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5 Graduway Alternatives Advancement Teams Love in 2025
If you're exploring Graduway alternatives, you're likely in the middle of evaluating what your advancement team truly needs from an alumni engagement platform in 2025. Maybe you're looking for tighter CRM integration, a more tailored user experience, or modular functionality that aligns better with your internal workflows.
This blog is designed to help you identify the best-fit solutions. We’ve researched five leading platforms that advancement professionals are turning to—each offering a slightly different approach to engagement, community management, and fundraising. Whether you’re focused on alumni networking, giving days, mentorship programs, or branded experiences, these alternatives are worth your time.
What Makes a Great Graduway Alternative?
Not every platform will meet every institution’s needs. That’s why the best Graduway alternatives are flexible, powerful, and deeply connected to the daily operations of advancement teams. Here's what to look for:
- CRM Integration: especially with Raiser’s Edge NXT, Salesforce, or Ellucian
- Scalable Personalization: dynamic communications based on user data
- Fully Branded Experiences: Your alumni portal should look and feel like your institution.
- Built-In Analytics: understand and act on engagement metrics
- Ease of Use: both for internal teams and alumni end users
- Modular Pricing: pay for what you use, and accommodate your personal requirements
5 Best Graduway Alternatives
Each of these platforms offers a unique value proposition. Here's a deep dive into why they stand out in 2025:
1. Almabase
Almabase is an all-in-one alumni engagement and fundraising platform purpose-built for educational institutions. It’s known for its tight integrations, intuitive interface, and ability to run giving, events, email, and community features from a single platform.
Why advancement teams love it:
Almabase is designed around the real workflows of advancement teams. It integrates directly with Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT, enabling bidirectional sync of contacts, activities, and gifts. Teams can automate email cadences, launch giving day microsites, run peer-to-peer campaigns, and manage alumni directories—all without code.
Pros:
- Deep RE NXT integration with best-in-industry two-way sync
- Highly dedicated support for onboarding and issues
- Easy to set-up and customize
- A customer-feedback-driven product roadmap
Cons:
- Almabase doesn’t offer a free trial or free tier.
- As a platform that has historically focused on K-12 and Higher-ed, Almabase may not be as experienced with nonprofits as some other options on the market.
Ideal for:
Advancement teams at higher-ed and K-12 schools as well as small to mid-sized nonprofits that want to focus on alumni engagement, events, and fundraising.
Pricing:
Modular pricing based on features and alumni database size. Book a demo here.
2. Anthology
Anthology offers a wide range of solutions for institutions to engage, raise funds, and host events within their platform ecosystem. Some tools such as their Anthology Encompass and Anthology Raise will be of interest to advancement teams.
Why advancement teams love it:
Anthology comes with its own CRM to complement its ecosystem as it covers both students and alumni as well as a few complementary tools to help advancement tasks such as marketing.
Pros:
- An expansive set of tools for teams with a higher budget
- May be ideal for institutions that heavily lean into the Microsoft software environment
Cons:
- Some reviews mention the possibility of glitches
- As an expansive platform, it may come with a higher learning curve
- Integrations with tools outside of the Anthology environment may be limited
Ideal for:
Institutions or nonprofits that are used to the Anthology environment or preferred the previous iteration of iModules
Pricing:
No publicly available pricing sheet. You can book a demo and ask for a quote here.
3. EverTrue
EverTrue is an alumni engagement and fundraising platform designed for educational institutions and nonprofits. It stands out for its deep integration with social media, advanced segmentation, and real-time analytics, enabling advancement teams to connect with donors and alumni in highly personalized ways.
Why advancement teams love it:
EverTrue’s unique TrueView profiles aggregate up-to-date career, giving, and engagement data—including Facebook interactions—into a single dashboard. Teams can segment audiences with 80+ filters, automate outreach, manage events, and identify new ambassadors or volunteers using actionable engagement insights. Its mobile-friendly interface and seamless integrations with popular tools (like Eventbrite and Emma) help advancement teams save time and boost participation.
Pros:
- Social media integration for engagement tracking
- Filters for advanced segmentation and targeted outreach
- Real-time analytics and customizable reporting
Cons:
- Evertrue focuses heavily on data enrichment through social media and any gaps in integrations with your social media workflows or CRM could impact its effectiveness
- May be expensive for teams who want an expansive alumni engagement and event management tool on top of Evertrue
Ideal for:
Teams who want to engage alumni active on Facebook and mainly prioritize fundraising
Pricing:
EverTrue’s pricing is not publicly available. You can request a demo to get a quote here.
4. ToucanTech
ToucanTech is a CRM-driven engagement platform designed for schools, colleges, and nonprofits. It combines fundraising, alumni engagement, and communication into a single interface.
Why advancement teams love it:
ToucanTech is praised for its ease of use and built-in CRM, which removes the need to integrate with a third-party system. It's particularly popular among K–12 independent schools and smaller colleges that want an all-in-one system without heavy tech lift.
Pros:
- Built-in CRM and donation tracking
- User-friendly design according to reviews
- Forums, job boards, and photo galleries
- Online payments and ticketing
Cons:
- May require some getting used to as it is an expansive platform that relies on how well you can use its database
- Will take time and effort to switch to if your institution already has an extensive software environment or CRM in place
- May not have as many integrations as some other options
Ideal for:
Advancement offices that want a branded alumni website with an in-built back-end CRM.
Pricing:
ToucanTech’s pricing is not publicly available. You can request a demo to get a quote here.
5. Hivebrite
Hivebrite is a powerful community management platform used across education, enterprise, and nonprofit sectors. It offers robust customizability and scalability for complex engagement needs.
Why advancement teams love it:
Hivebrite excels at creating branded online communities for alumni, offering tools for networking, groups, forums, events, mentorship programs, and content sharing.
Pros:
- Hivebrite offers good community-building, group management, and online interaction features
- Powerful API and third-party integration capabilities
- Many reviews praise their customer support
Cons:
- Some users report limited customizations and a variable learning curve
- Reporting and analytics modules are still developing and may lack flexibility or depth, especially for payments and emails.
- As a well-established and extensive tool, it may be one of the more expensive options
Ideal for:
Large universities or Advancement teams that need deep customization, API access, and enterprise-level security for complex engagement structures.
Pricing:
Hivebrite offers three pricing plans: “Connect”, “Scale” and "Enterprise" with each tier having custom pricing. You can find out more here
Choosing an Engagement Platform That Matches Your Strategy
The platforms above offer different strengths. What you ultimately choose as an alternative to Graduway will depend on:
- Your budget and team size
- You current data infrastructure and potential costs of migrating data
- Your team’s comfort with your current and alternative choices
- Your institution’s long-term needs and goals
Ultimately, integrated platforms that offer a variety of tools are meant to be long-term partnerships and you’ll want to make sure you land on the right platform for your institution and your team.
If you’re considering Almabase, we’d love to sit down with you and show you how we can help. We’re always open for a personalized demo or conversation! ⤵️
About the author
Kiran is an educator and pedagogy enthusiast, passionate about the transformative impact of education, kindness, and creativity on individuals and communities.
As an artist, she brings a unique perspective to her work and is committed to inspiring growth, empathy, and understanding
If you're exploring Graduway alternatives, you're likely in the middle of evaluating what your advancement team truly needs from an alumni engagement platform in 2025. Maybe you're looking for tighter CRM integration, a more tailored user experience, or modular functionality that aligns better with your internal workflows.
This blog is designed to help you identify the best-fit solutions. We’ve researched five leading platforms that advancement professionals are turning to—each offering a slightly different approach to engagement, community management, and fundraising. Whether you’re focused on alumni networking, giving days, mentorship programs, or branded experiences, these alternatives are worth your time.
What Makes a Great Graduway Alternative?
Not every platform will meet every institution’s needs. That’s why the best Graduway alternatives are flexible, powerful, and deeply connected to the daily operations of advancement teams. Here's what to look for:
- CRM Integration: especially with Raiser’s Edge NXT, Salesforce, or Ellucian
- Scalable Personalization: dynamic communications based on user data
- Fully Branded Experiences: Your alumni portal should look and feel like your institution.
- Built-In Analytics: understand and act on engagement metrics
- Ease of Use: both for internal teams and alumni end users
- Modular Pricing: pay for what you use, and accommodate your personal requirements
5 Best Graduway Alternatives
Each of these platforms offers a unique value proposition. Here's a deep dive into why they stand out in 2025:
1. Almabase
Almabase is an all-in-one alumni engagement and fundraising platform purpose-built for educational institutions. It’s known for its tight integrations, intuitive interface, and ability to run giving, events, email, and community features from a single platform.
Why advancement teams love it:
Almabase is designed around the real workflows of advancement teams. It integrates directly with Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT, enabling bidirectional sync of contacts, activities, and gifts. Teams can automate email cadences, launch giving day microsites, run peer-to-peer campaigns, and manage alumni directories—all without code.
Pros:
- Deep RE NXT integration with best-in-industry two-way sync
- Highly dedicated support for onboarding and issues
- Easy to set-up and customize
- A customer-feedback-driven product roadmap
Cons:
- Almabase doesn’t offer a free trial or free tier.
- As a platform that has historically focused on K-12 and Higher-ed, Almabase may not be as experienced with nonprofits as some other options on the market.
Ideal for:
Advancement teams at higher-ed and K-12 schools as well as small to mid-sized nonprofits that want to focus on alumni engagement, events, and fundraising.
Pricing:
Modular pricing based on features and alumni database size. Book a demo here.
2. Anthology
Anthology offers a wide range of solutions for institutions to engage, raise funds, and host events within their platform ecosystem. Some tools such as their Anthology Encompass and Anthology Raise will be of interest to advancement teams.
Why advancement teams love it:
Anthology comes with its own CRM to complement its ecosystem as it covers both students and alumni as well as a few complementary tools to help advancement tasks such as marketing.
Pros:
- An expansive set of tools for teams with a higher budget
- May be ideal for institutions that heavily lean into the Microsoft software environment
Cons:
- Some reviews mention the possibility of glitches
- As an expansive platform, it may come with a higher learning curve
- Integrations with tools outside of the Anthology environment may be limited
Ideal for:
Institutions or nonprofits that are used to the Anthology environment or preferred the previous iteration of iModules
Pricing:
No publicly available pricing sheet. You can book a demo and ask for a quote here.
3. EverTrue
EverTrue is an alumni engagement and fundraising platform designed for educational institutions and nonprofits. It stands out for its deep integration with social media, advanced segmentation, and real-time analytics, enabling advancement teams to connect with donors and alumni in highly personalized ways.
Why advancement teams love it:
EverTrue’s unique TrueView profiles aggregate up-to-date career, giving, and engagement data—including Facebook interactions—into a single dashboard. Teams can segment audiences with 80+ filters, automate outreach, manage events, and identify new ambassadors or volunteers using actionable engagement insights. Its mobile-friendly interface and seamless integrations with popular tools (like Eventbrite and Emma) help advancement teams save time and boost participation.
Pros:
- Social media integration for engagement tracking
- Filters for advanced segmentation and targeted outreach
- Real-time analytics and customizable reporting
Cons:
- Evertrue focuses heavily on data enrichment through social media and any gaps in integrations with your social media workflows or CRM could impact its effectiveness
- May be expensive for teams who want an expansive alumni engagement and event management tool on top of Evertrue
Ideal for:
Teams who want to engage alumni active on Facebook and mainly prioritize fundraising
Pricing:
EverTrue’s pricing is not publicly available. You can request a demo to get a quote here.
4. ToucanTech
ToucanTech is a CRM-driven engagement platform designed for schools, colleges, and nonprofits. It combines fundraising, alumni engagement, and communication into a single interface.
Why advancement teams love it:
ToucanTech is praised for its ease of use and built-in CRM, which removes the need to integrate with a third-party system. It's particularly popular among K–12 independent schools and smaller colleges that want an all-in-one system without heavy tech lift.
Pros:
- Built-in CRM and donation tracking
- User-friendly design according to reviews
- Forums, job boards, and photo galleries
- Online payments and ticketing
Cons:
- May require some getting used to as it is an expansive platform that relies on how well you can use its database
- Will take time and effort to switch to if your institution already has an extensive software environment or CRM in place
- May not have as many integrations as some other options
Ideal for:
Advancement offices that want a branded alumni website with an in-built back-end CRM.
Pricing:
ToucanTech’s pricing is not publicly available. You can request a demo to get a quote here.
5. Hivebrite
Hivebrite is a powerful community management platform used across education, enterprise, and nonprofit sectors. It offers robust customizability and scalability for complex engagement needs.
Why advancement teams love it:
Hivebrite excels at creating branded online communities for alumni, offering tools for networking, groups, forums, events, mentorship programs, and content sharing.
Pros:
- Hivebrite offers good community-building, group management, and online interaction features
- Powerful API and third-party integration capabilities
- Many reviews praise their customer support
Cons:
- Some users report limited customizations and a variable learning curve
- Reporting and analytics modules are still developing and may lack flexibility or depth, especially for payments and emails.
- As a well-established and extensive tool, it may be one of the more expensive options
Ideal for:
Large universities or Advancement teams that need deep customization, API access, and enterprise-level security for complex engagement structures.
Pricing:
Hivebrite offers three pricing plans: “Connect”, “Scale” and "Enterprise" with each tier having custom pricing. You can find out more here
Choosing an Engagement Platform That Matches Your Strategy
The platforms above offer different strengths. What you ultimately choose as an alternative to Graduway will depend on:
- Your budget and team size
- You current data infrastructure and potential costs of migrating data
- Your team’s comfort with your current and alternative choices
- Your institution’s long-term needs and goals
Ultimately, integrated platforms that offer a variety of tools are meant to be long-term partnerships and you’ll want to make sure you land on the right platform for your institution and your team.
If you’re considering Almabase, we’d love to sit down with you and show you how we can help. We’re always open for a personalized demo or conversation! ⤵️
About the author
Kiran is an educator and pedagogy enthusiast, passionate about the transformative impact of education, kindness, and creativity on individuals and communities.
As an artist, she brings a unique perspective to her work and is committed to inspiring growth, empathy, and understanding
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
