Thursday, March 10, 2022 

7:00 – 9:00 AM
Conference Registration  
Welcome to Boston!  Please stop by the registration desk between 7:00-9:00 am to check in and pick up your conference materials.  We will start with our conference welcome promptly at 9:00 am. 

8:00 – 8:45 
Breakfast 

9:00 – 9:15  
Conference Welcome and Introductions

9:15 – 10:15 
Opening Keynote Session: Compose Your World 
Why do some people just play notes they are handed while others write new music in the world? In this captivating presentation, Kai Kight tackles this question, performs original music and shares the inspiring story of how he became an innovative composer in a field of conformity. His session will leave you feeling inspired to take your future into your own hands and bring your unique ideas forward. 

10:15 – 10:30
Coffee Break  

10:30 – 11:15 
Breakout Sessions (choose one)

• #ThisIsAmerica: Engaging Alumni in Social Justice 
  Abigail Jackson, Elyssa Kelly, and Erika Glebocki, University of Connecticut Foundation 

  #ThisIsAmerica is an engagement platform created to address the desire for a safe place to discuss current social justice issues. Join us for this interactive session where you will gain the tools to leverage DEI programs to acknowledge and unpack histories and systems of racism at your institution. You will also discover how to have important conversations around representation, loving our identities, and why choosing joy and self-love are powerful forms of activism. In addition, attendees will participate in activities that celebrate and center joy. Finally, you will learn how to create a framework regarding hosting interdisciplinary virtual social justice programs.

• Personal Branding: 5 Tips for Success at Work   
  Alexis Kanda-Olmstead, Dartmouth College, and Amy Bronson, Boston University 

  Are you a team player or a lone wolf? A problem solver or a problem child? These descriptors and more comprise your personal brand, and it’s up to you to intentionally create and maintain it. Your personal brand reflects what you’re known for (or would like to be known for) at work. In this session, you will learn the style and substance of personal branding, ways you can strengthen it, and pitfalls to avoid. As they say, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” so you also will learn how to solicit candid feedback from your colleagues and supervisor about your personal brand. Participants will leave with both long and short term personal branding strategies that can be implemented at the conference and beyond.

• Balancing Act- Recognizing Donors through a DEI Lens 
  Lynne Wester, Donor Relations Guru 
  Donors want to feel special. We want to recognize them. What happens when recognizing the elite among our donors is in direct contradiction to our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion? How can we say we’re committed to inclusivity when we have giving societies that are based solely on a donor’s capacity to give large amounts of money? What do giving and recognition societies look like in light of our commitment to DEI as an organization? Join us for the rethinking of donor recognition. How do we balance the need to recognize our donors while understanding innately that the way we currently do this alienates others? In this session we’ll take a hard look at ourselves and our donors and find out what to do in these situations.
• Communicating Our Values: A Refresher on Inclusive Language 
  Paige Fowler, Augusta University  

  As diversity and inclusion education becomes mainstream, many communicators find themselves apprehensive about how to address gender identity, religious affiliation, race and ethnicity, disability status and other identity-related topics.

  This presentation will offer The Associated Press’s current guidance on identity vocabulary so communications professionals in the education space can learn the most appropriate, most accurate, and most up-to-date terminology on these ever-developing topics. Language evolves as culture evolves, and educators and communicators are accountable to keep up with these changes, even if they're rapid.

  Because many (if not most) educational institutions list "diversity" or "inclusion" as a value – and our students, who are overwhelmingly Gen Z, are one of the most diversity-conscious groups in the country – refreshers like these are crucial to empowering staff to discuss these topics without fear or embarrassment.

• Lessons from the Pandemic: How Virtual and Hybrid Experiences Created a New Normal for Engagement  
  Jermaine Johnson, Tod Szewczyk, Lea Hebert, and Dan Lawler, August Jackson  

  Necessity is the mother of invention. While the pandemic created a barrier for many colleges and universities to engage with their most important communities, the need to connect never diminished. Many used this new reality to reinvent the way they engaged with key stakeholders and, in the process, reached more people in a deeper and more sustained way. The result: a better engagement model for the future that leverages live, virtual, hybrid and persistent experiences.

  Join this lively discussion and presentation of case studies to gain real-world insights on how to build a better engagement ecosystem.

  The August Jackson agency will share their experience with top universities and colleges in creating a new approach to driving sustained engagement.

• Discover the Next: A Guide for the Value of Higher Education Conversation 
  In an era of declining trust in big societal institutions, higher education is no exception – and you, as an advancement professional used to interacting with external audiences, are well-positioned as a countervailing force to this current negativity. CASE’s Discover the Next campaign builds off local successes and highlights research-tested approaches to showing the value of higher education through individual achievement, economic impact, innovation and scientific progress, and cultural vitality. Learn what tools and resources are available to help your institution connect with all stakeholders, from prospective students to alumni to community leaders.

11:15 – 11:30
Coffee Break  

11:30 AM – 12:15 PM
Breakout Sessions (choose one)

•  Mindfulness for Advancement Professionals: How to Be Happier, Work Fewer Hours, and Get More Done 
  Julia Crane Dempsey and Dana Alsamsam, Massachusetts College of Art and Design Foundation 
  As fundraisers, we never have enough time. From one meeting to the next, this donor to that donor, managing internal and external stakeholders, we never seem to be able to get fully organized or just take a deep breath and leave work without feeling stressed.
  That’s where Mindfulness enters the picture. It’s a trendy concept these days and may sound a little “woo woo” at first, but we guarantee that by applying these basic principles to your work as a fundraiser, you will be more efficient, more organized, more happy, and some days you may even be able to close those tabs and leave work at 5 PM! 
  
  In this session, we will introduce the concept of Mindfulness at a high level, then dive right into practical, concrete examples of how to easily, immediately incorporate Mindfulness into your life. Let us show you what has worked for our office, guide you through a brief group meditation, and provide a menu of easily-digestible next steps for you to consider.

• DEI Conversations and our Work: Thinking Differently and Doing Differently
  Renana Kehoe, Harvard Business School, Tracy Sweet, Phillips Andover Academy, and Neida Jimenez, Northeastern University 
  Our institutions are engaged in important conversations about equity, diversity, and inclusion, but change looks and feels different for different parts of advancement. Beyond new DEI officers, and an increased focus on recruitment and talent management practices, who is doing things differently? How are advancement roles and functions evolving in response to DEI commitments? What does DEI mean for the way we think about data, engage alumni, fundraise, work with each other, and communicate our mission? What are the critical questions to consider? Join the conversation, let’s rethink our work together. 

• Crypto, Yachts, and Diamonds When is a YES a NO?
  Lynne Wester, Donor Relations Guru 
  In this session we will cover the ever adapting world of gift acceptance and gift agreements. When is the last time you took a look at your official documents? Do they cover new types of giving including bitcoin and cash from now legalized industries? The policy you develop should be tailored to reflect your organization’s mission, size, particular characteristics, and resources. Nonprofit gift acceptance policies provide an objective way to decline a gift but still maintain a good relationship with the donor. You can even send your written policy to the contributor to reassure them the rejection of the gift is nothing personal; it’s merely the result of policies set in place. Even if you have the nicest donors in the world, at some point a donor may approach you regarding a gift with strings. Strings that could cause you to drift away from your mission. Or strings that could make you subject to liabilities. Or strings that make the ROI not worth the effort. Let's explore these together and work through new ways to document our world.

• 2 years in 1 hour: Problem-solving, Internal Buy-in, and Innovation at Tufts
  Sean Devendorf and Erica Lennon, Tufts University; Mike Nagel, EverTrue 
  Hear why Tufts is instituting a Donor Experience Program and how they are thoughtfully and methodically educating their entire shop about the DXO program and making sure all stakeholders are excited about the changes ahead. Whether it be through re-training activities, sharing successes from other Donor Experience.
  
  Programs around the country, hosting lunch and learns, or simply focusing on communication with staff, the team at Tufts is ensuring all fundraisers and support staff both understand and appreciate the need for change. DXO program or not, this session will demonstrate the importance of change management and share important lessons from launch.
   

• CASE AMAtlas: From Global Standards to Global Data 
  Ann Kaplan, Council for the Advancement and Support of Education
  Discover the latest trends that impact advancement within your district, across the country, and around the globe. The CASE AMAtlas team will share recent findings from our benchmarking surveys, including the Voluntary Support of Education and Alumni Engagement Metrics. You will also get a sneak peek at data from our Core Metrics pilot (focusing on creating global metrics) and new Campaign Survey.

12:15 – 2:00
Lunch & Plenary Session 

1:00 – 2:00 
Reuniting, Reconnecting, and Re-igniting for Momentum
Sue Cunningham, President and CEO, CASE, Tim Allison, Chief Advancement Officer, Community College System of New Hampshire, Randy Bertin, Head of School, Cushing Academy, Julie Lucas, Vice President, Resource Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, O'Neil Outar, Vice President, Institutional Engagement, Rhode Island School of Design
CASE President and CEO Sue Cunningham leads a conversation with District I advancement leaders that considers renewal: how they have inspired their teams, re-engaged with key communities, and renewed focus on strategic institutional issues. The conversation will discover the similarities and differences in leading advancement at different institution types, and how we can all work together to advance issues of equity and educational opportunity through advancement.

2:15 – 3:00
Intentional Networking: Post Plenary Discussion and Reflection 

3:00 – 3:15 
Refreshment Break 
 
3:15 – 4:00 
Breakout Sessions (choose one)

• Livestreams, Podcasts, and Social Media Activations to Tell the Stories of Your Community 
  Raysean Ricks, Augusta University; Stefanie Stevens & Carissa Violante, Yale University  
  Join us to learn the ways in which we have “pounced on the audio wave,” by utilizing podcasts, gone live on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook to surprise and delight and leveraged these platforms to engage audiences in a new way without the need to login or register. Join Raysean Ricks, digital content coordinator at Augusta University’s Communications and Marketing and host of In the Wild, AU’s official podcast, as he shares how to integrate podcasting and emerging audio platforms in your institution digital communications strategist to engage students, employees and alumni and Yale Alumni Association’s Stefanie Stevens and Carissa Violante who work collaboratively on Yale Alumni LIVE a social media series.  We will discuss how we set goals and track progress, cover the technical requirements, and discuss how we hope to continue to redefine programming using hybrid models and emerging social media tools.

• Retention in Times of Cultural Change 
  Patricia Gil-Casares, Avery Walker, and Michael Donnelly, Boston University
  Please join Boston University's Strategic Talent Management team in an interactive discussion about new and different initiatives designed to retain a high-performing team amid changing times and evolving employee expectations . During the session, we will discuss career paths, individual development plans, on-boarding, and fostering a sense of community and belonging with your staff.
• Sharing the Experiences of Alumni of Color with a Mostly White Alumni Base 
  Aysha Vear and Theresa Lee, University of Maine Alumni Association
  The University of Maine's student population and alumni base are among the whitest of the nation's land-grant universities. As one element of the UMaine Alumni Association's DEI initiative, in August we published an expanded edition of Maine Alumni Magazine featuring the experiences--good, bad, and ugly--of several alumni of color and their recommendations for improving DEI at UMaine. Seventeen of the magazine's 80 pages addressed the need for both the university and the independent Alumni Association to do more to engage, support, and invest in our students and alumni of color. As a result of the magazine's focus and related programming, we engaged a core group of disaffected alumni to lead an umbrella Alumni of Color affinity group and advise the Association. In addition to receiving praise, the magazine also drew criticism from a handful of alumni. An Association Board member and our CEO will explain the magazine's role as a high-profile element of addressing and advocating for greater diversity, engagement, and inclusion at our institution.
• A Comeback for Impact: Transforming Student Aid with a Dream Team  
  Bobby Gondola, Lawrence NFOR, and Kelly Morrissey, Community College of Rhode Island

  Has supporting your students been siloed across many people at your college? Are you looking how to transform student aid at your institution and raise more student aid funds? The Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) team will share how they assembled a cross-college Student Aid Taskforce (from Counseling, Advising, Social Services, Financial Aid and the Advancement/Foundation team) intently focused on changing the way the college approached student aid. This allowed CCRI to raise millions more emergency and “comeback” scholarships. CCRI will share their year-long playbook for overhauling the entire student aid process, empowering financial aid and student affairs colleagues in decision-making, streamlining a uniform and simple student aid application system—inclusive of private philanthropy. Session participants will leave with a sketch template for transforming their own institution’s student aid process and a clear opportunity plan for launching new student aid programs. How will college teams prepare for the sunset of current federal student relief programs? 

• Alumni Volunteer Management “3Rs of Volunteerism – Recruitment, Retention and Reward”  
  Moderated discussion with Jodi Kaplan, Senior Director of Alumni Relations, UConn Foundation 
  Panelists: Victoria Gonin, Executive Director of Alumni Relations at MIT, Liz Nunez, Executive Director of Alumni Engagement and Advancement Operations, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Joshua Proulx, Senior Director of Regional Engagement at UConn Foundation

• Philanthropy Forums: Engaging for your top prospects
  Sam Samuels, Smith College
  Looking for a new way to engage your most highly rated current and prospective donors? During the pandemic, Smith College established a series of “Philanthropy Forums” aimed at keeping its most high-net worth alums engaged. Learn how Principal Giving and Planned Giving partnered to create a series of intimate discussions on subject matter that addressed the unique issues, challenges, and opportunities presented to families with great financial and philanthropic means. The Forums served as an extension of previously held in-person gatherings, yet the pandemic required a pivot in strategy to a remote format. We will discuss what we learned along with our thoughts on both the in-person and virtual formats. Considerable time will be saved for questions and group discussion.
  
  Please come prepared to share your ideas for how your institution engaged principal gift prospects during the pandemic and how you see implementing these ideas in the coming year(s).

4:15 – 5:00
Breakout Sessions (choose one)

• Knowing Your Alumni: Building Inclusive and Collaborative Advancement Strategies 
  Sarah Kleeberger and Shay Galto, Ruffalo Noel Levitz; Marisa Shariatdoust and Aimee Jack, Colby College  

  Colby College has set the goal to build a leading alumni engagement and philanthropy program that is defined by innovation, collaboration, and inclusivity. Utilizing cutting edge market research tactics through partnering with RNL, the College set out to actively listen to their alumni in an effort to evolve programming, communications, volunteerism, and fundraising. Through data-informed and targeted communications and solicitation efforts, Colby is laying the foundation to make the College’s donor pool more inclusive while increasing philanthropic support for critical areas of alumni interest.

  Hearing first hand from alumni about their preferences, motivations, and experiences transformed strategies and enhanced Colby’s ability to create broad interest and involvement across all audiences. In this session, learn about the importance of thoughtful surveying and the development of actionable personas to drive new initiatives across key areas of Advancement. Find out what Colby’s Annual Giving and Communications & Engagement teams discovered and how the findings have translated into actionable plans and meaningful improvements.

• Winning at Email Marketing: Best Practices for Getting Your Audience to Open and Click 
  David Petrie, Vermont Academy  
  How confident are you that your emails are hitting -- and reaching -- their mark? What is the least effective subject line length? When is the best time to send an email? How do you measure a campaign's success when it doesn't ask for dollars? This practical how-to session will give an efficient and easy-to-remember run down of industry best practices for email campaign creation. It will cover everything from sender names to text formatting to calls-to-action and to bounces and unsubscribes, while also teaching how to best measure how well a campaign engaged with its audience.
• Persuasive Writing for Development  
  Tracey Palmer, Palmer Communications  
  You must persuade your donors, alumni, and other constituents to take action—make a gift, come to an event, support your organization. But how? Learn the essential strategies that work to determine donor interests and craft compelling messages that drive results. The art of persuasion isn't new—just ask Aristotle (yes, that Aristotle!). In this session, we'll revisit the ancient Greeks and combine their wisdom with the latest brain science, so you can walk away with new communication tactics you can use right away to inspire your constituents to take action on your behalf.
• Hiring and Retaining Talent in the Post-COVID Era 
  Lisa Vuona, Boyden, Amy Bronson, Boston University, George Cangiano, Bentley University, and Victoria Gonin, MIT.

  How is your institution hiring and retaining talent? Now more than ever, managers are faced with open positions, a decreased talent pool, and a need to diversity their teams. Candidates are looking for flexibility, cultural fit, and a sense of belonging. Join Lisa Vuona, Managing Partner, Boyden Boston Executive Search in a panel discussion with Amy Bronson, AVP of Talent Boston University, George Cangiano VP/CHRO Bentley University, & Victoria Gonin, Executive Director of Alumni Relations MIT

• Discover the Next: A Guide for the Value of Higher Education Conversation 
  Brian Flahaven, CASE

  In an era of declining trust in big societal institutions, higher education is no exception – and you, as an advancement professional used to interacting with external audiences, are well-positioned as a countervailing force to this current negativity. CASE’s Discover the Next campaign builds off local successes and highlights research-tested approaches to showing the value of higher education through individual achievement, economic impact, innovation and scientific progress, and cultural vitality. Learn what tools and resources are available to help your institution connect with all stakeholders, from prospective students to alumni to community leaders.

5:15 – 6:30 
Networking Reception in Exhibit Hall
Join conference leaders, experts, and attendees to network and celebrate the start of the conference with our sponsors and exhibitors.  Drink tickets and hors d’oeuvres will be provided. Keep the fun going and plan to join for trivia or meetups around Boston following the networking reception.  

6:15-7:30
Trivia Night

6:00-9:00 
Small Group Meetups Around Boston 
 

Friday, March 11, 2022 

8:00 – 8:45 
Breakfast  

8:45 – 9:00 
Day Two Welcome, Reflections and Thank You 

9:00 – 10:15  
A Conversation with Dr. Tyrone M. Freeman
Dr. Tyrone M. Freeman, Author and Professor of Philanthropic Studies, and Jackie Nowell, Associate Vice President, Donor Relations and Engagement, University of Rhode Island, CASE DI Chair Elect 
Award-winning scholar Tyrone McKinley Freeman talks with CASE District I Chair Elect Jackie Nowell about his research on philanthropy in communities of color and higher education. His book, Madam C.J. Walker’s Gospel of Giving: Black Women’s Philanthropy during Jim Crow, won the 2021 Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Skystone Partners Research Prize in Fundraising and Philanthropy. Afterward, join colleagues for a post-plenary discussion and reflection.

10:15 – 10:45 
Intentional Networking Break: Post-Plenary Discussion and Reflection 

10:45 – 11:00 
Coffee Break  

11:00 - 12:15 
Power Sessions (choose one)
Developing Personal and Professional Skills 

• Answering the Call to Action and DEI Task Force Meet Up 
  Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu, Muma College of Business, University of South Florida, Jeannie Daniel, Yale University, Leah Flynn Gallant, MIT, and Jessica McNeill, Harvard Business School 
• Amplify Women: Community Solutions to Combat Internalized Oppression 
  Alexis Kanda-Olmstead, Dartmouth College, and Amy Bronson, Boston University 

  Oppression takes place on many fronts, including within ourselves and our communities. In this session, we will explore the concept of "internalized oppression," which is when an oppressed group believes stereotypes and myths about their own group and uses the methods of oppression against itself. Participants will learn how internalized oppression manifests personally, when women are most susceptible to it, and why it divides women's communities along the lines of identity. A new model for healing and transforming internalized oppression - Amplify Women & Gender Initiative - will be shared along with activities that can be incorporated into your work with women and other marginalized groups.

• Storytelling 
  Tracey Palmer, Palmer Communications
  Human beings make sense of the world through stories. A good story can go where logic and facts fall short—directly to our hearts. That’s exactly what makes them such a powerful tool. But what actually constitutes a story? And how do we craft compelling stories that engage our audiences and inspire them to take action? In this session, you'll learn the basics of storytelling, how to write better stories, and how to harness their power to accomplish your strategic goals. You'll even practice what you learn in a couple of in-session exercises! Bring your pen and paper!

12:15 
Conference Adjourns