Why Isn't Advancement a Bigger Marketing Priority at Colleges and Universities?
Recent survey data from higher education marketing leaders found that, on average, just 6% of marketing budgets are allocated to advancement, compared to 72% for enrollment and 24% for brand marketing.
Given the importance of enrollment, that allocation isn't particularly surprising. But these aren't normal times for higher education.
Colleges and universities are navigating enrollment pressures, rising operating costs, constrained funding and growing concerns about long-term financial sustainability. Some financially challenged institutions are even drawing more heavily from their endowments to support operations.
In today’s higher education climate, philanthropy is becoming an increasingly important component of institutional revenue strategy.
But something doesn’t add up.
If advancement is becoming more important to institutional sustainability, why is it such a small marketing priority?
Enrollment Can't Carry the Entire Revenue Strategy
Enrollment will—and should—remain a major marketing priority. Tuition revenue is simply too important for most institutions. But colleges and universities also rely on public funding, grants, partnerships, investment income and philanthropy.
As pressure increases on some of these revenue sources, institutions need to think more comprehensively about revenue generation.
Recent endowment data illustrates the challenge. According to the 2025 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments, participating institutions withdrew $33.4 billion from their endowments in FY25, an 11% increase from the previous year. Endowments funded an average 15.2% of annual operating expenses, up from 10.9% just two years earlier.
At the same time, new gifts to endowments declined 9.2%.
Using endowment funds is nothing new when it comes to institutional finance. But when financially stressed institutions increasingly depend on those assets to support operations, it raises an important question:
Where will future revenue growth come from?
Advancement must be an integral part of that conversation.
Advancement Needs Marketing, Too
Fundraising is built on relationships, but marketing helps create and strengthen those relationships.
Before people give, they need a reason to care.
Before donors increase their support, they need evidence that previous gifts made a difference.
And before alumni respond to another appeal, institutions need to maintain relationships with them when they aren't asking for money.
Marketing can help advancement teams develop stronger cases for support, segment donor audiences, improve annual and year-end campaigns, strengthen digital giving, tell compelling impact stories and build alumni engagement.
Perhaps most importantly, marketing can help institutions think about the donor journey much as they think about the enrollment funnel, applying the same discipline of enrollment marketing:
A donor journey, mapped like the enrollment funnel — from awareness or engaged alumnus to first-time donor, to repeat donor, to major or planned-gift prospect — instead of treating every appeal as a standalone transaction.
Case-for-support materials and impact storytelling — developed and refreshed on a cadence, not rebuilt from scratch for every campaign.
Segmented donor communications — tailored to different audiences, interests and stages of the relationship, rather than relying on one-size-fits-all appeals.
The question isn't whether advancement matters. It's whether institutional marketing resources are keeping pace with its growing strategic importance.
The Challenge: Resource Allocation
The limited marketing attention given to advancement doesn't necessarily mean institutions don't recognize its importance. Often, advancement and marketing teams are already stretched, while limited budgets make it difficult to invest in the communications, digital tools and creative assets needed to build and sustain donor relationships.
That can mean cases for support that need updating, donor impact stories that aren't being told, giving pages that could convert better, campaigns that lack sufficient creative support, or fundraising events that aren't fully leveraged before, during, and after the event.
The answer doesn't necessarily require adding permanent staff or making a major new investment. Institutions can prioritize the advancement marketing activities most closely connected to their fundraising goals and bring in experienced support when internal resources aren't sufficient.
The question isn't whether advancement matters. It's whether institutions are giving advancement the marketing capacity and resources necessary to support the revenue they increasingly need it to generate.
How Villa Marketing Can Help
Villa Marketing provides colleges and universities with experienced, flexible marketing support to help advancement teams move priority projects forward. From donor and alumni communications and giving campaigns to fundraising events, impact storytelling and digital strategy, we provide additional expertise and capacity when internal teams are stretched.
Do you an advancement project that needs marketing support? Let’s talk.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much of a college's marketing budget typically goes to advancement? Advancement tends to land near the bottom of the list — around 6% in EAB's recent survey of higher ed marketing leaders, well behind enrollment and brand.
Why does advancement need more marketing support right now? Colleges and universities are facing growing financial pressure while endowments are funding a larger share of operating expenses at some institutions. At the same time, new gifts to endowments declined 9.2% in FY25. That makes building and sustaining philanthropic relationships an increasingly important component of institutional revenue strategy.
If advancement matters this much, why isn't it better funded already? Budget and bandwidth. Most marketing departments are already juggling enrollment, brand, academic programs, the website, social channels, and PR — advancement simply loses out for attention, not because anyone thinks it's unimportant.
How can a college support advancement marketing without hiring more staff? Bring in outside marketing help for a specific push — a campaign, a year-end appeal, a gala, a case for support — instead of asking an already-stretched internal team to squeeze it in.
Comments