This is it! The moment you have been working towards for years. The launch of a capital campaign is a pivotal moment that sets the tone for its success. In this session, we will dive into the essential elements of a successful campaign launch day. Learn how to build anticipation, engage key stakeholders, and create a buzz that energizes donors and volunteers alike. From crafting compelling launch events to aligning messaging across channels, this session will provide actionable tips for making your launch day unforgettable.

A focused and effective prospect management strategy is essential to the health of successful campaigns. Discuss different ways to effectively manage prospects within gift officer portfolios, through support personnel, and advancement services staff to keep prospects consistently moving through gift cycles, track top tier principal, leadership, and presidential prospects, and add new prospects into portfolios. We will look at healthy portfolio examples, examples of effective moves and strategies to keep prospects engaged throughout the life of a campaign, and tools to engage new prospects in order to add them into our pipeline.

One of the most effective ways to accelerate the outreach and depth of your campaign effort is through the creation and deployment of meaningful alumni and other volunteer leadership experiences. Engaged in a defined way, focused on peer to peer outreach, and trained as an advocate for your priorities, these individuals can be some of the most important influencers in the success of a comprehensive campaign and its ability to not only achieve overall philanthropic support, but also goals around participation, new donors, young alumni, etc. Learn about the wide range of activities these volunteers might embrace and how to staff and structure these efforts.

This session explores how annual funds can complement and strengthen your capital campaign efforts. Learn how to strategically leverage annual giving to build donor pipelines, engage different segments of your donor base, and sustain momentum throughout a multi-year campaign. Hear insights on balancing short-term operational needs with long-term fundraising goals, ensuring that your annual fund remains an integral part of the broader campaign strategy. Whether you're at the planning stage or mid-campaign, this session will provide actionable strategies to maximize both annual and capital fundraising success.

This session will define the valuable roles that alumni, faculty, friends and students should play as part of ensuring campaign success. The culture and expectations across campus that the campaign is everyone's priority is critical to building the momentum and energy that drive progress towards goals throughout every phase of a campaign. However, each constituency will have a different role to play as part of executing the campaign, so the discussion will specify the ideal ways to inform, inspire and train the volunteers that enable them to be effective partners with staff. Helping each group understand the importance of their role will not only contribute to the campaign's progress, but enhance the overall culture of philanthropy on campus to support sustainable giving beyond the campaign as well.

In the dynamic landscape of fundraising and development, sustaining momentum throughout a campaign is essential for achieving ambitious goals. Join us in this engaging session where we will navigate the challenges and opportunities that arise during the various stages of a fundraising campaign. Our faculty of seasoned campaigners and industry leaders will share practical insights, proven tactics, and real-world experiences to empower you in maintaining the energy and enthusiasm required to propel your campaign towards success. Together we will explore a comprehensive range of strategies aimed at sustaining momentum and surpassing campaign targets. Join us for an interactive and collaborative session where you'll gain valuable insights, practical tips, and a renewed sense of confidence to navigate the complexities of fundraising campaigns.

Every campaign you organize should be meeting your current goals and setting the stage for the next campaign. This session will review the necessary steps you need to complete to effectively close out your current campaign. Then, we will explore what you need to do as you end one to prepare for the next campaign. Including an analysis of how much time to offer between campaigns and what to do as you are “in-between” campaigns.

One thing you can count on is that the best organized plans will need adjusting during the course of a multi-year fundraising effort. Positive developments will warrant a shift in strategy as much as negative developments. This session will review unexpected things that happened to each of the panelists during campaigns they have worked on and what they did to make the best of the unexpected situations. The panel will also take examples from the attendees and review what they did, or what they wish they had done.