Aaron will focus on ensuring that Almabase continues to deliver the most personalized and modern constituent experiences in the industry.

“Almabase has an incredible team, a strong culture, and the best product suite in the market,” he notes. “Over the next 6–12 months, our focus is simple: make our customers proud of the modern, personalized experiences their constituents receive when interacting with the organization.”

With a product that already empowers hundreds of institutions to run digital engagement, fundraising, and event campaigns from a single platform, Aaron is poised to deepen Almabase’s value to advancement teams.

Strategic Blueprint for Sustainable Growth

At the heart of Aaron’s approach is a belief that great outcomes start with great people. His experience leading successful sales organizations has taught him that talent, enablement, and a sharp customer focus are the foundation of any scalable system.

“True growth comes from bringing the right people together, empowering them to succeedexcel, and making customer needs the centerpiece of every decision,” says Aaron.

He plans to prioritize sales process optimization, proactive enablement, and aligning closely with institutional goals—ensuring that every engagement delivers measurable impact for Almabase’s partners.

Cultural Fit That Goes Beyond Skills

Aaron was equally drawn to the culture and values at Almabase. In his first conversations with co-founder and CEO Kalyan Varma, he found a shared belief in transforming how fundraising and alumni engagement should work in the modern world.

“It wasn’t just about building great software; it was about changing an entire approach to alumni and donor engagement,” says Aaron. “Combined with Almabase’s commitment to care deeply for both colleagues and customers, it was clear this team leads with both heart and ambition.”

That alignment—both in values and vision—made it clear that this was the right next step in his journey.

Looking Ahead

As Almabase moves into its next phase of growth, Aaron’s leadership will be instrumental in scaling operations and deepening relationships with advancement teams. His arrival strengthens Almabase’s commitment to helping educational institutions engage alumni meaningfully and grow donor participation through data-driven, personalized experiences.

Kalyan Varma, Co-Founder & CEO of Almabase, shares,

“Aaron brings exactly the kind of experience and leadership we need right now. His track record of scaling revenue, deep understanding of enterprise sales, and alignment with our mission make him an ideal fit. We’re excited to have him guide our next chapter of growth.”

Aaron began his journey with Almabase in April 2025.

Blackbaud, the leading provider of software for powering social impact, and Almabase, the digital-first alumni engagement solution, have announced the expansion of their partnership to the education sectors of Canada and the United Kingdom. The partnership will provide institutions with a modern, digital-first solution to improve constituent data, drive self-serve engagement, and boost event participation.

A Unified Vision

The partnership aligns with Blackbaud’s commitment to customer-centric innovation across digital engagement, Advancement CRM, and financials.

“Partners bring integrated capabilities that extend capabilities and outcomes for Blackbaud customers. We are thrilled that Almabase’s offering, integrated with Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® and leveraging Blackbaud’s best-in-class payment solution, Blackbaud Merchant Services™, is now available to even more of our customers around the world.”

- Liz Price, Sr. Director of Global Partners at Blackbaud

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