Speaking Engagement: Speaking Engagement (Members)

Income-based outcomes are becoming an imperative for US colleges and universities

Courtney Stombock — Thu, 28 May 2026 19:29:00 GMT

The closure of a college or university is devastating for faculty, staff, students, and alumni, as well as the higher education ecosystem in the United States.

Right now, federal legislation authorized by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA) and the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, in the rulemaking process, will create accountability measures for institu…

What We’re Actually Stewarding

Dave Hail — Thu, 28 May 2026 11:02:44 GMT

Ninety percent of the families behind Trinity Christian College’s endowed scholarships released their restricted funds almost the moment Mackenzi Huyser asked. The college had announced it would close at the end of the academic year, and it needed unrestricted money to graduate its final students and wind down responsibly. The families understood. Most …

Breakout: What actually binds alumni together?

Ryan Catherwood — Wed, 27 May 2026 19:00:40 GMT

This week’s Breakout began with a provocative premise from Jan Caspian Kang’s New Yorker article, “Why the Future of College Could Look Like OnlyFans.” The article argues that as core curriculum experiences standardize and expertise becomes more accessible outside institutional structures, the traditional university model grows more vulnerable to disrup…

Say the Hard Thing—But Say it with Care

Kristin Hanson — Wed, 27 May 2026 11:01:08 GMT

Mackenzi Huyser is living the scenario that most of us in higher ed advancement dread even thinking about: The closure of our institution. In November 2025, Trinity Christian College in Illinois announced that the 2025-26 academic year would be its last. Since then, Huyser, the college’s vice president and chief academic officer, has had to answer vexing questions: What do you say to donors, alumni, and staff in this situation? And how do you say it in a way that holds the community together rather than blowing it apart?

What she described to Ryan Catherwood in this week’s episode of Keynote is a masterclass in how, by centering clarity and empathy, you can handle the closure of a college in a way that breeds cooperation, not resentment.

“For donors, it was really important that we, as best we could, clearly stated what we were doing, why we were doing it, and what that meant for them and for our students and our mission in the coming year,” said Huyser, who is also a 1997 Trinity graduate.

“Clear communication” may sound like an obvious strategy, but institutional wind-downs are incredibly complex. Financial and regulatory challenges loomed from all directions, and Huyser’s team was tasked with marshaling donor support to help get their students to the end of the academic year.

“Certainly, there were questions: ‘Why would you possibly need money now?’ ‘You have a campus you can sell, you’re closing, what would you possibly need resources for?’” she said. “Education became a really important part of our donor engagement.”

Huyser’s team needed to get donors on board with redirecting restricted money scholarships and endowed funds to more pressing needs. Thanks to their straightforward approach, about 90% of donors agreed to help ensure current Trinity students could not only finish the year but be supported as they moved forward.

The secret? Empathy.

For each donor or alum who reached out with concerns—or even anger—Huyser offered to have a one-on-one conversation. On Keynote, she referenced one recent 45-minute conversation with an alum during which she helped explain Trinity’s financial situation and the headwinds it faced, such as the enrollment cliff.

“I think we both left really appreciating that time of understanding and sharing what happened so she could be a little more clear on what we were doing and why we were doing it,” Huyser said.

Her team’s response to this incredibly challenging issue reminded me so much of Jaime Hunt’s book, Heart Over Hype. Although the book focuses on enrollment marketing, in Chapter 7 she addresses “Responding to a Crisis with Care.” The example she shares in the book is an isolated act of on-campus violence, not something with the finality of a closing. Yet the crisis communication scaffolding she shares is directly applicable to a closure situation:

· Outline immediate actions
· Set expectations
· Provide timelines
· Commit to regular updates
· Be clear about accountability
· Listen and adjust

That last piece is the hardest, but also the most important.

“Emotions drive how people perceive and respond to a crisis. When stakeholders feel their emotions are dismissed and ignored, their fear or anger often intensifies, making it harder for your messaging to land,” Hunt wrote in Heart Over Hype. “On the other hand, when people feel understood and acknowledged, they’re more likely to engage constructively, even under challenging circumstances.”

Most of us will never have to manage the closure, but anyone in engagement and communications will face moments when we have to deliver not-so-great news to people who care deeply about our institution. Empathy isn’t a communications strategy you can automate. It’s what happens when you decide that every interaction, however difficult, is a chance to reveal who you are.

Kristin Simonetti Hanson is an award-winning editorial content strategist, writer, and editor based in Baltimore, Md.

For nearly 20 years, she’s served higher ed and nonprofit organizations with her distinctive, creative voice and sharp, strategic insight, turning complex priorities into clear, compelling narratives. In 2021—after working in-house for Johns Hopkins University, the University of North Carolina Wilmington, The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, and Elon University—she went out on her own, founding Kristin Hanson Writes, LLC.

Big Themes This Week

Institutional closure reveals what people actually value about colleges and universities: belonging, memory, relationships, and shared experience.
Clear, empathetic communication can preserve trust and cooperation even during moments of institutional crisis and uncertainty.
Higher education institutions may need to do a better job educating alumni and donors about the broader financial and demographic pressures facing the sector.
Engagement often increases during moments of urgency or loss, raising difficult questions about how institutions create meaning and affinity during normal operations.
Alumni engagement should increasingly be viewed as institutional infrastructure, not simply programming, especially as colleges face enrollment pressure, financial strain, and long-term sustainability concerns.

Team Discussion Questions

How transparent should institutions be with alumni and donors about financial and demographic pressures?
At what point should institutional leaders begin communicating urgency externally?
How should institutions balance transparency with reassurance during difficult moments?
Are our teams equipped to handle emotionally complex conversations with alumni, donors, students, and staff?
What can advancement teams learn from Trinity’s approach to one-on-one donor conversations and education?

What responsibilities do alumni have in supporting the long-term sustainability of their institutions?
How can alumni contribute beyond philanthropy during periods of institutional strain?

What Closure Can Teach Us About Engagement

Annie Bastida Quade — Tue, 26 May 2026 19:00:30 GMT

When Trinity Christian College announced it was closing in November 2025, Mackenzi Huyser — the school’s vice president for advancement and a Trinity alum herself — braced for what she expected: anger, withdrawal, people running away from something painful.

That’s not what happened.

Events filled up. Alumni who hadn’t been back in years started showing up…

Week #5 Keynote: The Death of an Institution is Beautiful with Mackenzi Huyser

Ryan Catherwood — Tue, 26 May 2026 11:02:22 GMT

This week’s Keynote is one of the most emotional and thought-provoking conversations we’ve had so far on Speaking Engagement. My guest is from Trinity Christian College, which announced earlier this year that it would close at the end of August. I wanted to have Mackenzi on because very few people in advancement and engagement ever openly discuss what h…

Closing Remarks - Week 4 - Fixing the Broken Experience

Ryan Catherwood — Fri, 22 May 2026 11:27:49 GMT

Most of the time, when alumni say, “I only hear from you when you’re asking for money,” they’re wrong. It just feels that way to them. In fact, if they’re receiving solicitations, they’re probably following along on social media and getting event invitations, alumni magazines, and newsletters. So, in reality, it just feels like the solicitations overpower everything else, despite the engagement efforts.

At a tiny number of schools, they really are just getting the solicitations. I can think of a few institutions where, due to staffing changes, alumni engagement literally came to a screeching halt, but solicitations kept coming. That’s pretty rare, though.

In Mallory Willsea’s words from the Keynote this week, “Marcomm cannot fix a broken experience, but oftentimes marcomm is the only function with the data to see that the experience is broken.”

She’s right! When the Facebook posts are getting terrible engagement and no one is reading or sharing the digital alumni magazine stories. It’s advancement comms that knows it. And the data is all there, screaming for a change in approach, but it’s not shared because that would create disruption.

It’s much easier to blame the channel or the content rather than take a hard look at what is probably a stale set of engagement tactics. But I do disagree slightly with one of Mallory’s takes. She said, “Communications is what you send. Engagement is what they feel.”

I’d amend this slightly to say, “Engagement is what they feel and do, as a result.”

Inherent in this quote is that engagement should be motivating. It should be fun and exciting. Ask yourself whether your communications are boring. Are you bored creating them? Are you bored reading them yourself? If so, your alums are too. Maybe it just feels like you’re only asking for money because that’s the only communication that elicits an emotion.

The key is also to take a look at the conversions you’re trying to facilitate through the communications. What do you want alumni to do next? Maybe they’re all set with their options. Time to rethink.

About Speaking Engagement

I’ll be sending a message to members early next week with instructions on how to add the private RSS feed for podcasts, because it’s a little tricky. This is the podcast icon art that members would see if the private RSS feed for the podcast stream is set-up.

The Members podcast stream has the Keynote and Breakout podcasts, all the articles read aloud, and will also contain some of our Book Club content and Agora speaker talks. Let me know if you have members access but are struggling to grab the private feed.

Shoot me a message or make a comment, and let me know how to make your membership as accessible as possible.

Next Week’s Keynote Speaker

Our Keynote on Tuesday (Monday is a holiday) is Dr. Mackenzi Huyser. Mackenzi is the VP, Advancement and Chief Academic Officer at Trinity Christian College. Unfortunately, Trinity is closing its doors and shutting down operations at the end of August. We talk about what it’s been like since the closure was announced. We both wipe away a few tears during the convo, so consider this your trigger warning!

Also, register for the Agora on Tuesday of next week at 12 pm eastern time. It’s going to be fun and a chance to meet some new people.

Onward!

Ryan

Breakout: Follow up on the 60-year degree and what becomes of instruction with AI

Ryan Catherwood — Thu, 21 May 2026 19:01:02 GMT

This week’s Breakout explored two interconnected questions about the future of higher education: what happens when universities try to extend their relationship with learners from four years to sixty, and what happens when AI forces institutions to rethink what learning actually means?

The conversation begins with David Rosowsky’s follow-up article to “T

The Dashboard Turns Last

Dave Hail — Thu, 21 May 2026 11:01:25 GMT

There was an event I worked on for more than twenty years. It started because a corporate partner wanted visibility and was willing to underwrite the first few years to get it. The event found its audience, found its rhythm, and kept running. By every measure we paid attention to, it was a success. Full room. Happy alumni. Known as the thing to do that …

Subtract First

Wed, 20 May 2026 11:03:27 GMT

When Mallory Willsea named discipline as the most important ingredient in community building on this week’s Keynote, I didn’t disagree. But I also thought about every engagement professional I know who is deeply disciplined (you know, the one who shows up every day, who cares enormously about the work, and frankly, is exhausted)... and still can’t build…

Marcomm can be a vital barometer. Why isn’t higher ed using it that way?

Kristin Hanson — Tue, 19 May 2026 19:01:02 GMT

Marcomm can be a vital barometer. Why isn’t higher ed using it that way?

By Kristin Hanson

Every year, an institution runs a giving day. And every year, the returns decline.

After each event, the alumni engagement and advancement comms teams survey representative groups of alumni and donors. The feedback is consistent, almost word-for-word, year after year…

Week #4 Keynote: When Marcomm Become Mission Critical with Mallory Willsea

Ryan Catherwood — Mon, 18 May 2026 11:02:37 GMT

One of the things I appreciate most about Mallory Willsea is that she has spent years thinking deeply about how institutions build trust, community, and visibility in a rapidly changing world. Long before podcasts became mainstream in higher education, Mallory was helping build digital communities through projects like Higher Ed Live and Ed Universe. In…

The Weekend: University leaders see alumni engagement as a cost center

Ryan Catherwood — Sun, 17 May 2026 11:31:05 GMT

If you are an alumni engagement professional in advancement, you should be very concerned that your unit is treated as a cost center by your university leaders. Recently, Inside Higher Ed published an editorial by Brooke Barnett, President of Rollins College, and Jonathan Purvis, CFRE, VP of Advancement and Marketing at Butler University, entitled “How …

The Journey Isn't a Journey

Dave Hail — Fri, 15 May 2026 11:32:00 GMT

Meghan Buzby runs volunteer engagement at AFTD, the national association for frontotemporal dementia. Most of her volunteers are care partners. Spouses, adult children, the person holding everything together while someone they love disappears by degrees. FTD strikes earlier than Alzheimer’s. Fifty-two is not unusual. The volunteers are mid-career. Their…

Breakout: Alumni Relations 2036 and JMU's employer and employment guarantees

Ryan Catherwood — Thu, 14 May 2026 19:02:00 GMT

Using a recent article imagining “Alumni Relations in 2036” from Susie Mills and Andy Shaindlin as a starting point, Ryan, Lindsay, and Dave kick-off this Breakout with a conversation exploring how institutions are moving toward highly personalized, career-connected engagement models — and why most universities still lack the infrastructure to support t…

Designing for Hard Seasons

Annie Bastida Quade — Thu, 14 May 2026 11:03:25 GMT

Most engagement programs are designed for people with availability. A calendar of events. In-person volunteer opportunities. An award ceremony honoring the most visible contributors. The implicit assumption underneath all of it is that the people you’re trying to reach have the bandwidth to show up — and that if they don’t, they’ve simply lost interest …

Could Volunteerism be the Remedy to Shrinking Donor Pipelines?

Courtney Stombock — Wed, 13 May 2026 11:03:26 GMT

I have always tried to do my part in my community, whether it was helping my children’s school at holiday parties, organizing SignUpGenius for my son’s rugby tournament travel, or joining a neighborhood support group that helps families impacted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions.

Most recently, I was selected from the more than 1 million app…

Breakout: How do you know if you're advancement team is any good?

Ryan Catherwood — Tue, 12 May 2026 19:01:42 GMT

This Breakout with Ryan and Kristin started with a straightforward question from a recent Inside Higher Ed article: How good is your advancement team by Brooke Barnett and Johnathan Purvis? The framework presented by the authors focused on two dimensions — disposition and data — and in many ways, it’s hard to disagree with the core premise. Strong advan…

Advocacy as an untapped engagement emphasis

Kristin Hanson — Tue, 12 May 2026 11:03:28 GMT

Keeping alumni connected after the first few postgrad years: It’s the engagement bugaboo that we as a field have never quite solved. When life gets complex and free time comes at a premium, dear ol’ alma mater quickly slips down the priority list for many alums.

Meghan Buzby sees similar challenges with her constituency, albeit for very different reasons.

Week 3 - Learning Guide: May 11 - 15

Ryan Catherwood — Mon, 11 May 2026 11:09:49 GMT

During this week’s conference on Speaking Engagement, everything centers on these ideas:

Volunteer journeys are crooked in that people engage, disappear, return, pause, and re-enter based on what’s happening in life
People may deeply care about your institution or mission while simultaneously: caregiving, financially stretched, or emotionally exhausted
Volunteerism is a crucial strategic lever that is often under-utilized across the education space
Volunteers as institutional capacity-builders, advocacy as an underused engagement strategy, and volunteerism as a pathway back into affinity and philanthropy.

Innovation is for the bold:

“It is not an ongoing journey per se with volunteers with us… they may not engage with us for another six months to a year just given their life circumstances.” — Meghan Buzby, Director of Advocacy and Volunteer Engagement at the Association of Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD)

Listen to the Week 3 Keynote on Speaking Engagement with Meghan Buzby

Questions to consider and discuss when you bring your team together:

What assumptions does our engagement model make about time, stability, and availability? Who might become disconnected because of these assumptions?
What does our institution offer someone with only five minutes to give? AFTD built low-barrier entry points: sending an email, sharing a post, writing a thank you note.
Could advocacy become a stronger engagement strategy for us? What institutional priorities could alumni and donors meaningfully advocate for?
Are we underestimating the value of volunteerism? When are we creating volunteer opportunities that do real work rather than symbolic work?

Listen: the Keynote on Apple Podcasts or the full-length version on YouTube.

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