10 Strategies to Boost Alumni Engagement in 2026

As a higher education professional, you know the value of engaging your alumni and fostering community post-graduation. It can be a challenge, however, not to let urgent fundraising needs skew all of your outreach toward asking for donations.

While you may think you need to prioritize donation appeals over other kinds of outreach to reach your goals, any fundraising consultant will tell you that relationships are the key to fundraising success. Engaging alumni beyond donations is how you build and sustain those crucial relationships and secure more stable funds over time. 

If your current engagement strategy needs attention, consider these four ideas to better connect with alumni and raise more in the long run:

1. Leverage multiple communication channels
2. Host a variety of events
3. Promote volunteer opportunities
4. Provide ongoing support for alumni

When your alumni feel connected to your university, they’ll be more likely to donate. Let’s dive into these strategies to learn how to foster that connection. 

1. Leverage multiple communication channels

To successfully engage your alumni, you first need to know where to reach them. Broaden your outreach efforts and get in front of more alumni by communicating across multiple relevant channels.

Create a multichannel marketing strategy that includes channels such as:

• Direct mail: If you’ve already seen direct mail’s effectiveness for donation appeals, start branching out. Handwritten thank-you notes and physical newsletters often make a greater impression than digital versions. 
• Social media: Social media is the perfect channel for quick announcements, engaging videos, and immediate interactions with alumni. It also provides space for alumni to connect with each other. Create Facebook groups for posting jobs, networking, and general peer-to-peer advice to encourage feelings of community.
• Email: Check metrics like email open rate and click-through rate to see how your current email strategy is performing. To increase engagement with your emails, send out surveys and personalized invitations to events or volunteer opportunities. 
• Newsletters: Alumni newsletters provide great opportunities to share major university-wide updates and celebrate the results of recent fundraising campaigns. Add an alumni recognition section to show your support for different alumni in every newsletter.

As you lay out your strategy and create content calendars, be sure to balance event announcements and fundraising appeals with more casual outreach. Share interesting blog posts, shout out faculty and students, and check in with individual alumni.

2. Host a variety of events

Any event provides a crucial opportunity to interact one-on-one with alumni. From class reunions to holiday parties to networking events, these gatherings allow your university to personally demonstrate what you’re doing with funding, how much you value your alumni, and the benefits of the lifelong community you offer them. 

When choosing alumni engagement events to host, strive for a balance that will interest as many alumni as possible. Host some events geared toward those fresh out of college and others more tailored to older alumni classes. Mix up your event formats, offering in-person, hybrid, and fully virtual attendance options. The more variety, the more chances you have to connect with each and every former student.

It can be tempting to put all of your focus on fundraising events, but make room for solely social events, too. For example, Meyer Partners’ year-end giving guide suggests hosting small events around the holidays to engage donors. These events aren’t focused purely on fundraising, but they do strengthen relationships and therefore increase the likelihood of future alumni giving.

3. Promote volunteer opportunities

Volunteering programs are highly engaging because they give alumni a chance to give back to their alma mater in ways other than donating funds. Develop a variety of volunteer opportunities alumni may like, such as mentoring recent grads in their job search or speaking at a prospective student event. 

To effectively promote these volunteer opportunities, use your donor data to segment alumni based on:

• Location: Consider segmenting alumni by city, state, or even time zone. These groups will help you determine those more likely to attend local in-person events and those you should promote virtual events to instead.
• Event preferences: Note the types of events alumni have attended in the past, then promote volunteer opportunities at similar events to each segment.
• Interests and fields of study: Former English majors may be interested in judging a student poetry competition, while those working in STEM fields would have more interest in volunteering at a science career fair. 
• Volunteering history: Create segments of one-time volunteers, active volunteers, those who’ve previously expressed interest, and those who have yet to volunteer with your university.

Then, tailor outreach to promote applicable opportunities to each group. In your outreach, consider also highlighting corporate volunteer grants. These are programs in which employers make donations on behalf of their employees for volunteering. Ask your volunteers to check if their employers offer these programs, as they could provide impactful funds for your university at no cost to your alumni.

4. Provide ongoing support for alumni

One of the best ways to engage alumni is to remind them of the value you can add to their lives. Just by being a part of your alumni community, they have access to a wealth of benefits they may not even know about. 

Show them the value of your community by emphasizing your university’s ongoing support for them. You can do so in a variety of ways, such as:

• Offering career services after graduation. Services like career counseling, exclusive job board access, and open career fairs are especially important for strengthening relationships with young alumni. 
• Celebrating individual alumni accomplishments. When alumni celebrate a major achievement, cheer them on with social media shoutouts, handwritten letters, and detailed highlights in your newsletter.
• Inviting them to academic events. Invitations to webinars, guest lectures, lunch and learns, and senior research showcases remind alumni of fond memories and facilitate lifelong learning.

These ideas work well as both general engagement and alumni appreciation strategies. Don’t limit these opportunities just to alumni donors. Make sure that every member of your community feels welcome to take advantage of these valuable opportunities.

You know your alumni are worth far more than their donations, so take the time to show them. You may be surprised that these outreach strategies not only improve your stewardship efforts but also help you find new donors in your alumni pool and inspire lifelong involvement with your university.

In the ever-evolving landscape of higher education advancement, the role of technology is more critical than ever. If you’re an advancement professional, you likely rely on various software solutions to manage your database, organize events, raise funds, and engage with your community. It’s a given that having the right technology in place can streamline your day-to-day operations, enhance your effectiveness, and improve constituent engagement and fundraising outcomes.

However, many institutions find themselves grappling with tools that, rather than simplifying processes, introduce complexities that consume valuable time and resources. The irony is palpable: while we invest in technology to solve problems, we often end up spending more time troubleshooting and managing these tools than actually leveraging them to achieve our goals.

This raises a crucial question: Are your current tools truly helping you, or are they slowing you down?

Consider these potential signs of outdated technology:

1. Excessive Manual Work: If your team spends significant time on tasks that could be automated - such as updating contact information, processing donations, or compiling reports manually - it may indicate a need for more efficient systems.

2. Fragmented Data: When information is scattered across multiple platforms, it can lead to inconsistencies and a lack of a unified view of your constituents' engagement.

3. Limited Personalization: In an era where personalized experiences are expected, just a "Hi {FirstName}" may no longer suffice. Modern constituents often expect more tailored interactions.

4. Missed Engagement Signals: Outdated systems may fail to capture important signals like website visits, social media interactions, and event participation - valuable indicators of constituent interest and potential donor behavior.

5. Staff Frustration: If your team spends more time troubleshooting technology than focusing on core tasks, it can lead to reduced productivity and morale.

Modern advancement tools offer solutions to these challenges, providing:

• Seamless data integration across systems
• Advanced personalization capabilities
• Automated tracking of engagement metrics
• AI-powered predictive analytics for donor identification
• User-friendly interfaces that free up staff time for strategic tasks

While the prospect of upgrading technology can seem daunting, the long-term benefits often outweigh the short-term challenges of implementation. Institutions that embrace modern engagement tools frequently report improved efficiency, enhanced constituent relationships, and better fundraising outcomes.

To explore this topic in greater depth, we've prepared a comprehensive ebook: "Hidden Costs of Sticking with Outdated Technology." Here’s what you can takeaway:

• The true cost of maintaining outdated systems
• The advantages of modern advancement tech
• Strategies for overcoming resistance to change

Billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made his first donation of $5 to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, at the age of 23. Since then, he has donated close to $1.8 billion to support research, teaching, and financial aid at the university.

What if one of your young alumni is the next Michael Bloomberg? You see them every day in the hallways, on campus, and at events. They’re your future donors and advocates! And yet, we all know that engaging young alumni can be challenging. It takes time, energy, and resources to build lasting relationships with these future donors.

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But exactly HOW do you engage with your young alumni, you ask? To answer this question, we spoke to Dr. Glenn Kosse in a recent LinkedIn live session. Dr. Glenn recently published his dissertation on “The Relationship Between Young Alumni Participation and Giving”, and he shared some expert insights on what it takes to get your young alumni engaged.

But first, who is a young alum?

The average age of a young alum is between 22-32 years. However, this can vary depending on the type of institution. For example, a young alum from a business school would typically be older than a young alum from, let’s say, a university.

However, what remains constant is that most institutions classify those who’ve graduated in the last decade as their young alumni. In other words, they’re usually Graduates Of the Last Decade (or GOLD for short).

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Why invest your time and resources into young alumni engagement?

Between 2001 to 2014, alumni participation went down from 14% to 8.3%. Here’s what’s more alarming – although there has been a rise in the total gifts received, there has been a steady decline in the number of new donors.

With institutions struggling to build a fresh pipeline of new donors, this trend will only continue if we do not put the time, effort, and resources to meaningfully engage the young alumni.

If you take a quick look at all your major donors, you might notice that their first gift was probably a few dollars when they were just out of college. Young alumni engagement is a long-term game where you sow the seeds while they’re young, nurture them consistently, and reap the benefits down the line.

💡A young alum donor is 5.6 times more likely to give in the future than a young alum non-donor.

Factors that impact young alumni giving

Student Experience

The student experience has a strong influence on future alumni giving. Positive experiences like developing deep relationships with faculty and staff, receiving financial aid/scholarships, and having a holistic learning experience can play a vital role. After all, those who strongly identify with their institution are more likely to give back in the future.

Alumni Experience

Being an alum means you're part of something bigger than yourself – you belong to a community that can help shape your future. Those with enriching alumni experiences are more likely to give back to their alma mater. That’s why it’s necessary for your institution to create alumni-centric programs that cater to your alumni’s needs at various stages in their lives.

Here are a few low-effort, high-impact ideas to elevate alumni experience:

• Mentorship/networking opportunities for recent graduates
• Child-care facilities for middle-aged alumni
• Happy hours or virtual reunions for your older alumni

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Alumni Motivation

Motivation to give can also stem from a personal affinity for a cause or mission. Whether this originates from past or present experiences, people develop connections with the institution and become inspired to lend support.

Demographic factors

Demographic characteristics such as age, proximity, income, and gifts to other organizations are predictors of giving as well.

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💡Ideas to engage with young alumni

A comprehensive mentorship program

Bellarmine University pioneered a young alumni mentorship program in collaboration with the career services department to connect students with alumni based on their career paths and shared interests.

🔥95% of the participants said they felt a deeper sense of connection to their alumni association and 99% of them said that they would recommend it to their friends

Career workshops

Focus on interactive and skill-enhancement workshops - Resume reviews; Workshops on Office etiquette, Soft Skills, and Professional Skills.

Networking events

‍Every institution has an alumni base that they can boast of. So, why not leverage it to create opportunities for both the alumni and students?

Lifelong learning initiatives

Learning needn’t end after graduation. Help your alumni pursue personal interests, passions, or professional ambitions by creating a repository of courses that help with upskilling. You could also host webinars and create content repositories that provide value to your alumni.

Affinity groups

‍For institutions with different segments of alumni (based on interests, purposes, life experiences, and social identity), affinity groups help create a safe space for alumni where they can communicate freely and collaborate on ideas.

Social events

‍If there’s one thing alumni around the world will always love, it’s to get together for a social event and reminisce the good old days. Why not leverage this and create fun events that will help your alumni connect with each other? From cocktail parties and sporting events, to live game screenings and happy hours – the possibilities are endless!

A young alum who attended an event gave 2x more compared to those who didn’t attend.

Glenn’s closing thoughts on Young Alumni Engagement

So that wraps up our take on why young alumni engagement is the need of the hour. We thought we'd leave you with Glenn's thoughts on young alumni engagement and its impact on giving and participation.

“We have found that young alumni look for engagement that goes beyond social events. While social activities are important, initiatives that provides career advice, mentorship, and potential career opportunities can help leverage the alumni association’s role with new graduates, and create a positive association with engagement and giving.

”Studies show that those who get engaged and give at a young age are more likely to give and remain engaged throughout their career. Engaging alums with current students keeps the mission and the outcomes of the university on top of their minds and reinforces engagement.”

‍About the speaker

Glenn F. Kosse, Ph.D. is Vice President of H2R Consulting LLC and focuses his expertise on fundraising development, non-profit management, and strategic planning. Prior to joining H2R, he enjoyed a 35-year career in development and non-profit leadership experience with Bellarmine University, University of Louisville, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in increasing levels of leadership.

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Source: Glenn Kosse's dissertation