Sustaining donor relationships through cadence-based fundraising

Dawn M. Baumgarten, Amy Harvey and Emily Tucker
Additional contact information
Dawn M. Baumgarten: Executive Director of Annual Giving, Division of University Advancement, University at Buffalo, USA
Amy Harvey: Assistant Director of Leadership Annual Giving, University at Buffalo, USA
Emily Tucker: Assistant Director of Leadership Annual Giving, University at Buffalo, USA

Journal of Education Advancement & Marketing, 2025, vol. 10, issue 2, 127-138

Abstract: In the wake of its record-breaking US$1.1bn Boldly Buffalo campaign, the University at Buffalo (UB) sought new strategies to sustain donor engagement and strengthen its philanthropic pipeline. This paper explores the university’s implementation of a digital gift officer (DGO) programme using cadencebased fundraising software to reach mid-level donors often overlooked by traditional outreach models. Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools like Salesloft, UB’s DGOs conducted over 14,000 personalised interactions in a single year — resulting in a 400 per cent increase in donor meetings and nearly US$700,000 in contributions. Through personalised video messages, multichannel cadences and data-informed stewardship, the programme successfully reactivated lapsed donors, uncovered significant bequest intentions and created more fluid collaboration between DGOs and major gift officers (MGOs). UB’s approach offers a scalable, cost-effective model for institutions aiming to enhance donor relationships, increase giving and build a robust pipeline of future major donors. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.

Keywords: digital gift officer (DGO); annual giving; donor stewardship; fundraising strategy; higher education advancement; philanthropic pipeline; artificial intelligence (AI) in fundraising; personalised outreach; leadership giving; cadence-based fundraising; alumni engagement; donor engagement; fundraising technology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://hstalks.com/article/9709/download/ (application/pdf)
https://hstalks.com/article/9709/ (text/html)
Requires a paid subscription for full access.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aza:jeam00:y:2025:v:10:i:2:p:127-138

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Education Advancement & Marketing from Henry Stewart Publications
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Henry Stewart Talks ().