Let's get right to the point. Effective institutional advancement encompassing community building and fundraising is critical for sustained institutional success. For educational institutions, that means a robust alumni relations program. For other entities, it can be cultivating engaged members or participants. The key is to create a structure and a program that drive the institutional advancement effort. To borrow from the corporate world, “what can be measured, can be managed.”

As engagement and fundraising professionals you are uniquely positioned as ambassadors of generosity and goodwill.

Business author Harvey Mackay said his golden rule of networking was, “Don't keep score".  Don't get me wrong - results are critical, but the hard work you do today to grow connectedness in your network will continue to benefit your organization and your members for decades to come.

So the question becomes how can you most effectively use your time to foster relational engagement across your entire network?

Ryan Catherwood recently posted an article “Why Alumni Network Platforms Will Likely Fail Us All”, but the article actually points responsibility to both the platforms promoting best practice and the organizations building communities. Ryan, I challenge you to re-title it “Why Everybody Could Win with an Alumni Community”.

Deeper connections and stronger relationships with your institution can translate into higher donor support. Data now confirms this. Organizational structures, programs and services are in the midst of change as institutions seek to harness the opportunities and benefits of engaging their constituents. There’s a drive to connect the dots between engagement and donations, and increased pressure to implement objective measures of progress and success. But how can we accomplish this?