Despite the critical role of alumni contributions in higher education development and sustainability, there has been limited systematic mapping of the scholarly landscape of alumni giving research. To address this gap, this study conducts a bibliometric analysis using 1,144 publications obtained from Scopus and analysed through VOSviewer to identify co-authorship networks, co-citation patterns, and keyword occurrences on the intellectual structure of alumni-related studies. The findings highlight leading scholars (e.g. Pecora P.J.) and key institutions (e.g. University of Washington and University College London). The analysis also revealed the dominance of research from the United States and the United Kingdom, alongside growing contributions from emerging economies. This study offers practical insights for university leaders, alumni relations professionals, and policymakers, particularly within the UK context, by aligning its implications with frameworks such as the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), Access and Participation Plans (APPs), and Higher Education Statistics Agency graduate outcomes.
Sam et al. (Sat,) studied this question.