Donor counts and engagement counts should not be declining! Are you prepared for the changes that are already underway with the expectations of our constituents? We have undergone fundamental shifts for engagement strategies that ensure we have people investing in and engaging as members of institutions. Expanding our reach will demand engaging diverse pools of constituents. This interactive session will enable participants to review their program and explore ways to strengthen their interaction with constituents.

A comprehensive overview of the ethical considerations involved in fundraising with a specific focus on striking a balance between financial goals and development priorities.

What are the latest trends in philanthropy and what does this mean for colleges and universities? What attitudes do donors to higher education bring to their philanthropy? How is your institution approaching the continued decline in mass giving? How are transformative gifts defined and secured? This session will draw on data from surveys conducted by Bank of America, Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and engage participants in a discussion about the donors who have had a transformative impact on their institutions.

Are you seeking to increase alumni engagement and philanthropic investment—and to drive organizational efficiency and effectiveness? Merging your university’s foundation and alumni association can deliver exceptional results, including more effective engagement and communication. In this session, learn from Foundation professionals who have completed a successful merger about the challenges, outcomes, and benefits of reorganizing two entities as one.

You know there is more capacity among your alumni, families, and community and want to create a more robust pipeline of prospective donors. We will share how data analytics can help you identify new prospects, sequence priority prospective donors, and reinvigorate your prospect portfolios. The goal is to turn the prospects in your database into a usable pipeline and implement next steps to reach your advancement team’s goals. Whether for a campaign, major gift effort, annual fund program, or other fundraising initiatives, the opportunity to expand your universe of donors exists. In this session we will also discuss the process of collaboration between advancement services, data analytics, and front-line fundraisers for philanthropic success.

In an ever-challenging advancement landscape-- where the value of higher education is being questioned, the expectations from Presidents and Boards grow despite fewer resources, and every team has a shortage of talented staff, we turn to [two] Vice Presidents for Advancement who are dealing with these challenges and thriving.

We will discuss challenges related to common complex giving arrangements and best practice resolutions that typically require involvement from finance, development, management and other third parties. Our discussion will include split interest agreements, gift repurposing, naming rights and more.

Hyper-connectivity, micro-consumption, fractured attention, and fierce competition are namesakes in our connected economy. Today, the demand for your donors’ attention is fierce. She lives in a world full of distractions continuously competing for micro-moments of attention. This influx of messages is overwhelming. It forces her to pick a few that are most relevant and ignore the rest. She may even opt out completely and retreat to personal feeds or friend recommendations when determining which brands or causes to connect with.
Most nonprofits' responses are to do more, send more, buy more. Each an attempt to steal bits of her attention in hopes she’ll respond. This is timely, org-centered, and wasteful. Additionally, it tosses your hat into a ring crowded with big brands, cat videos, 24/7 news, Netflix series, Apple releases, and hundreds of other worthwhile causes running the same playbook.
Is there a better way? Can any nonprofit stand above the noise? Absolutely.
Amidst uncertainty and shifting donor expectations, how should you design and lead your fundraising teams? How does this impact your ability to collaborate to deliver a responsive supporter experience? We'll address these challenges head-on, share how supporter preferences have evolved, and what that requires now of you and your team.
During this session, you'll see: two (2) macro shifts shaping supporter preferences, and the resulting pivots your team must consider for growth; eight (8) mindsets you and your team can adopt to increase the pace of learning, combat burnout, and unlock growth; how Responsive Fundraising empowers nonprofits to tap into responsive fundraising, and build lasting relationships with ALL their supporters at scale; highlights of how your organization and Virtuous can work together to empower fundraising teams to send personalized communications to peer-to-peer, event, and digital donors, while also increasing donor retention through multi-channel cultivation campaigns; and how to motivate and mobilize your team to collaborate across silos to deliver a responsive donor journey for all supporters

Are you having a difficult time engaging your board members with institutional priorities? Or do you have board members who explain that they “know best” about how to raise funds on behalf of your institution? Authentic engagement with board members can pay significant dividends to help you achieve your advancement goals, but it can help to give them a framework within which to operate. Come to this session to learn about how a development plan can help. Bring your questions about real-world challenges that you are currently experiencing in your own organizations.

Join colleagues from institutions like yours to discuss topics such as MOUs, the RFP process, system & university governance, alumni association integration, scholarship awarding process (including new DEI issues/legalities), and any other issues on your mind. Tables will be labeled according to asset size and the relationship between your foundation and college: Independent, Interdependent, or Dependent.
Definitions: Independent: The foundation operates with a high level of autonomy and pays for the use of college resources. Foundation staff salaries are covered by the Foundation.
Interdependent: The foundation receives some free/in-kind benefits such as office space and shares staff with the institution. Foundation staff salaries may be covered by the Foundation and/or College.
Dependent: The foundation is controlled by institution, which provides office space, staff, and other support. All salaries paid by the college.

Significant fundraising campaigns provide a unique opportunity for Foundation and University leaders to collaborate in authentic partnership. From conceptualization to design and implementation, a successful campaign will lead to increased resources and enhanced student experiences, facilities, and academic and co-curricular programs that benefit both the Foundation and University for decades to come. This interactive session will focus on the methodologies and strategies used to bring Foundation and University leaders together to create campaign success from the initial planning stages through the celebration phase.

A diverse, engaged foundation board can be a force multiplier for a foundation, leveraging needed perspectives, experience, expertise, and relationships to advance the foundation’s mission. The wrong board can be an impediment. This session will provide an overview of the governance practices needed to engineer an engaged board aligned with an eye toward advancing the strategic priorities of the foundation and the institution. Topics addressed will include leveraging the chair as a strategic partner, board assessment and recalibration, developing a board composition matrix, and ways to sustain momentum and growth through orientation and ongoing board education. The session will feature a panel discussion with a foundation CEO and a foundation General Counsel and Board Secretary.

The value of preventative measures is difficult to quantify. However, risk management is unquestionably linked to the failures and successes of an organization. Education institutions face an endless list of threats to their missions and objectives. The true extent of fraud remains unknown because the majority of fraud is never detected. The rise of information security risk is an irreversible trend becoming more pervasive every day. An individual’s power to impact reputations is increasing in this fast-paced age of social media. Risk management involves identifying, analyzing, responding to Financial, Compliance, Operational, Reputational, and Strategic risks and opportunities. We will discuss developing and improving policies and procedures to help Institutions manage these risks to be even stronger stewards of the public’s resources. This session will help officers and directors with ensuring the organizations they serve have systems in place to minimize threats and realize maximum potential.

The pace of cyber fraud and the nuber of breaches hitting the headlines has not diminished. This session wille explore the current state of cyber threats, detailing how attackers progress from your social media and online exposure, through phishing and account compromises to data breaches, data theft and ransomware. We will discuss attacker motiviations, common “low hanging fruit,” and stratagies prevent intrusions where we can, and mitigate the impact of intrusions or breaches when they occur. We will review case studies and “in the news” examples from the last 24 months that had significant impact on businesses. Throughout the session we will examine root causes leading to breaches, and mitigation strategies to minimize likelihood and impact.