Bringing alumni engagement into one platform

As its alumni community grows worldwide, AUS wanted a single, connected home for its engagement work. Partnering with ToucanTech, the advancement team brought its data, communications, events, and fundraising together on one platform, creating a strong foundation for strategic engagement and long-term growth.

Listening to alumni first

Rather than guessing at requirements, the AUS team surveyed well-connected alumni who wanted the best for the university.

Three themes emerged:

• Alumni map and whereabouts to see where fellow graduates are located globally
• News and stories to stay connected to university developments
• Events and reunions, to bring the community together both on campus and online

This input shaped the requirements list that guided the entire selection process.

A requirements-led selection process

The procurement process was thorough and deliberate:

1. Stakeholder consultation across the institution: the executive director's office, the IT department, corporate partners, and staff teams
2. Online research to identify solutions matching their specific requirements
3. A shortlist of four platforms, ranked by how closely each aligned with their needs
4. Choosing ToucanTech. Three things set it apart: strong reviews from similar institutions, close alignment with their requirements, and a flexible, responsive team

Building the right internal team

AUS assembled a focused project team to manage the implementation:

1. Samir Kabbara, advancement team, acts as design lead, managing all data work and platform configuration
2. Abdullah Nabulsi, IT team, is the technical and design lead, handling integrations and technical setup
3. Regular coordination with ToucanTech's advancement specialists, once or twice a month

The team also held internal meetings to discuss progress, set expectations, and align on goals to make sure everyone understood the vision before moving forward.

Planning for a smooth rollout

Every implementation comes with practical realities to plan around, and with structured guidance and regular check-ins from ToucanTech, the AUS team worked through each one while keeping the project moving. Three were worth planning for:

1. Data spread across multiple sources. Records lived in various spreadsheets and systems, and had to be combined and cleaned before they could be imported, with email addresses updated systematically over time
2. Payment integration delays. Setting up Stripe involved a lengthy procurement and finance approval process, including terms negotiation between multiple parties.
3. Competing institutional priorities. Major events, including a 700+ person reunion and a giving day, meant shifting focus to event execution at key moments, which called for a flexible timeline and realistic expectations

From 26% to up to 50% open rates

Before using ToucanTech, AUS showed a 26% email open rate across a mix of institutional and personal addresses, limited visibility into the full engagement picture, and some alumni segments that weren't tracked at all.

After implementing ToucanTech:

• Open rates climbed from 17–19% during the transition period to up to 50% as personal emails were added and engagement grew
• 5,000+ email addresses cleaned and verified, on the way to a 10,000 target

The improving metrics show a clear pattern: as data quality rises and more alumni engage with the platform, the system delivers stronger results.

Lessons learned and advice for other institutions

Asked what they'd tell other institutions weighing a similar move, the AUS team had plenty of hard-won advice to share.

Make sure you have everything ready before onboarding

• Set up payment accounts such as Stripe as early as possible, to avoid procurement delays
• Have a clear vision of the features, timeline, and look you want
• With proper preparation, implementation can come down to a few weeks, or two months at most

Make sure to take requirements seriously

• Create a comprehensive list of what you need
• Ask vendors directly: is this achievable, and do you have this function
• Don't settle for platforms that only partially meet your needs

Consult your community early

• Survey alumni about what they actually want to see
• Talk to staff teams and other stakeholders as their input will shape a platform they'll actually use

Build a cross-functional team

• Include both advancement and IT from the start
• Make sure someone owns the data work because it will likely be substantial
• Plan regular internal updates to keep stakeholders aligned

Be realistic about institutional blockers

• Factor in procurement timelines for payment systems
• Plan around major events that will demand the team's attention
• Don't underestimate the time needed for data cleaning

And don't wait for perfection. Start with what you have and improve as you go. The platform grows more valuable as you add clean data, and your early engagement metrics give you a baseline to measure success against.