Turn institutional priorities into reasons to give
Written in collaboration with EAB Principal Jenny Jones and Advancement Copywriter Scott Hornby.
Every institution has its priorities. They may center on student success, research excellence, access and affordability, or community impact. Whatever the focus, these priorities help presidents, boards, deans, and advancement leaders align around where the institution is headed and what philanthropy can support.
But here’s the challenge: the frameworks that guide institutional strategy do not always translate into compelling fundraising messages. An appeal can be accurate, well written, and perfectly aligned with institutional goals and still leave a donor wondering: Why should I care?
Read on to explore how cause-based fundraising can help advancement teams translate institutional priorities into messages that inspire donors to act.
What the research tells us about donor priorities
Higher education is competing for donor attention
In EAB’s 2026 Advancement Leaders Survey, 285 advancement leaders reported that, on average, 60% of alumni are never-givers and another 14% are lapsed. And 72% believe donors may not give because supporting their alma mater is not a priority.
Alumni generosity often goes elsewhere
The 2026 National Alumni Survey included responses from more than 82,000 alumni across 31 institutions. Among respondents, 82% reported financially supporting or volunteering with a charitable organization. Alumni who gave supported an average of four organizations in the previous year. Yet only 35% of alumni who donated or volunteered reported giving to their alma mater.
Even among alumni who had never donated to their alma mater, 67% supported other causes. Among lapsed alumni donors, that figure rose to 86%.
Among Millennial and Gen Z donors, 37% supported individuals through GoFundMe-style campaigns and 34% donated to civil rights or social justice causes. Only 13% gave to higher education.
These findings show that alumni remain a philanthropic group, but much of their support is currently directed to other causes and organizations. Higher education is competing with opportunities that often feel more personal, immediate, and tangible.
Donors want to know what their gift will support
The National Alumni Survey also asked which higher education giving opportunities would motivate future support. Scholarships and support for specific departments or majors performed well across generations. Younger alumni showed particularly strong interest in opportunities tied to visible student outcomes, including mental health services, first-generation initiatives, and emergency funds.
General and unrestricted funds were less compelling, especially for younger alumni. Only 16% of alumni under 45 said they were likely to support an institution’s “Area of Greatest Need” or general annual fund, compared with 30% of alumni over 45.
Giving patterns across higher education reinforce the value of specificity. CASE estimated that donors gave $78.8 billion to U.S. higher education in fiscal year 2025. Among institutions participating in its survey, 81% of reported contributions were designated for specific purposes, most commonly student success, financial aid, and research.
What donors need from advancement messaging
The research points to a clear opportunity for advancement teams: translate institutional priorities into the causes and outcomes donors care about.
In Rethinking the Donor Pipeline, Howard Heevner challenges advancement leaders to reconsider fundraising practices that have prioritized volume and efficiency over authentic connection. Cause-based fundraising puts that idea into practice by inviting donors to give through the university to advance issues they value rather than simply giving to the university.
Advancement teams can make that connection by linking broad priorities to specific people, programs, needs, and outcomes. Tangible messages help donors understand what their gift can make possible and give higher education a clearer place among the many causes competing for their attention. Existing funds and priorities can support this approach when their real-world impact is made clear to donors.
See how broad priorities can become tangible donor messages
Cause-based fundraising in practice
The following examples, featured by CASE, show how Kent State University and Augustana College used donor interests and tangible outcomes to strengthen their fundraising messages.
Kent State organized fundraising around donor interests
Kent State University organized its fall annual giving campaign around 10 cause categories based on donors’ giving histories. Those interests shaped its direct mail, email, social advertising, video, and online giving experience. According to its 2026 CASE Circle of Excellence entry, the campaign raised $76,823 more than the previous year while mailing to 539 fewer households and spending $15,035 less on printing and postage. Direct mail achieved a 591% return on investment, its best result in five years.
Augustana centered its message on student access
Augustana College initially promoted the Gerber Grand Challenge in Philanthropy by emphasizing its size and value to the endowment. When that framing failed to resonate, the team centered its message on keeping an Augustana education within reach for students with financial need. In CASE’s “Giving Through, Not Just To” case study, Vice President for College Advancement Jon Enslin describes this as inviting donors to give through Augustana to create access for students.
A targeted email helped establish six new endowed scholarships within weeks, including gifts from first-time major donors. The broader effort has secured nearly $30 million in matching support, created 124 scholarships, and helped more than 500 students attend Augustana. The endowment remained the funding vehicle while student access became the donor-facing story.
Protect the donor story during cross-campus review
Advancement communications often draw input from campus leaders and departments, each with important context and priorities to represent. As their edits accumulate, the human story and tangible impact of a gift can become harder to see. Advancement leaders must guide the review process and protect the clarity of the final donor-facing message. Instead of asking reviewers, “Do you like this appeal?” ask:
- Can donors quickly understand who or what their gift will help?
- Is it clear what could change because they give?
- Does the opportunity connect to something donors may personally value?
- Have we explained why this institution can create that impact?
These questions keep cross-campus review focused on what donors need to understand and what will motivate them to act.
Three ways to put cause-based fundraising into practice
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Treat donor interests as strategic data
Giving history shows what donors have supported, but it does not capture everything they care about. Use engagement data, digital behavior, event attendance, surveys, volunteering, and fund preferences to identify the causes and outcomes most likely to resonate with different audiences. Apply those insights to segmentation, creative strategy, giving opportunities, and stewardship.
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Build a pipeline of stories from across campus
Create a recurring process for finding the people, programs, and outcomes that bring institutional priorities to life. At least twice a year, ask leaders across colleges, units, and programs to share stories connected to those priorities. Ask who is affected, what challenge or opportunity they face, what has changed, and what philanthropic support could make possible.
Capture those examples in a shared story bank that advancement can draw from for appeals, digital campaigns, stewardship, and other donor communications.
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Start with the outcome, then connect it to the priority
Before discussing copy, ask: What will change if this fundraising effort succeeds?
- A scholarship creates access.
- Emergency aid keeps a student enrolled.
- Research moves a treatment closer to patients.
- A faculty program creates new opportunities for a community.
Once the outcome is clear, connect it to the appropriate institutional priority and giving designation. This keeps the strategy behind the message while leading donors with the impact they can help create.
Give donors a reason to care
Higher education already advances many of the causes donors care about, from expanding opportunity and improving mental health to advancing research and strengthening communities. Advancement teams can make that work more visible by showing the people, needs, and outcomes behind existing funds.
Campaign priorities provide essential structure. Strong donor-facing messages turn those priorities into a clear invitation, helping donors see how their values connect to the institution’s work and where their support can make a tangible difference.
EAB’s Advancement Marketing Services helps institutions use donor data and creative strategy to build coordinated omnichannel campaigns that make those connections clear and inspire donors to act.
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