How 3 institutions turned parent engagement into a powerful fundraising pipeline
While alumni giving has long been a cornerstone of advancement strategy, more institutions are recognizing the untapped potential of parent and family giving. In fact, 22% of parents say they are more likely to donate to their student’s college than their own alma mater! Until recently, many institutions struggled to identify, reach, and activate families them in a scalable and meaningful way.
That’s where CampusESP comes in. This article covers how Miami University in Ohio, The University of Tulsa, and Flagler College used CampusESP for Parent Giving not only to communicate with families but to build strategic, personalized campaigns that moved parents from passive supporters to active donors.
Miami University (Ohio) sees a 34% boost in parent donors
Like many institutions, Miami University in Ohio saw growing interest from families, but struggled to turn that interest into a measurable impact. While parents were eager to be involved, the development team needed a better way to translate that enthusiasm into meaningful philanthropic support.
By partnering with CampusESP, they were able to tap into a more data-driven, personalized approach to parent engagement. With dynamic content, real-time analytics, and smarter targeting strategies, they built campaigns that resonated with families at exactly the right moments.
Their signature annual campaign, MoveInMiami, benefited from this new approach. Parent participation in the campaign grew 25% year-over-year, up to 535 donors from 428 the year before. By aligning communication with key milestones, like move-in day, Miami was able to turn moments of high emotional investment into philanthropic action.
Armed with a clearer picture of who their parent audience was—and what messaging truly resonated — Miami secured 984 parent donors and raised $294,154 overall, representing a 34% year-over-year increase in parent giving. This growth wasn’t limited to a single initiative; it reflected a broader cultural shift toward treating families as a strategic part of their advancement efforts.
CampusESP’s support extended beyond just features — Miami credits much of their success to the partnership between both teams.
“CampusESP has helped us with our parent pipeline with its ease of use and invaluable insights it helps create. The analytics it provides helps us make better data-driven decisions and improve our knowledge on what’s important to our current parents and families. The 1:1 assistance from their wonderful staff is unmatched!”
The University of Tulsa collects over $55,000 in Parent and Family Leadership Council dues in the first year
The University of Tulsa, a small, private university, faced a challenge many institutions are familiar with: no integrated parent communication, no centralized database of family contacts, and no formal parent giving program. But with the right tools and strategy, they turned a blank slate into a major opportunity. By partnering with CampusESP, UTulsa was able to launch a Parent and Family Leadership Council within a single year.
Their approach was intentional and relationship-driven. UTulsa promoted the new council through personalized campaigns, inviting prospective members to a special fall reception during Parent and Family Weekend. This gave families a chance to hear about the opportunity firsthand, meet university leaders, and start forming connections early.
The results were remarkable. Their first council meeting in February brought together 25 parents representing 13 students, with each family committing to a minimum $2,500 donation, resulting in over $55,000 raised. Importantly, these weren’t one-time gifts—the council positioned these families for deeper, long-term engagement, resulting in additional gifts during TU Giving Day in April and commitments for larger gifts to come.
CampusESP’s tools were critical throughout the process. UTulsa leveraged the platform’s analytics to identify families with a high giving capacity and strong Parent Promoter Score, focusing their efforts on those most likely to respond. They also used CampusESP analytics to refine their messaging over time, eventually framing council membership as an “exclusive opportunity to meet with the university president,” which helped drive additional gifts.
The success of UTulsa’s parent engagement program in its first year proves what’s possible when strategy, technology, and personal connection come together.
“When I started in this role last summer, there was no structured way to engage parents—no newsletter, no parent giving program, no leadership council. We had to build a culture of philanthropy from the ground up.
CampusESP gave us the tools to reach families with intention and help them feel part of the UTulsa community. That level of momentum would have taken years to build without the insights and support provided by CampusESP.”
At Flagler College, parents now account for 1 in 5 of all donors
At Flagler College, a small, private institution in Florida, the development team wanted to ensure that families felt like part of the broader campus community, especially as philanthropic partners.
With CampusESP, they were able to segment and engage families more effectively, sending over 20,000 personalized parent emails that saw an impressive 52% open rate with click-through rates between 4% and 8%.
They used CampusESP to deepen family engagement in several innovative ways:
A senior class giving initiative combined an email and text campaign with a heartfelt 50-word message opportunity in the graduation booklet, resulting in over 350 donations and helping to create a new senior class endowed scholarship with over $100,000 in commitments.
Text message campaigns to athletic families encouraged Saint’s Club (athletic booster organization) membership, leading to a significant boost in athletic giving.
Targeted athletic campaigns like the Flagler Forward Lacrosse Locker Room Project featured personalized emails from the Athletic Director to lacrosse families, quickly securing meetings and naming opportunities within the new facility.
With this initiatives and others, families make up over 20% of the college’s total donor base.
Thinking ahead to larger commitments, Flagler is leveraging Parent Promoter Scores for prospect research, identifying top-engaged families for major gift follow-up. This effort supported their dedicated parent giving officer in securing major gifts.
“CampusESP helps us segment out who our current parent donors are, and who aren’t yet donors, so that we can target our messaging in the most effective manner. It’s led to an increase in parent donors as well as some major gift opportunities.”
These success stories show that parent and family giving isn’t just possible—it’s powerful. When families are kept informed, invited into the community, and given opportunities to contribute, they show up in a big way.
From established campaigns to brand-new councils, CampusESP is helping institutions unlock a new dimension of advancement—and build a culture of giving that includes the whole family.
Ready to identify, cultivate, and grow your parent donors?