3 strategies to modernize your advancement approach in 2026

After more than two decades working with teams on how they show up digitally, tell their stories, and manage the work behind the scenes, I see real opportunities for higher education advancement leaders in 2026. But whether or not teams reach their fundraising goals this year will depend on where they focus their time, how they engage their audiences, and which strategies they rely on.

In this blog, I’ll share three strategies to modernize your advancement approach in 2026 and beyond. 

1. Use AI to extend your team’s capacity

AI is becoming a normal part of work across higher education. Most advancement leaders already understand what these tools can do and have seen them work well. The real challenge isn’t awareness. It’s making AI part of day-to-day work, not something teams only experiment with when time allows.

When teams are stretched thin, AI can help by taking pressure off early-stage work. Tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Google Gemini can support tasks that already consume a lot of staff time, including:

• Generating content ideas for social ads, videos, or emails
• Drafting first versions of appeals or stewardship messages
• Summarizing campaign results or pulling themes from donor feedback
• Organizing notes, outlines, or talking points for upcoming campaigns

Used this way, AI simply helps teams move through routine work faster so more time can be spent refining messages, personalizing outreach, and focusing on donors.

Where teams often get stuck isn’t a lack of interest. It’s a lack of structure. Without clear guidance from leadership, AI tends to stay with one or two curious staff members instead of becoming part of how the team works. For AI to actually expand capacity, it needs to be treated as part of the workflow, not an extra task added on.

I’d recommend focusing on two immediate steps:

• Normalize AI through regular show-and-tells. Build short AI show-and-tells into team meetings. Block ten minutes and ask someone to share how they used AI that week. What did they try? What helped? What didn’t? These quick conversations help ideas spread, reduce hesitation, and make it clear that using AI is part of how the team works.
• Anchor AI to specific steps in existing workflows. Set clear expectations for where AI fits in your team’s workflows—drafting the first version of an appeal, brainstorming subject lines, summarizing campaign results, or outlining content for a digital campaign. When AI is tied directly to steps teams already take, adoption becomes more consistent and easier to sustain.

2. Invest budget dollars into digital marketing

Reaching the audiences we care about has gotten harder over the past few years. Email and print still play an important role, but they can’t carry the weight of today’s goals on their own. Both channels work best when donors are already engaged. If donor growth is a priority this year, it’s worth taking a fresh look at where you’re investing your budget.

That starts with investing real dollars in digital marketing. By digital, I mean paid, targeted advertising on channels like LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. These platforms help you reach people traditional methods can’t, like recent alumni who rarely open email, lapsed donors who haven’t engaged in years, and parents or community members who care about your mission but aren’t in your database. Digital allows you to move beyond the same familiar lists and begin building a broader, healthier pipeline.

How you use digital largely depends on budget. Based on the level of investment you’re able to make, I’d recommend approaching it in one of two ways:

• Growing awareness. Even relatively small digital budgets can make a real difference. When people see your institution show up consistently online in the weeks or months before a big email or mailer, they’re more likely to notice it and engage. Digital helps keep your institution and message top of mind so that when you do make an ask, your outreach is more effective.
• Driving gifts. With a larger digital budget, you have more opportunities to stay in front of the same audience over time. You can lead with mission-centered content that keeps your work visible, then follow up with more direct asks once people are clearly engaging. Giving is more likely to happen after multiple touchpoints, when donors feel reconnected and ready to act.

One of the biggest advantages of digital is not just visibility, but decision-making. You can see which messages and audiences are getting traction while a campaign is still live and adjust accordingly. For example, if one message or audience is clearly outperforming others early on, you can shift more budget there instead of spreading dollars evenly and hoping for the best. That kind of flexibility gives leaders more confidence that resources are being used where they’ll have the greatest impact.

3. Prioritize creating video content

If digital helps you reach people, video helps them pay attention. It’s the kind of content people actually stop scrolling for. Compared to static images or text, video holds attention longer, which makes your message more likely to stick and your audience more likely to engage.

That attention also travels farther. LinkedIn has found that video posts are shared 20x more often than any other content. So, you’re not just getting people to pause and watch. You’re also giving them something they want to pass along to their networks, which expands your reach without adding work or spend.

The good news is that you don’t need a production team, big budget, or highly polished videos to do this. In fact, simple and authentic videos often perform best. A couple of low-lift ways to get started:

• Activate student creators. Students already know how to tell stories on video. Give them a clear prompt tied to your message and let them capture moments that feel natural on campus. These videos often resonate because they feel real, not staged.
• Repurpose what you already have. You’re sitting on video ideas already. A quote from a stewardship report, a short thank-you, or a moment from an event can easily become a quick video that fits naturally on social media.

What matters most is not perfection, but consistency. A steady stream of short, simple videos can go a long way in building recognition and engagement. No matter the campaign, adding video gives it more energy and reach. 

2026 is a good year to step out of what’s familiar and try new approaches that better reflect how people actually engage. For leaders looking for support along the way, partnerships like EAB’s Advancement Marketing Services can help teams extend their reach and keep work moving when capacity is tight. I’m looking forward to seeing how teams experiment and help shape what modern advancement looks like in the year ahead.

Justin Ware

Senior Director, Creative Strategy, Advancement Marketing Services

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