Challenge: Creating Meaningful Engagement Before Alumni Arrive on Campus
Grinnell College faced a familiar challenge in higher education advancement: how to increase reunion participation while fostering genuine, meaningful engagement with alumni. Historically, reunion merch was ordered in bulk and given away onsite, often resulting in excess inventory, limited emotional connection, and items that alumni took simply because they were free.
At the same time, staff and reunion committees wanted to build excitement earlier in the process and give alumni a greater sense of ownership in their reunion experience. The question became: how could merch shift from a transactional distribution to an intentional engagement tool that reflected alumni preferences, reduced waste, and strengthened emotional ties to Grinnell?
Solution: Collaborative Design, Alumni Choice, and At-Cost Purchasing
Grinnell partnered with Magellan to reimagine reunion merch as a collaborative and alumni-centered experience. Instead of predetermining a single standard item, each reunion committee reviewed curated options and invited classmates to vote on their favorites, fostering early buy-in and shared ownership.
Selected items incorporated nostalgic campus elements: landmarks, traditions, or class memories, ensuring each piece felt meaningful and personal.
Beginning in 2024, attendees could select and purchase reunion merch directly during registration. Items were offered at cost, reinforcing that the goal was not revenue generation, but care, intentionality, and value.
“Since attendees make their selections when they register, we have literally zero unused items, and it is very refreshing to pack up after the reunion and not move boxes of dated merch into storage,” shared Grinnell’s Associate Director of Alumni and Donor Relations for Reunion and Awards Guinevere Natarelli. “Our goals of making something special that is intentionally desired, at a good price, seem to have been conveyed well.”
Recent merch has included custom beverage ware, stone coasters, travel blankets, magnets, totes, and umbrellas. One standout design, the 25th Reunion Class’s stone coaster, was so popular that Grinnell’s development team decided to stock it for future prospect gifts.
Looking ahead to 2026, Grinnell is expanding the model even further. All reunion mementos will now be available to alumni who cannot attend, with direct-to-home shipping handled by Magellan, eliminating staff burden and extending engagement beyond campus.
Outcome: Zero Waste, Higher Buy-In, and Expanded Alumni Connection
The strategy transformed reunion merch from a passive distribution model into a multi-month engagement tool with measurable impact.
Key Results:
- Zero unused inventory due to pre-ordering through registration
- Cost savings by eliminating College-funded bulk distributions
- No post-event storage of dated merchandise
- Early alumni engagement through collaborative selection and voting
- Highly desired, intentionally chosen merch that alumni value and use
- Expanded access, allowing non-attending alumni to purchase reunion mementos
“We are thrilled that alums who are not able to come to their reunion are still going to be able to get a memento,” Guinevere noted. “This is a tremendous change for us.”
Through thoughtful collaboration, intentional design, and alumni choice, Grinnell College demonstrated that merch can be far more than a takeaway. It can be a powerful connection point that reinforces a sense of belonging, sustainability, and care for the alumni experience.
