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Fundraising expertise for colleges and universities—campaigns, alumni engagement, and advancement strategies.
Reading Time: 4 minutesBoston, MA, April 22, 2025 /Boston Globe/ — Anita Taylor, an elementary school teacher in Concord, N.H., did not attend Harvard University. And she rarely makes charitable donations. Yet last week, after learning that the nation’s oldest…
Reading Time: 6 minutesSix Strategies for a Smooth Transition When two universities or colleges merge, combining Advancement offices isn’t just about fitting two puzzle pieces together—it’s about realizing the puzzle has missing pieces, duplicate pieces, and probably a few pieces from…
Reading Time: 4 minutesHigher education institutions are navigating a sea of complex challenges: preparing for an enrollment cliff, declining levels of state and federal support, and re-envisioning how education looks in this new, post-pandemic world. In addition, historically black colleges…
Reading Time: 3 minutesThere are five main components to the fundraising cycle. Identify, Qualify, Cultivate, Solicit, and Steward. Each component of the cycle serves its own unique purpose. And while each component is essential, stewardship – continued engagement with donors…
Reading Time: 3 minutesWestern Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, inspired the largest gift ever made to public higher education: $550 million. The gift is $50 million more than the previous record held by a public higher education institution and more…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA valued Graham-Pelton client, Western Michigan University announced on June 8 a $550 million gift — the largest donation ever made to a public college or university. “[The gift] is historic and transformative in nature, size…
Reading Time: 3 minutesEducational institutions have “built in” donor bases within their alumni populations, but non-alumni can have tremendous philanthropic impact as well. In fact , Graham-Pelton conducted research of the top 50 gifts made to education in 2020, according…
Reading Time: 4 minutesNaturally, most development offices establish programmes that actively engage their alumni. This is understandable given alumni represent your school’s largest stakeholder constituency and have a strong (and hopefully positive) connection as former students. This in turn creates…
Reading Time: 3 minutesAlumni Participation: sometimes it can seem a little exasperating. But why such ire for this critical piece of the fundraising puzzle? Briefly, a higher level of alumni participation can equal more funding with which to improve the…