MIT Campaign for a Better World

In 2016, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Alumni Association set out to raise over $6 billion from alumni to help the people of this venerated institution tackle humanity’s urgent global challenges.

The goal was to primarily target and engage alumni who graduated within the previous 10 years to foster a culture of giving back and instilling a sense of school pride.

This was accomplished by reinforcing two narratives through social, email, and video:

1. Celebrate the past to reinforce MIT’s historical and consistent track record as being at the cutting-edge of scientific development. (Did you know two alumni invented the canned food technology that would eventually become Campbell’s Soup?)

2. Highlight the current work of MIT professors and students to show alumni how their donations contribute to continued scientific excellence. (I wrote about the Boston Timescape Project, which was also published in the MIT Tech Review).

MIT Better World Campaign Results:

• $6.25 billion raised from 112,703 alumni

• 83% of all alumni engaged during the campaign