This session is specifically designed for frontline gift officers in major gifts and gift planning who seek a fresh perspective to move beyond transactional outcomes. Whether just starting out or looking to take your fundraising efforts to the next level, this session offers valuable insights and strategies to “Own the Conversation’ with your donors. During this session, we will explore the tenets of High Probability Fundraising to address the key questions every donor makes on their journey to a meaningful gift. You will learn how to avoid the ‘Transactional Trap’ by inviting donors to engage in a permission-based conversation that sets a transparent agenda, builds deep trust, uncovers true capacity, and secures bigger, more impactful gifts than they ever thought possible.

This creative and high energy interactive session will address key leadership strategies that are critical in positioning your team for success!
Barbara and Joy's unique blend of leadership styles incorporate relationship strategies, ethics and storytelling techniques that have helped position fundraisers for success in closing major and principal gifts.

Metrics are ever-present in development shops around the country. But how do you make them simple, effective and powerful? How can you make sure your metrics also incentivize a development officer to stay at the institution? In this session, we will examine the metrics journey for both Vanderbilt University and Bellarmine University, two development offices on different scales, but utilizing the same fundamental framework to motivate their fundraisers to year over year success and retention. We will also cover: • Creating a cultural behavior around metrics, not a “gotcha” atmosphere • Balanced and custom metric designs for each individual development officer depending on experience, unit coverage, 3-year averages, and a variety of other factors • Formulaic financial incentive programs from a large budget operation to a small budget operation • Clear career ladders and performance expectations for each development officer We encourage you to attend what is sure to be an engaging and lively discussion.

Over the past 18 months, court decisions and public policy has drastically changed how higher education can approach DEIB. While academicians and student affairs personnel prepare for their work, advancement practitioners face our own unique challenges. This workshop is designed for all members of an advancement organization – from alumni engagement to development to Marketing and Communications. Participants will be taken through a framework that will allow them to examine their own organizations’ readiness to be nimble in this contemporary environment, ultimately to support a culture that will keep all stakeholders engaged. Additionally, participants will come away with tools to structure DEIB work in a way that is mission-centric and supportive of all communities.

For most of us, the road to fundraising was accidental. We arrive from completely different careers and wildly unique backgrounds. The path to leadership is just as diverse and, honestly, a little mysterious. Join this panel of Advancement leaders to pull back the curtain on what the top jobs really take. If you’re a new leader, get advice on how to think big, focus on your biggest value, and inspire a culture shift not a culture shock. If you’re an aspiring leader, learn what skills, experiences, and opportunities to seek out that will prepare you for your next step.

Navigating the intricacies of advancement can often be a daunting task for campus partners, leaving them uncertain about who to contact for collaboration and engagement. Such lack of clarity leads to missed opportunities, with events and initiatives unfolding without the valuable input and participation of the advancement office. Miami University’s Division of University Advancement confronted these issues head-on, cultivating a solution that is changing campus partnerships - the Certified Advancement Partner Program (CAPP).

In this session, explore the strategies and structures of CAPP, a pioneering credential program designed to demystify advancement processes and form a cohesive network of true campus partners across diverse campus sectors. Drawing from the practical experiences and challenges encountered at Miami University, this session will offer actionable insights to initiate and sustain a similar partnership-building program within your organization.

In 2021, the NIU Foundation launched its crowdfunding program: NIU Impact. Since then, we have been able to work with campus partners and stakeholders to conduct targeted and time-sensitive campaigns that harness the power of volunteers and their individual networks. To date, we have raised over $340,000 from more than 2,300 donations, and have partnered with units in every division of campus.
For FY24, the annual giving team crafted an internal marketing plan to help grow the number of crowdfunding projects, as well as increase the number of donors and dollars raised. The result? Our fall 2023 cohort of projects was the largest to date, with donors making over 450 gifts totaling more than $50,000, and we are on track to have the highest number of donors and dollars raised in a fiscal year.
In addition, for FY24 we shifted from group-based training sessions for crowdfunding partners, to a collection of asynchronous training videos. This change resulted in time-savings for both our staff and participants, and can be used again for futures cohorts.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has undergone a few hype cycles— neural networks, expert systems, and deep learning. But the latest advancements in large language models have sparked everyone's imagination, and the possibilities seem limitless. In the past 15 years, the nonprofit industry benefitted from prospect identification using statistical models and machine learning. What does the next 15 years look like when AI touches every aspect of fundraising? While we can't predict the future, we can explore the possibilities. In this session, you will understand how Artificial Intelligence started and how it has evolved, its current applications, and three ways it might impact fundraising with examples. Let's dive into the world of AI and fundraising together!

Learn how a team of volunteers, guided by major gift officers, leveraged a matching gift opportunity to successfully raise significant funds for a longstanding scholarship program. You will hear directly from two of the volunteers who were engaged in this effort, and learn about the specific strategies you could employ to see similar success.

The expansion of a team typically signals success, pointing to an innovative group in need of additional resources to further pursue and amplify their objectives. Growth on a team is exciting and also has its challenges, especially in the field of relationship management. In this session, we will offer insights on how a team can survive and thrive through changes and growth, while maintaining and enhancing strong internal and external relationships and partnerships. How do we transfer consistent relationships when we are still part of the team but in a different role or region? How do we encourage our new teammates to take the lead on a project or relationship that we formerly led? When do we decide the transition period is over? These questions, though easily answered during a team exit, appear more challenging as a team grows and relationships and partnerships evolve. We invite you to participate in this thought-provoking session on harnessing change and growth to augment your team's success and innovation quotient amid the fluidity of the higher education landscape!