Are you navigating alumni relations and fundraising with a small team? Do you have creative strategies or challenges to share? Join this interactive campfire discussion where we’ll explore AI as your team member, micro-communities, crowdsourcing engagement, gamification, subscription-based giving, alumni as influencers, reverse fundraising, guerrilla marketing, and corporate collaborations on a budget—all through a Nordic perspective. If you have experiences or insights on these topics, we’d love to hear from you! If you’re looking for inspiration, come listen, learn, and take away practical ideas to apply in your own work.

Creating, building and sustaining relationships with your alumni around the world is challenging, but can also be very rewarding. How much should be done at the individual level (i.e. contact with regional representatives, like an alumni ambassador programme) versus organised groups (aka “chapters”)? What are the pros and cons of each model? How much time should be invested, and what is the ROI? What communications prove to be most valuable and effective? What metrics are worth measuring (or possible to measure) in terms of engagement within international networks/groups? Does this vary from metrics for engagement at the national level? What are some future trends within this area?

We discuss how to bridge the gap between studies and work by using alumni as a resource in showing the relevance of the education. By showing our current students what our alumni works with, we give them concrete examples of how their competence can be applied in the work force.

Collaboration across level in a university can already be in formal structures or you may need to develop the format our self. In this campfire session we will share best practices for how to organize the structure for the division of responsibility for task/activities between university, faculty and department levels.

The campfire sessions are facilitated discussions on a given topic. Please choose one from the list below.

Development Offices usually work with limited resources and we have to prioritise daily. We often have to choose between handling stewardship to existing donors and to spend important time approaching new donors. Both tasks takes time, and we have to balance our efforts to have a good portfolio of donors in the long time perspective. In this Camp Fire session we will discuss how we can work more efficiently by partnering with stakeholders, for example Advisory Boards. We look forward to listen to your experiences and to have a discussion with a great learning and sharing moment!

Do we need CRM systems when we work with alumni and external relations? If we work with a CRM system we need a god practice to handle all the data. How do we handle GDPR? How do we structure data about alumni and external relations? How do we work with fundraising processes?. How do we integrate to student service systems and other systems? During the discussion we will look answers to all these and other related questions. We will share our experience and reporting good practices.

You have your alumni database and certain goals for engaging alumni – but how do you measure success? In this session, we will discuss how to use CRM and PowerBI as tools for monitoring and analysing alumni data. You will gain insights on how to define relevant metrics for alumni engagement and use them for strategic purposes.

Linköping University began its fundraising efforts in 2003. Over the years, we have worked tirelessly to build strong relationships with donors and corporate partners. In 2024, we proudly surpassed the magical threshold of 1 billion Swedish kronor in donations and corporate collaborations since the start. This remarkable achievement is a testament to the dedication and generosity of our supporters. Our journey has been marked by two major fundraising campaigns, each designed to engage our community and highlight the impact of their contributions. We have also benefited from the guidance of two external fundraising committees, whose expertise and networks have been invaluable. Throughout this period, we have seen the leadership of three different vice-chancellors, each bringing their unique vision and energy to our efforts. Additionally, our fundraising activities have been supported by six different organizational affiliations, reflecting the dynamic and evolving nature of our university. We are excited to share the stories and successes of this journey, and we look forward to continuing our work to support the mission and vision of Linköping University.

Join us for the final plenary session, featuring two insightful presentations on recent studies from Norway and Finland: • A Norwegian study explores the perceived value of alumni associations and their impact on alumni loyalty. • Finish studies looking into donor behavior and predicting alumni giving. Following the presentations, a panel discussion will address key questions around value creation from both institutional and alumni/donor perspectives. We will also discuss emerging trends and potential future developments in the Nordic region. The session will conclude with an open Q&A, inviting audience participation.