For years, higher education institutions have relied on phonathons to raise critical unrestricted dollars from alumni. However, experts argue it’s time for schools to rethink the phonathon model to build meaningful engagement and lifetime donor loyalty.
Perry Willett, founder of Principal Volanthropy, says phonathons are often solely focused on dollar goals and housed within annual giving departments. But they could serve a much broader purpose. “Donors have been saying for decades, ‘I only hear from you when you want my money.’ They want to help in other ways. We have ignored them and not created systems to allow them to do that,” Willett says.
If schools repositioned phonathons to focus not just on giving but on volunteerism, events, mentoring and more, they could tap into donors’ full potential to contribute. This could strengthen the institution-donor relationship and open up more impactful opportunities for donors to get involved.
Dr. Sholanda Martin agrees that schools need to take a wider engagement perspective. “We’re partnering much more intensely with other campus partners because we can see the interrelation between all of the functions that we do. And what we do doesn’t just financially support what other people do, but it also reputationally does too,” she says.
By integrating phonathons into a broader engagement strategy, schools can build a pipeline for deeper donor participation over a lifetime. They can also make the experience more meaningful and equitable for diverse groups of alumni. The key is having resources and institutional support to make this shift.
While fundraising metrics and dollars raised still matter, donors matter more. Repositioning the phonathon around engagement and participation instead of strictly dollars can help schools develop lifelong advocates and build a culture of philanthropy to support them for generations to come. The time for this broader, more strategic approach to fundraising is now.
View the full recording of this session in our Resource Library.