11:30–11:45 AM

Conference Welcome

11:45 AM–12:45 PM 

Opening Keynote Session

Edge: Turning Adversity Into Advantage

In her groundbreaking research on edge—the elusive quality that gives us an upper-hand—Laura Huang reveals that a large part of success relies on how well we can shape others’ perceptions of us. As one of the top business professors in America, Huang masterfully shows us how we can leverage both our strengths and our flaws to our advantage—creating an edge that will keep attention, beat competition, and win.

Laura Huang, Professor, Harvard Business School

1:00–1:45     

Elective Sessions

Attendees will have five elective options to choose from which will feature content from across Advancement including Advancement Services, Alumni Relations, Development, Executive Leadership, Marketing & Communications.  Elective sessions will be recorded and made available for attendees to view following the conference.

• Business Intelligence Solutions as a Strategic Initiative to Support NYU Fundraising Efforts
  
  The NYU team will share our success story of implementing the Business Intelligence intranet site, aka the BI portal, from the ground up. 
  
  Sandy Brill, Associate Director of Prospect Management, New York University, Mohammed Dasser, Associate Vice President of Strategic Planning & Analytics, New York University, Ping Gallivan, Assistant Director of Business Intelligence Development, New York University, and Lisa Ginex Murphy, Director of Strategic Initiatives, New York University
• COVID-19 Lessons Learned for Online Alumni Engagement
  
  As devastating and challenging as the COVID-19 pandemic has been this year, it’s also created a lot of advances in online alumni engagement from creative alumni professionals forced to rethink how to engage alumni in a new reality. Sarah Szabo, J.J. Slager, Jeff Williams and Zach Rubin will follow up last year’s standing-room-only presentation at CASE V with a collection of innovative programs for engaging alumni online and advice for thinking about where alumni relations can go from here in a world that has been profoundly changed.
  
  Zach Rubin, Co-Founder and CEO, PBC Guru LLC, Sarah Szabo, Assistant Director of Alumni Programs, Furman University, J.J. Slager, Associate Director, Alumni Engagement, Miami University, and Jeff Williams, Managing Director and Chief Outreach Officer at University of Maryland               
• Alumni/Corporations/Foundations: Maximizing Support Across Spectrums
  
  Stuck in a rut? Trying to think of new strategies to deepen relationships with alumni, parents, and friends to build momentum across the spectrum of their networks to maximize engagement with your institution? Think “triple helix.” The session will discuss strategies and case studies to leverage the “triple helix” of alumni, companies, and foundations to maximize engagement and support for educational institutions by thinking creatively about the connections between Principal and Major Gifts and Institutional Giving.
  
  Megan Khan, Deputy Director of Principal Gifts, Yale University, Katherine Norton, Director, Corporate & Foundation Relations, Dartmouth College, Spencer Reynolds, Senior Associate, Corporate Engagement, Princeton University, Heather Seagroatt, Executive Director, Leadership Giving, Princeton University, and Pat Watson, Senior Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer Martha Wyckoff Conservation Fellow, Trust for Public Land
• Inside the Journey and Results of Implementing and Adopting Artificial Intelligence
  
  This session provides candid lessons and practical tactics surrounding the implementation of Artificial Intelligence across the entire giving pipeline. Set against the backdrop of implementing A.I. at The Oregon State University Foundation, the vendor and project champion take you along the journey of actual implementation, the successes, failures and results will provide a step to step guide to implementing Artificial Intelligence. No hype, no pitch, and no marketing fluff. This session is perfect for those interested in leading transformational data-driven change at their organization.
  
  Mark Hobbs, CEO, Fundmetric, Mark Koenig, Chief Innovation Officer and Vice President of Technology, Oregon State University Foundation, and Greg Lee, Lead Data Scientist, Fundmetric
• Breaking News Matters. And It Works
  
  In a world where the news cycle is no longer about the morning paper and evening news, but where news happens and explodes on social media within seconds and minutes, colleges and universities have a great opportunity to build audience and brand awareness and become part of the news cycle stream. Breaking news on campus, or off campus, presents a chance for writers and editors to speedily pull together short, quick, news pieces that can immediately be picked or trend on social media platforms, as other mainstream news outlets write about the same subject. Just pick your spots carefully!
  
  Doug Most, Assistant Vice President, Executive Editor, Boston University

1:45–2:15     

Exhibit Hall and Engagement Break

2:15–3:00     

Elective Sessions

• Revamp Your Alumni Chapters: Change Management, Design Thinking, and Stakeholder Buy-in
  
  Does your Alumni Association Chapter’s program need a little refresh? Join UC Davis to learn about how we made significant changes to our alumni clubs called Networks. We will discuss how to manage change with your volunteers and to get buy in from important stakeholders. Using the principles of Design Thinking we will give you a roadmap to follow for any future changes that you need to make for your program. We will also go over the changes we have made to our program including creating a more developmental experience for our volunteers and ensuring more consistency within our program.
  
  Jamie Allen, Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement, University of California, Davis, Erin Mross, Associate Director of Alumni Engagement, University of California, Davis, and Paul David Terry, Assistant Director, Alumni Engagement, University of California, Davis
• Reimagining Alumni Weekend: From Good to Great to Virtual
  
  For significant engagement growth, sometimes traditions must be evaluated and reimagined. Between 2018 and 2019, New York University took time to transform Alumni Day into a full weekend of activities, resulting in the most attended alumni program. After winning both a Silver and a Bronze CASE Circle of Excellence Award for this transformation, we faced the challenge of moving the program online in 2020. From 750 alumni to 1550 alumni to 5000 alumni attendees, this session will review the two years of change endured with NYU Alumni and Parents Weekend.
  
  Tim Valentine, Associate Director, NYC Programs, New York University
• Marshaling Your Resources: Leveraging Key Advocates and Building an Advancement Board & Board Building and Leading with Purpose
  
  Join us for a practical hands-on session and answer the questions: “Why start an advancement board? Will it be worth the work/time?” Presenters will share experiences from three institutions, offering real-life examples of how to create a board or re-energize an existing one. Most often, boards are composed of volunteers eager to help — but without the proper structure, guiding documents, and positive collaborative partnership, a board can become rudderless. Learn how you can activate your board, create internal buy-in, set expectations to ensure success, and create shared sense of purpose within your institution Plus, hear success stories (and some potential pitfalls)!
  
  Kristen Cometto, Director of Philanthropy, School of Business Administration, Oakland University, Lauren Prause, Director of Development for Fine Arts, University of Connecticut Foundation, David Tindall, Director of Philanthropy, Kettering University, and Michael Van Sambeck, Director of Development, Business School, UConn Foundation
• Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Philanthropy
  
  As a thought leader in Advancement, CASE and the California State University system conducted a groundbreaking study on campus cultures of philanthropy. The research revealed the four most important factors in a robust fundraising program, what activities make for a high performing development program, and what campus and volunteer leaders can do to transform campus cultures into high performing programs. You will learn how to tell if your institution has a robust culture of philanthropy, the four primary factors in fundraising success; and the characteristics of a high performing fundraising program.
  
  Nikki Khurana-Baugh, Vice President for Advancement, Mount Saint Mary College, Lori Redfearn, Assistant Vice Chancellor Systemwide Advancement, California State University, and Peter Smits, Senior Consultant, The Phoenix Philanthropy Group, Inc.
• Persona Marketing: What Is It? How Do You Do It and Exceed Expectations?
  
  At HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, we know people relate to people, but we wanted to take our real student stories and images a step further to recruit future students. From implementing a casting call to creating four-phase integrated marketing communications plans for each of our three diverse personas, you will find at least a few nuggets to take back to your teams. We will discuss our strategies for reaching traditional, nontraditional and workforce students, how the campaigns have exceeded our expectations and our “don’t do that again” list.
  
  Linnie Carter, Vice President of College Advancement, HACC, Central Pennsylvania Community College, and Megan Hoose, Integrated Marketing Communications Coordinator for Student Advancement, HACC, Central Pennsylvania Community College

3:15–4:00     

Elective Sessions

• Fundraising Storytelling: Data Analytics and Visualizations in Advancement Services
  
  Advancement services professionals should be focused on: 1) Gathering data about constituents; 2) Measuring effectiveness and impact of fundraising efforts; 3) Leveraging technology to improve processes and insights; 4) Getting information into the hands of those who need it most. This "big picture" thinking creates context and outcomes that people may be drawn to. This clarity means every decision you make and every action you take can be measured to show how it impacts the organization. In this session, attendees will get an idea of identifying and/or implementing KPIs for data analytics that lead to dynamic interactive visualizations.
  
  Pamela Mitchell, Gift Entry Coordinator, Tougaloo College
• Creating a Mentor Program to Support Alumni, Students and Advancement (Including During a Pandemic)
  
  Learn to enhance or create an effective alumni-student mentor program that aligns engagement and development with campus partners Marquette Mentors, a 2019 CASE Circle of Excellence Silver Award recipient (Student-Alumni Initiatives), is a high-touch local and distance student to alumni mentoring platform. This updated presentation from the 2019 CASE V Conference (“My favorite CASE session,” said one attendee) includes new and expanded program enhancements in response to the pandemic.
  
  Dan DeWeerdt, Senior Engagement Director, Marquette University
• Black Women Give!: Historical Lessons for Advancement Professionals Today
  
  African American women have been on the leading edge of philanthropy in their communities throughout U.S. history. Today is no different, but it’s important for advancement professionals to be able to recognize and understand these givers in order to effectively engage them. By deepening our knowledge of 5 research-based historical traditions and practices of black women’s generosity, we can create equal opportunity for their engagement with our institutions today and be more equipped to cultivate meaningful donor and alumni relationships with female constituents of color.
  
  Tyrone Freeman, Assistant Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Director of Undergraduate Programs, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
• Managing and Hiring Your Advancement Team in a COVID Environment
  
  As advancement leaders seek to manage through COVID and the social movements of our time, many questions arise. How can I best manage my team in a budget constricted environment? How can I make the financial case for hiring advancement talent in the future? What resources and energy should I be putting towards retention? Specifically, what should I be doing to create an inclusive environment for my diverse workforce? It's an exceptional time, and this session will ask a diverse panel of some of higher ed's premier advancement leaders to share their thoughts about the current advancement management landscape.
  
  Monique Dozier, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Morehouse College, Greg Duyck, Principal, WhittKieffer, Sergio Gonzalez, Senior Vice President for Advancement, Brown University, and Rhea Turteltaub, Vice Chancellor, External Affairs, University of California, Los Angeles
• Elevating Expertise: Leveraging Faculty and Staff Experts Across Communications Platforms
  
  Every college campus has experts who can contribute to their areas of research and professional skills to the news of the day. But finding those experts and connecting them with media opportunities isn’t easy. And once you’ve landed a media placement, how can you get the most out of your efforts? The University of Richmond media relations team will share three ways to best leverage experts to land national media opportunities. They also will share five ways to maximize media placements by showcasing how media placements can be used across University platforms and divisions to reach target audiences.
  
  Sunni Brown, Director of Media and Public Relations, University of Richmond, and Lindsey Campbell, Media Relations Specialist, University of Richmond

4:00–5:00

Networking Reception

Join us for the first-ever all districts reception!  Take this time to visit the exhibit hall, participate in small group chats, attend engagement activities, and meet informally with conference attendees.

11:00–11:45 AM

Sponsor Led Sessions:

• Staying Ahead of the Game: Three Trends for the Next Three Years
  
  Rapid evolution of the fund-raising landscape demands that we prepare ourselves for dramatic changes in the years ahead. “Three Trends” is a brief survey of some of the most critical and immediate topics with which fund raisers – and those who support them – must become familiar.
  
  James Werner,  Chief Strategy Officer, Affinaquest and Geoff Knue, VP of Business Development, Affinaquest
• Alumni Participation: Friend or Foe
  
  Higher education fundraising (compared to fundraising for a social service nonprofit) provides a unique opportunity with the pool of alums.  Of this opportunity, a metric was born -- alumni participation rate.  Has this metric taken on too much weight or is it still driving us to excellence?
  
  Steph McCluskey, Principal Business Consulant, Blackbaud 
• It's Time to Revolutionize Your Giving Day
  
  Join GiveGab co-founders Charlie Mulligan and Aaron Godert, along with Sr. Project Manager Rebekah Casad, to explore how the power of Giving Days can revolutionize the way you bring your campus community together. Gain powerful insights about how these time-focused/conscious fundraising and engagement events have driven results for colleges and universities of all sizes from across the United States. Be sure to watch till the end to hear from GiveGab's honored guest speaker, Brandon Tabor, the Director of Marketing Operations for the Annual Giving Department of Development at the University of Notre Dame. You'll hear about his first-hand experience running their highly impactful Giving Day powered by GiveGab's industry-leading platform. We look forward to seeing you there!
  
  Charlie Mulligan, CEO and Founder, GiveGab, Aaron Godert, COO and Co-Founder, and Rebekah Casad, Senior Project Manager
• Meet the Moment: New Strategy for Today's Advancement Challenges
  
  The challenges advancement faces today are not new, but they were made more extreme by the pandemic. In fact, we entered the pandemic in a down period, considering that colleges and universities never got back to the pre-recession levels of funding -- causing tuition revenue to drive financial health and increasing pressure on advancement to fill the need-based scholarship gap. We should not look for things to return to 'normal' but instead prepare new strategies to grow major gift activity and stop the erosion of the major gift prospect pipeline. This session will challenge leaders to 'meet the moment' and find the opportunities to meet CASE engagement metrics -- namely philanthropy and communications -- that proactively build pipeline and avoid any notion of 'a lost generation of donors.'
  
  Lisa Alvezi, Director of Customer Success, Gravyty and Marijana Radić Boone, Director of Data Solutions and Implementation, Gravyty
• Advancement Leaders Speak: Challenge and Opportunity

  Higher education has transformed in the midst of a pandemic. Dinner parties and homecoming stopped, but direct contact with donors had to continue. The pandemic created financial uncertainty. And a national conversation has been amplified on issues of social justice with our campuses playing a major role.

  At the start of this year, Ruffalo Noel Levitz surveyed philanthropic leaders, gift officers, and advancement team members to gather their perspectives on the shifts in advancement. During these transition, did fundraising suffer? Did it provide new opportunities? Did the ability to successfully engage, solicit, and steward our constituents remotely cause frustration or increase job satisfaction? Are institutions now more empowered to focus on diversity, inclusion and social justice with donors? And what will persist after the pandemic passes? We’ll talk about what your peers said to these questions. These changes have created both challenges and opportunities for fundraisers.
  
  David P. Bennet, Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations, Howard University, Amy Burke, Senior Director of Annual Giving Programs, Wellesley College, Deborah Schroeder, Chief Development Officer at The Ohio State University and Chad Warren, Vice President and Consultant, Ruffalo Noel Levitz

• Salesforce for Advancement: A Fireside Chat with The University of Chicago

  Today, advancement isn’t just about fundraising or alumni engagement ― it’s about relationships. Today's constituents—alumni, donors, parents, fans, and corporate partners all expect personalized connections with an institution. Join this fireside chat with Jean Pembleton from Salesforce’s Industry Solutions team, and Sarah Barr, Executive Director of Analytics and Technology at The University of Chicago, to learn how Salesforce helps Advancement helps teams exceed fundraising and engagement goals by delighting constituents and supercharging staff productivity.
  
  Sarah Barr, Executive Director of Analytics and Technology, The University of Chicago and Jean Pembleton, Director, Higher Education Industry Solutions, Salesforce

• Leveraging a Virtual Campaign Launch to Engage Donors and Close Gifts
  
  On October 10, 2020 – UC Davis publicly launched its comprehensive $2 Billion campaign.  Join us as we share the story of how we prepared our development team, leadership, and volunteers to successfully kick off a campaign during one of the most unusual years on record.  During this session we will share early fundraising results and analytics, provide examples of development officer communication strategies, and most importantly, share lessons learned.  We want the session to be interactive and look forward to using our launch to open a lively dialogue.
  
  Shaun Keister, Vice Chancellor of Development and Alumni Relations and Meriel Hughes, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Regional Development & Campaigns

12:00–12:45 PM

President's Panel: The Future of Global Advancement<> Advancement is a global profession, and CASE has been the leader in supporting educational advancement, and the professionals who are dedicated to this important work, for nearly fifty years. What does the future look like for educational advancement in a changing world? What do advancement leaders need to know to play a strategic role in advancing education to transform lives and society? And how can the CASE Competency Model shed light on what it takes to be most successful in our roles? Sue Cunningham, CASE President and CEO will host a conversation with a distinguished panel of educational leaders and CASE Trustees.

Moderator: Sue Cunningham, President and CEO, CASE

Panelists: Eduardo Behrentz, Vice President, Development and Alumni Affairs, Universidad de Los Andes, CASE At-Large Trustee; Teresa M. Flannery, PhD, Interim Vice President for Marketing and Communication, SUNY Stonybrook, CASE Board Chair Elect; Jim Moore, President and CEO, University of Illinois Foundation, Current CASE Board Chair; Deep Saini, President and Vice-Chancellor, Dalhousie University, CASE At-Large Trustee

1:00–1:45     

Elective Sessions

• Seven Commitments to Highly Effective Data Management
  
  The pandemic taught us the importance of hygiene/cleansing for our overall health and well-being. The same applies to our data.  This session will discuss how to apply the seven commitments of effective data management (Teaching and Training, Data standardization and governance, Alignment and partnerships, Regular data audits, Data enrichment, Digitization, and Automation) regardless of the size of the institution.  Attendees will learn how to prioritize and enhance data hygiene, learn how to identify opportunities for process efficiencies, and learn the importance of data governance, training, and compliance.
  
  Durba Chatterjee, Senior Director of Advancement Operations, The Westminster Schools, Alison Kubala, Data Specialist, Records & Gifts, University of Central Florida Foundation, Inc. Kelly Travis, Director, Records & Gifts, University of Central Florida Foundation, Inc.
• The Science of Including Faculty in Your Alumni Engagement Events
  
  “Lifelong Learning” has long been a buzzword in Alumni Relations. We know there is power in leveraging faculty members to reengage graduates, but it’s not always an easy – or realistic – feat. This session will explore how Butler’s Alumni Relations department teamed up with two chemistry professors to organize and execute the popular “Science of” event series, a program which took home CASE V Gold Awards in two categories in 2019.
  
  Michael J. Samide, Professor of Chemistry, Butler University, Chelsea Smock, Associate Director, Alumni Relations & Engagement, Butler University, and Anne M. Wilson, PhD., Professor of Chemistry, Butler University  
• Bridging Scholarship and Practice – What we can learn from Philanthropy Research
  
  What can we learn from academic research on donor motivation? A deeper understanding of our donor’s motivation can inform how we as an institution create engagement, communication, and partnership. This session will present four recent academic studies on donor motivation, interpreted by two Scholar-Practitioners. The presentation will include actionable steps for participants by bridging theory and practice. After presenting a broader framework on donor motivation, we will illustrate the breadth and depth of the research on donor motivation in four unique segments: donor motivation for giving to athletics, LGBTQIA+, bequest donations, and major and mega gifts.
  
  Anna Schlia, Director of Advancement, Eastman, University of Rochester, and N. Geoffrey Bartlett, PhD., Assistant Vice President for Annual Giving, University at Buffalo
• From Me to We: Advancing Women in the Profession
  
  Bringing together women, allies, and partners, the Amplify Women and Gender Initiative created a new model for systemic change in our Advancement organizations. More than 80 women from eight different CASE institutions participated in the pilot program. Through shared learning experiences, facilitated discussions at women's places of work, and strategic partnerships with allies, Amplify achieved significant outcomes that continued long after the two-month program ended. In this session, participants will learn about the issues facing women in Advancement, what we can do together to solve them, and ways to create systemic change for women and others with marginalized identities.
  
  Amy Bronson, Associate Vice President, for Advancement Resources & Strategic Talent Management, and Alexis Kanda-Olmstead, Director of Advancement, Talent Management, Dartmouth College
• Taking Safety Seriously: Turning Campus Tragedy into Real Change
  
  In 2014, West Virginia University student Nolan Burch died from alcohol-related hazing at an unsanctioned fraternity event. It was the lowest moment in the University’s recent history, a breaking point for administrators. It was time to change the culture. Over the last six years, WVU rehabilitated a broken Greek system, had more progressive conversation around safety and wellness on campus, developed a comprehensive nation-wide anti-hazing campaign, and created a documentary detailing the circumstances around Burch's death. This case study will show how culture can change - and lives can be saved - thanks to strategic marketing and messaging.
  
  Tony Dobies, Senior Director, Marketing, West Virginia University, Mike Esposito, Executive Creative Director, West Virginia University, and Sharon Martin, Vice President for University Relations Enrolment Management, West Virginia University

1:45–2:15     

Exhibit Hall and Engagement Break

2:15–3:00     

Elective Sessions

• Metrics for Success: Creating a University-Wide Stewardship Plan
  
  Stewardship is key to nurturing and growing relationships with donors and has a direct impact on future giving. How do we know if we are successfully stewarding donors throughout the University? What are the integral measurements to assess donor stewardship efforts? How do we quantify successful stewardship for our institution? Which metrics matter most and how do we track them? Presenters will share Penn State’s process for creating and implementing a University-wide stewardship plan, key metrics for success, and how the plan guides foundational stewardship at the unit level.
  
  Katie Emmick, Director of Donor Relations, The Pennsylvania State University, and Kelly Nguyen, Associate Director of Stewardship, The Pennsylvania State University.
• Cultivating a Culture of Philanthropy Among Alumnx of Color from Historically White Institutions
  
  People of color are not monolithic. The purpose of this presentation is to present information on current trends of giving from alumnx of color, and present recommendations on cultivating a culture of philanthropy. Attendees will understand the importance of reframing their practice and getting rid of antiquated practices that further deter alumnx of color from giving back to their historical White alma maters. Furthermore, attendees will obtain tangible resources and takeaways that can benefit their respective institutions. All information comes from a qualitative research study executed by the presenter.
  
  Kevin Wright, Black/African Program Coordinator, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Transformative Gifts from Non-Alumni: What Makes Them Tick and Why They’re Worth the Effort
  
  The Council for Aid to Education reports that non-alumni giving is growing faster than alumni giving. Indeed, only ONE of the six biggest gifts to education in 2019 came from an alumnus donor. With engagement at the conversation’s core, leaders will describe how they cast this focus into full vision by thinking beyond classroom walls, focusing on the wider community, and dispensing with myths about traditional alumni-centric donor decision drivers.
  
  Kristen DeVries, Vice President and Executive Director, Western Michigan University Foundation, Brian O'Leary, Managing Consultant, Graham-Pelton, and Elizabeth Zeigler, President and CEO, Graham-Pelton
• It's Not Just a Good Idea, It's the Law: Basic Legal Principles for Advancement
  
  Legal concerns in advancement aren't just for planned giving anymore. Whatever you do in advancement – fundraising, alumni relations, communications, or advancement services – knowing how the law affects your work could make the difference between success and a lawsuit. Learn from a "recovering attorney" and advancement veteran about what to watch for, whether you're planning a raffle, booking a reception, writing a release, or organizing a reunion. Bring your hardest questions and toughest challenges to this lively, engaging, and interactive session – no retainer required!
  
  Jeffrey Spoeri, Associate Vice President, University Advancement, Lamar University
• Fundraising for Financial Access: A Fresh Formula to Inspire Urgency in Your Campaign
  
  As educators commit to integral diversity, equity, and inclusion work, institutions commit to providing financial access never before available. But common fundraising mistakes like focusing on the need rather than the urgency and not thinking deeply about what will inspire donors results in missed opportunities. A panel will share case studies from San Francisco Day School, Stanford Humanities Center, and Georgetown Preparatory School—all of which prioritized diversity, equity, and inclusion in their campaigns—demonstrating strategies that achieved their goals through disciplined use of a powerful communications strategy. Learn how to stoke donor support that gets this critical work accomplished.
  
  Patrick Coyle, Director of Marketing & Communications, Georgetown Preparatory School, Andrea Rees Davis, Associate Director, Stanford Humanities Center, Romayne Levee, Director of Education, Mission Minded, and Mike Walker, Head of School, San Francisco Day School

3:15–4:00      

Elective Sessions

• Advancement Services Ask the Experts
  
  Join this panel of experts to gain their insight on your toughest Advancement Services challenges.  With more than a century of combined experience, if they don’t have the answer – they will know where to find it!
  
  Tom Chaves, Associate Vice President for Advancement Operations, St. Joseph’s University, Dwight Dozier, Chief Information Officer, Georgia Tech Foundation, Vicky Medlock, Senior Director of Advancement Services, Rollins College, Jessica Schrider LaBoarde, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Advancement Services, University of California, Davis, John H. Taylor, Principal, John H. Taylor consulting, LLC

• Advancing Engagement: A Model for Portfolios for Alumni Engagement Professionals 
  
  Alumni Relations plays a meaningful role in identifying, engaging, soliciting and stewarding donors to our institutions. Learn about the Michigan State University Alumni Office's migration to portfolios for Alumni Engagement Directors and the positive influences portfolios are having on time management, focused outreach, diversity & inclusion efforts, organizational collaboration, data collection and fundraising.
  
  Nick McLaren, Senior Director of Development & Alumni Relations, Michigan State University and Lisa Parker, Senior Director, Alumni Engagement, Director, Alumni Professional Initiatives, Michigan State University

• Volunteer Leadership Initiative
  
  Identifying volunteer leadership, whether for the Annual Fund chair or for Trusteeship, requires organization, a focused timeline and the creation of pursuit teams. At Lafayette College, we proactively seek to identify, cultivate and recruit prospective and emerging volunteers who can fill key leadership positions at the College. Constituents identified and cultivated through this process should have an established or newly revived affinity toward Lafayette and a willingness to dedicate their time and resources to help enhance the institution.
  
  Rebecca Heslin, Director of Prospect Management, Lafayette College, and Adam Stauffer, Assistant Vice President for Development, Lafayette College,
• Students as Content Creators and Brand Ambassadors
  
  Want to tell the story of your students and donors in an engaging way? Learn how to work with your students as co-content creators and brand ambassadors. Students today are emerging photographers and brand builders looking for hands-on experience. Jessica Mandra of Harper College shares her experience running a student photography team to create powerfully authentic content for student and donor engagement, development and appreciation across print, web, and social media.
  
  Jessica Mandra, Multimedia Designer, Harper College

4:15–5:00      

Elective Sessions

• A Winning Model for Digital Transformation
  
  Siloed digital engagement efforts have led to stakeholder fatigue and lower constituent engagement. In this session, we will share our approach to improving the process by taking a more enterprise-wide approach. In this session, we’ll share our approach to digital transformation, along with tips and tricks to ensure you meet your organizational goals and objectives in the most efficient and effective manner – while providing a best-in-class experience for your constituent base.
  
  Vivek Narendra, Assistant Director ITS, Director, CRM Strategy, Oregon State University
• Identity-Conscious Programming in Alumni Engagement
  
  What is identity-conscious programming? How can higher education professionals make their events and programming more inclusive for all? What are some tactics to explore and think about in your planning processes? Learn more about different ways to make your engagement events an inclusive environment for a variety of populations.
  
  Imani Davis, Assistant Director, Alumni Engagement, Northwestern University, Neely Heubach, Associate Director in Alumni Engagement, Macalester College, and Suresh Mudragada, Associate Director - Alumni Engagement, Northwestern University
• Building a Digital Gift Officer Program
  
  The rise of the digital gift officers has been underway before the pandemic and the emphasis on digital engagement. Gift officers who work with mid-level donors are confronted with the dilemma of scale. The portfolio-based approach that is so successful for major gift officers falls short of addressing the challenges and opportunities leadership level gift officers face working with substantially larger pools of donors. The digital gift officer is creating new pathways to personal communication and relationship building among our mid-level donors as well as improving what we know and how we respond to donor needs and preferences.
  
  Josh Glantz, Digital Gift Officer, University of Washington, Kifaya Dawud, Digital Gift Officer, University of Washington, and Jennifer MacCormack, Director, Advancement Analytics, University of Washington
• Balancing Quantitative and Qualitative Measurements in Educational Advancement
  
  If we are anything in educational advancement, we are counters. Dollars, donors, retention, reactivation, response rates, open rates, click rates, LYBUNTS, SYBUNTS...and the list goes on. If we can count it, we can measure it, and if we can measure it, we can improve it. Right? Yet at the core of advancement work is everything but numbers: passion, vision, hope, inspiration, generosity, legacy and more. How can we lead with a balanced approach that includes both quantitatively and qualitatively measuring our work and defining success? We must understand and implement both consistently if we are to be truly successful.
  
  Jesse Pisors, Vice President, Advancement & External Relations, University of Houston – Victoria
• Pitch 2.0: The Next Generation How Augusta University Cut Through the Noise
  
  Augusta University turned 11 media releases into 113 media hits — including mentions in top outlets such as MSN and PBS — all through pitching their experts the right way. With 96% of pitches never placed and increasing difficulty getting media attention, AU leveraged technology to take their pitches to the next level by focusing on go-to faculty experts offering unique angles on timely news topics. AU has been monitoring the success of this program and will share the data and what they’ve learned during this session, including how they kept the momentum going throughout the pandemic.
  
  Danielle Harris, Senior Communications and Media Relations Coordinator, Augusta University, Heather Henley, Director, News & Information, Augusta University, and Deanne Taenzer, Vice President, ExpertFile

11:00–11:45 AM             

Round Table Discussions

Grab breakfast, brunch, or coffee and meet colleagues for topic specific small group discussions

12:00–12:45 PM

Elective Sessions

• #Relationships: Building a Tool to Query and Visualize Relationships
  
  The ability to capture, query, and visualize relationships has been more important than ever in the philanthropic industry. In this session, we will briefly go over the process we went through for developing a relationship query/visualization tool based on known board participation. We will discuss the business initiatives from the project, the value-added, and the challenges imposed. We will cover the detail on steps and resources required within the process, and alternative implementations. Finally, we will compare the pros and cons of each implementation and make recommendations based on hypothetical scenarios.
  
  Amy Matsubara, Prospect Analyst, The University of British Columbia and Tianyi Zheng, Data Analyst, The University of British Columbia
• Building a Culture Around Alumni Engagement Metrics
  
  Building an engagement score requires identifying balanced and meaningful data streams that will help you diagnose the health of your engagement programming and cultivation strategies. Building a robust reporting system isn't enough. How you use your engagement score to assess the strategies that are meeting your goals, and those that are not, is the real value of engagement scoring. Based on the groundwork of the CASE metrics task force this session will focus on how to track, visualize, and share your engagement data. What should you track? Should you weight engagement? What is "engagement"? How do you operationalize your data? Learn how Davidson College and VCU built their reports using CASE AE metrics and how they use it to strengthen programming and cultivation strategies.
  
  Lisa Combs, Executive Director of Engagement, Davidson College, Ellen Morrissey, Business Analyst and Database Specialist, and Parks Smith, Director, Strategic Volunteer Operations, Virginia Commonwealth University
• Days of Giving Success and Lessons Learned for Small Teams
  
  In this session geared to small teams, hear from four institutions how they have continued to build on successful Days of Giving to grow engagement and fundraising. Pre-COVID giving day experiences will be shared, as well as how institutions shifted strategy during the pandemic. Learn how adjustments to messaging and segmentation, as well as the use of gamification to engage potential donors, led to increased support. Hear what worked, what didn’t resonate, and how to apply these lessons to your next Day of Giving.
  
  Christian Barnes, Director of Annual Giving, Murray State University, Sarah Byrd, Executive Director of Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving, Knox College, Patrick Hunt, Director, Data Services, University of California, Merced, Miranda Peruso, Director of Annual Giving, Juniata College, and Mirko Widenhorn, Senior Director of Engagement Strategy, Anthology
• Student Emergency Aid - Partnerships, Funding, and In-Kind Gifts
  
  Student success often depends on the support programs available on a college campus.  Emergency aid is a critical component to ensuring targeted resources are available to students who might otherwise abruptly end their pursuit of a degree.  From emergency grants, to food pantries, learn more about finding and sustaining resources for various emergency aid programs and partnerships critical to ensuring they are reliable and successful.
  
  Holly Johnson, Executive Director, Foundation, Hawkeye Community College
• Rebranding Without Tears
  
  Why are so many rebranding efforts rife with controversy? Does changing a logo, color palette, and visual identity have to result in social media conflicts, online petitions, and think pieces from consultants on what they would have done differently? Using the case study from a public research university that revised both its institutional and athletics visual identities, this session will address the principles for achieving change while reducing the likelihood of the distractions and controversies usually associated with rebranding.
  
  Johnny Cruz, Associate Vice Chancellor & Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, University of California, Riverside

1:00–1:45     

Elective Sessions

• Best Practices for Building a Comprehensive Alumni Engagement Program
  
  What does it take to run an alumni engagement program that builds meaningful relationships through a comprehensive set of strategies? Our session will share a roadmap to this destination, exploring best practices in alumni engagement and sharing examples from colleges and universities across the country. Presenters will discuss how the five components of alumni engagement add up to a strong program: volunteer leadership, staffing and systems, communications, giving, and programming. They’ll also discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted alumni engagement strategies and what we can learn from this period of social distancing.
  
  Tom Arteaga, Director of Alumnae Relations and Volunteer Engagement, Mount Saint Mary’s University, Jennifer Goins, Senior Major Gifts Officer, Principal Gifts, Bon Secours Mercy Health Foundation, and Christina Yoon, Vice President and Director, East Region, Campbell & Company
•  Designing Meaningful Alumni Engagement Within Independent School Communities
  
  Despite the fact that independent school alumni communities are often well educated and uniquely strengthened by vast intergenerational social capital networks, the majority of independent schools struggle to inspire their alumni to engage with their alma mater.   Through a case study research design, this session focuses on exploring how independent schools can confront this challenge, and find ways to inspire more meaningful and impactful modalities of engagement for their alumni.   The session will investigate the phenomenon of alumni engagement within a conceptual framework undergirded by social identity theory and communities of practice theory, and present relevant research findings.
  
  Carrie Grimes, Director, Alumni Relations, Severn School
• Giving Circles: Expanding Our Reach by Focusing Our Touch
  
  As development professionals look for ways to increase the number of alumni who are engaged with and give to their institutions, they must become very deliberate and targeted in their approach.  To accomplish this, many colleges and universities have formed giving circles.  This session will give you an inside look at how three institutions of varying sizes have implemented giving circles.  In 60 minutes you will learn from both failures and successes and leave with tested tactics, high-level strategy and inspiration that you can take back to your colleagues.
  
  Heidi Bortel, Director of Development Women’s Initiatives, Miami University, Mark Gaines, Senior Director of Development – Diversity and Inclusion, Purdue University, Joyce Rodgers, Vice President for Development and External Relations for OVPDEMA, Indiana University, and Chelsea Smock, Associate Director, Alumni Relations & Engagement, Butler University
• If You Build It, They Will Come: Institutionalizing DEI in Advancement
  
  The urgency of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has taken center stage in recent months. We may find ourselves scrambling to demonstrate efforts with responses that unfortunately function like band-aids on bullet wounds. Mission and values statements reflect rhetoric at odds with behaviors and practices. While management research tells us that DEI drives success and enhances performance outcomes, the active work of incorporating these principles into our organizations has not occurred or fallen flat. Join the DEI council co-chairs at the University of Southern California to discuss how to build a culture of diversity to create lasting and impactful change.
  
  Shalonda Martin, Senior Director of Data Integrity, University of Southern California, and Chandra Montgomery, Director, Pipeline and Prospect Development for Health Sciences, University of Southern California
• SEO FTW (Search Engine Optimization For The Win)
  
  Do you have a digital magazine or blog? Short on budget and time? Leveraging Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies consistently in your web content can offer quick hits and long-lasting benefits. In this session, we’ll share how we grew organic search traffic to the University of Iowa digital magazine (magazine.foriowa.org) a whopping 97% between 2018 and 2019 by implementing these tactics. You will leave with a list of actionable SEO strategies you can implement for your organization and a deeper understanding about why SEO is so much more than just a Google search ranking.
  
  Nicole Knoll, Senior Digital Marketing Strategist, Iowa Center for Advancement, Katie Linder, Digital Marketing Strategist, Iowa Center for Advancement, and Zack Schmidt, Senior Web Developer/Designer, Iowa Center for Advancement

1:45–2:15     

Exhibit Hall and Engagement Break

2:15–3:00     

Elective Sessions

• Lessons Learned: How Advancement Changed Forever in 2020
  
  Perfect vision is referred to as 20/20, but no one could have seen last year coming. A global pandemic, massive lob losses, a deep recession, reckoning with racial injustice, and divisive political elections threw society off balance, and resonated throughout the nonprofit educational sector. As advancement professionals responsible for telling our organizations’ stories, engaging alumni, raising money, and managing the systems that support those efforts, we had to unlearn some old habits and rethink assumptions to adapt to an often unsettling new reality. This session will reflect on lessons we learned and how they might inform our profession’s future.
  
  Peter Hayashida, Vice Chancellor, University Advancement, University of California Riverside, Binti Harvey, Vice President for External Relations and Institutional Advancement, Scripps College, and Diane MacGillivray, Senior Vice President for University Advancement, Northeastern University
• Data, Diversity, and Alumni Identities: A Modern Case for Support of Higher Education Philanthropy
  
  As the U.S.-educated alumni base becomes more and more diverse, modern advancement professionals have to ask tough questions: Are donor demographics the enemy of equity? Are solicitation and alumni engagement strategies leading to unintended discrimination and missed opportunities? Answering these questions requires a renewed focus on who alumni are as whole persons. Join this session for a look into data from five liberal arts institutions that participated in original research into  "Alumni Identity". You'll experience first-hand how leveraging alumni identities can be used to deepen engagement and increase fundraising outcomes while reflecting the broader diversity of the American college graduate.
  
  Jay Dillon, Executive Director, Alumni Relations, University of California, Berkeley
• Race, Sex, Politics & Privilege: Uncomfortable Encounters with Donors and Strategies to Manage Them
  
  The work of diversity and inclusion goes beyond our campuses, but in meetings and interactions with donors and potential partners as well. Often times, advancement professionals are put into awkward situations where they have to confront inappropriate or racist remarks. What do you say? What can you say? This session will explore potential situations surrounding gender, race, and privilege and the best strategies to address them. Hear from other Development professionals on how they are addressing these issues at their institutions and come away with practical tools and resources to empower you to have successful and fruitful conversations.
  
  Joey Knight, Associate Director, Development, Stanford University, Gloria Ko, Senior Director, Alumni Career Engagement, University of California, Los Angeles, Kathleen Wong Lau, Chief Diversity Office, San Jose State University, Tere Mendoza, Interim Vice President of University Advancement at California State University San Marcos, Feven Teklu, Senior Leadership Giving Officer, Brown University
• Philanthropy’s Future Lies in Being Inclusive and Looking beyond Conventional Modes of Thinking 
  
  FIU’s Pathway to Philanthropist program uses progressive gift tactics that embrace the ever-changing face of philanthropy, making it attainable for donors, regardless of age or capacity, to provide substantial campaign contributions and real impact today as premier philanthropists. Development officers will learn how to expand their role and become philanthropy specialists, going beyond securing the gift for the organization to guide, educate, and create a future generation of philanthropists for sustainable organizational impact. FIU has broken through traditional planned and blended gift structures to put forth new possibilities that look beyond conventional modes of thinking and revolutionizes charitable giving. 
  
  Laura K. Padron, Associate Vice President, Development, Florida International University and Livia Souza, Associate Director, Estate & Planned Giving, Florida International University 

3:15–4:15

Closing Keynote Session: Anti-Racism in Education 

Join Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning historian and author of How to Be an Antiracist for a live interview and Q&A session.  For more information on Dr. Kendi please visit www.prhspeakers.com. 

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning historian and author of How to Be an Antiracist

4:15–4:30

Conference Wrap-up

4:30

Conference Adjourn