Wednesday, October 7

NOON–5:00 PM ET

This separate half-day workshop is targeted for individuals new to the advancement field or community college segment. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from seasoned advancement professionals, leave with tangible takeaways, and network to meet other newcomers.

BONUS! All registrants for this Newcomers Workshop will also receive a FREE copy of Annual Giving Made Simple: A Roadmap for Community Colleges and Small Development Shops! Be sure to update your mailing address during the registration process in order to have the book shipped directly to you.

Program

12:00 - 12:30 PM ET

Welcome and CASE Orientation

Marc Westenburg, Director, Foundations and Community Colleges, CASE

12:30–1:30 PM

Annual Fundraising Plans Made Simple

Jeff Bagel, Principal, eAdvancement Consulting, eAdvancement   



This highly-rated session was given at the 2019 CASE Conference for Community College newcomers workshop in San Diego. The audience for this session are the many talented, dedicated people at community colleges who tend to rush from one urgent deadline to the next. This session, based on the CASE top-selling book for community colleges, "Annual Fundraising Plans Made Simple: A Roadmap for Community Colleges", will provide attendees a time to pause, to think and to plan. By the end of the session, attendees will be motivated and ready to create a meaningful strategy that frames their work, communicates their value and reassures institutional leadership that they are on the right track. The session makes a compelling case for developing a realistic annual fundraising plan and provides specific practical guidance and templates adaptable to community colleges of all sizes and facing any set of circumstances. Attendees will learn how proper planning can optimize their performance and that of their fundraising operation, as well as improve their relationships with their president, foundation board members and colleagues.

2:00–3:00 PM

How to Launch an Online Giving Day

Christina Kline, Assistant Foundation Director, Portland Community College   



Online giving is up while direct mail returns and phonathon contacts are down. Engaging new donors and renewing even the most loyal of supporters is becoming more difficult as our key constituencies are inundated with messaging. Creating an online giving day allows community colleges to raise critical unrestricted funds while engaging new and renewing donors as well. We’ve seen our partners at four year colleges and universities have huge successes during their giving days raising hundreds of thousands of dollars up to millions. While those results can seem intimidating, session participants will learn how to create a road map to launching their school’s first online giving day. This session will focus on the key strategies and tactics that are needed to create a successful giving day. Topics will include how to gain community buy-in from leadership, setting an achievable goal, securing challenge gifts, engaging ambassadors, and developing campus events to ensure success. Additionally, participants will hear how to develop an omni-channel approach for their giving day that includes best practices in utilizing direct mail, phonathons, email solicitations and social media to meet and exceed goals. Portland Community College’s Big Give Day will be used as an example throughout this presentation, but participants will also see examples from other colleges and universities. This session will engage newcomers to development as well as seasoned professionals. Ideally, participants will have some experience with annual giving campaigns and a general working knowledge of social media and online giving tools. Even if participants are currently hosting their own giving days, they’ll still walk away with ideas and tools to improve their current efforts and ensure success for future initiatives.

3:30–4:30 PM

Young and Hungry: What We Wish Someone Had Told Us

Shela Levante, Director of Development, Berkshire Community College   

Toni Buckley, Director of Alumni Relations, Berkshire Community College



This session is for fundraising and alumni relations professionals who are new to higher education advancement or in newly created departments or roles. We will share experiences- good and bad- from our first year on the job. Things we wish people had told us in the beginning, from insider tips, terminology, and best practices in the field of higher education, that we had to learn the hard way. Participants will walk away with tools to navigate the leadership structure of a college, an understanding of board dynamics, learn how to identify allies and most importantly, how to prepare yourself for your everyday adventure.

4:30-5:00

Networking Event (optional)