When Maya graduated, she stepped into a blur of change—new job, new city, new life.

She didn’t feel like an alumna yet. She felt like someone in motion.

Within a year, her alma mater had lost track of her.

An event invitation came for the wrong city. A donation appeal landed at an email she no longer used. The messages felt disconnected from her life—and worse, out of touch.

So she quietly unsubscribed.

And just like that, a future donor was lost—not because she didn’t care, but because no one kept pace with her journey.

The Gap Years: Where Most Institutions Lose Touch

The years between graduation and a first meaningful gift—what we call the “gap years”—are where alumni relationships either take root or quietly dissolve.

These are the years of rapid change.

Alumni switch jobs. Move across countries. Start companies. Go back to school. They’re forming identities, building networks, and figuring out what kind of impact they want to make. Yet during this period, many institutions lose contact—simply because they don’t have the right data.

Studies show that up to 40% of alumni lose active contact with their alma mater within five years of graduating (CASE).

And without visibility into these transitions, institutions default to mass emails and generic appeals—making engagement feel less like a relationship, and more like a transaction.

Be Present, Not Opportunistic

Here’s the truth:

When alumni finally “make it,” they don’t look back and give to whoever asked. They give to whoever showed up.

The gap years are where that trust is built—or lost. They’re not the time to push a donation ask. They’re the time to prove that your institution still cares about who they’re becoming.

That’s where BRD comes in.

How BRD Bridges the Gap

BRD provides the data you need to stay connected during these crucial early years.

We help institutions:

• Track job and location changes in real time—even when alumni don’t report them
• Segment alumni by career stage and engagement potential
• Identify rising stars, entrepreneurs, and future changemakers
• Deliver outreach that’s timely, relevant, and deeply personal

Whether your alumni are launching startups, climbing the corporate ladder, or finding their path—BRD keeps you in the loop so your institution stays present.

You’ll stop guessing who’s ready to give—and start showing up in ways that build trust early and lead to stronger relationships later.

The Bottom Line

When alumni give, it’s not just about loyalty. It’s about recognition—of the moments they were seen, supported, and included.

The gap years are when trust is either built or broken.

BRD makes sure you don’t disappear.

By equipping your advancement team with real-time data on where alumni are, what they’re doing, and what matters to them—BRD keeps you in the conversation.

No guesswork. No missed connections. Just the insight to build relationships that last decades—not donation cycles.

Let’s close the gap—starting now.

Reach out, and we’ll show you what your next generation of donors looks like—before anyone else does.

At BRD, we help institutions clean up their records and maximize their fundraising, engagement, and career services impact.

Want to see how clean data can transform your institution’s success? Let’s chat.