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Autonomous fundraising is revolutionizing donor engagement by addressing a fundamental challenge faced by organizations of all sizes: the inability to personally engage with every donor. With thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of supporters in their databases, they simply cannot assign a gift officer to learn about each individual and their connection to the organization, and personally deliver curated content that’s relevant to their interests. Yet we know that level of personalization is what organizations of all sizes long to be able to do with every donor.
A member of our first cohort of Innovation Partners in the Version2 R&D Lab, St. John Fisher University, is a young institution with 34,000 living alumni. Its Virtual Engagement Officer, Quinn, is tackling several strategic priorities. As 76% of their alumni graduated after 1990, the university is focused on re-engaging recent graduates and qualifying new prospects for its donor pipeline. Quinn is also helping fill data gaps, enabling the university to better understand alumni interests and preferences. These insights are essential as Fisher concludes a comprehensive campaign and prepares its pipeline for future fundraising efforts.
Meanwhile, Texas State University faces the challenge of engaging a large and growing alumni population of over 230,000. With an enormous base of recent graduates and limited resources, the university’s VEO, Emma, plays a critical role in reaching lapsed donors and increasing engagement among non-donors. By providing personalized outreach at scale, Emma enables Texas State to build meaningful relationships with alumni who are just beginning their philanthropic journeys.
Both institutions highlight the transformative potential of autonomous fundraising in building connections and driving results, regardless of the size of their donor base and human staff. At Fisher, Quinn’s ability to gather and act on alumni data is helping their team focus on high-priority prospects. At Texas State, Emma is creating opportunities to engage alumni beyond transactional outreach, nurturing a sense of ongoing connection and service to graduates that fosters philanthropy.
Meet both Emma and Quinn, as they join St. John Fisher University’s Leah Richards, Senior Director of Advancement Services and Dana Orlando, Director of Prospect Research and Texas State University’s Becca Dickey, Senior Strategic Business in a live panel discussion with Version2’s Emily Groccia.
Not only will you get to hear how these two very different organizations are approaching Autonomous Fundraising. You’ll also get to hear from the VEOs themselves about how they’re paving the way for a more sustainable future in philanthropy.