There is no one script for asking for a gift of significance. Each circumstance requires its own nuanced approach. In this session we will explore the factors that have led to successful outcomes, learn about the art of listening for important ques, and better understand the process that leads up to and is part of a major gifts conversation. We will conclude with 10 takeaways to think about as you plan and execute a comprehensive major and principal gifts program. While the presentation is designed for those with the experience to manage six, seven, and eight-figure conversations, this session will be valuable to those at all levels of the advancement operation.

Get an in-depth view into how the French American International School and International High School of San Francisco transformed their culture of giving. You will learn how the Head of School, Leadership Team and Board of Trustees sequenced this transformation into the Strategic Plan and put the plan into actionable steps. This change in culture led to innovative everyday actions of the advancement team and their work, resulting in record-breaking fundraising and double annual giving in less than 5 years.

Recognizing the pivotal role relationships play in fundraising, especially within the context of smaller schools and organizations, this workshop offers a comprehensive exploration of the intricate interplay between marketing, fundraising, and school communication. It provides a holistic framework designed to benefit all administrators and (school personnel) . Through a captivating blend of interactive activities, facilitated group discussions, and strategic games, participants will depart with a toolkit to supercharge their school's Advancement offices. This enhanced partnership will drive stronger relationships, foster fundraising growth, and yield exceptional marketing outcomes. Get ready to ignite the magic!

When Business office and Advancement colleagues have trusting, collaborative partnerships, it impacts the institution’s bottom line in meaningful ways. Schools steward donors more cohesively, are better equipped to make the case for support, and secure larger gifts. If collaboration was easy, there wouldn’t be a need for a CASE workshop! CFOs and Chief Advancement Officers often face competing pressures and challenges that can lead to interdepartmental friction that may diminish fundraising success. As St. Stephen’s gears up for a historic and ambitious comprehensive campaign, Associate Head of School for Finance and Operations Cindy Stadulis and Director of Advancement April Speck-Ewer will share some guiding principles that have helped their teams to forge a strong working relationship. They believe this framework helped St. Stephen’s secure a recent $17 million gift, the largest in the history of the school.

This session highlights the importance of data collection from the collaboration between all three aspects of the Advancement umbrella - Marketing, Admissions and Development that’s honed around a school's mission, strategy, and message.

Dive deeper into your information gathering from the Admissions/Enrollment process to find out about your potential donors, their behavior and truly determine what you can do to achieve your goals. Learn how best to communicate with your donors through your marketing and communications analytics.

Let the humble data not only dazzle and work for you by identifying giving potential within your school community but also engage with prospects and donors in appropriate and highly personal ways.

Set the stage for inspirational giving by being able to better evaluate the role of prospect research within your development program.

The past three years have tested the resilience of our schools and the generosity of our communities. Despite all the outside factors and challenges, one fundraising tool has stood the test of time: the capital campaign. But as the philanthropic landscape evolves, capital campaign strategies must evolve too. In this session, advancement leaders from across the country will weigh in on their tried-and-true campaign strategies and share innovations and future-looking tactics they are deploying. From AI to creative volunteer leadership structures, to reaching a new generation of donors, this conversation will touch on factors that are impacting capital campaigns at independent schools and how advancement leaders are navigating this evolving era.

One of the first thing Development Professionals learn about is the Donor Cycle. But what if the current model is lacking a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of donor relations? In this session we will consider donor relations as a journey - where development professionals stop trying to pigeonhole their prospects into a strictly defined part of the cycle or type of philanthropy and instead view prospect management as a constant evolution that encompasses all facets of moves management simultaneously. What if Discovery was a part of every stage of your relationship? What if every meeting was an opportunity for a solicitation and what if cultivation and stewardship were the same initiative? Let's take a deep dive and reimagine what your community park looks like!

An endowment campaign is an opportunity to amplify an institution's values and formalize, in permanence, a school's commitment to fostering inclusivity and belonging. By investing in endowment, donors are invited to establish legacy by bridging access for students of varied socioeconomic backgrounds and ensuring that all students can access the full school experience equitably and inclusively. How is this possible? With a strong vision and in partnership with key stakeholders. Learn how this vision is being realized at The Winsor School through strong advancement partnerships with the Head of School, Board of Trustees, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, Director of Community and Inclusion, and more.

As advancement functions and fundraising campaigns become increasingly sophisticated and focused on leadership gifts, intentionally and regularly engaging volunteers and new community members can fall by the wayside. Volunteer engagement can be difficult to measure, and independent schools often struggle to find reliable, concrete ways to evaluate and leverage connectedness. Yet, volunteers have proven over and over again to be invaluable resources, providing their time, talent, ideas, and social ties to help advance a school’s mission and vision, in and out of campaign environments. Importantly, not only does strong volunteer engagement yield more philanthropic support, but they also allow schools to invite more voices in—particularly those from communities served—and work towards a more inclusive philanthropy. A unique opportunity exists to involve our larger school communities more meaningfully in our work by investing in relationships early, moving from transactional requests to transformational collaborations, and bringing more perspectives into decisions around how we effect change.

Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas’ Ad Majorem campaign went public in 2023 with over $100 million raised – and is not done yet. Meaningfully engaging volunteers and the broader community in Jesuit’s largest, most ambitious campaign was and is no small undertaking. Hear directly from Jesuit’s Vice President of Advancement and Executive Director of the Jesuit Dallas Foundation on how the team engaged across constituencies – Board, Campaign Committee, students, alumni, faculty, parents – to develop a comprehensive case for support and phased campaign plan that created a posture for Jesuit to continually innovate and invite new voices in.

Through a conversation between CCS Fundraising and Jesuit Dallas, this session will explore the importance of high-level volunteer engagement, the lifecycle of cultivating volunteers into lead donors and organizational champions, and how to return to your school with new ways to engage volunteers in philanthropy as part of your overall fundraising plan – while applying inclusive principles to volunteerism in meaningful ways. Presenters will feature candid learnings and case studies from CCS’s experience and Jesuit’s extraordinary success in cultivating new voices throughout a multi-year campaign – to bring the community into the school. Attendees can expect to leave this session with the tools and knowledge to adapt their own volunteer engagement strategies to the uniquely evolving independent school landscape.

As advancement grows more sophisticated, there is a deeper collection of accepted best practices. At the same time, there are instances when our organizations either intentionally or unknowingly disregard these codified best practices. This session examines real-life examples of times when schools have carried forward with major gift work that has not been supported by conventional wisdom of the industry. This session examines when unusually executed projects have struggled and when have they succeeded.