How to Pull the Right Revenue Levers Through Austerity
Last week the Vancouver Sun ran an op-ed that nailed it: B.C. doesn’t have a spending problem; it has a revenue problem.
Post-secondary institutions should take note. Every time austerity hits, universities fall back on the same playbook: cuts, freezes, deferrals. And every time, institutions come out weaker.
The issue isn’t only fragile revenue streams. It’s that the levers universities already have, Student Services, Alumni Relations, Faculty, and Continuing Education, are often competing instead of working together.
At AdvanceU, we see this every day. Institutions don’t lack potential. They lack alignment. And without alignment, every unit is pulling on its own lever in isolation, producing duplication, wasted energy, and missed opportunities.
If resilience is about pulling the right revenue levers, then the conversation must start with why these levers matter, how to align them, and how to sell that alignment inside and outside the university.
The Why: Stop Cutting Muscle
Cuts are sometimes necessary. But if institutions don’t know which levers carry them through austerity, they risk cutting muscle instead of fat. And rebuilding later costs far more.
- Over-reliance on tuition is fragile. International enrolments depend on government policy and public sentiment. They are not stable enough to form the baseline.
- Competing levers weaken outcomes. Alumni Relations rebuilds relationships Student Services could have sustained. Faculty relationships go untapped. CE operates in a silo.
- Champions are eroded. When Student Services, Alumni Relations, Faculty, and CE are undercut, universities lose the very systems that produce successful graduates, sustain reputation, and engage donors.
At AdvanceU, we help institutions define their minimum baseline, the core activities and levers that must be protected to ensure resilience. Without this clarity, austerity cuts are blunt and often harmful.
The How: Aligning and Pulling the Levers
Here’s where alignment becomes practical. Each lever already exists, but it needs to be tracked, integrated, and positioned strategically.
Student Services
Student Services are often dismissed as cost centers, but they directly influence graduate outcomes, employability, and reputation. These outcomes fuel enrolment, alumni loyalty, and industry and donor trust.
- Align services to accreditation, employability, and leadership competencies.
- Track involvement (mentorship, leadership, experiential learning) in systems that connect seamlessly to Alumni Relations.
- Build continuity: students who are engaged in their learning journey should never feel they “start over” at graduation.
How AdvanceU helps: We work with Student Services teams to align their work with institutional outcomes and integrate tracking systems that extend into alumni engagement.
Alumni Relations
Too often AR leans on nostalgia, asking alumni to look back, rather than showing why the institution is relevant to them at every stage of life.
- Track alumni contributions institutionally, not in silos. Many already serve on advisory boards, but their impact isn’t linked back to Advancement or CE.
- Demonstrate relevance through career support, lifelong learning, and industry partnerships.
- Expand measurement to include networks, mentorship, advocacy, and philanthropy.
How AdvanceU helps: We create strategies that shift AR from “annual giving and reunions” to “lifelong relevance,” tying alumni engagement into every revenue lever.
Faculty
Faculty are trusted voices. They hold the longest relationships with students and often continue to mentor alumni long after graduation. Yet they are rarely included in Advancement strategies.
- Position faculty as trusted partners, not just door-openers.
- Include them in donor and partner conversations where their credibility builds confidence.
- Recognize faculty contributions that strengthen alumni ties, philanthropy, and industry partnerships.
How AdvanceU helps: We design frameworks that involve faculty in Advancement without overburdening them, leveraging their influence strategically to unlock partnerships and donor trust.
Continuing Education
CE is often treated as a side hustle, disconnected from the university’s core mission. But CE can be a powerful lever when aligned.
- Build CE programs around defined industry needs, not just enrolment opportunities.
- Use CE to engage both alumni and key industry partners, reinforcing the university’s market position.
- Reinvest CE revenues into student programming, alumni engagement, and research.
How AdvanceU helps: We position CE as part of an institutional engagement strategy, not a silo and helps institutions use CE to build revenue, industry ties, and alumni relevance simultaneously.
Advancement as the Mechanism
The levers themselves belong to the institution. Advancement doesn’t own them — but it is the mechanism that can align them.
At AdvanceU, we build governance and systems that connect Student Services, Alumni Relations, Faculty, and CE to academic planning, government relations, recruitment, and external partnerships. Without this coordination, every lever pulls in isolation. With it, they become an ecosystem of resilience.
The Ways to Sell It
Even when the strategy is right, leaders need to frame it so people buy in. Here’s how:
- To Boards: Cutting too deep costs more long term. Protecting the baseline ensures outcomes, reputation, and revenue resilience.
- To Faculty: You don’t need to fundraise. Your relationships and credibility are vital to strengthening alumni trust and donor confidence.
- To Student Services & CE: Alignment amplifies your work and shows how your outcomes drive institutional reputation.
- To Donors & Partners: Stewardship is strategy. Alignment ensures every contribution, time, network, gift, multiplies in value.
- To Government & Community: This isn’t retreat. It’s resilience. Aligned universities strengthen workforce, innovation, and social cohesion.
How AdvanceU helps: We provide leaders with the language and framing to make the case across audiences, ensuring alignment strategies get traction, not resistance. At AdvanceU, we don’t hand you a box of tools, we build strategies with you. Our work is grounded in principles we laid out in From Dependency to Resilience, where we argue that Advancement must shift from dependency to becoming a system-builder in the institution.
We can help you:
- Connect systems so Student Services, Alumni Relations, Faculty, and CE reinforce each other.
- Align those levers with academic planning, government relations, recruitment, and institutional priorities.
- Unlock revenue through strategic sponsorships, affinity partnerships, earned impact, and philanthropic growth.
If your institution is ready to stop cutting muscle and start pulling the right levers through austerity, let’s talk.
Toward an Ecosystem of Resilience
Pulling the right levers means building an ecosystem where each strengthens the other:
- Stewardship keeps donors engaged through ups and downs.
- Alumni Engagement demonstrates relevance at every life stage: as donors, mentors, connectors, and champions.
- Annual Giving sustains mission focus even in hard times.
- Student-to-Alumni transitions create lifelong loyalty and reduce the “reset gap” at graduation.
- Faculty voices bring credibility and trust to alumni and partners.
- Continuing Education connects alumni and industry through ongoing learning and professional development.
- External partnerships diversify unrestricted revenue and extend reach.
This isn’t reckless spending. This is funding purpose boldly in ways that align the levers institutions already have.
We know some leaders will argue that these cuts are unavoidable, but is it resilience if we have to rebuild from scratch later? Others may say alumni, faculty, or continuing ed aren’t revenue levers at all. We welcome that perspective.
This conversation is stronger when challenged. Are there levers we’ve missed? Or examples where institutions are aligning differently? Your pushback will make this framework sharper.
Ready to Rethink What’s Possible?
At AdvanceU, we don’t hand you a box of tools. We build strategies with you tailored to your priorities, aligned to your outcomes, and designed to unlock new revenue.
If your institution is ready to stop cutting muscle and start pulling the right levers through austerity, let’s talk.
Book a 30-minute strategy conversation with one us: Inside AdvanceU – AdvanceU1st
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