The 2025 Alumnae & Donor Engagement Survey
About the Project
Watch: Community Presentation | AHAs & Implications Recording (coming mid-November)
Download: Community Presentation Slides | Executive Summary (coming mid-November)
The goal of this research was to gain better insight into the attitudes, opinions, and expectations of sorority alumnae members and donors, and assess how to increase alumnae affinity and engagement.
The 2025 survey gathered the impressions and opinions of sorority alumnae and donors on a wide range of topics, including:
- Perceptions and awareness of sororal operations and fundraising.
- Current alumnae engagement levels and barriers to connection.
- Members’ affinity and connection to different sororal branches.
- Willingness to participate in sororal life after graduation through conferences, events and volunteering.
- Communication preferences and their impact on member engagement and giving.
- Responsiveness to various fundraising appeals and their influence on acquisition, retention, and donor upgrades
Insights at a Glance
Cygnus Vice President Jeff Dubberley provided the following insights. The Amplifying Sorority Campaign will publish community-specific insights in November 2025.
- Members believe sororities have a positive impact on their collegiate experience.
- When considering their overall impact, members view sororities as a vital part of the college or university experience. They see them as providing important services to undergraduates and fostering a strong sense of community connection.
- Collegiate development programs are of strong importance to members. But member priorities outpace perceived program success.
- More than 70% of respondents indicated that it is personally important for their sorority to provide leadership training and support the academic pursuits of collegiate members. At least half of respondents recognized the importance of scholarships, career support, and life skills training.
- There is a clear gap between members’ priorities for undergraduate programming and how effectively they believe those priorities are being met. Sororities received many more “uncertain” responses and lower overall scores when respondents were asked about the success of undergraduate programs.
- Alumnae engagement and connection programs are important to members.
- After graduation, interest in sorority engagement and connection programs is shaped heavily by members’ personal circumstances. Still, more than half of all members said it was important for their sorority to keep them engaged and connected with others.
- Members’ pride remains high, but sense of responsibility is declining.
- Compared with the 2020 and 2015 studies, members’ pride in being part of their Greek organization remains high, but they also express a reduced sense of responsibility to support fellow members. This is a cause for concern, as a long-term erosion of connection to the sisterhood can weaken the organization’s ability to build both engagement and contributions.
- Early post-graduation engagement is crucial.
- Although the overall sense of connection to sororities has risen in this survey, many members still feel that it has declined over the past five years. This is primarily an age-related challenge. New graduates are more likely to experience a rapid drop in connection after leaving college or university. This reinforces the importance of quickly implementing engagement programs that maintain strong links during the critical years immediately following graduation.
- Roughly 30% of members reported a “weak” or “non-existent” connection to their sorority. While physical distance will always remain a barrier, it is important that sorority organizations reinforce the link to the national organization while members are still in college or university. After graduation, that opportunity is largely lost and very difficult to recapture. If members do not feel an affinity to the national organization by the time they leave higher education, this will become a barrier to securing future fundraising support for organization-wide programs.
- Events strengthen member connections.
- Events reinforce members’ connections to one another and deepen their understanding of what is happening in their sorority. Importantly, event attendance also strengthens members’ overall sense of connection to the organization.
Our Research Partner: Jeff Dubberley, Cygnus Applied Research
Jeff Dubberley is Vice President of Cygnus Applied Research, where he leads a team dedicated to driving member engagement and fundraising performance using informative surveys and rigorous data analysis. With over 20 years of consulting experience, Jeff is privileged to have directed four national studies on behalf of the Foundation for Fraternal Excellence, the 2025 edition being the largest survey ever conducted of fraternal alumni and giving.
He has worked with more than fifty nonprofit and membership organizations – including Harvard Business School, the YMCA, the American Red Cross, and five major metropolitan children’s hospitals – using data-driven insights to deepen alumni and donor connections and elevate fundraising results. His models and research have driven multi-million-dollar revenue gains and informed donor-centered strategies across higher education, healthcare, and membership sectors. His experience in translating complex data into clear strategies ensures organizations can use data to strengthen bonds with their members while driving sustainable fundraising growth.
Methodology
Quantitative (Mar.-Jun. 2025): 38,902 sorority alumnae and donors completed at least one full section of the online survey questionnaire, with more than 50% completing multiple sections.
From a total prospect list of 1.43 million valid email addresses, the overall response rate was 2.7%.*
*Overall participation rates are calculated using valid email address supplied to Cygnus. A respondent must have completed at least one full set of survey questions and provided demographic information to be considered a participant.
Resources
If you reference any data from this project, please use the following citation:
2025 Alumnae & Donor Engagement Survey by Cygnus Applied Research, partially funded through the Amplifying Sorority Campaign.
Community Resources
- Community Presentation Recording
- Community Presentation Slides
- Executive Summary (coming mid-November)
- AHAs & Implications Recording (coming mid-November)
