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.

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.

This session will focus on Berry College, a liberal arts college of 2,000 undergraduate students. Overall, college enrollment dropped 1% at four-year nonprofit colleges over the last two years. Berry College increased enrollment during this time by 12% after implementation of a brand campaign. Formative work on the campaign began in 2017, with campaign roll-out beginning in 2019 using the four value pillars of campus life, mentorship, student work, and preparing students for life after college. Objectives of the campaign aimed to increase prospective parent and student awareness of the college, and to increase the number and diversity of students.

Driving cultural transformation is not for the faint of heart. Developing a workforce that is committed to a set of core values who embrace vulnerability, open feedback, and accountability takes perseverance and passion to achieve your long-term goals. Join this lively conversation to learn how you too can create a paradigm shift in your organization to get back to the basics of a supportive and empowered team who achieve remarkable results

Session Description: At Owl Nation, we help new hires acclimate quickly to support Kennesaw State University’s (KSU) fundraising goals. The University Advancement onboarding process equips new fundraising hires and other Advancement employees with a 30-day checklist to help navigate the first month of employment (and beyond). Our efforts are focused on acclimating new hires to the KSU mission statement, brand, values, and our division's organizational structure, culture and goals. Through successful onboarding, new hires acclimate quickly so they can focus on metrics, moves management, donor research, and donors enhancing the office’s capacity to meet its fundraising goals.

Ever wondered how to get an internal DEIB committee started? Wonder if it is needed or how to get support for growing DEIB initiatives. Join us as we discuss the process of creating a DEIB committee, what is needed and if adding this professional development will impact your employee retention efforts.

Despite the many benefits diverse voices and backgrounds bring to fundraising teams, universities often struggle finding talent that reflects the communities they serve. While leaders believe it’s critical to encourage diverse, young voices to become advancement professionals, they do not always know the best ways to recruit, retain, or evaluate employees whose lived experiences are different from their own. This session offers a blueprint to cultivate homegrown fundraising talent through fellows’ programs and apprenticeships and provides first-hand advice from young fundraisers on what works and what doesn’t to help them want to join and stay on your advancement team.

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.