It was probably just a matter of time before this happened.

Ry Rivard of Inside Higher Ed reported.

Hat in Hand on Facebook

Colleges are increasingly turning to one-day social media blitzes to raise money, especially from their youngest alumni.

The latest will take place today at the University of Vermont, the state’s flagship in Burlington. Officials there have organized a daylong social media “extravaganza” to connect with what it calls its elusive young alums.

During the Move In Day Challenge, pegged to the university’s move-in day, officials will post on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter all day, including videos of students moving in and talking about the university. They will also set up a special site for would-be donors.

Richard Green, a spokesman for the university’s foundation who helped plan the event, said the online blitz is meant to help welcome new students, reach out to alumni – particularly recent graduates – and raise a little bit of money.

“Yes, we would like to raise some money, but we’re really trying to walk that line of this being not too aggressive an ask, because we want this to be a real welcome,” Green said. “We want to tell a story during the day, so we don’t want to be like, ‘Give more money,’ ‘Give more money.’ ”

Green said the university is not looking to tap any of its 2,300 incoming first-year students or their parents for money on move-in day because that would “be tacky.”

Colleges are, however, trying to pick up donations from recent graduates. That comes amid a decline in the rate of alumni participation — which is the number of alumni donors divided by the number of alumni an institution has a means of contacting.