Program
Sunday, February 26, 2023
8:00 AM - 11:30 AM ET
HBCU Pre-Conference Workshop (Pre-Registration Required)
This session will facilitate a discussion on how fundraisers are approaching this new post-pandemic landscape and look at what new strategies are being incorporated to help connect and build relationships that will lead to new fundraising opportunities.
Upon completion of this workshop, those in attendance will be able to:
• Assess their organization’s donor landscape - who are they, where are they, which events they attend, and where do they give?
• Adapt non-traditional fundraising cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship methods developed during the pandemic to help build relationships within communities of color.
• Suggest ideas that may influence how their institutions integrate new fundraising approaches into their operations.
• Examine current and emerging trends influencing fundraising post-pandemic and develop strategies to adapt to the current climate.
• Be aware of and effectively manage a much broader group of stakeholders that previously may have been an afterthought.
• Be responsive to our changing environment to ensure that our institutional operations are equipped to engage various types of donors using a wide range of techniques.
Speakers: LaDaniel Gatling, Vice President of Advancement and Alumni Relations, Guilford College, Marcus Burgess, Associate VIce President for Major and Planned Gifts, Claflin University, Carla Willis, Senior Consultant, Washburn & McGoldrick
8:00 AM - 11:30 AM ET
New to the Profession Pre-Conference Workshop (Pre-Registration Required)
The New to the Profession Pre-Conference Workshop is an excellent opportunity to familiarize yourself with the impact Advancement has on your institution. The sessions are designed to give you a strong understanding of Advancement as a profession as well as drill down to your specific discipline. You will walk away with valuable insight shared by five seasoned veterans as well as contacts to build your professional network. Finally, the district chair will share the benefit of serving in and volunteering for district opportunities.
Speakers: John Smith, Executive Director for University Advancement, Tennessee Technological University, Chris Clarke, Associate Vice President, Duke University, Angela Mills, Director of Alumni Relations, College of Engineering, Virginia Tech, Amanda Trabue, Vice President Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement, Western Kentucky University, Rhonda Minton, Director of Strategic Communications for Advancement, Lipscomb University, Lindsey Mann Field, Director of Development, Gaston Day School
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM ET
DIII Annual Conference Registration
Welcome to Atlanta! Please stop by the registration desk starting at 10:00 a.m. to check in and pick up your conference materials.
Welcome
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM ET
Annual Conference Welcome and Opening Keynote Session
Join conference leadership to kick off the 2023 District III Annual Conference and learn how to get the most out of your time in Atlanta. The welcome will be directly followed by our Opening Keynote Session with Monica Pearson.
Speakers: Monica Pearson
Elective Session
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET
Ask the Experts - Bring your Annual Giving Questions.
Nothing about Annual Giving is simple in the modern area. Do you have an idea for a campaign or a strategy? Are you struggling with an aspect of Annual Giving? Or just looking to steal good ideas from peers?
Join the experts that have grown and built Annual Giving programs to engage in fun conversations around your topics! You bring the ideas we will brainstorm approaches as a group to tackle those ideas. What's that crazy idea you have been thinking about that you want to dig into with your peers?
Join the experts that have grown and built Annual Giving programs to engage in fun conversations around your topics! You bring the ideas we will brainstorm approaches as a group to tackle those ideas. What's that crazy idea you have been thinking about that you want to dig into with your peers?
Speakers: Adam Compton, Executive Director, Annual Giving, North Carolina State University, Heather Kopec, Assistant Vice President, Philanthropic Giving + Digital Engagement, University of Miami
Topics: Annual Giving
Elective Session
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET
Culture Creation: How to Attract & Retain Phenomenal Fundraisers
Culture can be an afterthought in advancement. We hire mission-driven, self-motivated fundraisers for autonomous, competitive jobs and expect them to buy into our existing culture. Yet, in a post-pandemic workforce, culture matters more than ever. To attract, grow and retain top performers, we must build and rebuild a powerful, sticky culture. In this session, you'll learn how and why to foster trust, belonging and celebration to create a magnetic culture where top performers want to stay.
Speakers: Karley Eldridge, Assistant Director, Advancement Careers, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Jenna Goodman, Founding Partner, Generous Change
Competencies: Integrity and ProfessionalismRelationship BuildingEmotional IntelligenceIndustry or Sector ExpertiseStrategic ThinkingLeadership
Topics: Diversity & Inclusion
Elective Session
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET
Sprinting with Focus – Become the Best Version of You
Learn how to break away from the routine and reshape the way you think about work. With the simple implementation of some proven strategies and techniques, you can increase your productivity, elevate your impact and promote self-accountability while building trust and confidence within your team, division, and the broader community. Organize yourself and your team to be the best versions of yourselves.
Speakers: Matthew Williams, Director of Development, Emory University, Dillon Boggs, Managing Director of Development, Emory University
Topics: Major gifts
Elective Session
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET
Finding Your Identity- How Proper Branding Can Make All The Difference
In this session, attendees will learn why it is important to take an aggressive approach to developing and maintaining a coherent brand as it applies to enrollment marketing, social and digital media, and on-campus communications. Presenters will explain how Carson-Newman University tackled a murky identity and unveiled not only a new campaign, but new brand look and supporting elements in 8 months in an interactive session with Q+A opportunities.
Speakers: Kyle Benjamin, Asst. Vice President for Marketing and Communications, Carson-Newman University, Allison Lanier, Director of Client Services, Up&Up
Topics: Branding
Elective Session
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET
Focusing your Fundraising through Governance and Operational Efficiency
Focusing your fundraising has never been more important, or more challenging, The number and channels of distraction are growing. The attention spans of our constituents are actually shrinking (just a little!). Our ability to assess and take action is at risk. Leading your team to success means knowing what to ignore and what to tackle. Focused direction--actively choosing where you place your attention, rather than letting distractions choose for you--is critical to addressing the important no matter the urgent. Leaders in this session will learn a framework to gain mastery over the 4 M's--media, messages, meetings, and management.
Speakers: Dwight Dozier, Chief Information Officer, Georgia Tech Foundation, Chris Cannon, President, Management Consulting, Zuri Group
Elective Session
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET
How to Eat an Elephant - Segmenting Data to Smash Your Fundraising Goals
This session will highlight how segmenting data can lead to identifying fundraising strategies that target current and potential donors based on demographics.
Speakers: Pamela Mitchell, Manager of Advancement Services, Alcorn State University
Competencies: Industry or Sector Expertise
Topics: Annual Giving
Elective Session
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET
Managing Complex Gifts
In today's ever evolving tax landscape it is important to understand how to properly assess gifts and pledges with appropriate tax implications for gift acceptance and gift processing standards. We will navigate through the matrix of rules that are set for gifts-in-kind, cryptocurrency and other complex donations. We will also explore IRS requirements as well as ethical questions that can arise in the acceptance and processing of gifts and pledges. We will discuss how to handle tax questions while maintaining ethical and common-sense practices that ensure accurate processing for the IRS and your auditors.
Speakers: Karen Sims, Director Gifts & Records Management, North Carolina State University
Elective Session
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET
Small Shop & Big Potential: Maximizing Your Small Teams For Success
Today’s ever-changing landscape in Advancement can affect team success—especially when your teams are small. Balancing increased expectations and limited resources requires skillful juggling to keep programs on an upward trajectory. Join Lipscomb University’s Stephanie Carroll, assistant vice president for annual giving, alumni and parent engagement, and Rhonda Minton, director of strategic communications for advancement, to learn how they have revamped their work and maximized productivity to better position their teams for success. Flying solo or have fewer than five staff members? Join us for a discussion and leave with some ideas to help your small shop reach big potential.
Speakers: Rhonda Minton, Director of Strategic Communications for Advancement, Lipscomb University, Stephanie Carroll, Assistant Vice President of Annual Giving, Alumni/Parent Engagement, Lipscomb University
Elective Session
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET
"YES, AND" and more: The Unconventional Fundraiser
How can we create an innovative and positive environment of support, acceptance, collaboration and progress that fosters creativity and talent? How can be become better at what we do? How about with a little bit of humor? Explore a world of YES, AND – acceptance and building; active listening; collaboration; risk taking; failure embracing and inspiration. Through engaging activities and participant discussion, we will practice elevating our work and our play. Find the joy in what you do, and bring it to others. Let’s participate, learn and find the FUN in FUNdraising!
Speakers: James Wasilewski, Senior Director of University Development, Virginia Commonwealth University
Elective Session
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET
The Philanthropist Left Behind: Cultivating Lapsed Or Non-Donor For A Major Gift”
Do you find yourself looking at the same prospect names and wondering why they haven't made a gift or haven't been engaged in recent years? Capacity and affinity may exist with these prospects but a relationship that would lead to a major gift is lacking. "The Philanthropist Left Behind" addresses the critical importance of donor experience and shares examples of recent gifts that fostered a culture of philanthropy and launched transformational programs at an independent private school. The session will also highlight successful research, passion/project alignment, selecting the appropriate relationship manager, and stewardship.
Speakers: Ed Martin, Major Gift Officer, The Bolles School, Rahul Sharma, Major Gift Officer, The Bolles School
4:15 PM - 5:00 PM ET
Networking Meet Up
Ready to kickstart your fundraising and career resolutions in 2023?
Join us for Networking Meetup discussions led by industry professionals to help you move forward in the new year.
Meet with the right people to accomplish your goals through Networking Meet-Ups. Networking is the best way to build a group of significant personal relationships with like-minded people -- especially professionals inspired to help their organizations advance their missions. Building your network of fundraising friends and colleagues at CASE District lll couldn't be easier. Come prepared to meet new people, get new ideas, and have a little fun. We host discussions across the advancement disciplines: alumni relations, communications/marketing, philanthropy/development, and advancement services.
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM ET
Belugas, Beverages & Bites! (ticketed event; pre-registration required)
Celebrate District III and network with old and new friends at the Georgia Aquarium! Enjoy two drink tickets, small bites and a live performance from Atlanta Quartet, as well as 180-degree views of two aquatic habitats that house beluga whales, whale sharks, manta rays, a sea turtle and thousands of fish.
If you added to your registration the CASE DIII Annual Conference Special Event, or received a “ticket” from an exhibitor/sponsor please bring the colored badge holder to the Georgia Aquarium, and use the Oceans Ballroom entrance along Ivan Allen Jr Blvd. The Aquarium is a quick 0.4 mi or 8 min walk from the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.
Don’t forget your colored badge holder! At the aquarium, we will be unable to admit anyone without it, and unable to sell admission.
Georgia Aquarium
226 Ivan Allen Jr NW, Atlanta, GA 30313
https://www.georgiaaquarium.org
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