Next level alumni engagement metrics with Caltech

Great programs don’t come from great ideas — they come from a solid foundation. Ryan and Chris go live with Eliza Stasi, Associate Vice President for Advancement Engagement at Temple, on the unglamorous work that changes everything: rewriting the guiding documents, rebuilding volunteer boards and councils, and bringing longtime volunteers along for the ride — plus how all of it reshaped Temple’s programs and sharpened their campaign engagement metrics. Presenting sponsors for Season 5: Protopia, AlumniQ, and Version2.AI by Givzey.

Quinnipiac just went public with “For the Ambitious,” its first-ever comprehensive campaign at $160 million. Join and Chris with Nick Wormley, VP for Advancement (and a Quinnipiac alum), on building momentum through the public phase, the priorities underneath the goal, and standing up a culture of philanthropy at a young, fast-rising university. Plus a candid look at meeting the moment with NIL — and why, as a mid-major, Quinnipiac treats it as a retention tool, not a recruiting war chest. Presenting sponsors: Protopia, AlumniQ, and Version2.AI by Givzey.

For this Alumless World edition, Ryan and Chris go global — and a little personal, since the University of Queensland is one of Ryan’s alma maters. They’re joined from Brisbane by Jennifer Karlson, Vice-President for Advancement and Community Engagement at UQ, for a candid look at building a culture of philanthropy outside the US model. An American who left the University of Wisconsin for Brisbane nearly a decade ago, Jen reflects on the leap — the paperwork, the four-plus years it took to feel settled, and why the chance to run a university’s first-ever comprehensive campaign was impossible to turn down. She and Chris compare US and Australian advancement with real nuance: the maturity curve UQ had to climb, the confidence gap around a first campaign, and why the tired line that “Australians aren’t as philanthropic” doesn’t hold up against a culture built on mateship and deep community service. Along the way: why sport isn’t the engagement engine it is in the Big Ten (and why that’s oddly liberating), and the work of helping deans see fundraising as core to their role. Jen also walks through UQ’s “Not If, When” campaign — a first comprehensive effort that moved from a $250M target to a $500M public goal and closed around $650M in 2020 — and the parallel internal engagement goal that mattered just as much. Plus: keeping touch with 375,000 alumni across 190 countries, mobilizing volunteers on the ground, and how the Queensland Commitment is extending the work into community engagement and educational equity across the state. Presenting sponsors for Season 4: Protopia, AlumniQ, Richmond Associates, and Version2.AI by Givzey.

Most advancement conversations are about doing more with less. This one’s the opposite: what happens when a university is growing this fast? Ryan and Chris talk with Brooks Hull, Vice President for University Advancement at Texas State, about building engagement and fundraising to match a genuine rocket ship — 47,000+ students and climbing, a move into the Pac-12, and R1 status on the horizon. Brooks makes the case that “what got us here won’t get us there,” and gets candid about rebuilding a steady-state shop for the moment: engaging a younger, fast-growing alumni base, using athletics as the front door without letting sports become the whole story, making the research case to alumni who knew the school by a different name, and turning game-day excitement into lasting philanthropy. He closes with hard-won advice — “if you’re just getting started, you’re already behind.” Presenting sponsors for Season 4: Protopia, AlumniQ, Richmond Associates, and Version2.AI by Givzey.

Annie Bastida Quade is back for a second appearance on Alumless this week. After years leading engagement at UTEP, Annie now serves as Assistant Vice President for Development & Organizational Strategy, and she joins Ryan and Chris to talk about what the crossover has taught her about integrated advancement. Join us for a candid conversation about alignment that goes well past the usual talking points. Annie shares why engagement runs on seasons while development is "always on, and then back to zero," why she looks at systems and structure before blaming any individual, and why the value of engagement is obvious, but the actual nuts and bolts of the work are so often misunderstood.

Trinity Christian College closed its doors this summer. Ryan Catherwood and Chris Marshall sit down with Mackenzi Huyser — Trinity's VP for Advancement and Chief Academic Officer, and a Trinity graduate herself — for an honest, moving conversation about leading advancement and alumni engagement through a closure. How do you keep fundraising after you've announced the end? What do you owe donors, students, and alumni in the final chapter? And why do so many people suddenly want to hold onto a tangible piece of a place they love? A tender, clear-eyed look at grief, stewardship, and belonging when the institution itself comes to an end. Presenting sponsors for Season 4: Protopia, AlumniQ, Richmond Associates, and Version2.AI by Givzey.

The field keeps saying dues models are dead — so why does Penn State run the largest successful dues-paying alumni membership in the world? Join Ryan and Chris live with Reggie Bustinza, the new AVP for Alumni Relations and CEO of the Penn State Alumni Association, as he reflects on his first weeks leading an 820,000-strong alumni community. We'll get into why the membership model still works at Penn State, what it takes to keep it relevant for a new generation, and how an entrepreneurial mindset from smaller shops scales to one of the biggest programs in higher ed. Bring your questions for the chat. Presenting sponsors for Season 4: Protopia, AlumniQ, Richmond Associates, and Version2.AI by Givzey.

Ryan hosts a panel with three members of the Caltech advancement team — Mario Peraza (AVP, Alumni Relations & executive sponsor), Andrew Chang (Director of Advancement Analytics & the data scientist behind the model), and Mark Longo (Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives & project SME) — on how they built Caltech's next-level alumni engagement scoring model and dashboard, and how the team actually uses it every day.

Ryan and Chris sit down with Nicole Kempton, Director of Alumni Engagement at Imperial College London, to reflect on her first year in the role. Nicole shares how she's turning sky-high alumni pride into real connection across a community of 270,000 in 200+ countries, what's genuinely different about advancement in the UK versus the US, and how a "science for humanity" mission and a design-thinking mindset are reshaping her team's work. Presenting sponsors for Season 4: Protopia, AlumniQ, Richmond Associates, and Version2.AI by Givzey.

Most advancement teams spend their weeks reacting to whatever's next on the calendar. The teams that do truly great work do something harder: they step back and design the conditions that make excellence possible.In this episode of Alumless, Ryan and Chris sit down with Shara Freeman Hoefel — Assistant Vice Chancellor for Alumni Relations at UC San Diego — to talk about exactly that. Shara shares how "unreasonable hospitality" changes the way an alumni team connects, how she uses CASE metrics without losing the human side, and how she makes giving feel like belonging rather than a transaction. Plus: why she treats her alumni board as a cabinet rather than a rubber stamp, and how the way you gather can quietly elevate people's sense of belonging.Alumless is brought to you by our Season 4 presenting sponsors — Protopia, AlumnIQ, Givzey, and Richmond Associates. We're grateful for their support.