Buyer's guide · 2026
Alumni management software is a platform for alumni associations, university alumni relations offices, and affinity groups to manage alumni directories, annual giving, reunion events, and regional chapters.
Alumni software has historically been either enterprise-grade (Almabase, Graduway) or general-purpose tools adapted for alumni use (Wild Apricot, Salesforce). A middle path is emerging.
01 · Evaluation criteria
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Alumni control what others see, and classmates are easy to find. In Covey, each person chooses whether their listing is public, members-only, or hidden, and members search by name or organization. Field-level privacy and class-year filters are not in Covey yet.
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Chapter chairs run their own events, emails, and dues while rolling up to association-level reporting. Not in Covey yet: each chapter can run its own Covey account, but there is no roll-up.
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Appeals that reach the right alumni and a thank-you that follows. Covey sends to status groups such as lapsed members, tests two subject lines, and lets alumni add a donation at join or renewal. Segments by class year or giving history, suggested amounts, and thank-you sequences are not in Covey yet.
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Reunion weekend registration for the dinner, tailgate, and campus tour in one checkout, with waitlists for sold-out events. Covey does this for up to 10 events per checkout; name badge exports are not in Covey yet.
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Data that reaches Raiser's Edge, Ellucian Advance, Salesforce Advancement, or whatever CRM your advancement office uses. Covey has no direct integration; export your members to CSV and import them.
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Standard fundraising segments for annual fund re-engagement. Not in Covey yet: Covey does not keep giving history by year.
02 · Buying questions
For university-scale alumni offices (50,000+ alumni): Almabase, Graduway, or Salesforce Advancement. For independent alumni associations and chapters: Covey, Wild Apricot, or MemberClicks. For fraternities/sororities: OmegaFi or Covey.
$500 to $5,000/month depending on scale. Enterprise alumni platforms are quoted based on alumni count; for smaller associations, Covey runs $49 to $229/month by active members (up to 2,000) and Wild Apricot $66 to $265/month for up to 2,000 contacts (checked September 30, 2026).
Yes. Most platforms support alumni migrations. Covey's migration moves alumni records and custom fields such as class year and chapter, and rebuilds upcoming events.
Modern platforms expose API access or CSV import/export that connects to Banner, PeopleSoft, or Workday Student, and custom integrations are typical for large alumni offices. Covey imports and exports members by CSV; it has no public API yet.
03 · Tools to evaluate
04 · Where Covey fits
Covey is built for organizations in the alumni management software category that want four things at once: a considered interface, transparent pricing, a 48-hour migration, and human support on every plan. If those four things matter to you, Covey is worth a demo. If you need something else (a specific vertical module, an enterprise-scale implementation, a particular integration), we will tell you and point you somewhere that fits.
Legacy membership platforms feel like they were designed in 2008. Covey is built by a small team that treats typography, spacing, and the quiet details as the product.
A real human moves your members, levels, and renewal dates from your existing platform and rebuilds your upcoming events and email templates. You're live on Covey inside 48 hours, not six weeks.
No support tiers, no ticket queues that take four business days. Every plan includes a real person answering your questions, often the same person who wrote the feature.
One page, plain numbers. Plans are priced by active members, not contacts, and every plan has every feature. Migration is included, onboarding is included, support is included.
Ready when you are
30 days free, no card required · Plans from $49/month · Migration from any platform included
