This session will highlight how segmenting data can lead to identifying fundraising strategies that target current and potential donors based on demographics.

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.

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?

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.

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.

As fundraisers, we are on the precipice of the largest transfer of wealth in human history, with Baby Boomers accumulating over $35,000,000,000,000 in wealth that will be distributed over the coming years. As this population ages, the chances of cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer's Disease or dementia, in donors also increases, which can create ethical and legal issues for fundraisers. Are you prepared to handle this inevitable scenario? This session will teach attendees about the prevalence of cognitive impairment in donor populations and present strategies on how best to handle these situations through an ethical and legal lens of best practices.