In 2024 I covered how University of Southern California’s Kortschak Center for Learning and Creativity has worked to help students who suspect they may have an undiagnosed disability get evaluated quickly so they can qualify for academic accommodations even within the same semester. Pursuing evaluations for a learning disability, ADHD or another condition on their own, students could find themselves facing long waiting lists for testing that costs up to $7,000 out of pocket and then additional delay when it takes months to actually get the report needed to meet with the disabilities services office for an intake.

Center director Julie Loppacher gets herself in front of advancement officers regularly to explain these challenges so they can be brought up in conversation with potential donors. “Working closely with our advancement team has given us access to philanthropists [who] recognize the incredible benefit that diverse learners experience once they are able to access these assessments and subsequent diagnoses,” Loppacher shared. As of that spring, the assessment initiative had secured over $100,000—from both big gifts and small ones.

One way Loppacher has thanked major donors is to assemble hardcover impact books to “create a permanent reminder of the significance of their gift,” she told me this week. In addition, for the first time one donor family was just given a personalized website as an act of gratitude. It includes links to thank-you notes and pictures submitted by students and young professionals who benefited from center services, she explains. “Using the website format allows us to capture and share an unlimited number of stories.” Future updates could include videos and turn the site into “a living wall of gratitude!”

I’d like to challenge advancement teams to guide those who have benefited from donations to express their thanks in specific, meaningful ways. Such messages can of course be sent directly to donors, but consider publishing them online (with permission and perhaps anonymity). Include a call-to-action for others interested in supporting the same or a similar effort.

GUIDING THE GRATITUDE MESSAGE: In a CauseVox blog post on 21 ways to thank donors, donor impact stories and video thank-you messages are suggested as two potential gratitude tactics. Content should explain when, how, and who the donation impacted and include a sincere thank you. The post suggests sending a written story or video directly to each donor. But imagine the power of sending this to hundreds of donors who contributed even a small amount to a single fund or cause. And then, of course, it can also be included on the giving website with a CTA for others who want to get in on the same gift opportunity. Better yet, email the thank-you with a link to a video or more details of the impact online.

Oregon State’s tips for scholarship recipient thank-you letters highlight some questions advancement teams can use to guide giving page gratitude content. Stories can answer:

· How did you choose the institution and why is it important to you?

· What are your interest and goals (inside and outside the classroom)?

· What experiences or life situations led you to pursue your major/career path?

· How has the college influenced you?

· How would you be proud to contribute to society?

· How as the scholarship (or grant, aid, etc.) helped you reach your professional and educational goals?

· Did the help allow you to take advantage of research, join a volunteer organization, study abroad, or do a practicum?

· What are your plans for after graduation?

· What do you hope to be doing 10 years from now?

University of Wisconsin–Madison’s writing center also offers donor thank-you note advice to students that could be used to generate compelling content on a university’s giving page. Besides answering some of the above questions, the center suggests:

· How did you pick your intended career? Why is it so appealing to you?

· How are you involved in campus life? Do you lead a club or organization? Work in a lab?

· Are you employed? What is challenging or exciting about your job?

· Do you volunteer in the community? What do you find meaningful about serving others?

Students are reminded they need not answer all the suggested questions, but rather focus on a few that bring up meaningful experiences to highlight in the letter. In addition, if the grant or scholarship is related to a particular major, career, or other aspect of life, students should ensure the letter includes something relevant.

Need some additional thank-you content inspiration? I dug up some recent and not-so-recent examples of how individuals can share messages of gratitude through video (which—YES—can make great content for a college’s main giving page).

· Virginia Tech’s 2025 Thank a Donor Day video (with letter-writing video footage)

· University of Minnesota College of Design’s 2025 student thank-you reel (with students interviewing students)

· Los Rios Community College District’s 2024 Scholarship Thank You video

· Southern Utah University’s 2023 Thank a Giver Day video

· State University of New York at Fredonia’s 2017 Thank You Letter to a Faithful Donor (focused on one student expressing gratitude)

· Boston College’s 2016 Student-Athletes Say Thank You video

What does your college do to help students express gratitude to donors? And how are donor thank-you messages organized or highlighted on your institution’s—or another institution’s—main giving site?

For a future post, share a goal your advancement team has (or maybe you have and hope get implemented) related to shaping or sharing donor impact stories in 2026. Or what would help your department tell more or better narratives about donor impact? Anonymous shares welcome.

Grounded in our commitment to the Jesuit, Catholic tradition and service to others, Santa Clara University has an extraordinary impact on its surrounding communities and across the globe. Your gifts in support of any area of the student experience help us form leaders who go on to build a more humane, just, and sustainable world.

Inspired to donate already? Click “Make a Gift.”

Otherwise, links in a banner across the top of the image offer an easy entry into sections on “Why Give,” “Your Impact” and “Stories.”

But visitors taking an exploratory scroll first can get a glimpse at “Some Areas to Support” showing a block of images with brief descriptions teasing a click to learn more about giving to:

• Santa Clara Fund—Offering support for “the development of the whole person” to “cultivate individuals of strong character who can help solve the world’s most complex problems in an ethical and compassionate way. Sections, each with a two- to three-sentence intro and a student image with quote, cover scholarships, academic enhancements, study abroad and immersion programs, and student initiatives. The academic enhancements testimonial features a former mechanical engineering student sharing how Santa Clara Fund support allowed him to launch an aerospace and rocketry club.

• Access and Affordability—Describing six specific scholarship funds, general financial aid scholarships, and an endow-your-own-scholarship option (that last one offering contact info to discuss). The top of this page provides a call-for-support stat about nearly two-thirds of Santa Clara students having an average of $16,439 in unmet need.

• Schools and Centers—Featuring an image and brief description of six academic colleges (“encompass[ing] the values of competence, conscience, and compassion”) and three centers (“represent[ing] tangible expressions of our Jesuit values, encouraging the pursuit of knowledge in service of humanity”).

• Athletics—Noting that support comes through both gifts and attending athletic events. Gifts can be directed to the Bronco Bench Foundation to support student-athlete scholarships or a specific sports team.

Back to the main giving page, friends of Santa Clara clicking to learn why they should give get a quick list of six reasons a gift really makes a difference. No. 6, that “gifts of every size can have a major impact,” explains that the majority of gifts “are under $1,000 but combined they add up to millions of dollars in support!”

STORIES THEY’RE TELLING: The giving stories page starts with teaser photos for three student stories and ends with three donor stories. Clicking through, visitors can browse 20 student stories (most beginning with “Meet [name], Class of [year]”) and 22 donor stories.

All but two of the student narratives feature an individual student, while one outlier is about a team and another about internship opportunities.

“Big Town, Small Dreams” is one compelling student story. It kicks off with a description of Class of 2025 alum Raechel Guevara’s little hometown in California’s Central Valley, known as the apricot capital of the world but “also a place where higher educational opportunities for high school students were scarce.” The recipient of a scholarship from the Jack and Carolyn Lewis Family Scholarship Endowment Fund, Guevara got that rare opportunity and “refused to let her circumstances define her destiny.”

The first in her family to attend college, Guevara relayed her excitement in attending class, networking, and developing skills for her career (which, according to LinkedIn, began at a global professional services firm). While at Santa Clara, she worked as a data and analytics sustainability coordinator at its Center for Sustainability and as a critical thinking and writing peer educator for an English course for first-gen LEAD Scholars students. As for her roots, “Guevara now represents her small town as a symbol of hope and possibility.”

Another student story features Christopher Arellano Reyes, ’23, studying biology to begin his journey to become a surgeon. Part of LEAD Scholars, Reyes spoke of wanting to give back to the community he grew up in. “Latino, Hispanic communities are struggling due to less adequate healthcare access,” he said.

An additional ‘23 grad’s student story—presented as an engaging Q&A with self-proclaimed former introvert Ameha Teshome, born in Ethiopia but arriving in Santa Clara after his family’s move to the United States as a high school senior—ends with a box explaining the Black Excellence Scholarship Fund with a link to give. The first recipient of this scholarship, Teshome initially attended another college and found that transferring to Santa Clara as a sophomore helped him open up socially because others at the university were, he said, “happy talking to me.”

In a religion course, which he identified as his favorite, Teshome was able to volunteer for through a program that provided food to, and conversation with, people experiencing homelessness. And in his junior year, he had a remote internship with a startup in Capetown, South Africa.

His thoughts on success professionally wrap up the article: “When we’re growing up, we’re taught that success means working for a big company and having tons of material possessions like fancy cars and big houses. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that success to me is all about being there for my loved ones.”

Santa Clara’s donor stories are refreshing in that they aren’t focused mainly gift amounts.

For example, a piece about Holly Kelly and Andy Lipsky, parents of a current student, focuses on how they established a fund for the Office of Accessible Education (OAE) to support a full-time executive function coach. The story kicks off with a description of the challenges based by neurodivergent students and how the donors felt such a coach could help students navigate school and adult life, guiding them in completing assignments and breaking down larger tasks into smaller ones to make them more manageable.

Besides funds, these donors have led the university’s Parent and Family Leadership Council, which includes bringing more awareness about neurodiversity and how expanding the OAE could help not just students with differences but also bring visibility to their contributions to the university community.

The article ends with a subtle CTA:

While additional work toward more accessible education is still needed, it is worth taking the time to celebrate the landmarks reached so far and express gratitude to incredible, committed parents like Holly Kelly and Andy Lipsky who share our vision to become a more inclusive, socially aware, and diversity-embracing campus.

Some donor stories include a more direct CTA, such as the one about alum Annamarie Marsh Louie ‘91 BA, ‘98 MA, who along with her husband started a donor-advised fund. A former teacher, Louie is supporting the Future Teachers Project, a program aiding students interested in becoming educators in urban and under-served communities. The article—which shares how Louie lost her father during her first year at the university and received additional aid so she could stay in college—ends with a link to details about donor-advised funds and contact information for the Office of Planned Giving.

Michele Barnett Gaskill, another alum and the mother of a Class of ‘25 SCU student, is the subject of a donor story about longevity in giving. She began that practice as a student, and in recent years played a big role in the success of the university’s Day of Giving. In addition, she encourages others to donate to the institution, including the Santa Clara Fund.

In sharing why she supports the university, Gaskill says that like others attached to the university she gives because it’s the right thing to do. Tying that thought into Jesuit values of creating a more humane, just and equitable society, she explains appreciation for the common theme in the SCU community, “that everyone enjoys lives of conscientious leadership and compassionate service.”

STORYTELLING TAKEAWAYS: Santa Clara’s giving site offers a mix of inspiring bits and engaging narratives. Here are some specific ideas others can model.

Start the page with a bright campus photo with quote underneath connecting institutional values and donor gifts.

• Briefly highlight some top areas to support, with the “why” described briefly and then more fully through a link to another page.

• Include messaging and stories to ensure donors realize that even smaller gifts make a big difference.

• Offer easily browsable collections of both stories about students who have benefited from the generosity of gifts and the motivations of a variety of donors.

• Break the habit of thinking donor story headlines must include a gift amount—instead considering that a punchy headline may be of greater interest to the average friend.

• Don’t be overly concerned about keeping older articles on the site, as a compelling narrative doesn’t need to expire.

Is your institution in need of some giving site storytelling? I can audit existing news division content to uncover existing articles that would help inspire gifts, as well as provide guidance on stories your giving page could be telling. Let’s talk.

In a guest post for Inside Higher Ed’s Call to Action blog, I shared three steps for higher ed communications and advancement professionals looking to increase donor gifts by infusing content into their main “give now” pages.

With all the uncertainties related to institutional budgeting in the current climate, it’s crucial that anyone browsing a giving page feels inspired by how donations are helping students and the broader community.

Many donation-minded individuals likely aren’t even thinking about education as a recipient, so there’s opportunity to capture their attention. Consider this: In a Neon One study of 99,542 donors who supported causes between 2020 and 2024 with gifts totaling less than $5,000 a year (nearly 97 percent of all donors), just 5.7 percent supported education institutions.

Here’s a basic roadmap toward increasing online giving:

1. Find (and tweak) or create the content. You’ll be looking for any articles already written, or that could be written, about programs and supports made possible at least in part with donor funding. Publish them on the giving page with donation call-to-action messages.

2. Provide a mix of content formats and collections. Besides articles, consider videos, slideshows, blown-up quotes, infographics—anything that would add visual content. A series of similar stories with a standard title or title style can help generate new content regularly.

3. Be thoughtful about giving page content organization. Rather than having a giving form dominate the top of the page, try a single large photo or slideshow with a short, impactful message. Additional content tiers can offer more detail and giving encouragement (e.g., gratitude notes). Larger story collections should be broken into categories and made searchable.

Read the full post, including links to examples to model, here. And reach out if I can help you accomplish any of the steps!

Visitors to McGill University’s Giving page (found via a discrete “Give Back” link at the bottom of the institution’s homepage, under Alumni & Friends), can take in lots of stories as well as scroll down to view the latest donations. Below the header “Thank you to our supporters!” are the four most recent donations, with the giver’s name—or donor, if they choose anonymity—where the support was directed, and a pithy message of gratitude.

Who else is feeling like a McGillian these days? The “Our Latest Donors” link takes friends to a full list of donors from the past few weeks, searchable alphabetically (A to Z, or Z to A) or by newest or oldest. Designed in a collection of colorful blocks, the gratitude messages continue and include:

· Thanks for being #McGillProud.

· Thanks for creating opportunities.

· New Discoveries. Made By You.

· Student success. Made by you.

· Thanks! From: Future McGillians.

· You help McGillians thrive.

The main Giving page also organizes its stories in colorful blocks. Six blocks—currently sharing about the winner of a $25,000 School of Music prize, a profile of a Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program recipient, a summary of a panel discussion about Canada’s borders, a short “why I give” profile, a Black student mental health support piece, and the recent day of giving summary—adorn the main page.

Visitors clicking on “Load More News and Stories” get to a page with a seemingly infinite number of story blocks, where they can browse by topics, split into two sections: Big Ideas and Explore (Made by McGill).

The message “Make your mark” appears frequently throughout McGill’s giving pages, designed for the Made By McGill campaign, now in its second phase, which would take the campaign to $3 billion raised. “Make your mark is a rallying cry to all those who want to be part of a new era of impact at McGill,” shares the campaign homepage, found when clicking on “Learn More” from the main giving page. “And it is a powerful reminder that, when we work together, each one of us is capable of making a difference in the world.”

The campaign homepage features five gift-inspiring mini content blocks, which explain the need for more funding, how the campaign is going, what other donors have invested in, emerging areas of focus (sustainability and climate, AI and society a healthier future, innovation and entrepreneurship, student wellness, and indigenous initiatives), plus the campaign’s vision. That vision includes:

· Opportunities to open doors.

· Research that changes lives.

· Innovation that drives progress.

· Education that shapes future-ready students.

STORIES THEY’RE TELLING: The All Stories page offers the chance to learn about “the people behind a vibrant university community made by McGill” and about “how your support helps students reach their full potential, funds vital research, and more.”

Each of the “big ideas” topics take donors to a page with a giving form at the top, a description of the fund, and then stories about it. While call-to-action messaging is absent from many of the giving stories, several were written to promote the recent annual giving day (March 12) and include a link to the day’s homepage.

These stories have a templated title: “The next decade of [community, achievement, opportunity, etc.] begins with you.”

In “The next decade of gratitude begins with you” campaign ambassador Chafik Hamad, a 2015 MBA alum, opens with, “I’m not the same person as I was when I started giving back.” Hamad set up a fund in his mother’s memory to help students facing systemic barriers to post-secondary education, including refugees, women, and displaced people. “For me, giving back is about sharing time, financial and non-financial resources, and kindness to make a positive impact, as a way of showing gratitude for what I’ve received in my own life,” he writes.

Another “next decade” story focuses on lifelong learning, with campaign ambassador Nicole Wilson, a 2009 and 2013 alum, who shares that this year marks her 10^th gift. “Giving back allows me to contribute to a community that has given me so much—my passion for sustainability issues, deep friendships, and a lifelong appreciation of learning,” she writes, adding that she met her husband at McGill so she can thank the university for her family as well.

Scholarship program stories, common on higher ed giving pages featuring impact content, are a prominent category for McGill. One comprehensive feature, about how a former Mastercard Foundation Scholar, Dorcus Nakachwa, has gone from being a mentee to a mentor in the STEM field, ends with a call to action about an upcoming reception and the launch of the McGill Alumni Africa Network. Nakachwa started a social enterprise to mentor girls in her native Uganda while earning her master’s in aerospace engineering.

Q&As with and first-personal testimonials from members of the McGill community are another go-to giving story type. One Q&A features how a registered dietician on campus supports students, including through individual nutrition counseling, social media reels with cooking tips, and awareness efforts related to topics like stress eating, eating disorders, and food insecurity. One testimonial, from Vera Romano, director of McGill’s Student Wellness Hub, focuses on supports that students need, her role in helping them, and how McGill was able to expand and transform its approach to student wellness in 2019 because of donors’ generosity. “The Student Wellness Hub now offers a full range of physical and mental health services, programs, and self-help options with a focus on awareness, prevention, and early intervention,” she writes. “Collaboration is central to what we do, which is why we work across faculties, units, and campus groups, as well as with external partners. Our new model for student wellness is influencing how institutions of higher learning approach this issue across our country.” The article ends with a CTA for leaving a legacy gift to support McGill students.

STORYTELLING TAKEAWAYS: Several ideas can be swiped from McGill’s approach to giving page storytelling.

· Add a feature providing updates throughout the day of gifts made.

· Include a short note of gratitude along with the news of each new gift.

· Organize story collections into colorful blocks to set them apart from other content on the page.

· Rather than linking friends to a generic giving form, customize pages on particular giving areas with a donor form, a fund description, and stories about that fund.

· Use a standard title, or title style, to indicate the common story type, such as the testimonial.

· Mix up your CTA messages, with not just calls to give but also to attend a related event.

Contact me if your giving site could benefit from impact stories but you don’t know where to start—or if you are time crunched and need some help.

Sidebars appear less in digital articles, in part because users’ devices show content in various ways, in part because digital publications are less likely to have designers on staff, and also in part, I’ll argue, because of a desire to get articles published quickly so writers and editors can move on to the next piece. When higher ed advancement websites swipe news content and want to personalize it a bit—gearing it toward donors—the solution is typically a quick note at the end of the copy suggesting additional gifts to the highlighted initiative.

Another option, which I haven’t seen before now, is adding a sidebar to explain what the giving process could be for another donor wanting to get in on helping the cause (or another one). That’s what University of Colorado, Boulder, has done with some of its giving page stories.

STORIES THEY’RE TELLING: After choosing the Support UC Boulder button from the home page—one of three suggestions toward the bottom, alongside Apply for Admission and Visit Campus—site visitors see a campus video with an inspiring message over it, starting with “Elevating Impact Together” in large letters. Underneath, the message continues, “Together we—CU Boulder Advancement, donors, Forever Buffs, and the broader community—are leading the way to address humanity’s greatest challenges.”

Two stories sit on the advancement home page, under the header “The Power of Philanthropy.” The first one reports on the recent giving day, beginning with a big win: “Buffs went all in for CU Boulder’s 2025 annual giving day, breaking the record for previous giving day fundraising for our campus and raising over $1 million.” The piece shares some campaign success numbers to relay the 2,499 donors’ impact and features a thank-you video from students.

The second article—a typical one seen on giving pages offering content—celebrates the university’s art museum receiving its largest-ever philanthropic gift, a $1.9 million bequest, from two alumni who were “CU sweethearts.”

At the bottom of each of these stories is a folder-shaped button labeled Your Impact, which takes readers to the full collection of recent articles.

This is where I spotted two pieces with informative sidebars related to giving.

“Jazz swings forward at CU Boulder thanks to Thompson endowment” tells a givers-give-more story about what inspired alumni who established an endowment for a jazz studies program 2013 to expand that endowment, allowing for a vocal jazz degree option. The article ends with a button to give to the program (requiring use of the gift form’s write-in option).

The sidebar covers Endowments 101, with a quick take on what endowments are, why they’re needed, and how they “allows donors to establish a lasting tribute and extend the value of their gift to support future generations.” A link brings potential donors to a page with extensive information on types of endowments and costs.

“Basic Needs Center helps Buffs overcome barriers” hooks readers with an anecdote (with named changed): “When Sam lost everything in a devastating apartment fire just two months before graduation, the University of Colorado Boulder’s Basic Needs Center became a lifeline, offering critical aid to help them stay in school and graduate on time.” Thanks to Student Legal Services advising, emergency housing assistance, and food aid, Sam stayed on track to graduate.

The article outlines the fully donor-funded center’s various services, stats about its use since opening in 2022 ($360,469 in emergency financial assistance supporting 215 students, for example), and how a student survey showed food insecurity can negatively impact academic performance, before concluding with a few donor anecdotes.

The story’s sidebar covers ways to contribute to the center, including volunteer opportunities, food and personal care donation needs, and financial donations. A link to donate closes out the box.

Storytelling gets a direct mention as the mission of CU Boulder’s advancement communications team in the advancement departments directory. “We’re here to tell your story” summarizes the role of these professionals on the directory home page. Clicking through to that team’s page, featuring headshots and titles of its 13 members, readers find another sidebar, with a quick bulleted list about how to partner with the team as well as a request form link.

STORYTELLING TAKEAWAYS: Here are a few actions from CU Boulder’s advancement team are worth modeling.

· While call-to-action messages in giving stories can easily be placed at the end of the article, use sidebars to enlighten visitors about options for helping.

· Write short anecdotes to draw readers in to a story, especially about an individual facing a big challenge, with the name changed to maintain privacy.

· Be blatant in telling alumni and friends that the team is seeking new stories—and make it simple to make a suggestion or request.

Know of an advancement site with a focus on impact storytelling? Please share!

While giving page visitors may need no more than a brief inspirational message to prompt a gift, others prefer a bit more detail, and some will give after taking time to explore impact stories on their own. The advancement team at Minnesota State, Mankato has created a site that demonstrates these “giving tiers” well.

Leading the giving page is a full-page image slideshow with beautiful shots of campus and students. The first make-a-gift button appears after this large-font message: “Giving to Minnesota State Mankato has a real-world impact on students: It transforms their lives by supporting them as they pursue their big ideas. Your support provides scholarships, funds research opportunities, improves our facilities and so much more.”

Scrolling down, friends are served a menu of four options. While neither of the sections allows donors to drill down into stories about any of the funds—clicking for more info brings up the giving form—the first two can help in inspiring gifts with impact.

The Current Causes section beckons with: “Find your philanthropic passion and invest in the causes and communities you care about most. Make an immediate impact and inspire students with big ideas for solving real-world problems.” And the Support Students in Financial Need section promotes giving to the MAV Cares Emergency Grant Program, which “ensures students will be successful in their daily life even when they are faced with unexpected financial emergencies.” Those who click through are also given the option of supporting student scholarships.

STORIES THEY’RE TELLING: The more detailed content arrives as eight video Impact Stories, found via a link in the bottom section of the giving homepage. The stories “illustrate how donor support has allowed students to succeed in achieving their big ideas.”

The newest video is unfortunately from 2022—which is quite obvious because most of the headers have the year in them—but the collection serves as an effective glimpse at students’ excitement about scholarship funding and gratitude for having received emergency financial help in their time of need.

Three videos show staff surprising accepted students with the news that they were selected as scholarship recipients.

In one video, with messaging geared toward thanking scholarship donors, students were individually asked on zoom how a scholarship would change their lives, and then came the big reveal. Some were speechless or in shock, several cried. As one student, choked up with emotion, shared that she has a toddler and how worried she was about not being able to afford school along with a good daycare. Alumni and others giving gifts for scholarships, one student summarizes, sends this simple key message: “We believe in you.”

Another video shows Zoom calls with scholarship winners, but scheduled under false pretenses. “I just have a couple questions about your application,” one staff member said. “We wanted to interview you about your advising experience,” said another. Part two shows the staff admitting it was all a trick. “I have to be completely honest with you, I am lying through my teeth,” one said. Then the video jumps to the emotional reactions to the scholarship news, and finally the video captures students’ off-the-cuff messages of thanks to donors.

The third “good news” video, filmed in 2019, features scholarship recipients being surprised at school and work by administrators and the college mascot, Stomper the Maverick.

Other impact videos feature:

· A speech with highlights from a reception that brought together scholarship recipients with donors and campus leaders, including students getting personal with their own stories

· Snapshots from a 1963 alum’s visit to campus, in which he reflects on his time at the university and the impact it has had on students and graduates over the past 150 years.

· A 2019 graduate (who had been a student stewardship officer) taking time to thank donors just after receiving her diploma

· Students who have received emergency fund support sharing, in one continuing message, how gifts to the fund helped them continue their education, fix their cars, find a safe place to live, have enough food, and graduate, gifts that “saved the day.”

· An American Indian Student Scholarship recipient a speech about how the generous gift means someone believes in him.

A “share your story” link encourages students, alumni, employees, or donors to briefly highlight their own impact of giving experience.

STORYTELLING TAKEAWAYS: Minnesota State University, Mankato’s giving page demonstrates several ideas to consider modeling.

1. Lead with a slideshow showing both campus scenes and student activity.

2. Offer multiple “make a gift” buttons on the main page.

3. Create a page with messaging tiers, the simplest at the top, sections with a bit more detail in the middle, and then links to additional information (including impact stories) at the bottom.

4. Produce videos featuring scholarship recipients in the moments before and after hearing about their gifts.

5. Showcase real students who have needed emergency funds offering a collective message that protects their privacy.

6. Capture new graduates at commencement and graduates from decades ago taking a trip down memory lane.

7. In gratitude-focused videos, include communication directed at donors.

8. Ask students, alumni, employees, and donors to contribute their own impact stories.

Know of an advancement site with a focus on impact storytelling? Please share!

Scrolling past the fold on the Giving page, friends can read four succinct yet inspiring options for supporting student success in different ways.

• Ignite immediate change with your Annual Fund gift. Your support has an immediate impact, fueling initiatives that shape the college experience for students right now.

• Fuel your student’s experience through the Parents Fund. Your gift shapes the educational journey of your student and their peers, providing resources and opportunities that enrich their experience both in and out of the classroom.

• Unlock opportunity through student scholarship support. Give the gift of education. When you support scholarships and financial aid, you open doors and pave the way for the next generation of aspiring leaders.

• Elevate athletics by supporting our student-athletes today. Your support for L&C athletics programming and teams fuels wins on and off the field and shapes the student-athlete experience today.

The list is followed by a Give Now button, for those feeling informed enough to select a gift right away.

STORIES THEY’RE TELLING: Effective storytelling can also be succinct. Scrolling further on the main giving site, visitors can click through a slideshow of three individual student snapshots about how their financial aid offers allowed them to attend L&C.

Further down on the page are two featured news stories plus a link to more. As of today, April 11, one featured story dated March 20 covers how a $5 million commitment from a Board of Trustees member and her husband is forming an endowment to fund the Career Accelerator, which will integrate skills development and paid internships across all academic programs.

The second story, dated March 12, highlights how Bacchus Ultimate, the men’s frisbee team, raised over $900 on the recent Day of Giving by raffling off two jerseys and tapping into the alumni network. Written in a team member’s own words, the short piece explains how funding is offsetting flights and accommodations for an upcoming tournament in North Carolina. “The ability to travel for tournaments opens huge opportunities for Bacchus to continue competing at the highest level, and getting so much support from our community, financially, and otherwise, really makes a difference,” writes the athlete. “We are currently ranked in the top five teams in the country and are hoping to make a deep run at Nationals in May, so all support is appreciated.”

The “more news and events” link allows potential donors to explore 187 giving stories, including a Day of Giving impact article with numbers and photos, and summaries of 2024 giving by parents, students, and alumni, featuring photos and quotes from individuals. A separate tab leads to announcements about 73 past giving-related events, such as a Student Philanthropy Council career and networking event in early April and Thank a Donor Day in November 2024.

One stories-alert item on Lewis & Clark’s giving page menu, shown in the right-hand column, is titled Your Gifts in Action. That page’s intro stresses how contributions “enhance educational and co-curricular programs, fund scholarships, and improve campus facilities, ensuring that our students receive a top-tier education and the resources they need to succeed now and in the future.”

Then a collection of five featured stats spotlights how the $10+ million in gifts in the past year have made an “immediate impact on the areas of greatest need.” The stats bring to life College Outdoors trips by noting the top elevation reached, as well as note the number of potential jobs and internships sourced by the career center, how many new titles were purchased by the library, the percent of undergrads studying overseas or off-campus, and the number of wins for the softball team.

STORYTELLING TAKEAWAYS: Consider modeling these aspects of Lewis & Clark’s advancement site strategy.

1. Don’t be leery of leading with a single meaningful photo.

2. Present brief explanations of popular funds, but lead with verbs that call donors to action (ignite immediate change…, fuel your student’s experience…, unlock opportunity through scholarship support…, elevate athletics…).

3. Focus on gratitude, in individuals’ own words, in photos of students expressing thanks, and in mentions of events and traditions centered around giving thanks.

4. Create slideshows to present a series of student quotes.

5. Share a few giving-related article headlines and summaries on the main page with a link to more.

6. Make the effort to present giving-related stats as bold visuals, and go beyond just presenting the most obvious numbers (such as giving totals).

Know of an advancement site with a focus on impact storytelling? Please share!

The welcome on that impact page is this: “We are grateful to every supporter and volunteer who has invested in Carolina’s future and we want to ensure that all donors, regardless of where they give or how much, understand the impact that their generosity has on our campus and beyond every day. Explore impact reports, donor events and Carolina Stories to see how your generosity is changing lives on campus and around the world.”

The first two sections share impact reports and then donor events, and near the bottom is the Impact in Action section, where friends can click to read Carolina Stories, a collection featuring “people, innovations and milestones at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, supported by donors and volunteers like you.”

STORIES THEY’RE TELLING: The Carolina Stories page aims to be “a resource and playground,” with options to search for a keyword, view all or browse by category. The categories:

• Groundbreaking Discovery

• Extraordinary Students

• Visionary Educators

• Innovative Programs

• Catalysts for Good

The April 7 article “Bring Broadway to Carolina” shares how a $2 million gift from alumna Kathleen Ford ‘80 will help the Department of Dramatic Art provide scholarships, experiential learning opportunities, academic/conference travel, guest speakers and facilities upgrades. After more detail about what that will look like (and of course the obligatory “we’re so grateful quote), the story drills down to the individual student impact: Three students traveled to New York City to the Broadway Theatre District for a weekend intensive, supporting the rehearsal of the Broadway play and coming away with firsthand observations about how a Broadway production comes together.

“They witnessed professionals problem-solving, disagreeing and resolving conflicts, and saw how people work together to reach a consensus on a project,” said Linda Heard ‘79, a lifelong friend of Ford and technical theatre expert, who organized the experience.

The article ends with a call to action (CTA) about supporting the Kathleen A. Ford Department of Dramatic Art Undergraduate Fund.

Another Carolina Stories piece ending with a CTA, “Aligned with the Mission” (March 7 publication), shares the heartbreaking perspective of students in the Rural Medicine Pathway program who spent a combined 30 hours volunteering in Old Fort, North Carolina, to clear debris from a single-family home destroyed by Hurricane Helene. One student had grown up only an hour from the town.

Their work was thanks to a Carolina Center for Public Service grant and organized by a faculty member who co-directs the pathway program, founded in 2016 as a collaboration between the UNC School of Medicine and the Carolina Covenant scholarship program, which “offers top students a debt-free path to endless opportunities.”

The CTA encourages friends to make a gift to Carolina Covenant so that UNC-Chapel Hill can continue to “recruit the best students from all economic backgrounds.”

While not all Carolina Stories include a CTA, a “Give to UNC” button sits at the top of the page.

Next to it is a “Share Your Story” link, with this messaging that surely helps save the communications some time in digging for stories to tell: Have a good story about the power of private giving at Carolina? Send it to us! A short summary is fine, or a complete article or a link to one.”

STORYTELLING TAKEAWAYS: Consider modeling these five aspects of UNC-Chapel Hill’s advancement site strategy.

1. Make it easy to find impact stories by placing links in multiple places.

2. Focus on the individuals whose lives are better because of donor-funded initiatives.

3. Break stories into categories, plus offer a search bar.

4. Include a CTA whenever possible within an impact story.

5. Invite ideas for future stories, with a simple form for submitting,

Know of an advancement site with a focus on impact storytelling? Please share!

So what’s the big idea? It’s actually a pretty simple one: Share stories about the impact donations are having or could have on specific efforts and individuals right on the giving page. And how? By embedding a communications pro on the advancement team.

Giving Day campaign sites often take the approach of offering lots of targeted donor opportunities, with descriptions of how gifts to each one will help make a difference and leaderboards building momentum throughout the day. Just two examples: One Ball State Day 2025, which enticed donors to drill down on any of 31 programs to learn how their gifts could help, and #MoveInMiami at Miami U Ohio, which in 2024 featured 200 projects in eight categories.

But on any ol’ day of the year, most higher ed giving sites seem to fall back on highlighting press releases about large donations, if they even have focused content at all.

Having had hundreds—or more likely thousands—of contacts with campus communications departments over the past few decades, it’s clear that these teams are generally lean. And I recognize the budgetary challenges that would come along with a giving-focused comms position, especially now. But when articles are already being published as news about initiatives that rely on gifts, shouldn’t advancement departments be swiping the content and adding a call-to-(giving)-action message and button? Or can’t program-focused articles be repurposed, with a brief description and some impact numbers to quickly share the success story on the giving site?

My call to action for higher ed advancement in spring 2025—when so much funding institutions have long relied on is gone or uncertain: Recognize this as your moment. Since donor dollars are needed more than ever, it’s time to tell the most powerful stories possible, to make sure anyone clicking through on your giving page (even a professional content creator whose only shot at becoming a major donor would involve a lottery win) will find something irresistible.

Does your institution’s giving page prominently use storytelling about campus efforts and impact to entice donors? How do you utilize communications pros to write or repurpose the stories? Or do you know of a giving page that you would consider a five-star storytelling site? Tell me about it and I may feature the site in an upcoming post.

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