For this week's episode of Alumless Takes, Ryan is joined by Ashley Watts, the Director of Annual Giving at Georgia State University, who shares insights from the busy end-of-year giving season. She discusses the lessons learned from video appeals, the importance of intentional messaging, and the role of data in enhancing fundraising strategies. Ashley emphasizes the need for collaboration and adding value to colleagues across campus, while also recommending resources for professional growth.

Alumni engagement strategies are evolving beyond events and programs toward something more profound: identity, psychology, and intentional journeys. In this episode of Alumless, Ryan and Chris are joined by Jay Le Roux Dillon, Ed.D., Chief Alumni Officer at the University of California, Berkeley, for a conversation on how institutions can design engagement experiences that reflect how alumni actually see themselves and choose to stay connected.

Jay shares the origins of his Alumni Identity work and explains how social science, data, and human behavior shape his approach to alumni engagement at Cal. The discussion explores what it means to align teams around journeys rather than standalone programs and the role data and metrics play in validating this work.

In the bonus segment, Jay reflects on lessons learned from innovation and the balance between tradition and experimentation. We explore the importance of the data layer in creating meaningful on-ramps to engagement, and where alumni engagement strategies are headed over the next five years.

This episode of Alumless is made possible by our season sponsors Protopia, AlumnIQ, and Givzey.

As 2025 comes to a close, Alumless is considering alumni engagement technology for 2026 and beyond. On our special holiday edition, Chris Marshall and Kim Infanti are joined by Max Leisten from Protopia, Renee Quinn of Givzey, and Steve Rittler of AlumnIQ to reflect on where ed tech for advancement stands today and where it is headed next.

The group explores how engagement teams are thinking about their tech stacks, why integration remains such a persistent challenge, and whether engagement data is finally influencing fundraising strategy in meaningful ways. They discuss the real-world impact of AI right now, the evolving role of engagement scores, and how institutions can balance personalization at scale with the human connection alumni expect from their alma mater.

Looking ahead to 2026, the conversation turns to changing alumni digital behaviors, the future of social media in advancement, and what it truly means to be a digital-first engagement organization. The episode wraps with a holiday edition of Friday Cheers, featuring technology-inspired recommendations to carry into the new year.