In 2012, Converge and CASE partnered to research the attitudes and motivations of more than 50,000 alumni associated with donating to their higher education institutions. We released a series of white paper’s releasing these findings.

The first paper of the series, Champions. Friends. Acquaintances. Donor Motivation Defined, discussed Converge Consulting’s national study findings related to donor motivation and presented three segments of alumni respondents that vary significantly in terms of their attitudes and motivations associated with giving to their alma maters: Champions, Friends, and Acquaintances.

Since releasing the findings of the national study, Converge has had the opportunity to work with colleges and universities across the nation, utilizing the study model to enable institutions to classify their alumni into these three segments, identify the best ways to reach them in terms of communication channels, and learn about the types of philanthropies which they support.

The second paper of the series, Findings from the Field: The Donor Motivation Study in Practice, begins with a review of key ideas and findings from the first paper and then discusses how the donor motivation study has been put into practice at specific institutions throughout the United States. In so doing, findings from each institution are compared to each other and to the national sample. The white paper then explores implications of the findings in terms of marketing communications strategies.