Many of your university’s alumni are on social media every day, making it one of the most convenient tools for keeping their alma mater top-of-mind and spurring continued support.

However, alumni giving trends reveal that institutions are increasingly moving beyond simply asking for donations. Instead, these universities position their requests for support as an invitation to be part of a continued journey of progress and shared achievement.

This shift means universities must revisit their social media strategies to deeply engage their audiences. In this guide, we’ll review how you can do just that by implementing four effective tips.

1. Prioritize young alumni.

Recent graduates are among the most supportive of your alumni. Filled with school spirit after a bittersweet farewell at their graduation ceremony, these individuals likely take pride in their alma mater.

Cultivating these relationships is crucial to securing long-term support. While most recently graduated students won’t have the capacity to give major gifts yet, continued engagement over time can turn them into avid event attendees and advocates for your school. Younger generations are also the most active social media users, meaning they likely account for the majority of your university’s social media audience.

Try these tactics to engage young alumni on social media:

• Invite them to events. Promote an event across your social media channels, limiting the guest list to graduates from a specific year or cohort to provide a sense of exclusivity. Incorporate a fundraising activity into the event, such as a raffle or an auction. You can even leverage auction software to gather data about attendees and personalize future communications with them.
• Show them what your school can still offer them. Promote networking opportunities, social events, or advice about postgraduate success. By showing young alumni you can still help them thrive, you’ll make them feel more connected to your school and more willing to give.
• Create content they’ll want to share. Most young alumni keep up with some of their college friends and peers, especially recent graduates. Create content that inspires sharing, such as high-quality graphics with useful information for young alumni. When they share the post, they’ll inspire their friends to be more involved with your university, too.
• Use interactive stories to encourage engagement. Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok all include story features for sharing content quickly and easily. Take advantage of story features encouraging direct interaction with your followers, such as questions, polls, and quizzes. Keep the conversation going at every opportunity!

Remember that every social media channel has unique strengths when implementing these strategies. For example, TikTok is ideal for video storytelling, while Facebook is a better platform for text-based posts. Adjusting your content to leverage these strengths will maximize the success you see across channels.

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2. Highlight how easy it is to give.

One of the simplest ways to increase your fundraising potential on social media is to raise awareness of mobile giving methods.

Alumni are less likely to donate if they have to jump through multiple hoops to find your donation page. Text-to-give makes it easy to donate by texting a keyword to a designated phone number. Alumni will then receive a text with a direct link to your donation page. If your online donation platform includes text-to-give functionality, make sure your supporters are aware of this opportunity to give more easily.

To promote mobile giving on social media, Snowball Fundraising’s text-to-give guide recommends:

• Sharing updates regarding your fundraising progress on social media.
• Creating posts that supporters can easily share with their followers.
• Using visuals, such as compelling photos and videos.

Additionally, some social media channels offer fundraising tools within the platform itself. For example, Facebook fundraisers allow users to donate to a cause without leaving Facebook, making it an easy way for alumni to give as soon as they feel compelled by your posts.

3. Show alumni your appreciation.

Thanking your supporters is an important part of any donor retention strategy. For universities, alumni often feel gratitude for their educational experiences, and showing appreciation for their generosity fosters a mutual sense of community and respect.

Start by segmenting your alumni audience to determine which groups your appreciation messages should target. After all, one alumnus in the larger student population won’t feel appreciated by generic messages such as, “We love all our students!” or “Thank you for attending our university!”

Use social media to emphasize the impact of alumni involvement and contributions. Recognize specific contributions when possible and celebrate broader donation milestones. For example, create a shout-out post on Instagram when the class of 2002 reaches $50,000 raised. Include a photo from their graduation ceremony to remind them of their fond memories of your school.

Showing appreciation on social media can inspire increased donations, but don’t forget to thank your donors often and in a variety of ways. Social media marketing works best when you supplement it with other communication methods, such as a personalized eCard or virtual donor wall.

4. Use data to guide your efforts.

Tracking social media metrics alongside fundraising data can help your university draw correlations between your posts and alumni engagement. Your team can go directly to its social media accounts to find relevant data, such as likes, shares, views, and follows.

Consult any fundraising solutions you may use, such as an auction website or event management platform, for fundraising data. These tools track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as attendance rates and donation amounts.

Analyze this data, extract insights from it, and apply your findings to your social media strategy. For example, did a post with educational infographics and credible statistics garner more support? Consider posting similar content in the future, especially when promoting specific fundraising campaigns.

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Be creative with the content you post and the fundraisers you promote. For example, alumni entering the workforce for the first time may be newly eligible for (but unaware of) matching gift opportunities. Encourage alumni to explore this new form of involvement with your institution.

Above all, highlight your alumni’s unique role in supporting the university moving forward and improving their alma mater for other students. After all, your university’s success depends on theirs, both inside the classroom and after they leave.