2025 Higher Education Fundraising Trends: Our Top Insights

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In the ever-changing landscape of higher education advancement, trends offer a valuable view of the forest—but success depends on understanding each tree.

After all, the most impactful fundraising strategies aren’t one-size-fits-all; they’re tailored to the unique context, circumstances, and culture of each institution.

While mega-trends like AI, women’s philanthropy, and Giving Days dominate the conversation, the real work lies in translating these ideas into actionable strategies that fit your institution’s specific goals, challenges, and opportunities. At Graham-Pelton, we believe that a personalized, one-size-fits-one approach transforms trends into meaningful, measurable outcomes.

What are the higher education fundraising trends to understand in 2025? How you can approach and leverage them to create lasting benefits for your institution? Here, we’ll share our top 5 insights for the coming year.

Contact Graham-Pelton to learn how our experience and cutting-edge strategies can help you overcome your higher education advancement challenges.

The Billionaire Obsession vs. Building the Base

Every college dreams of bagging that mega-donor—the billionaire who will place their name on the library or fund the next wave of student scholarships.

Transformational gifts are game-changers, but aspiration alone doesn’t close deals. Securing a major gift is hard work.

Trends in trust-based philanthropy have begun shifting the culture, largely thanks to women philanthropists leading the charge in unrestricted giving. Their leadership builds confidence, setting the stage for others to follow.

But here’s the rub: The obsession with mega-donors often sidelines pipeline-building.

Here are our recommendations for bolstering your base in an era of mega-philanthropy:

Institutions need a strategy. Start by holding gift officers accountable with metrics that emphasize qualification outreach. Build the base, or the ceiling collapses.
Diversify your asks. Planned giving? It’s the untapped goldmine. Cerulli Associates predicts $11.9 trillion in nonprofit transfers by 2045. Yet most institutions barely scratch the surface. Standardizing blended gift asks isn’t optional anymore—it’s essential. And while donor-advised fund grants dipped slightly in 2024, the tools are still in donors’ arsenals. Use them.
Stewardship is the backbone of retention. Want donors to stick around? Show them the receipts. Get students involved in thanking donors—it’s authentic, it’s powerful, and it works.

Annual Giving 2.0: Engagement Is the New Currency

Annual giving is leveling up. Forget the spray-and-pray approach; engagement is the new currency. Giving Days are no longer just stunts and shouldn’t be treated as such. They’re finely-tuned campaigns driving both participation and philanthropy.

How can you step up your annual fundraising efforts?

Refine your text-to-give strategies. Text appeals? Everyone’s doing them. But success comes from precision. Overtext, and you alienate your audience. Focus on recurring gifts, not just one-offs. Stewardship timing and upgrade strategies are the secret sauce for sustained growth.
Campaigns are getting smarter. It’s no longer about email versus direct mail—it’s about layering these channels with social media to hit donors from every angle. Remember, ROI isn’t just dollars raised; it’s engagement built over time.
Tell authentic impact stories. Younger donors especially want to see results—impact stories, clear outcomes. If you’re not storytelling, you’re not fundraising. Take the time to gather the stories you need to best speak to your institution’s unique impact, community, and history.

AI Is Here. Are You Ready?

Artificial intelligence isn’t coming for advancement offices—it’s already here.

Predictive modeling? More than just a buzzword. It’s how you identify top prospects, allocate resources, and make smarter campaign decisions.

Enter Virtual Engagement Officers (VEOs). These AI-driven marvels handle the mid-tier donors that human officers can’t reach, crafting personalized, scalable donor experiences. Think of them as bandwidth multipliers, not replacements. The payoff? Better engagement and long-term relationships.

Digital storytelling is also evolving. Static reports are dead. Interactive, multimedia narratives that bring donor impact to life are what resonate. If donors can see it, feel it, and share it, they’re more likely to give.

From Alumni Nostalgia to Philanthropic Gold

How effective are your alumni fundraising and engagement strategies? Make 2025 the year you take them to the next level. We have two key recommendations:

Ensure organizational alignment. For many institutions, alumni relations are closely integrated within their advancement structures, reflecting the critically important relationship between engagement and fundraising. However, this brings added complexity. Say hello to the Strategic Initiatives Officer. These leaders are the glue between fundraising, institutional priorities, and external partnerships. Their job? Ensure advancement strategies don’t just chase dollars but align with big-picture goals.
Scale down to dig deeper. The big alumni events—Homecoming, reunions—are still table stakes. But salons and intimate gatherings? That’s where the magic happens. Or try alumni travel programs. They’re not just fun—they’re prospect goldmines. Shared experiences build trust, spark conversations, and lead to transformational gifts.

Scholarships, DEI, and the Balancing Act

You know today’s challenges all too well:

Scholarship fundraising—relatable, critical, and deeply personal—remains the MVP, but DEI initiatives and shifting political winds are making donor conversations much more nuanced.
The rising cost of higher education also looms large, influencing both current donor priorities and future alumni giving capacity.
Advancement teams are stretched thinner than ever, balancing traditional methods with cutting-edge tech.

The solution? Smart strategic planning, resource allocation, and leveraging AI to free up bandwidth for high-touch, high-impact donor relationships.

Consider all the recommendations discussed above and how they can work together to help your advancement office run more efficiently. Double-down on qualification outreach, build your base, foster authentic relationships through precise and unique engagement strategies, and leverage Virtual Engagement Officers to multiply your impact.

From Trends to Transformation: What Works for You

At Graham-Pelton, we understand that trends represent the forest, but every institution is its own tree—unique in mission, culture, and circumstances.

Success in advancement is about seeing the big picture while crafting strategies rooted in the specific needs of your institution.

By aligning trends with tailored solutions, we help institutions navigate complexity, seize opportunities, and achieve transformational impact. Because in a world of one-size-fits-all, the right size is the one that fits you.

Have any questions or want to learn how the Graham-Pelton team can help you build a bright future for your institution? Please contact us today, or keep exploring our library of resources: