The Opportunity Beyond Reach
As foundations begin planning for fall campaigns, Giving Tuesday, and year-end fundraising, the 2025 FFE Industry Survey highlights an important opportunity hiding in plain sight: the audiences we’ve already worked so hard to build.
Across participating organizations, digital reach continues to grow, especially among women’s organizations. More than 80% of reporting foundations share websites or social media channels with their fraternity or sorority partners, creating access to thousands of undergraduate members, alumni/ae, volunteers, donors, and future supporters.
The good news? Our organizations have never had more tools to connect with these audiences.
The opportunity? Turning reach into engagement.
While foundations continue to grow their digital presence, ambassador and peer-to-peer engagement efforts appear to be relatively stagnant across the sector. This suggests there may be untapped opportunities to activate the people who already know, value, and believe in our missions.
Why does this matter?
Because people are more likely to act when invited by someone they know and trust.
A scholarship recipient sharing their story. A volunteer leader championing a giving day. An alumnus/a explaining why they support leadership development. These voices often resonate differently than an organizational message alone. They help expand awareness, build credibility, and create authentic connections with potential supporters.
For foundation leaders, this raises an important strategic question: Are our digital channels simply reaching people, or are they empowering people to help advance our mission?
This question extends beyond the fraternal foundation community. Across the nonprofit sector, organizations are increasingly recognizing that audience growth alone does not drive philanthropic growth. Many of the strongest-performing fundraising programs are shifting their focus from expanding reach to increasing engagement, advocacy, and peer-to-peer participation.
Nonprofit research continues to demonstrate that supporters are more likely to take action when invited by someone they know and trust, making ambassador and peer-driven strategies among the most effective approaches for donor acquisition and community engagement.
Fortunately, fraternity and sorority foundations begin with an advantage that many nonprofits spend years trying to create: a passionate community connected by shared experiences, values, and lifelong affiliation. Fraternal foundations already have the audience, the affinity, and the volunteers needed to expand their reach. The opportunity may be less about building new networks and more about equipping existing supporters to become advocates.
Last month’s Foundation Focus highlighted the importance of moving donors from their first gift to their second. Ambassador engagement represents another piece of that long-term growth strategy. When members, donors, volunteers, and alumni become active advocates, they help foundations expand their reach organically while introducing new audiences to the impact of its philanthropy.
As foundations look ahead to fall fundraising efforts, Giving Tuesday, and year-end campaigns, now may be the ideal time to evaluate how ambassador engagement fits into broader advancement and donor engagement strategies. Small investments in advocacy, storytelling, and peer-to-peer outreach today can help strengthen visibility, engagement, and fundraising performance tomorrow.
These insights are made possible through participation in the FFE Industry Survey and help inform peer benchmarks as leaders evaluate audience engagement, donor acquisition, and long-term fundraising growth.
Digital Reach & Ambassador Activation (2025 Industry Survey)
- 80%+ of participating foundations share digital channels with their fraternal partners
- Digital audiences continue to expand across the fraternal foundation community
- Ambassador and peer-to-peer programs show limited growth despite increasing audience size
- Broader nonprofit research identifies peer-to-peer engagement as one of the strongest channels for donor acquisition and community engagement
- The gap between growing digital reach and stagnant ambassador activation suggests a significant opportunity for increased organic visibility, engagement, and fundraising growth
Reflections
- How are you leveraging members, alumni/ae, volunteers, and donors to extend your organization’s reach?
- Are your digital channels designed primarily to inform, or to inspire action?
- What role do ambassadors play in your fundraising and engagement strategies?
- How are you measuring the impact of peer-to-peer outreach and advocacy efforts?
- What opportunities exist to activate supporters ahead of Giving Tuesday and year-end campaigns?
Recommendations
- Start with your champions: Engage volunteers, recurring donors, scholarship recipients, and past program participants as early ambassadors.
- Make advocacy easy: Provide supporters with ready-to-share content, stories, and clear calls to action.
- Lead with impact: Ambassadors are most effective when sharing mission outcomes and personal experiences, not just fundraising appeals.
- Recognize participation: Celebrate and acknowledge those who consistently amplify your mission and extend your reach.
