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.

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.

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?

Hear from two universities that implemented a new strategy for increasing leadership annual gifts and major gifts. Donor Experience Officers manage portfolios of 1,000 prospects they primarily engage with digitally. They are responsibly for highly personal outreach to 50+ prospects every day. Western Kentucky University and the University of Memphis launched their DXO programs a couple of years apart and have implemented in ways both similar and different. Hear from staff at every level of the program - VPs, a program manager, and a practicing DXO about the program and the results.

The Ask should be a creative experience and journey. We, as fundraisers, are representatives, advocates, researchers, storytellers, guides and connectors who navigate and help shape, mold a sandbox of options for a donor. Preparation and practice as a listener and creative partner, with your organization's priorities in mind, will allow you to a provide be a compass for a conversation about support. This also helps with an approachable and enjoyable solicitation experience. Participants will review the elements of an ask and explore an approach to acknowledge and build as a portion of fundraising through discussions and exercises.

We created an aggregation of different dashboards that get delivered to the development officers by email with analytics, reminders and highlights of areas needing attention related to their assigned prospects. This dashboard provides the DO with key information so they can be proactive and take actions based on the items displayed. For example, birthdays, pledges due soon, pledges past due, recent write offs, gift from their prospects coming from any source online, an event, etc.), actions entered to someone in their portfolio by another development officer, prospects attendance or registration to an event. Details on prospects in the solicitation stage.

Say “Hello” to a collaborative marketing campaign to spark engagement, consistent branding and cross-promotion throughout the institution! The Florida State University Division of Student Affairs (FSU DSA) found an effective way to pull together student engagement content focused on what students need to know to be successful. FSU DSA Marketing brought this information to life in the vibrant Hello FSU! campaign. Find out how this team managed to make this a collaborative campaign despite the institution’s decentralized marketing structure. Plus learn how DSA Marketing used tools to create easily shareable branded content to provide other marketers throughout the university.

To ensure successful branding of an institution, capital campaign, recruitment initiative or athletics program, a strategic message, followed by relevant positioning, must be developed first. This vital step is called brand development. It’s the deep, strategic pre-work and planning often missed by educators and leadership—an inside-out process of discovering who you are, what’s different and why stakeholders should care. Such work should begin with the President or Head of School, not with communications and marketing, which is an outside-in approach. Brand development also considers the hidden aspects to make any initiative wildly effective—virtually eliminating the costliest pain points.