For two decades, Penn Traditions has been shaping the way students at the University of Pennsylvania learn about philanthropy and discover what it means to be part of a community that lasts long after graduation.

On this week's episode of Alumless, Ryan and Chris sat down with Elise Betz, Senior Executive Director for Alumni Relations, to look back at how the program began and how it grew into one of the most influential engagement engines in higher education.

Elise reflects on the early days of convincing campus leaders that student philanthropy mattered, the moment she knew the program had become part of Penn’s identity, and the innovations that have kept it relevant over 20 years. She shares how Penn Traditions now shapes everything from New Student Orientation to university-wide collaborations, and how alumni support continues to expand its impact.

In the bonus segment, the conversation turns to Penn’s recent fundraising campaign for its Cultural Resource Centers and what the future holds for student engagement at Penn.

You can check out the virtual fitness class Elise mentions in her Friday cheers here (passcode *%b2u+if).

Season 4 of Alumless is presented by Protopia, AlumnIQ, and Givzey.

In this week's episode of Alumless Takes, Ryan chats with Andrea Devine, Senior Director of Volunteer Engagement at the University of Virginia.They share reflections and advice on how to create meaningful alumni volunteer engagement. She also shares challenges and opportunities presented by the transition to a new CRM system at UVA. She emphasizes the need for data standardization and the importance of establishing policies for data entry to improve overall data management.

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

How do you hold the attention of alumni and donors in a world that never stops scrolling?

In this episode of Alumless, Ryan and Chris talk with Josh Harraman, Director of Constituent Experiences – Strategy at The Ohio State University, about what it means to build alumni engagement in the attention economy. Josh shares how his team studies audience behavior, experiments with content, and uses both data and emotion to keep the Ohio State community connected.

They explore what’s competing most for alumni attention today, how digital tools are reshaping engagement, and whether higher education is adapting fast enough to compete with global brands and influencers. Josh also reflects on the role of storytelling, volunteerism, and campus partnerships in creating meaningful moments that cut through the noise.

In the bonus segment, he talks about the platforms and content formats that hold alumni attention longest, how to define meaningful engagement when you have only seconds, and what advice he’d give advancement leaders trying to win the attention game.

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