Higher Education
Giving solutions built for alumni relations and advancement offices.
Custom Donations was built by someone who spent 15+ years as the senior developer for one of the largest university alumni associations in the country.
We understand the nuances of advancement fundraising — the politics of directed giving, the pressure of Day-of-Giving campaigns, and the expectation that every donor interaction be on-brand and frictionless.
Built for every stage of the donor journey
From discovery to recurring gift, every touchpoint is personalized.
Personalized Ask Amounts
Surface individually tailored suggested gift amounts for each donor — derived from giving history, capacity data, and campaign parameters — so every ask feels intentional.
Direct Mail Integration
Bridge the gap between your print appeals and your online giving. QuickGift pages carry the same personalized amounts and messaging from the mailer directly into the giving form.
Matching Gift Lookup
Built-in employer matching gift search prompts donors to check eligibility right on the form, automatically routing match requests and increasing the effective value of every gift.
Alumni Data Enrichment
Our BlueRidge Data partnership enriches your alumni records with wealth screening, contact info updates, and giving-propensity scores to sharpen your prospect pool.
Directed Giving
Let donors designate their gift to any college, department, scholarship, or project — with an unlimited number of funds managed in one form. Perfect for day-of-giving campaigns.
Recurring Gift Programs
Convert one-time donors into loyal sustaining members with seamless recurring giving options. Monthly, quarterly, and annual giving programs with automated renewal receipts.
Campaign Analytics
Real-time dashboards show participation rates, average gift size, gift designation breakdowns, and revenue pacing — giving your advancement team the data needed to act fast.
Day-of-Giving Ready
Purpose-built for high-volume 24-hour campaigns. Challenge match tracking, live giving totals, real-time leaderboards, and infrastructure that scales to thousands of concurrent donors.
Matching Gifts
Amplify alumni generosity with built-in matching gift tools. Surface employer match opportunities at checkout and automate submission through Match2Give and Matching Gift Manager integrations.
How it works
From kickoff to first gift in as little as one week.
Connect your data
We integrate with your CRM (Raiser's Edge, Banner, Salesforce, and more) to pull giving history and segment your alumni for personalized outreach.
Build your forms
Create unlimited, fully branded giving forms — one for Annual Fund, one per college, one for your Day of Giving — each with its own directed-giving allocations.
Launch & personalize
Send unique links to each constituent with pre-populated ask amounts, their name, and the right fund designations. Donors give in seconds — no account creation required.
Track & optimize
Monitor every gift in real time. Trigger challenge match unlocks, send thank-you messages automatically, and use post-campaign analytics to plan the next drive.
BlueRidge Data Partnership
Our joint venture with BlueRidge Data brings NextGen online giving to Higher Education — combining best-in-class data enrichment and matching gift services with our streamlined giving technology.
- Wealth screening and giving-propensity scoring for your alumni database
- Contact information updates to reduce lost alumni and bounced emails
- Matching gift employer data to double (or triple) the value of a gift
- 100M+ consumer profiles to expand your prospecting beyond your own records
Your alumni data, supercharged
Most universities are sitting on decades of alumni records that are stale, incomplete, or both. BlueRidge fills the gaps so you can reach more alumni with the right ask at the right time.
Texas A&M Outraises UT 6-to-1 in Rivalry Challenge
For the week leading up to their 2024 rivalry game, Texas A&M and the University of Texas competed in a head-to-head Rivalry Fundraising Challenge to see who could collect the most gifts.
Our organization has a robust fundraising strategy and Custom Donations has allowed us to create individual forms that serve distinct purposes for our unique needs without having to reinvent the wheel each time.
Who we serve in Higher Education
From small liberal arts colleges to large flagship universities.
Ready to modernize your advancement giving?
Talk to our team and get a live walk-through built around your institution's needs.