ACE

Alumni Closing Experience A 3-week sprint to turn soft yeses into recurring giving

Born in 2020 to solve a real problem — ~80% of graduating students who said "yes" or "maybe" during a transition interview never actually gave. Usually forgetfulness or delayed employment, not disinterest. ACE converts those soft yeses into recurring gifts via a timed matching grant with a hard deadline.

The four pillars

01

Relationships

Reconnect alumni with the staff who served them. Prioritize grads from the last 5–8 years; include current + recently-lapsed chapter-account donors.

02

Two-Pronged Communication

Email carries the info; text drives attention back to email. Neither works alone. 4 emails + 7 texts per cohort.

03

Matching Money

Recurring gifts matched dollar-for-dollar for a full year. A 3-week sprint becomes a long-term chapter-account boost.

04

Hard Deadline

Over half of total ACE giving routinely lands on Deadline Day itself. Recent example: $10,500 → $27,000 after a $16,000 final-day push.

The 3-week sprint

Week 1

Launch

Email #1 stirs nostalgia. Texts #1–2 celebrate the opportunity. 90-min kickoff + 2 × 45-min meetings.

Week 2

Progress

Email #2 celebrates specific $ or donor count. Texts #3–4 invite attention. 3 meetings.

Week 3

Deadline

Email #3 + texts #5–6 drive urgency. Deadline Day: final email + text + 90-min full-court press.

Total per participant: 4 emails · 7 texts · 11 sessions · ~12 hrs of coaching

Results to date

$738K
raised across all cohorts
3.36×
ROI on 2021 deployment
11–20%
historical give rate

Stages pipeline — "Parable of the Great Banquet"

0
Poor, Blind,
Crippled, Lame
GAPS core not in place
1
Invited to
the Banquet
ACE consult + pitch
2
Compelled
to Come
Prep, list-building, scheduled
3
Running
ACE
Execution + coaching
4
Food Coma
Post-Banquet
Data capture + thank-yous
5
Round
Two
Re-enter Stage 2