After a CRM conversion, advancement shops face challenges in system adoption, data integrity, and training all while maintaining momentum in closing gifts. Illinois Real-time Reviews address these challenges using a well-defined process cocreated by advancement services and frontline fundraisers. Conducted in a cross-functional 90-minute sessions, Real-time Reviews bring high priority prospects into focus for fundraisers, outlining next steps and align expectations around data entry.

Learn about the outcomes of the process, including quantifiable progress, improved system adoption, recommendations for additional business improvements and improved working relationships across the advancement enterprise.

The Orchard School had not pursued a campaign in 20 years. Learn how a small development office organized a group of volunteers into a powerhouse campaign cabinet and achieved their campaign goal 18 months ahead of schedule. We will discuss successful campaign goals, improving annual fund challenges, reinvigorating a dormant planned giving program, and how to recruit, train, motivate and retain a top-notch campaign cabinet.

At Ohio State, engagement professionals and Business Intelligence/Data Science partners have developed a new tool to analyze engagement data that we believe will benefit the engagement industry. Successes from this work include: an inclusive, stakeholder-centered definition of “meaningful engagement” that reflects our diverse and digital world; improved data measurement consistency among engagement professionals across the organization; a key performance indicator process that can be applied to other projects (to ask “Why?” and not “What?”); and a dashboard that provides real-time engagement data to analyze impact. Attendees will learn how to apply a Key Performance Indicator method to determine measures of success at their home institutions, plus gain ideas into tools they might want to build or refine at home to help provide real-time data and insights related to measuring the impact of engagement efforts.

Can university fundraisers and donor relations officers adapt the goats and chickens model to scholarships and professorships? Okay, so we’re a university. We don’t have chickens. Or goats. Or cows. But you’ve probably heard or received those solicitations from other charities. Sure, you know your money may not actually be going to purchase THAT specific goat for THAT particular family, but the illusion is a great way to ask you for a gift, and it gives you an idea of its actual impact, whether large or small.

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.

Alumni Volunteer is a cross-campus initiative connecting alumni with volunteer opportunities, hosted by University of Michigan affiliated groups, that honor alumni’s interdisciplinary expertise and general passion for volunteerism. Beginning with a vision to create a marketplace allowing campus partners and clubs to post opportunities, our business model has expanded to include community organizations that sometimes are run by U-M alumni. Since the launch of Alumni Volunteer in January 2021, we have received positive feedback and a growing number of alumni eager to support opportunities benefiting our University and the community.

This session will highlight how advancement leaders can use the power of data analytics to understand trends, changes, and areas of growth. Through data analytics, the Sinclair Foundation was able to harness hundreds of thousands of diverse data points, and organize them into a structure for trustees, leadership, and donors.

For most people, change is uncomfortable. In higher education, it sometimes seems as though we are distinctly structured to maintain the status quo. But change is inevitable -- whether it is caused by a global pandemic, the retirement of a president, budget cuts, or new leadership in your shop. Learn more about how to lead through change in a way that harnesses the superpowers of your team to create the best possible outcomes.

At its inception, the Purdue for Life Foundation in its efforts towards a full advancement model has implemented process improvements to support the development activity of our units including comprehensive quarterly business reviews (QBR) of major gift work, broad-based campaigns (annual giving), and stewardship. Applicable to institutions of all sizes, this session will detail the addition of QBRs across the organization and outcomes for fundraisers. The Purdue for Life Foundation is an integrated advancement organization launched with the merger of the University Development Office and the Purdue Alumni Association.

Like many large, decentralized shops, Illinois historically used matrixes or manager discretion when setting goals for fundraisers, resulting in a spectrum of performance standards. Acknowledging the importance of portfolio health to a fundraiser's success, Illinois launched the Stoplight System, a pipeline-based approach to setting goals. It combines a discounting algorithm (science) with fundraiser knowledge about each ask (art) to arrive at aspirational, yet achievable goals. Hear from the analyst and frontline about the FY20 implementation that resulted in larger goals, increased closures (amongst COVID) and next steps taken to enhance performance.