Next Up Action Fund: Building Support Through Alumni Storytelling

Founded over 20 years ago, Next Up Action Fund has trained thousands of young people across Oregon to become the next generation of progressive leaders and organizers. As a youth organization focused on political organizing and civic engagement, Next Up has built a powerful legacy of impact across the state, with program participants who are now in their thirties and forties continuing to shape Oregon's political landscape.

Overview

With a grant from Progressive Multiplier, Next Up Action Fund launched a structured storytelling project designed to reconnect with alumni while building a sustainable grassroots donor base. The organization recognized an opportunity to re-engage thousands of former participants, staff, board members, and volunteers who had drifted away over the years. By collecting and sharing alumni stories that demonstrate long-term impact, Next Up created a foundation for both qualitative evidence of their influence on Oregon and a pathway to financial sustainability through individual donations. The project combines personal outreach, digital storytelling, and strategic events to convert alumni connections into lasting supporter relationships.

Key Strategies & Tactics

Next Up Action Fund's alumni engagement initiative integrated several components designed to rebuild relationships while generating revenue:

Alumni Survey and Outreach: Designing and distributing a comprehensive survey to gather data on alumni career trajectories, impact stories, and connection to the organization

Story Collection Process: Creating an ethical storytelling framework that compensates contributors and follows best practices for consent and representation

Community Events: Hosting a summer block party combining Youth in Philanthropy program graduation with alumni re-engagement, plus planning an annual Winter Ball for major donor cultivation

Digital Storytelling: Producing a professional alumni impact video featuring testimonials from recent and past participants to anchor multi-channel fundraising campaigns

Donor Infrastructure: Implementing Numero AI CRM for high-value donor identification and developing targeted email, text, and calling programs for donor conversion

Lessons Learned

The project reinforced that successful alumni re-engagement requires treating former participants as valued community members first and potential donors second. Next Up found that creating soft touch points like community celebrations and story-sharing opportunities built authentic relationships that naturally led to financial support. The organization learned that investing in proper data infrastructure from the start enables more targeted and effective outreach, while professional storytelling assets create compelling reasons for alumni to reconnect and contribute. Building a ladder of engagement that moves from story-sharing to event attendance to monthly giving provides multiple entry points for alumni to re-engage at their own pace.

The Multiplier Effect

Impact

Beyond immediate fundraising goals, this initiative created lasting infrastructure for Next Up Action Fund's sustainability. By systematically documenting two decades of alumni impact across Oregon, the organization now possesses powerful evidence of its statewide influence that can be leveraged for institutional fundraising and public narrative. The story collection process itself strengthened alumni connections to the organization's mission, creating a network of advocates who can speak authentically about Next Up's value. With 200 youth graduating from programs each year, the systems established through this project create a repeatable model for converting program alumni into lifelong supporters. The focus on unrestricted monthly donations directly supports Next Up's ambitious political organizing work, providing flexible resources that grant funding cannot always supply. This approach addresses the particular challenge faced by 501(c)(4) organizations whose political work requires unrestricted individual support to maintain independence and strategic flexibility.