A campaign can be a defining event in the life of your institution and in your career but keeping up with the many demands can be a challenge. A small college VP may not have the same resources as those at larger institutions. How do you keep all of the balls in the air when you are juggling the demands of a large campaign, managing staff, and maintaining your ongoing events and annual fund goals? We’ll discuss the challenges, share insights, and help you determine how to prioritize your time.

Traditional mentoring programs come with their fair share of challenges. Despite good intentions and best efforts, the matching process can be time-consuming and some pairs simply don’t connect. When COVID-19 forced The Ohio State University Alumni Association to reimagine the Young Alumni Academy experience, we embraced the idea of micro-mentorship, or short-term mentoring relationships. Using this model, alumni now make new connections each month based on industry, identity, and shared life experiences. Join us to learn about the research behind micro-mentorship and how to make it work for your organization!

This interactive workshop will guide you through the strategy, steps and storytelling to coach faculty, researchers and other partners through the development of their ideal "elevator speeches" so that they can bring their life's work to life for any audience.

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.

Donors and alumni see our institutions as one entity, not individual departments, which means our communication strategies need to be unified. Learn how St. Norbert College audited their decentralized communication efforts, aligned departmental objectives, and created department marketing plans that provide needed & impactful communication. Attendees will then partake in a workshop on how to develop their own influencer map and audience personas, a key tool to supplement their own marketing plans.

Recent alumni engagement is critical to keep this key group engaged with their alma mater. In this session, we'll share results of our national survey on how recent alumni expect to engage and discuss the link between involvement in student organizations and engagement after graduation. We'll then share examples of how Knox College engages students while on campus and connects with recent graduates to foster and grow their engagement and support. Participants will leave this session with data to inform their strategies and next steps to grow recent alumni engagement.

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.

Have you inherited an alumni program that needs resuscitation? Do you need to leverage volunteers to stop your program from circling the drain? Has your alumni board faded away, or was there no alumni board when you arrived? Let’s explore techniques to avoid leaving your alumni program and board on life support! Highlands University alumni board presidents and staff will share their work-in-progress best practices for building a thriving, engaging alumni outreach and a working alumni board, inspiring greater engagement and giving at all levels to the university.