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Walkathons are one of the few fundraising events that have stood the test of time. The appeal lies in their simplicity- easy to organize, open to everyone, and surprisingly effective. Whether organized by healthcare organizations, schools, or nonprofits, they bring people together for a shared cause while blending fitness, community, and fundraising into a single event.
Of the 30 largest peer-to-peer fundraising programs in the U.S. in 2025, which raised a combined $1.17 billion and engaged more than 2.63 million participants, many of them were walkathons.
In this article, we've rounded up walkathon ideas from successful healthcare campaigns, along with a few examples from educational institutions and nonprofits.
15+ Walkathon ideas for better fundraising
Every successful walkathon has something that sets it apart. For some, it's the cause they support. Here are some ideas from real campaigns that you can draw inspiration from:
Sponsor- led walkathons
Walkathon sponsors have come a long way from logo placement and finish-line banners. They show up, bring employees, set up activities, and become part of the day. Here’s how they are doing it:
1. Corporate team sponsorships
Rather than asking companies to simply sponsor the walk, the American Heart Association turns them into participants. Businesses register employee teams, set fundraising goals, and take part in Heart Walks across the country. Companies that raise $100,000 or more across multiple events are recognized through the National Teams program, with milestones reaching $1 million+. The model has helped bring companies such as AT&T, KPMG, Quest Diagnostics, Labcorp, and ADP into the campaign year after year. Heart Walk is now held in 300+ communities nationwide and continues to rank among the country's largest peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns. In 2025, the campaign raised $121 million, making it the country's largest peer-to-peer fundraising program for the sixth year in a row.
2. Sponsors beyond event day
Walk for Lurie Children's gives sponsors a much bigger role than simply putting their names on event signage. On walk day, companies run games for children, welcome families at activity booths, and send employee teams to volunteer. Many of those same businesses show up again at Lurie Children's Corporate Cup, a separate fundraiser where companies compete against one another, such as tailgate games and relay races in an effort to raise money that will help Lurie Children's patients and their families. Together, the two events give corporate partners more than one opportunity each year to support the hospital and involve their employees.
3. Sponsor-led activity zones
At the Greater Washington Region Heart Walk, sponsors were involved throughout the event, not just as names on banners. Companies formed fundraising teams before walk day, then showed up with employee volunteers, activity booths, and interactive exhibits. Participants could stop for Hands-Only CPR demonstrations, visit sponsor tents, take part in family activities, and spend time at Survivor Lane before and after the walk. In 2025, the event brought together 90 companies, 579 fundraising teams, and nearly 10,000 walkers, raising more than $2.1 million for the American Heart Association.
4. More ways to involve sponsors
A sponsor could match every donation made during a one-hour window on walk day. Another could take over a challenge along the route, with participants stopping to complete a quick game, trivia question, or fitness activity. Sponsors could also support a hospital program, scholarship fund, or community project chosen by participants.
A sponsor passport is another option. Participants collect stamps at sponsor booths during the walk and enter the completed passport into a prize draw at the finish line. They're all simple ideas, but they give sponsors a bigger role and give participants another reason to stay involved throughout the event.
Cause-based walkathons
Cause-based walkathons are among the most recognizable fundraising events in healthcare. Each one is built around a specific mission, bringing together people connected by a shared cause.
5. Promise Garden
The Walk to End Alzheimer's, held by the Alzheimer's Association, is held in more than 600 communities across the U.S. Each walk begins with the Promise Garden ceremony, where participants carry flowers representing those living with Alzheimer's, caregivers, advocates, and loved ones lost to the disease. Last year alone, the campaign raised more than $112 million to support Alzheimer's care, support services, and research.
6. Luminaria Ceremony
Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society's signature fundraising walk, held in thousands of communities around the world to support cancer research, patient services, and advocacy. One of its best-known traditions is the Luminaria Ceremony, where participants decorate paper luminaria bags with names, messages, or photos before placing them along the walking route. As evening falls, the bags are lit, and the walk continues by candlelight, creating one of the event's most memorable moments.
7. Honor beads
Out of the Darkness Walks organized by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention include Community Walks, Campus Walks, and the Overnight Walk, gives people different ways to take part throughout the year. Before the walk begins, participants receive Honor Beads, with each color representing a different connection to suicide prevention. As the walk gets underway, the beads become an easy way for participants to recognize shared experiences and start conversations with others along the route.
8. Choose your cause walk
Instead of asking everyone to walk for the same cause, participants choose the one they'd like to support when they register. A healthcare organization could offer options like cancer care, heart health, or pediatric services. Universities could let participants walk for scholarships, student wellness, or research programs, while nonprofits could include different community initiatives. Participants receive a colored T-shirt, bib, or wristband based on their choice, making it easy to see the different causes represented as the walk gets underway.
Beyond the examples above, organizations have built successful walks around breast cancer, rare diseases, mental health, veterans, animal welfare, environmental conservation, and many other causes. When the walk rallies behind a cause people can get behind, it gives them a reason to come together and support it.
Challenge-based walkathons
A little competition can change the feel of a walkathon. Bring in team challenges, fundraising competitions, or step goals that start weeks before the event gets participants into the spirit of the event. Here are a few examples of how different organizations have used a little competition to build excitement around their walk.
9. Classroom challenge
Every class had something to compete for at Bishop Chatard High School's Walkathon. Students tracked donations through class and student leaderboards, turning fundraising into a friendly competition across the school. The 2026 walkathon raised more than $54,000, reaching 155% of its fundraising goal with support from more than 1,000 donors.
10. Miles challenge
The Susan G. Komen 3-Day turns the walk itself into the challenge. Participants can walk for one, two, or all three days, covering up to 60 miles over the weekend. Those taking on the full event average about 20 miles a day, making it as much an endurance challenge as a fundraiser. Along the way, walkers stop at pit stops for food and water, spend the night at camp, and return the next morning to continue the journey. Since 2003, the Susan G. Komen 3-Day has raised more than $915 million for breast cancer research, patient care, and advocacy.
11. Companion walk challenges
The American Cancer Society's 30-Mile Dog Walk Challenge puts a different spin on a traditional walkathon. Participants sign up online, create a fundraising page, and join the challenge's Facebook community before setting out to walk 30 miles with their dogs over the course of the month. Along the way, they share photos and progress updates, encourage donations, and celebrate milestones with other participants in the group. Everyone who raises the qualifying donation receives an official challenge T-shirt, and fundraisers can earn additional rewards as they reach higher fundraising milestones. They run multiple virtual fundraising challenges throughout the year, giving supporters different ways to take part from home.
12. Challenge cards
Give each participant a challenge card at check-in instead of the same route checklist. Create a mix of cards so no two participants have the same set of tasks. One card could ask walkers to collect stamps from every hydration station, while another could send them on fun 1k, 2k walks towards specific destinations apart from the finish line. Families could receive scavenger hunt cards with clues hidden along the route, and children could look for mascots, signs, or landmarks. You could also include simple community challenges, such as writing a message on a tribute wall, thanking a volunteer, or taking a group photo at the finish line. Completed cards can be exchanged for a small prize or entered into a raffle at the end of the event.
Themed walkathons
Adding themes to your event can change its outlook entirely. It shapes everything from the invitations and T-shirts to costumes, activities, and photo opportunities. Here are a few organizations that have done it well.
13. Pajama walk
Friendship Circle and ZABS Place built their annual walk around one simple idea: everyone comes in pajamas. Families, schools, community groups, and local businesses all join the walk dressed for the theme. After the walk, the event continues with the Dreamland Festival, featuring carnival games, obstacle courses, inflatables, and live entertainment. An Ability Fair also gives local artists and makers with disabilities a place to showcase and sell their work. The theme carries through the entire day, turning the walk into a community event rather than just a fundraiser. The walk has become one of the organization's signature fundraisers, bringing the community together while supporting programs for children, teens, and adults of all abilities.
14. Candyland
St. Martin of Tours School gave its annual walkathon a Candy Land theme, turning the campus into a colorful course with themed decorations, games, and raffle baskets. Families, students, and staff embraced the theme throughout the event, making it feel more like a school celebration than a fundraiser. The walkathon raised more than $28,000 from 400+ donors, surpassing its fundraising goal while supporting the school's mission of faith, learning, and inclusion.
15. One walk, many themes
A walkathon can be turned into a different experience based on what theme you choose. A school could turn each stop into a page from a favorite storybook or a different country to explore. Hospitals could bring in superheroes, teddy bears, or characters that children already know. Community walks could take on a glow theme, celebrate local neighborhoods, or invite participants to bring their pets along. Small details like themed checkpoints, music, costumes, and photo stations can tie everything together without changing the walk itself.
16. Virtual walkathon
Following its inaugural event, the University of Northern Iowa Alumni Association is preparing for the second Panther Virtual 5K. Alumni, students, families, and friends can run, walk, or jog from wherever they are during September. Participants can register for free with a downloadable race bib and finisher certificate or choose the Gold Racer package, which includes an alumni-designed event T-shirt. Everyone is encouraged to share photos along the way, with a Panther prize pack up for grabs, while paid registrations support the UNI Alumni Association Engagement Fund.
17. Hybrid walkathon
For Abby's House, the annual 5K is one of the organization's largest fundraisers for women and children experiencing homelessness. The event starts in Worcester, but it doesn't end there. Anyone who can't make it on race day has the rest of Race Week to walk or run the same distance wherever they are. Whether participants join in person or virtually, they register through the same event, fundraise for the same cause, and take part as individuals or teams. The campaign also includes an online auction and fundraising awards that continue throughout the week.
18. Nationwide walkathon
For years, UNCF's Walk for Education has brought communities together to raise funds for scholarships, strengthen historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and help students get to and through college. Today, the series spans multiple cities across the country, with local walks feeding into one national campaign. The 2025 season included 14 Walk for Education events between August and October, all working toward a shared goal of raising $2 million for scholarships, internships, and student success programs.
The ideas don’t stop here. There are countless ways to put a fresh spin on a walkathon. You could build the route around local landmarks, turn it into a photo challenge, celebrate community heroes, add live performances along the way, create a farm-to-table walk with local vendors, host a twilight walk under the stars, or partner with museums, parks, and neighborhood businesses to make each stop part of the experience. Take inspiration from what others have done, adapt it to your audience, and build a walkathon that feels like it belongs to your organization and the people who support it.
How Almabase helps bring event fundraisers to life
From nationwide walks and virtual challenges to campus traditions and themed events, the examples above show that there is no single idea to make a walkathon successful. Bringing them to life means giving participants an easy way to register, create teams, share their fundraising pages, and invite friends and family to support the cause.
That's where Almabase comes in. It helps foundations manage registrations, sponsorships, donor engagement, and event communications in one place, making it easier to deliver a walkathon that's memorable for the right reasons.
Whether you are hosting a neighborhood walk, a hospital-wide tradition, or a nationwide fundraising campaign, Almabase will ensure end-to-end logistics, so your team can focus on creating a meaningful experience for your community.
If you’d like to see how Almabase can power the next event for your foundation or institution, feel free to book a personalized demo below! 👇
Wrapping up
Walkathons have become a lasting part of healthcare fundraising because of how they grow and change with the communities they support. Whether it's a local hospital walk, a patient-led fundraiser, or a large community event, there's always room to make it your own. We hope these ideas have given you a few new ways to think about your next walkathon. If you're exploring platforms for your next walkathon fundraiser, we'd love to show you how Almabase can help. Book a personalized demo, and let's talk about what you're planning.
15+ Walkathon Fundraiser Ideas
Walkathons are a great way to raise funds for your foundation, institution, or cause. With inspiration from real world fundraisers, we bring you the best walkathon ideas.
Sharada Koti
July 15, 2026
12 minutes
You may notice that throughout this article, we use the term “investor” when referring to “donors.” This is because Convergent believes in reframing charitable institutions as valuable community assets worthy of investment. By positioning donors as investors, we focus on sustainable funding rather than one-time gifts.
Your educational institution is a pillar of your community. However, you may undermine its stability by approaching your alumni annual fund with a transactional mindset, focusing solely on raising funds rather than on developing relationships with supporters. As a result, you may exhaust your investors and create volatile cash flows in your nonprofit’s financial accounts.
For this reason, it is necessary to shift away from a transactional relationship (in which giving is driven by the expectation of receiving something in return, such as a tax write-off) and toward a sustainable partnership, which is rooted in shared values and strategic alignment.
This guide provides actionable steps to realign your alumni annual fund giving with long-term, mission-critical outcomes. When you treat alumni as true financial partners, you can secure robust, predictable funding that sustains your institution for decades to come.
Understand why alumni give
Different investors have their own reasons for giving, so analyzing giving behavior is an important step to tailoring your investment-driven approach. For example, the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy reported that younger generations tend to support causes tied to social impact and advocacy, so if you want people in this demographic to give more, you have to highlight your mission and the impact you’ve had in your community in your outreach materials.
No two investors are alike. To understand why your supporters choose to contribute, try the following strategies:
- Conduct surveys and interviews. Directly asking your investors about their philanthropic priorities removes the guesswork from your outreach strategy.
- Analyze past data. Review your organization’s past feasibility studies to discover historical trends in your investors’ preferences and capacity.
- Collaborate with development officers. Development officers spend a lot of time cultivating relationships with investors, so they have valuable insights regarding what drives their investments.
Incorporate these insights into your nonprofit’s constituent relationship management system (CRM), so your team can segment your audiences accurately. By the time the alumni annual fundraising comes around, you can deploy tailored messaging, thereby drastically improving conversion rates.
Realign your alumni annual fund with strategic outcomes
Establish your institution’s value by demonstrating strict alignment between your mission, fundraising objectives, and the outcomes delivered to the community. For example, if your organization is planning a STEM initiative for first-generation students, you can frame it like this:
- The mission: Empower first-generation students to graduate debt-free and enter high-demand STEM fields.
- The fundraising objective: Raise $500,000 through the alumni annual fund to provide full-ride scholarships and stipends for a cohort of 50 local students.
- The delivered outcome: Provide an impact report showing that 100% of the funded cohort graduated on time, with 85% immediately securing employment at local companies, thereby boosting the regional economy.
When sharing the impact report with your investors, spotlight a specific narrative (e.g., a student who benefited directly from the funds), then pair that with hard numbers (e.g., “we’ve helped 100 students achieve their dreams like [Student X]”). By incorporating data in the narrative, you’re showing investors that their contributions fund tangible results.
Realigning your alumni annual fund with strategic outcomes can be challenging because there are several moving parts to consider. For this reason, Convergent recommends conducting a development audit, which provides a clear, objective assessment of your current fundraising efforts and a strategic roadmap to improve them. The result is that everyone in your team is aligned with your goals, and you can build a stronger case for investment.
Shift from a donation mindset to an investment value proposition
Shifting from a traditional donation mindset to an investment value proposition fundamentally changes the dynamic between your institution and your alumni. When you operate with a donation mindset, you inherently position the educational institution as a charity in need of a handout. Additionally, a donation mindset relies heavily on emotional appeals and transactional exchanges (e.g., giving a t-shirt or a tax write-off in exchange for money), which ultimately exhaust supporters.
When you reframe your outreach and treat alumni as long-term investors and stakeholders, you unlock distinct benefits that secure sustainable funding, such as:
- Clearer ROI: Transactional models historically struggle to demonstrate the rational, value-based ROI that modern investors require. An investment mindset forces your team to clearly articulate the tangible, real-world impact of the funds, providing stakeholders with the proof of success they demand.
- Engagement with younger generations of investors: As we mentioned earlier, younger demographics are highly analytical with their philanthropy. They are likely to stop investing if they do not clearly understand the strategic outcomes of their financial contributions. Presenting an investment proposition speaks directly to their desire for measurable impact.
- Preventing supporter fatigue: Relying on small-scale emotional appeals and staff-intensive events only leads to investor burnout. When you treat alumni as true partners, you can focus on continuous, data-driven stewardship rather than bombarding them with relentless, piecemeal appeals.
To complete your shift from a transactional to an investment-driven mindset, you’ll need to audit your current communication templates and eliminate passive phrasing. For example, refer to gifts and donations as “partnerships” instead. So, rather than saying “Your gifts are needed to help maintain our current programs,” you can say, “Your partnership with our organization has helped expand our scholarship endowment and directly funds our new STEM initiative.” This subtle linguistic shift empowers alumni, making them feel like co-architects of the institution's future.
Encourage other forms of giving
In addition to launching capital campaigns, your organization should integrate workplace giving into your alumni annual fund strategy. This is because corporate philanthropy programs, such as matching gifts and volunteer grants, significantly amplify the ROI of each contribution.
That said, not many people know about workplace giving initiatives; in fact, studies show that nearly 80% of donors are unaware of whether their company offers a matching gift program. Because of this, you must educate your investors about these programs by:
- Integrating workplace giving awareness into appeals: Do not treat corporate giving as an afterthought. Advise your development teams to actively educate alumni about corporate matching gift programs as part of your standard outreach, noting that many investors may qualify for workplace matching without realizing it.
- Reminding investors about these programs on their thank-you receipt: When someone contributes to your fundraiser, encourage them to check their matching gift eligibility to maximize their investment. You can set up these automated reminders on your nonprofit’s donor management software.
- Adding workplace giving to your “Ways to Give” page: Provide a brief explanation of how certain corporate giving programs work so that investors know how to participate.
- Creating educational content about workplace giving: For example, you can write a long-form informational post or create video tutorials on how to check matching gift eligibility.
By leveraging corporate philanthropy programs, you’re shifting the giving narrative away from individual charitable donations toward larger-scale, sustainable institutional investments. In other words, you’re ensuring no money is left on the table, while maximizing the impact of your existing investor base.
As an educational institution, you’re an indispensable community asset, and your funding strategies must reflect this vital role. Transitioning from transactional appeals to a sustainable, investment-focused model ensures that you maintain long-term partnerships with alumni investors. By prioritizing data-driven stewardship and clear ROI, your future fundraising efforts will build a resilient foundation for generations to come.
Transforming Your Alumni Annual Fund for Sustainability
Transition alumni giving from transactional exchanges to sustainable investments. Discover how to rethink your alumni annual fund for long-term ROI here.
Brian Abernathy
July 10, 2026
12 minutes
Your university’s marketing strategies shape whether donors feel connected to you. They also determine whether a prospective student finds your institution when they start searching, or finds a competitor instead. Done well, they benefit both enrollment numbers and campaign totals. Because guess what? Advancement and admissions teams now compete for the same audience's attention, trust, and money, whether they've coordinated around that fact or not.
In this blog, we’ll go over the best marketing strategies for your university whether you're trying to improve brand awareness, grow donor participation, or get more out of your digital marketing efforts.
What is University Marketing and What's Driving it?
University marketing is the set of strategies used to attract new students, retain and engage alumni, and build relationships with donors and community stakeholders. It spans paid advertising, content, events, email, social media, and direct outreach.
Several forces are shaping how universities approach marketing right now. One of the main factors is in how students and donors find and evaluate universities is changing. A school's digital presence, its website, search ranking, social media, and reputation on review platforms all influence decisions and are questions frequently asked on AI tools.
Over 80% of students now use AI tools to research programs. They ask questions about costs, outcomes, and campus life. A university website that doesn't answer those questions effectively to help AI-assisted searches or feed Answer Engine Optimization gets skipped.
Generation Alpha in particular, who entered high school in fall 2024, grew up watching short-form videos and expect two-way conversations. They want to know what a degree leads to in more specific terms. In this case, personalized and outcome-focused communication works well with them.
For advancement teams, the same principle applies. Alumni and donors expect to feel like the institution knows who they are. When communications feel mass-produced, engagement drops, and donor participation follows.
Why University Marketing Matters More Than Ever
Advancement raised money. Marketing recruited students. For a long time, those were separate jobs with separate teams. But that separation is not so clear cut in 2026.
American colleges and universities received $61.5 billion in voluntary contributions in FY24, according to the CASE VSE report. That number grows at institutions that stay visible and credible all year round, and not just between campaigns.
Here's where the connection between marketing and fundraising becomes inevitable:
- Digital presence affects donor confidence because donors research institutions online before they give.
- Alumni expect personalized communication. Generic emails see lower engagement and higher unsubscribes.
- A university's reputation is influenced by its students, parents, faculty, and donors. This reputation has an impact on donor confidence.
- Brand awareness through digital channels keeps the institution visible in the gap between campaigns, so donors haven't gone cold by the next giving day. It also creates familiarity for new donors, which affects their confidence to give again.
- Digital channels give fundraising teams real data on what's driving engagement and gifts, so campaigns get progressively smarter.
Advancement, alumni relations, admissions, and communications share more goals than most universities acknowledge. When those teams coordinate around a shared consistent message, their work compounds. When they don't, they often compete for the same audience's attention with conflicting messages.
12 University Marketing Strategies for Modern Advancement Teams
These strategies focus on how advancement and alumni relations teams can use marketing to drive donor participation and deeper engagement.
1. Segment your audience
Sending the same appeal to a recent graduate, parents, and a major donor is a missed opportunity for all 3. Effective segmentation divides audiences by graduation year, geographic location, interest area, giving history, and engagement level. Start with what's already in your CRM, even basic segmentation will get you good results.
2. Personalize email outreach
Personalization today goes far beyond using someone's first name. It means referencing their class year, their program, or the cause they previously supported. Personalized email campaigns consistently outperform generic ones on click-through rates and on conversion to gifts.
3. Invest in video storytelling
Short-form video on TikTok and Instagram Reels generates the highest engagement rates among prospective students, who will be your future donors. It’s also an effective way to invite current students to be influencers or advocates for your campaign. On the other hand, longer-form impact videos work well for alumni and donor audiences. For example, showing how a scholarship changed a student's trajectory or how funding to a particular department helped keep an important program alive. Both formats outperform text-only content for emotional response and sharing.
4. Build a peer-to-peer fundraising program
Alumni give more when asked by people they know. Peer-to-peer campaigns, where engaged alumni solicit gifts from classmates and community members, have consistently raised more per campaign than institution-led appeals. They also extend reach into networks the advancement office can't access.
5. Use student and alumni-generated content
The less scripted and more user-generated your content is (while keeping the core message intact), the better. All audience segments are starting to prefer more organic content over polished scripts. Alumni sharing their own stories reinforces the value of an institution's network for current donors and giving-day prospects.
6. Run giving day campaigns with urgency mechanics
A giving day is a marketing campaign with a deadline. The urgency mechanics that make it work are the countdown timers, matching gift challenges, leaderboards, and other gamification elements on the fundraising page. They are the same tools any timed marketing campaign uses to drive action.
Thomas Aquinas College used this approach to achieve a 45% alumni donor participation rate, raising $142K+ from more than 650 donors.
7. Optimize for answer engines, not just search
New donors and alumni nowadays often use ChatGPT, Claude, and Google's AI Overview to research institutions and causes before they give. They ask questions like "what has [university] done with donations?". Answer Engine Optimization for AI-powered search tools is now as important as traditional SEO. So, if your institution's impact content, donor stories, and program outcomes aren't structured to answer those questions clearly, you won't appear in AI-generated responses. This means writing content that leads with specific answers: how gifts were used, what changed, and what outcomes were achieved.
8. Build a digital alumni engagement program
Mentorship platforms, alumni directories, job boards, and affinity group networks give alumni reasons to stay connected all year round and not just during fundraising campaigns. Engaged alumni are significantly more likely to donate than those with no ongoing relationship to the institution.
Illinois Tech generated 123,000+ engagement activities in a single month after rebuilding its digital engagement strategy with Almabase.
9. Prioritize content marketing
Blog posts, impact reports, case studies, and research-backed thought leadership serve multiple purposes: they improve SEO, build institutional credibility, and give advancement teams shareable material for donor outreach. Content that addresses what prospective new donors actually care about will work wonders over generic promotional material (for example: student outcomes, program impact, institutional stewardship content over generic giving day numbers)
10. Track attribution across the full donor journey
Which email led to which gift? Which event attendance correlated with a subsequent donation? What content on which platform led to the most amount of engagement? Advancement teams that track attribution across touchpoints can plan and allocate marketing budgets toward what works, and stop spending on what doesn't.
11. Make mobile-first the default
Most alumni and prospective donors open emails, visit giving pages, and register for events on their phones. Giving pages and event registration forms that aren't mobile-optimized see higher abandonment rates. Test the entire donor journey on a phone before every campaign launch.
12. Coordinate digital and traditional channels deliberately
Digital-only or mail-only campaigns never consistently outperform integrated approaches. A direct mail followed by a personalized email, or a social ad retargeting someone who visited your giving page but didn't donate, will outperform either channel working on its own. The next section covers the data.
Digital Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing for University Fundraising
According to the M+R Benchmarks 2026 report, direct mail revenue grew 9%, online giving revenue grew 15%, and email revenue grew 16% in 2025. Digital is growing faster, but direct mail is holding its own.
According to the same report, the average direct mail gift was $120. For every dollar raised online, nonprofits in the study raised $0.66 through direct mail. That's a channel that still drives real money and not one in decline, especially with donors who already know your institution.
But digital channels do bring different strengths to the table: lower costs, wider and more accurate targeting, real-time data, and the ability to reach alumni whose mailing addresses have long since changed.
The truth is, the right mix depends on your audience, budget, and your data quality. Older alumni tend to respond better to direct mail. Younger alumni and recent graduates engage more through digital. That's not a reason to run two separate campaigns. You can let channel selection be driven by the audience segment rather than what’s been the norm.
How to Create a University Marketing Strategy
Step 1: Define the goal
Generic goals like "Increase alumni engagement" are too broad to act on. Create clear and practical goals such as "Increase donor participation rate among alumni who graduated between 2015 and 2022 by 10% before our March giving day" which is actionable.
Here are some common goals you can include:
- Increasing applications or improving yield
- Growing brand awareness in target recruitment markets
- Increasing event attendance or registrations
- Re-engaging alumni who haven't interacted with the institution in over two years
- Promoting a new program or research initiative
- Increasing the number of first-time donors
Step 2: Identify the audience
Different audiences need different messages, channels, and timing. Know who you're talking to before you decide what to say or where to say it. Typical higher ed audiences usually include:
- High school and graduate students, and parents
- Transfer students
- International prospective students
- Recent active alumni and alumni with no giving history
- New donors and lapsed donors who haven't given in 2+ years
- Major gift prospects
- Faculty, staff, and community partners
Step 3: Define the message
Most universities lead with what they're proud of. Rankings, facilities, research output. But for some that might already be common knowledge and in any case, that's not always what your audience is there for.
A prospective student is curious about the costs involved, the campus life, and whether the degree will open doors for them. A donor wants to know if their last gift made a difference and if this one will too.
Build the message around what your audience is asking, not based on internal priorities or what your institution wants to say.
Step 4: Choose the right channels
Channel selection should always follow your audience and your goal, not over team familiarity. Ask yourself,
- “Where does this audience actually spend time?” “
- What format does this message need?”
- “What's the budget?”
- “Which channels give you measurable data for the outcomes you care about?”
A giving day campaign has vastly different channel needs than a graduate program recruitment campaign, and marketing is heavily dependent on choosing and making the most out of the right channels for each objective.
Step 5: Create content and campaign assets
Based on what we’ve already discussed above, you'll need a combination of:
- A landing page or giving page
- An email sequence (usually 3-5 emails for a fundraising campaign)
- Social media posts and ads: organic and paid
- A short video (for email, social, or the giving page itself)
- Blog content to support SEO and content marketing
- Event pages with clear registration flows
- Donor testimonials or impact stories
- FAQs addressing the most common points of confusion
Step 6: Launch, measure, and optimize
A smart team builds a measurement before launch. Set up A/B tests where volume permits and track which channels, subject lines, and messages are actually driving the outcomes important to you, not just opens and clicks, but registrations, gifts, and engagement activities.
Use your analytics tools during and after each campaign to review and carry the findings forward.
Your marketing strategy will continue to improve through several iterations. For longer campaigns, a team that collects data and iterates on the go tends to see better results.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in University Marketing
Here are some common pitfalls that you or your team may want to avoid while marketing your university.
1. Treating your audiences as a homogeneous group
A 23-year-old recent graduate and a 60-year-old major donor share almost nothing as an audience. Generic communications that try to speak to everyone end up reaching no one. Basic segmentation by graduation year and giving history alone will improve your campaign performance.
2. Running campaigns with no follow-ups in between
A lot of advancement teams pour everything into a giving day and then go quiet for months. Donors who give once and hear nothing back are less likely to give again. A newsletter, an alumni spotlight, an event invitation, or impact stories - low-pressure touchpoints between campaigns keep the relationship warm.
3. Optimizing for vanity metrics
High follower counts and strong open rates feel good. But they don't always translate to gifts. Track what actually matters: donor participation rates, year-over-year retention, cost per gift, and lifetime donor value. Track the entire journey, from first impression, to gift, to retention.
4. Writing about the institution instead of the donor's impact
Donors want to know their gift made an impact. Show them, specifically: "Our endowment grew by X%" tells a donor little to nothing. "Here's a student whose scholarship changed what was possible for her" tells donors their impact.
5. Neglecting the donor experience
A slow-loading giving page, a confusing registration process, or a broken confirmation email does more damage than a weak campaign. Donors who hit friction don't often come back. Walk through your own giving journey multiple times and fix on the go.
6. Letting channel preference override audience preference
Some teams default to direct mail because that's what they've always done. Others go fully digital because it's cheaper. Both channels work. The best results come from using them together and letting your audience segment guide you.
FAQs About University Marketing Strategies
How can universities improve brand awareness?
Give current students, recent alumni, and active donors moments and opportunities worth sharing, since organic awareness grows when people with a genuine connection to your institution talk about it publicly. Build on that momentum through consistent content marketing across every channel and paid social advertising in your target markets.
Is digital marketing better than traditional advertising for universities?
Neither of them win out categorically. Both channels work and the right balance changes from one institution to another. Most modern approaches use them together, as in a direct mail piece followed by a personalized email to the same person lets each touchpoint build on the last and reinforces your message.
What social media platforms should universities use for admissions?
For undergraduate programs, Instagram and TikTok see the highest engagement. RNL's 2025 research found that social media mattered most for 56% of students when they first started thinking about college, and students tend to follow college accounts for organic student life content, application information, and major-specific content. For graduate and professional programs, LinkedIn usually performs better. You’ll want to pick two or three that match your audience and invest in them.
How do you measure the ROI of university marketing campaigns?
Define what ROI means for each campaign first, because it changes with the goal. A giving day might be measured by total revenue raised, cost per gift, or donor participation rate, while admissions might look at applications per dollar spent or yield improvement. Track the full funnel rather than the single channel that drove traffic, asking which touchpoints in what sequence led to the outcome you wanted. UTM parameters reveal which email, ad, or post someone clicked, CRM attribution reporting shows which touchpoints led to a gift, and A/B testing tells you which subject lines, messages, and formats perform best.
University Marketing Strategies: 12 Proven Tactics for Higher Ed
Whether it is to attract admissions, donations, or simply to raise your institution's brand, university marketing plays a big role in your institution's engagement strategy.
Prajnya Yelamali
July 8, 2026
12 minutes
For decades now, fundraising galas have been at the forefront of philanthropic events, and with good reason. It’s a format that combines formality, cause and accessible fun very effortlessly.
The best part about a fundraising gala is that it doesn’t have to follow specific guidelines; you can customise it however you want according to your needs and your donors. It can include just about anything ranging from live entertainment, food, presentations to auctions and awards.
And that’s also why the distinctness of your particular gala is all the more important. We’ll take a look into how these events are planned, and some unique ideas that you can adopt to engage your donors.
Are Fundraising Galas Worth it in 2026?
Galas have been a philanthropy event mainstay for a long time now, but it begs the question of whether they still provide ROI or just function as a general networking event.
The data on this leans towards the former. Overall, in 2025, about 77% of organizations met or exceeded their fundraising goals. The ones that organized purely in-person events or mixed it up with virtual/hybrid events were the standout performers.
But there’s more. Here are a couple of interesting takeaways from the same study:
- Around 80% of organizations who incorporated in-person events met their fundraising goals.
- In contrast, almost half (46%) the nonprofits who skipped events altogether failed to meet their goals.
This gives us two important takeaways: one being that events in general continue to be a crucial part of philanthropy. Secondly, galas meet both the criteria of being an in-person event as well as an event that can incorporate virtual or hybrid events (or purely any of the three).
All that is to say that galas continue to meet the preferences of donors as well as the innovations of fundraising teams, giving us an easy answer to our question above: Yes, galas are definitely worth it in 2026 and will in all likelihood, continue to be in the foreseeable future.
Exploring the Impact of a Fundraising Gala
With events involving so much of spontaneous conversation, recreation, chance sign-ups, and curating experiences, it can be quite hard to see how extensive the benefits are and the areas they influence:
- Relationships with major gift prospects: Community building is an obvious benefit but more specifically, wealthy donors and philanthropists require multiple touchpoints, a lot of trust, and a relationship with not just your team, but the cause itself. All of which can be generated through fundraising galas.
- Increased awareness of your efforts and success: There’s no better way to share stories, heartwarming moments, and showcase your progress. Newsletters and blogs are fine, but not nearly as thought-provoking or emotional.
- Brand Visibility: Successful galas can attract new supporters. If people recognize the influence you’re able to have on your donors and beneficiaries as a brand, they are more likely to trust you.
- Multiple avenues for revenue: Donations aren’t the only support you’ll get. A fundraising gala offers so many more opportunities to contribute. You can generate revenue through ticket sales, selling merchandise, organizing fun workshops, and so much more.
How to Plan a Fundraising Gala
As you might know, a successful fundraising gala sometimes takes months and months of preparation. Coming up with plans and goals is easy enough, but with the amount of moving parts, keeping track of progress across all fronts can be confusing. The step-wise approach outlined below ensures you don’t leave any stones unturned.
1. Form Your Gala Planning Committee
Clearly define every team’s roles and responsibilities. A few key roles to include are:
- Event Chair
- Auction Chair
- Marketing Head
- Sponsorship Lead
- Volunteer Coordinator
- Treasurer/Finance Lead
It’s important to make sure you have enough event volunteers to pull the gala off without a hitch. You will inevitably need help with minor problems and logistics hurdles during the gala itself.
2. Set Clear and Actionable Fundraising Goals
Go through past event data to set a realistic goal. Refresh your lists and segments, check ticket sales from previous galas, and take into account all the revenue sources. The key here is to have goals centered around net revenue, not total cashflow. Setting goals using the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) can help a lot.
3. Decide the Total Budget
Getting this right is crucial, as your fundraising goals are directly dependent on the gala budget. Be as extensive as you can, and categorize expenses to track them better. Separate fixed costs (like venue, catering) from variable costs (merch, printing, staff) and compare it against projected revenue from all the different sources like tickets, donations, and auctions. If your expenses are greater than the potential earnings, reduce costs wherever possible without taking away from the core experience itself.
4. Choose your Date, Venue, and Theme
You don’t really have restrictions as fundraising galas can be held at any time of the year. So decide the date and venue based on your donors’ availability and proximity. You can gauge this through surveys/forms or analyzing participation data from previous events.
Depending on projected footfall, choose a venue that has enough space to comfortably accommodate everyone. Before you book it though, gather information on AV capabilities, official capacity, catering conditions, and Wi-Fi speed. Visit the venue in person and take note of power sources, layout, and parking as well. Evaluate the venue based on the participant’s convenience.
5. Decide Ticket Prices
A good way to land on a feasible ticket price is to work backwards from the total cost of hosting the gala. A simple yet useful formula for calculating ticket prices is as follows:
(Total event cost + fundraising goal) / paid attendees = minimum ticket price
On average, gala tickets are usually in the $100 - $250 range. Of course, you also have to account for platform fees if you’re using ticket management software.
There’s really no need for all tickets to be the same price. There are also options like the pay-what-you-want model if you want to provide more flexibility to your attendees. Introduce tiered prices offering different perks. Give discounts to families, students, etc. Early-bird offers are actually great to get some initial ticket sales and momentum going.
6. Arranging the Program and Speakers
Identify your event host early. Finding a good orator who is familiar with your organization, and does a good job of engaging the crowd, can take time. Create an inventory tracker and source equipment for entertainment (speakers, lights, stage props and the like).
If you’re running a live auction, then contact and book an auctioneer a few months before the event. Set procurement targets for auction items and include 3 or 4 premium ‘big-money’ items that bidders will contest over (like unique art, travel packages, etc.)
Prepare a full-fledged agenda for attendees to refer to and for you to plan around with.
7. Secure Sponsors and Form Partnerships
Getting the right sponsor can not only reduce expenses, but also add to your marketing efforts. Depending on the scale of your gala, choose between local businesses and corporate sponsors. Having a company whose mission aligns with yours (creating affordable health-monitoring devices, for example) can provide a big boost in trust.
Have a tiered system for sponsorships, and clearly outline the different levels of visibility and recognition that your sponsors get like social media shoutouts, speaking slots, banners, and so on.
8. Promotion and Marketing
After you have your list of prospects, promote your gala in as many channels as you can. This means multiple teams with their own responsibilities. You’ll have to create email sequences, a social media post schedule, landing pages on your website, and visual media like billboards and posters. Marketing starts months before the gala. Start off by providing sneak peeks, and gradually reveal details as the event draws closer. Building anticipation takes time.
For your more affluent donors, send out personalized invites through their preferred mode of communication.
9. Set Up Registration Workflows
Open registration around the same time you send out invites. Collect key information such as meal preferences, payment methods, and additional guests to ensure a smooth experience during the gala. Save-the-date emails can be sent a couple of months prior.
Your registration process should only ask for necessary information and should be fairly easy to complete. As the event date approaches, send targeted reminders to certain segments.
Fundraising Gala Ideas
Fundraising galas are heavily customizable, making it easy for you to incorporate themes and programs catered to your organization and its donors. Here are a few gala ideas that can create fun, memorable experiences that inspire your donors to contribute.
1. Silent Auction + Cocktail Party
Silent auctions can be a great alternative to conventional ones as they don’t involve crowding, too much competition, or loud announcements. You’ll have to decide on a bidding app and pay a lot of attention to how the items are presented, but it is well worth the effort.
Combined with a cocktail party, this creates a really nice environment for interesting conversations, some friendly competition, and generates good interest for items in the auction. Attendees can bid at their convenience without the stress of time running out or the pressure of matching someone else’s amount on the spot.
2. Casino Night Gala
This one changes the energy of the room entirely. Instead of a seated program with a single fundraising moment, guests rotate between blackjack tables, roulette, and poker throughout the evening, with chips that convert to charitable contributions at the end.
It's also one of the easier formats to get sponsors involved with. Each table can be presented by a different sponsor, giving them more visibility without cramping the experience. You could layer it with a James Bond or Las Vegas theme, but it’s entirely optional, the format holds up even without the extra theatrics.
Note: Check your local regulations on charity gaming events before you start planning as the rules vary quite a bit by state.
3. Live Art Auction
Commission local artists to create work live during the event. Guests watch the pieces come together over the course of the evening, and it goes up for auction towards the end of the night when emotional investment is at its peak.
It works particularly well because it gives people something to gather around and talk about, rather than just passive participation. Art is an important subject of interest for a lot of wealthy donors. But do keep in mind that the work should be compelling enough that guests actually want it, not just feel obligated to bid. Vetting the artists beforehand is not something to skip over.
4. Masquerade or Themed Gala
A strong theme does something a generic gala dinner can't – it gives guests a reason to get excited before the event even starts. A masquerade or a black and white affair creates a strong visual identity perfectly suited for social media. They’re also extremely conversation friendly, with plenty of compliments and ice-breakers being thrown around.
The key is committing to it properly. Half-hearted theming, like placing a few props in a standard hotel ballroom can sour things. The decor, music, dress code, and even the menu should all ideally have the same aesthetic. For healthcare organizations especially, a well executed theme can shift the tone away from the clinical and toward something your donors look forward to all year.
If you’re stuck on deciding a theme or are looking for some inspiration, check out this list by the American Fundraising Association.
How Almabase Helps Teams Run Successful Fundraising Galas
Keeping track of outreach sequences, responses, and registrations while simultaneously planning for event logistics can end up being messy and stressful. Almabase gets some weight off your shoulders by bringing together engagement, giving, and event planning under one roof.
Especially with a gala involving auctions and sponsorships, you’ll need varying registration forms and workflows. With the built-in event builder module you don’t have to worry about losing track of different groups of attendees and the relevant forms. Almabase can also accommodate complex tiered ticketing structures, which you will need to tackle for a large fundraising gala with multiple sub-events.
With Emily AI, you don’t have to take painstaking effort to manually personalize outreach for every segment of attendees. The context-aware AI drafts subject lines and event emails which you can further tweak to your liking.
During the gala itself, ground operations can be hard to manage even with enough volunteers. QR check-ins, payments, and on-site registrations are all automatically synced to your CRM when using Almabase. Additionally, seating assignments and name tags are easy to arrange.
As for tracking and collecting event data, you can do away with spreadsheets (well, most of them). Almabase lets you see registrations, revenue, attendance, and engagement data all at the same place. If you’re selling merch, tracking order count ensures that you’re prepared with just the right amount of stock next time around.
Wrapping Up
Fundraising galas inject some much needed spectacle and celebration when it comes to giving. They’ve been a mainstay in philanthropy for many decades, and will continue being so long into the future. Hopefully, you’ve gained some helpful pointers in planning one of your own and drawing people to your cause.
If you’re on the lookout for tools that could help your team and wish to learn more about Almabase, we’d suggest booking a personalized demo. Happy planning!
How To Plan a Fundraising Gala + Gala Ideas
The perfect blog for planning your next fundraising gala. We go over the essential steps to planning your next fundraising gala as well as creative ideas you can use.
Hari Govind
July 7, 2026
12 minutes
Event planning in the education sector is no small feat. From homecoming and graduation ceremonies to parent-teacher conferences and student workshops, K-12 schools and higher education institutions juggle a dizzying array of events each year. The right event management software can be a game-changer—streamlining registrations, automating communications, and ensuring every detail runs smoothly. In this guide, we'll break down what event management software is, what features to look for, and the top solutions for 2026 that are transforming event coordination software for schools, colleges, and universities.
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What Is Event Management Software?
An event management software is a digital platform designed to streamline the entire event lifecycle—from planning and promotion to registration, execution, and post-event analytics. These event planning software solutions centralize all event-related tasks, making it easier to coordinate logistics, track attendees, manage communications, and measure event success. For educational institutions, an event management tool can handle everything from classroom bookings and campus tours to large-scale conferences and alumni reunions.
Modern event management platforms often offer features such as:
- Online registration and ticketing
- Automated email reminders and updates
- Attendee check-in and badge printing
- Event website and mobile app creation
- Payment processing and fundraising tools
- Real-time analytics and reporting
By automating manual processes and centralizing information, these platforms help schools and universities save time, reduce errors, and deliver a seamless experience for staff, students, parents, and alumni.
What to Look For in Event Management Software
With so many event management tools on the market, it’s important to choose one that fits your institution’s specific needs. Here are key factors to consider:
- Ease of Use: Intuitive interface for both administrators and attendees.
- Customization: Ability to tailor event pages, registration forms, and communications to your school’s branding.
- Integration: Compatibility with your existing Student Information System (SIS), Learning Management System (LMS), or CRM.
- Communication Tools: Automated emails, SMS reminders, and in-app notifications.
- Payment Processing: Secure options for ticket sales, donations, or paid programs.
- Analytics & Reporting: Real-time dashboards and exportable reports for attendance, engagement, and ROI.
- Mobile Access: Event apps or mobile-friendly portals for on-the-go management.
- Support & Training: Responsive customer support and onboarding resources.
Best Event Management Software Options for K-12 & Higher Ed (2026)
Below, in no particular order, are our picks of some of the top event management software platforms making waves in the education sector this year.
1.Almabase
Almabase is an all-in-one event management platform designed specifically for educational advancement, alumni relations, and fundraising teams. It streamlines the planning and execution of complex events—whether in-person, virtual, or hybrid—while offering seamless CRM integration and a user-friendly interface.
Pros:
- Intuitive and easy-to-use for both admins and attendees, with quick event setup and branded registration pages.
- Seamless integration Raiser's Edge NXT, enabling real-time data sync and simplified gift reconciliation.
- Robust automation for event communications, reminders, and reporting, reducing manual work and errors.
- Flexible enough to handle everything from small gatherings to large, multi-day events, with strong tools for fundraising and stewardship
Cons:
- Almabase does not offer a free trial or free tier of it’s services
- No dedicated mobile app for on-the-go management
Pricing:
Almabase offers personialized custom pricing based on your needs, number of constituent records, etc. You can request a personalized demo here
2.Blackbaud
Blackbaud is a comprehensive solution built for large nonprofits and institutions, offering robust event planning, CRM, and analytics tools. Its event management features are deeply integrated with donor data to maximize fundraising outcomes.
Pros:
- Purpose-built for fundraising, with robust tools to manage donor relationships, track gifts, and run complex campaigns.
- Customizable reporting and analytics features enable organizations to tailor fundraising strategies and monitor progress toward goals.
- Integrated event management, online registration, and ticketing designed for nonprofit needs
Cons:
- High costs for training, support, and additional modules, which can be a barrier for smaller organizations.
- Data migration can be a lengthy and cumbersome process depending on your institution
Pricing:
Custom pricing. Request a quote.
3. Cvent
Cvent delivers enterprise-grade solutions trusted by higher education institutions managing complex, large-scale events—from campus-wide conferences to alumni reunions.
Pros:
- Supports mass updates and bulk communications.
- Deep integration with CRM and marketing tools, making it ideal for institutions with existing tech stacks.
- Advanced analytics and reporting for post-event insights.
Cons:
- The platform’s extensive options can be confusing and require significant onboarding, especially for smaller institutions.
- Some users report inflexible or slow support team responses at certain times
Pricing:
Custom pricing. Request a demo.
4. OneCause
OneCause is designed specifically for nonprofit fundraising events, offering features like mobile bidding, ticketing, and donor engagement tools. It helps organizations streamline auctions, galas, and peer-to-peer campaigns with ease.
Pros:
- User-friendly platform with an intuitive interface, making it easy for admins and first-time users to set up and manage events.
- Comprehensive fundraising toolkit, including online auctions, donation tracking, event management, and credit card processing.
- Excellent support team, with resources like tutorials, webinars, and a dedicated help center to assist users
Cons:
- Event website builder can be cumbersome, requiring external links for images and videos instead of direct uploads.
- Integration between different modules (e.g., Mobile Bidding Software and Virtual Event Center) is lacking, leading to duplicated processes and manual workarounds
Pricing:
Custom pricing. Request a demo.
5. idloom
Idloom is crafted specifically for universities and colleges, supporting diverse academic events from online examinations to graduation ceremonies.
Pros:
- Flexible event structures—supports recurring sessions, multi-day events, and hybrid formats.
- Departmental autonomy: Each department can manage its own events with custom branding and access rights.
- Integrated communication tools for reminders, surveys, and post-event certificates.
Cons:
- Some users report that the interface, while powerful, can be less intuitive for non-technical staff.
- Advanced features (like custom badges or analytics) may require additional setup or training.
Pricing:
Custom pricing. Request a demo.
6. Eventbrite
Eventbrite is a versatile event management platform perfect for everything from concerts to community meetups. It offers intuitive tools for ticketing, promotion, and on-site check-ins, making it easy to manage both virtual and in-person events.
Pros:
- Highly accessible and easy-to-use event creation and ticketing tools for both in-person and virtual events of any size.
- Can handle donations directly through the platform, allowing organizers to create donation ticket types and collect contributions alongside ticket sales.
- Offers a 50% discount on all Pro plans for eligible nonprofits, making it a cost-effective solution for charitable organizations.
Cons:
- Limited customization options for event pages and registration flows.
- Some users report a steep learning curve for advanced features and event setup.
- Some users report occasionally slow responses from customer support as well as a lack of transaction security for attendees.
Pricing:
Pricing is 2% + $0.79 per paid ticket (Essentials) or 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket (Professional); free for free events. See pricing.
7. Eventcube
Eventcube is a white-label event management platform for K-12 schools and higher education institutions. It helps you manage all the in-person, virtual, and hybrid events with full control. This includes your branding, ticketing, and attendee engagement.
It is designed for flexibility and accessibility. This makes Eventcube reliable for day-to-day events like open days, student conferences, parent meetings, community gathering and even virtual graduation ceremonies.
Pros:
- Fully white-labeled ticketing and registration systems so schools and institutions can showcase their activities.
- Built-in tools for hybrid & virtual events with interactive features like Q&A, polls, breakout rooms along with HD streaming real-time captioning.
- Tiered memberships and season passes are perfect for managing specific alumnis, clubs, and student groups.
- Transparent, flexible pricing with instant payouts and no hidden fees.
Cons:
- Some setup features may require la level of technical onboarding
Pricing:
Eventcube offers tiered pricing. 5% of the transaction total for the Starter package which is free. 3% of the transaction total for Pro along $99 a month. And custom Enterprise options. You can start with a demo or create a branded ticket store directly on Eventcube.
8. Giveffect
Giveffect combines event management with nonprofit automation, allowing you to handle ticketing, email campaigns, and donor records in one platform. It’s ideal for organizations looking to unify event planning with fundraising and CRM.
Pros:
- All-in-one platform that centralizes event management, volunteer coordination, and donor tracking, reducing the need for multiple systems.
- Seamless integration of volunteer and donation data, allowing for comprehensive supporter profiles and easy access to analytics.
- Customizable event pages and donation forms that can reflect the nonprofit’s brand and include real-time fundraising progress bars
Cons:
- Higher price point, which may be prohibitive for smaller nonprofits despite the robust feature set.
- Data migration and automation can potentially be glitchy, leading to issues such as erroneous emails or incomplete data transfers during onboarding.
Pricing:
Custom pricing. Request a demo.
9. Remo
Remo, now integrated with Events.com, delivers an immersive platform for virtual, hybrid, and in-person events, with unique emphasis on networking and engagement.
Pros:
- Fast and simple check-in via app; supports QR code scanning and mobile access.
- Customizable event spaces and real-time networking tools for interactive experiences.
- AI-powered matchmaking and analytics for attendee engagement.
Cons:
- Unconventional interface: The unique, interactive design can be confusing for users accustomed to traditional event tools.
- Customization learning curve: Customizing event spaces and features requires time to learn.
Pricing:
Starts at $299 per month. See pricing.
10. Qgiv by Bloomerang
Qgiv supports nonprofits with customizable tools for event registration, peer-to-peer fundraising, and mobile giving. Its user-friendly interface makes it easy to plan and promote fundraising events of all sizes.
Pros:
- User-friendly interface designed specifically for nonprofit fundraising, making it easy to set up donation forms and manage events.
- Supports a variety of fundraising activities, including peer-to-peer campaigns, auctions, and ticketed events.
- Real-time analytics and reporting tools to monitor campaign performance and donor engagement.
Cons:
- Qgiv may feel limited for seasoned professionals who want to organize donor and transaction data in many different ways simultaneously.
- Advanced features, such as text-to-give and auction management, may require additional fees or higher-tier plans.
Pricing:
Plans start at $0/month with no contracts, plus a 3.95% + $0.30 per transaction fee. Learn more.
Conclusion
Choosing the right event management software can transform how your institution plans, promotes, and executes events—whether you’re managing a single school assembly or a multi-day university conference. The platforms highlighted above offer a range of solutions tailored for K-12 and higher education, each with unique strengths and a few caveats to consider. Take advantage of free demos, explore user reviews, and assess your specific needs to find the event management tool that will best support your school’s goals in 2026 and beyond.
Looking for more inspiration? Explore event ideas that raise money and connect with alumni or see how advanced event management can drive registrations and engagement for your institution.
Best Event Management Tools for K-12 & Higher Ed (2026)
We're helping you break down what you should look in an event management software, along with some of our top picks for 2026 to power your events.
Anwesha Kiran
April 30, 2025
12 minutes
Modern alumni engagement starts long before the first donation appeal or reunion invitation. Proactive alumni engagement begins when students are still on campus and making a bond with the institution. Keeping those bonds strong, however, gets complicated fast. This is where purpose-built alumni management software have come in over the past few years to change the game and help you do more, earlier, and better.
In this blog, we’ll explain why starting sooner leads to better relationships, and how to set your institution up for long-term success by making the most of alumni management systems and engagement platforms to solve issues and empower your team. Let’s get started.
1. Provide Meaningful Career and Networking Opportunities
Today’s alumni are looking for real value from their alma mater, especially regarding career growth, mentorship, and professional networking. Trying to fulfill all of this manually is nearly impossible, and honestly, not optimal for a modern advancement team to try to do so. Recent graduates and soon-to-be alumni are at pivotal points in their careers, eager for guidance, mentorship, and meaningful opportunities.
- Mentorship matching: Advanced mentorship platforms use algorithms to match to connect students and young alumni with seasoned alumni professionals who share industry interests or locations.
- Job boards and career resources: Many platforms allow you to create job boards and alumni business directories to curate internships, job listings, and host workshops offered by fellow alumni or institution partners.
- Networking events: Event management tools within alumni software simplify scheduling and promote mixers (virtual or live) tailored for young alumni and students.
2. Make the Post-Graduation Transition Effortless
The months right after graduation are a critical and tricky window. New alumni are stepping into busy, unfamiliar lives, and staying connected with their alma mater isn't always at the top of their minds. That’s why meeting them where they are — with timely, meaningful touchpoints is so important. A modern alumni engagement platform helps you build those bridges early by having updated data, dedicated segments, and recent graduate-specific outreach to make the transition from student to alumni feel natural.
- Automated welcome journeys: Set up nurtured email sequences and alumni program onboarding content triggered as students approach graduation.
- Resource libraries: Share guides, video content, or webinars on topics like moving cities, interview guides, and other alumni-exclusive benefits.
- Integration with social channels: Many platforms come with a powerful alumni directory to help recent graduates connect instantly with affinity groups and local chapters, fostering immediate community.
3. Have a Scalable Personalization Strategy
As your alumni base increases, bulk emails or one-size-fits-all newsletters will become increasingly less useful. Modern alumni expect well-timed and relevant communication from their alma mater. Delivering these personalized experiences manually across thousands of graduates is simply not practical. To make your personalization efforts scalable, you’ll want to:
- Make use of a proactive alumni directory
- Create detailed lists and segments based on graduation year, interest, location, etc.
- Target content, events and giving opportunities to relevant alumni segments
- Create affinity groups based on event participation, volunteering history, or social media activity
- Provide a path for active supporters to become champions
- Automate your personalized outreach
- Build and maintain well-integrated feedback channels powered with automation
4. Encourage Life-Long Learning
You’ll want to present the idea of lifelong learning to your upcoming and recent graduates to highlight the idea that learning doesn’t end once they leave campus and that your institution is willing to be a long-term partner for their growth. Engaging young alumni with opportunities to further their skills keeps them connected long after graduation.
- Webinar and course integration: Offer alumni-exclusive online classes or workshops through built-in event management features.
- Certificates and digital badges: Track participation in learning events, awarding digital credentials shareable on social media or LinkedIn.
- Feedback tools: Use surveys to gauge areas of interest and continually refine offerings.
5. Foster a Culture of Giving Early
Philanthropy is a pillar of strong alumni programs, but it starts with cultivating the right mindset and experiences. Young alumni, in particular, are much more likely to give back when they feel involved and can see the impact of their contributions.
- Gamified campaigns: Use leaderboards, progress bars, or “challenge” donations to make participation fun and visible.
- Recurring giving signups: Allow recent graduates to set modest and flexible recurring donations.
- Impact storytelling: Display real-time outcomes of alumni giving, such as scholarships awarded or campus improvements.
6. Build Affinity Groups and Micro-Communities
Engaged alumni most often cite personal connections—to people, passions, or activities—as the reason they stay involved. Creating affinity groups and micro-communities around these interests supports a sense of belonging while also narrowing the focus for targeted engagement.
- Affinity group creation: Enable alumni to self-select into interest groups based on sports, professional fields, volunteering, identity, and more.
- Event scheduling and RSVPs: Empower groups to organize their own events, both online and off, directly through your groups and communities.
7. Have a Long-Term Data Strategy
Strong alumni engagement relies on accurate and up-to-date information. From the first student interaction, data should be captured, protected, and continuously updated to support outreach efforts and measure impact.
- Data integration: Sync student data from admissions, campus directories, and learning management systems at the outset.
- Ongoing data enrichment: Enable self-service profile updates and prompt alumni to keep information current.
- Reporting dashboards: Use built-in analytics to track what strategies resonate most, which groups are most active, and where gaps exist.
Conclusion
Early and intentional alumni engagement seems to be another underrated part of an increasingly complex alumni engagement process today. Alumni software empowers advancement teams to launch mentorship programs, simplify transitions, personalize outreach, nurture alumni volunteers, and connect across digital channels.
If you’re looking for a platform that provides:
- A dynamic and intuitive alumni directory
- Hassle-free mentorship programs
- Easy-to-set-up job boards
- Self-serve affinity groups
- Automated and personalized alumni communication
- Streamlined event management
- A reasonable fundraising platform
Give us a shout and we’d be more than happy to talk to you on how we can help 🔽
How to Engage Alumni Early Using Alumni Software
Discover strategies for early alumni engagement and how alumni software can enhance career connections, personalization, and lifelong giving.
Alumni Engagement
Sharada Koti
April 30, 2025
12 minutes
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.
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.
Aaron Riley joins Almabase as VP of Sales
Join us in welcoming Aaron Riley as our new VP of Sales
Announcement
Text messaging has become an underrated channel for teams to connect with alumni and donors. With stacked mailboxes and email open rates proving a tricky problem, SMS provides a direct, personal alternative line to your community. But how do you use text messages strategically to maximize engagement and drive fundraising results?
In this blog, we’ll explain why text messaging works for donor engagement, offer best practices for using SMS in advancement and fundraising campaigns, and share actionable tips for integrating text into your advancement strategy.
Why Text Messaging Works for Donor Engagement
Text messaging stands out for several reasons.
- High Open and Response Rates: Studies show that over 90% of text messages are opened within three minutes. Compare this to email open rates that often hover below 25%.
- Direct and Personal: Most people carry their phones everywhere and treat texts as personal communications. This creates a closer, more immediate connection than email or social media.
- Convenience: Texts are concise and easy to digest. They’re perfect for busy donors who appreciate brevity.
- Accessibility: Text messaging doesn’t require internet access, making it accessible to a wider audience, including alumni who may not check email regularly.
As alumni and donor management software evolve, features such as built-in compliance and text channel analytics are also making the channel easier to use than ever before.
How to Use Text Messaging to Boost Donor Engagement and Fundraising
Effective SMS fundraising goes far beyond sending a generic message blast. Advancement professionals should use text strategically to create meaningful engagement, inspire action, and foster ongoing relationships. Here’s how:
1. Make Your Texts Meaningful
Every text you send should offer real value to the donor. Avoid sending generic updates or broadcasts that could be mistaken for spam. Segment your potential recipients and personalize your messages to deepen the relationship and provide value through your texting channel
- Personalize texts with donor names and relevant causes.
- Reference past gifting history when possible.
- Address donors’ interests or geographic location ("See the impact your gift made in Seattle!").
2. How to Appeal Through Text
While it’s tempting to use texts only for quick updates, they can be powerful tools for fundraising appeals when used with care and purpose. Craft concise asks that are donor-focused, and always include a clear, simple way to act.
Example:
“Anna, we’re $1,000 away from our goal! Will you help us reach it? Donate here [shortened link]”
Tips:
- Keep fundraising asks infrequent and personal.
- Limit messages to times when your appeal is urgent and relevant.
- Use merge fields to personalize asks (“Hi [First Name]”).
3. Use Texts to Keep Donors in the Loop
Share real-time updates about fundraising events, upcoming initiatives, or important milestones. Donors want to feel included and informed.
Example:
“Reminder! Tonight is our virtual gala at 7pm. Join us live here [link]. Your ticket helps local students thrive!”
4. Use Texts for Reminders Too Short for an Email
Text messages act as the perfect channel for reminders or urgent calls to action that don’t warrant a full email. Overflow content, last-minute changes, or quick nudges can keep participation high. A good example would be countdown texts and goal updates.
5. Use Texts for Campaign Updates
Donors care about progress and outcomes as they prove they are making a real impact. Use text messaging to broadcast campaign milestones, share tally updates, or announce when fundraising targets are reached.
Example:
“We did it! With your help, we raised $50,000 for new library books. Thank you for your incredible support!”
6. Use Texts for Thank Yous and Stewardship
Personal gratitude goes a long way. Automatic or manual thank you texts delivered within minutes of a donation build loyalty and trust.
7. Prioritize Two-Way Communication
Text messaging doesn’t have to be a one-way channel. Encourage engagement by inviting questions or feedback. Two-way texting can streamline event RSVPs, volunteer signups, and more. Do keep in mind that this will require implementing the appropriate workflows. However, it can make your text channels truly valuable
Examples:
- “Are you interested in volunteering? Reply YES for details.”
- “We’d love your thoughts on future events. Reply with your ideas!”
8. Segmentation and Personalization
Segment your contact lists by donor type, giving history, or area of interest to tailor messaging.
- Personalized Greetings: Use the donor’s name and reference their last gift or area of interest for a more meaningful touch.
- Targeted Appeals: Send athletics-related asks to sports fans or alumni supporters.
9. Don't Use Text Messages for the Sake of Novelty
Texting works best as part of a broader, thoughtful communication strategy, not as a novelty or “cool factor” add-on. Poorly thought-out texts can lead to opt-outs or disengagement.
- Ensure every SMS provides value and respects recipients' time.
- Comply with all consent regulations and privacy standards.
- Focus on building lasting, authentic relationships.
For example, avoid sending reminders that are better suited to email or phone calls, or repeated requests.
Wrapping it up
Text messages are a high-impact tool for advancement and fundraising, but its effectiveness depends on thoughtful strategy, personalization, and robust integration. As it has always been, the future of donor engagement belongs to those who meet their audience where they are, on their terms, with messages that truly resonate— and texting is one step forward in that direction.
For advancement and fundraising professionals seeking to modernize their engagement, integrating robust text messaging is essential. Platforms like Almabase’s integrated SMS tool deliver:
- CRM integration
- User-friendly segmentation and compliance management
- Easy real-time performance tracking
- Streamlined donor segmentation
Want to see how integrated text messaging can amplify your institution's fundraising and engagement efforts? Check out what we bring to the table by getting in touch with us! 🔽
How to use text messaging for donor engagement & fundraising
Boost donor engagement and fundraising with text messaging. Learn strategies and best practices for advancement teams and nonprofits.
Fundraising
When you think of a nearly 200-year-old institution like SUNY New Paltz, you think of history and tradition — and rightly so.
But what makes them stand out today is how they are building on that foundation with fresh ideas and a modern approach to alumni engagement.
At a recent webinar, Alyson Hummer (Alumni Engagement Officer) and Angelica McIntyre (Associate Director of Operations and Research) shared how they are reimagining alumni events to create even stronger connections.
✨First, a quick look at SUNY New Paltz and its event landscape
Nestled in the scenic Hudson Valley of New York, SUNY New Paltz is home to about 74,000 alumni and 120,000 total constituents. They have a small but mighty advancement team, with just 3.5 staff members dedicated to alumni relations (one of them part-time, of course).
And yet, despite its size, New Paltz hosts an impressive 25+ events every year. Some noteworthy events include:
• 40 Under Forty Awards: Celebrating rising alumni stars.
• Alumni Reunion: Their biggest and most complex event, drawing 380+ registrations in 2024.
• Regional gatherings: Connecting alumni pockets across states like California, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, and New York.
• Distinguished Speaker Series and Hudson Valley Future Summit: Big ideas and timely conversations.
• Golf tournaments, development gatherings, and student-alumni events: Keeping alumni connected at every stage.
💡What are they doing differently?
Alyson and Angelica decided to rethink their approach to events altogether, and here’s what changed:
• Shift the focus from class year to career field and major: Instead of organizing reunions by graduation year, they connected alumni through shared professions and passions, leading to more meaningful interactions.
• Lean into affinity groups like Greek life: Greek organizations already had strong bonds. New Paltz tapped into that loyalty, driving greater attendance and enthusiasm.
• Invite students and faculty to alumni events: Alumni valued the chance to mentor students and reconnect with faculty, making events feel even more rewarding.
• Consistent, transparent communication: From clear email branding to setting the right expectations upfront, every event invitation helped alumni feel informed and welcomed.
🎯What challenges did they face?
Behind the scenes, the old way of managing events was becoming unsustainable.
• Event setup was slow and complicated
• Registrations sometimes crashed the system, leading to frustrated alumni
• Manual data entry after events led to errors and lost records
• Finance reporting was inefficient
• Check-ins were done manually using paper sheets
Simply put, they needed a better way to scale their impact without scaling the chaos.
🚀Moving to Almabase
Reimagining the experience was one thing. Executing it smoothly was another. That’s where Almabase came in. After switching to Almabase, SUNY New Paltz was able to:
• Streamline event setup to under 10 minutes for most events.
• Simplify registrations and payments, avoiding crashes and frustrations.
• Integrate seamlessly with Raiser’s Edge NXT, eliminating tedious manual data work.
• Enable instant check-ins, even for walk-in guests.
• Create a better experience for both their team and their alumni.
Alumni consistently rated the registration process highly, with an average score of 4.6/5.
In just 10 months, they completed 21 events through Almabase!
🎁They also added a "gift ticket" option to every event registration page and have already seen an uptick in spontaneous alumni donations.
Success didn’t happen overnight. While Almabase made event management much simpler, Alyson and Angelica co-led the rollout, introduced staff in phases, and set up easy processes so that everyone on the team could confidently create events with minimal training.
Want to learn more? Watch our recent webinar with the team at SUNY New Paltz ⬇️
How SUNY New Paltz transformed its alumni events
See how a small team at SUNY New Paltz overhauled alumni engagement, hosting 25+ events a year with smarter tech and fresh event formats.
Live event recaps
Alumni are among the most valuable assets of any educational institution. They provide mentorship, offer career opportunities, donate generously, and serve as brand ambassadors. But maintaining meaningful relationships with a growing alumni base is no small feat. That’s why alumni management software such as Almabase have become essential, enabling advancement teams to streamline engagement, personalize outreach, and elevate alumni experiences.
Almabase is a leading alumni management software trusted by advancement teams at top institutions. Almabase stands out by helping institutions manage all aspects of alumni relations from one unified platform.
What Almabase brings to alumni management
1. A comprehensive feature set
Almabase is built to meet the practical, day-to-day needs of advancement teams:
- A centralized alumni directory: Almabase provides a dynamic alumni directory that auto-updates with alumni inputs and public data, helping teams maintain accurate contact details and build targeted segments. Alumni can also update their own profiles, increasing data reliability. The result is less manual work and better engagement for your alumni management system.
💡 Check out how Almabase helped Thomas Aquinas College alumni community grow 3x in just 3 months by setting up an online directory.
- Communication and engagement: Institutions often use Almabase as an alumni engagement platform to send personalized outreach campaigns, automate follow-ups, and segment audiences based on attributes or behavior. Built-in engagement metrics help teams understand what resonates, so future outreach is even more effective.
💡 Check out how we worked with Concordia College to level up their alumni communication and engage 10k+ alumni monthly.
- Streamlined event management: From alumni engagement events like reunions and fundraisers to virtual webinars, teams can manage all aspects of event logistics—ticketing, registration, check-ins, reminders—without juggling multiple tools. Attendees enjoy a seamless experience from RSVP to post-event follow-up.
- Fundraising and donor management: Almabase enables the creation of donor-friendly giving pages and tracks donor behavior to personalize stewardship. Integration with CRMs ensures all giving data is centrally recorded and acknowledged.
💡 Check out how Alumni Association, SMLLU successfully raised $1.15 million in a single giving day with Almabase.
2. User-friendly interface
Almabase’s interface is built with two things in mind:
- Ease of use: The platform is designed to be intuitive for both staff and alumni. Teams can launch pages, emails, or events with minimal training. Even small teams can execute large-scale initiatives without technical support.
- Customization: Recognizing that each institution has an identity, Almabase provides options to ensure brand consistency across alumni touchpoints. This includes customizing color schemes, logos, email templates, and giving pages to align with institutional branding. For institutions seeking more flexibility, Almabase offers integration with WordPress, allowing for customized website designs using themes and plugins without additional platform fees. This addresses a common software challenge: balancing simplicity with the need for tailored solutions.
- Automation: Almabase is constantly looking for ways to ease the burden that teams carry. This is seen in features such as Emily AI, an AI powered email writing assistant that creates customizable email templates.
3. Seamless integration
Almabase emphasizes the need for alumni software to integrate with existing technology ecosystems of educational institutions, particularly CRM systems and social platforms. This focus ensures data flows efficiently and remains consistent across tools.
- A cornerstone of Almabase's integration strategy is its native, two-way synchronization with Blackbaud’s Raiser's Edge NXT (RE NXT), branded as TrueSync. This integration eliminates reliance on manual data uploads/downloads or potentially costly third-party connectors. TrueSync maintains data consistency between Almabase and RE NXT. It automatically handles data updates, identifies and removes duplicate entries, and cleanses data based on customizable rules, ensuring accuracy and saving staff time. The native, two-way nature of this connection offers reliability and efficiency for institutions using RE NXT.
- Beyond RE NXT, Almabase also offers native integration with Blackbaud CRM (BBCRM), providing similar benefits. It integrates with Blackbaud Merchant Services (BBMS), allowing institutions to process donations through Almabase using their existing BBMS accounts without disrupting reconciliation processes.
- Complementing CRM integrations, Almabase enhances data quality by allowing alumni to automatically update directory profiles by pulling information from LinkedIn and Facebook. This feature taps into platforms where alumni often keep professional details current, providing an automated mechanism for data enrichment. This combination of CRM synchronization and social media data capture addresses a challenge for advancement teams: maintaining accurate information on alumni.
4. Exceptional customer support
Almabase distinguishes itself with stellar customer support as seen through their customer reviews in review websites like Capterra and G2:
- Active customer support: Almabase prides itself on it’s responsive chat and email support and has dedicated itself to reducing response and resolution times for any issues. Every onboarded customer also gets a persona assigned to ensure their first experience with Almabase goes smoothly.
- Feature requests: Almabase regularly builds new capabilities based on user feedback. Most of the platform’s recent updates are direct results of [suggestions from advancement professionals](https://feedback.almabase.com/).
5. Cost-effectiveness
Almabase offers pricing based on the size of your contactable alumni base, making it accessible for institutions of all sizes. For RE NXT users, the Blackbaud partnership also enables savings on payment processing if they use BBMS. With no hidden costs and flexible plans, Almabase delivers high value for the investment.
Frequently asked questions
What are the benefits of integrating alumni management software with CRMs?
It centralizes alumni and donor data in one place, reducing duplicates and manual work. You also get more targeted campaigns because engagement and giving history are synced for better segmentation.
Who should consider investing in alumni management software?
Any institution or nonprofit with a growing alumni base that runs events, communities, or fundraising should consider it. It’s especially useful once spreadsheets and email lists are no longer enough to manage outreach.
Can alumni management software work alongside existing fundraising or CRM systems?
Yes, platforms like Almabase and many others are built to integrate with popular CRMs like Salesforce or Blackbaud rather than replace them. Engagement data (events, communities, mentoring) syncs back to your main CRM and fundraising systems.
How does alumni management software improve long-term alumni engagement?
It brings profiles, communications, events, and mentoring into one hub, making it easier to stay in touch over time. Automation and analytics help you send more relevant messages and keep alumni active at different life stages.
Conclusion
Managing alumni relationships at scale requires more than spreadsheets and disconnected tools. Almabase brings together alumni data, engagement, events, and giving into a single, user-friendly platform that advancement professionals can rely on. From automation and integration to ongoing support, it’s a solution built for modern alumni engagement.
To see how Almabase can help your institution strengthen alumni relationships and increase fundraising outcomes, book a free, personalized demo at a time that works best for you 🔽
What makes Almabase a good alumni management software?
Manage alumni data, engagement, events & fundraising in one place with Almabase. See why it's a top choice for user-friendly, integrated alumni management.
Alumni Engagement
With 88% of US institutions using some type of CRM solution, two choices in particular, Raiser’s Edge NXT (also referred to as RE NXT) and Salesforce, have emerged as the time-tested options for institutions and nonprofits not looking to build a custom CRM system from scratch.
In this blog, we’ll compare RE NXT vs. Salesforce and dissect where they each excel, where they fall behind, and which option you should consider.
Raiser’s Edge NXT overview
With Blackbaud having over 30 years of experience in the field, they have developed an understanding of what goes into making a CRM focused on engaging alumni and raising funds. In 2015, Blackbaud introduced Raiser’s Edge NXT, a modernized, cloud-based version of Raiser’s Edge (also called Raiser’s Edge 7). Built specifically for donor management and fundraising, it has thrived as one of the most popular CRM choices for advancement teams and nonprofits over the years.
Blackbaud maintains both versions at the moment but currently focuses on updating RE NXT to replace the legacy Raiser’s Edge CRM eventually.
💡Advancement teams often extend the power of Raiser’s Edge NXT with Almabase, enabling powerful alumni engagement, streamlined events, and the best two-way sync with RE NXT in the industry — eliminating manual pulls or connectors.
Salesforce overview
Salesforce itself probably needs no introduction. Being a big player in the global CRM market, it is no surprise that they eventually moved into advancement needs as well. Their Education Cloud and Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP), in particular, are what advancement teams look to as the other major offering to consider beyond Raiser’s Edge NXT.
Depending on your needs, Salesforce may provide you with simple donor management software or an all-around student and alumni management ecosystem.
Raiser’s Edge NXT vs Salesforce: Feature comparison
Now that you have a general refresher on these two CRM choices, let’s break down the key differences between them.
What makes Raiser’s Edge NXT a good choice?
RE NXT is undeniably a strong choice for institutions and nonprofits whose main goal is to manage constituents and raise funds without having to think about too many integrations. Blackbaud’s long-term experience in their specific niche means that teams can have incredibly deep processes and granular data for advancement needs.
On the other hand, Blackbaud’s more focused approach does mean that for-profits and teams looking for deep integrations with a wide variety of multi-industry tools may find Raiser’s Edge lacking in certain areas.
💡See how Almabase’s Raiser’s Edge NXT integration helped The Master’s Seminary automate its process and get 37% of its database updated in 45 days.
→ Learn more
What makes Salesforce a good choice?
Salesforce’s strengths lie in its ecosystem and the extensive customization it offers. If you have the time and resources to allocate to setting everything up properly and training staff, Salesforce can fulfill your advancement needs and your institution’s other needs, such as admissions, recruitment, student success, etc., pretty well.
On the flipside, Salesforce requires a lot of investment to bring out its true potential as integrations add up, and more people need to be assigned for maintenance.
Raiser’s Edge NXT vs Salesforce: Final Thoughts
The two choices essentially boil down to whether you are looking for a CRM specialized for advancement and fundraising or an all-in-one CRM that you can spend some time with to build your preferred CRM environment.
While both options offer great CRM functionality, Raiser’s Edge NXT, in our opinion, slightly edges it out as the go-to for teams focused solely on fundraising, constituent management, and engagement. When paired with a platform like Almabase, institutions unlock a new level of functionality for all their engagement, fundraising, and event management needs.
Regardless of which choice seems better for you at this point, it will require a huge chunk of your time and effort to migrate to any CRM, as well as investment and training to find all the integrations you need and get your staff up to speed with the respective environments.
Raiser’s Edge NXT vs Salesforce: Which CRM Works Best for Advancement?
Compare Raiser’s Edge NXT vs Salesforce to find the best CRM for alumni engagement, fundraising, and advancement team efficiency.
Fundraising
Homecoming is one of those rare chances to make nostalgia work for you — rekindling old ties, reminiscing, and building relationships that go the distance. A strong theme is essential to tie these together and set the vibe.
In this post, we have rounded up great homecoming themes and ideas, fresh takes on traditional homecoming activities, and creative ways to make your homecoming event unforgettable. Check out these awesome alumni homecoming ideas that work for everyone-
10 Fresh Homecoming Ideas
1. Time capsule
A time capsule is all about resurfacing the little moments that made your alumni feel at home—those unexpected corners where friendships formed, ideas took shape, and memories lingered long after the halls emptied. For example, take the Trojan Time Capsule.
For Homecoming 2024, USC carved out a snug recording booth beside Tommy Trojan and invited alumni to hit “record” and describe everything from midnight cram sessions in Doheny to dawn jogs around the Reflecting Pool. Each voice memo wove into a dynamic online soundscape, letting anyone—new students, returning grads, or visitors—virtually stroll through those treasured snapshots of campus life.
You can bring this same magic to your Homecoming. Pick a few of your campus’s most beloved or off-the-beaten spots and set up simple “Echo Booths” there. Then stitch those snippets into an interactive map or soundboard on your event site. Suddenly, “Echoes of the Campus” isn’t just a theme—it’s a living archive of your school’s heart and soul.
2. A week of giving
Imagine turning your Homecoming into an “Impact Week.” Take Hampton University as an example: their “Pirates Island” Homecoming in October 2024 welcomed 25,000 guests and infused roughly $3 million into Hampton and Coastal Virginia. When alums see their weekend reconnecting them to hometown businesses, it becomes more than nostalgia—it’s pride in tangible impact. That goodwill loop fuels participation: people RSVP earlier, bring friends, and share stories on social media. And when they return home, seeing how their dollars helped the local café or bookstore, they’re more inclined to open their wallets for the next big campaign, whether renovating an old lecture hall or funding the first‑generation student scholarship.
3. Hybrid homecoming events
Hybrid homecomings merge on-site excitement with virtual inclusion. At Tokyo Tech’s Homecoming Day 2024, the “Team Tokyo Tech Meeting” welcomed their alumni in person and online. You can replicate this by live-streaming keynote lectures, matches, tailgate parties, opening virtual lounge chats, offering 360° campus tours, watch parties, running real-time polls, and pairing in-hall networking pods with Zoom breakout rooms—so every alum can cheer, connect, and contribute no matter where they are.
4. Hashtags that go viral
Kicking off your Homecoming hype with a signature hashtag and mini‑gigs gets everyone talking. Think along the lines of the GlowGreen Initiative by MSU, where students and alums lit up campus, front porches, windows, rooms, or any space in neon gear to create an online buzz about their 2024 homecoming event, ‘Come Home Spartans,’ which became a huge success.
Likewise, you could launch #BlueOutBrunch, inviting everyone to share sunrise tailgate pics over a live DJ set, or a surprise “Flash Cheer” squad that erupts into a chant in the student union under #RoarWithUs. These hashtag prompts and pop‑up gigs spark shareable moments, build momentum on socials, and have everyone counting down the days until kickoff.
5. Retro week
A retro theme never misses the beat: it taps shared nostalgia across generations, needs only simple décor (neon signs, vinyl records, roller skates), and invites everyone to relive their favorite era. For example, Rockford University’s 2023 Homecoming transformed the campus into a nostalgic journey through the decades. Each day of the week celebrated a different era, from the funky 1970s to the early 2000s.
By hosting a retro-themed homecoming, students and alumni get to relive their favorite decades. Whether you stage a glow‑stick dance floor or dust off a classic arcade cabinet, retro vibes guarantee a full house—because who doesn’t love a trip down memory lane?
6. A focus on inclusion
An inclusivity-themed Homecoming invites every voice to the celebration, and schools like Emory University are showing how it’s done. Their 2024 “Belonging at Emory” Homecoming series featured multicultural food trucks, international music nights, and panel discussions led by alumni from diverse backgrounds. To bring this to your campus, you could host a “Cultures on the Quad” festival with heritage booths, world cuisines, and student performances. Add community-led story circles or alumni spotlight walls featuring first-gen journeys and intersectional experiences. A theme rooted in diversity doesn't just build belonging—it turns your Homecoming into a mirror of the world your students will lead.
7. Pop culture
Pop culture–themed events are crowd magnets, especially when students and alumni get to step inside their favorite fictional worlds. In 2024, Lander University embraced this trend with their Homecoming theme, “Celebrating the Spirit of the New Millennium.” The event transported attendees back to the early 2000s, highlighting iconic fashion trends, unforgettable music, and the vibrant pop culture of the era.
Whether it’s MTV vibes, Y2K fashion, or throwback chart-toppers, the nostalgia hits different when it’s immersive. Themes like these can transform your typical reunion into a star-studded event. It will bring cinematic flair and nostalgia into the real world, making your Homecoming not just a weekend, but an immersive experience alumni won’t want to miss.
8. Alumni entrepreneurs
This year, why not let the quad double as a launchpad? Imagine rows of pop-up stalls, each run by alumni who turned dorm room dreams into thriving ventures— app prototypes, travel consultancies, organic bakes, and everything in between. During last year’s homecoming, the University of Rhode Island (URI) introduced the Rhody Marketplace. This initiative brought together alumni entrepreneurs to showcase their businesses at a live event, fostering connections between alumni, students, and the broader university community. So, an Alumni Marketplace isn’t just a celebration of entrepreneurial spirit; it’s a golden intersection of legacy and opportunity. By hosting a homecoming focused on this, you can provide the students a chance to shake hands with future employers, internship mentors, and role models who once sat in the same lecture halls. For alumni, it’s recognition long overdue—proof that their journey matters, and that their alma mater is still cheering them on.
9. Homecoming with a cause
What if homecoming was less about confetti and more about causes? When the community comes together not just to remember the good old days, but also to fundraise and support local needs, it creates real change. At Truman State University, homecoming transcended traditional celebrations by emphasizing charitable giving and making a tangible difference through collective efforts during homecoming festivities.
Unlike the usual fanfare of parades and tailgates, a cause-centered homecoming reimagines what it truly means to return home. It transforms nostalgia into action, inviting alumni not just to relive memories, but to create impact.
10. Scavenger hunt
A scavenger hunt-themed homecoming event is a fun and interactive way to bring alumni and students together. For example, the University of Wisconsin–Madison hosted a family-friendly scavenger hunt during their homecoming with clues tied to the university’s history and traditions, fostering a sense of nostalgia and community.
While revisiting the favorite campus spots, participants work in teams to solve clues and find hidden items around campus. This kind of event builds school spirit and encourages participants to connect and reminisce about their time at the university.
Whether through the excitement of a scavenger hunt or the heartfelt connection of a nostalgia-themed event, the possibilities for bringing alumni together are endless. By embracing these unique ideas, universities can create lasting memories and strengthen their community spirit year after year.
Kickstart your next homecoming with Almabase!
Homecoming is the perfect moment to reignite alumni connections and build momentum for year-round engagement. We’d love to help you make your upcoming homecoming the kind that keeps alumni returning — not just for the memories, but for the community. With tools built for seamless event management, expansive digital engagement, and online giving, we help you build the homecomings of your dreams.
Want to see it in action? Request a demo and bring your next homecoming to life
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a "homecoming"?
Homecoming is an annual tradition primarily observed in high schools and colleges that celebrates school spirit and community by welcoming back alumni or former members to their alma mater.
2. What’s the difference between homecoming and prom?
Homecoming is typically in the fall and is a celebration of your school spirit and community. Prom is typically held in spring and is usually a formal dance marking the end of the high school experience.
3. What actually happens at high school homecoming?
It’s a week of dress-up days, pep rallies, parades, and other community events. A football game is usually the main event, with alumni in the stands.
4. Why does homecoming even matter?
Homecoming not only celebrates your institution’s spirit but also brings current students, faculty, alumni, and members of the local community together to create lasting memories and strengthen the overall community feeling.
10 unique homecoming theme ideas to plan the perfect event
Looking for fresh homecoming theme ideas? These 10 picks will help you plan a fun, inclusive, and unforgettable alumni celebration.
Events
Sharada Koti
April 23, 2025
12 minutes
See how leading institutions put these ideas into action
