A few months ago, the world’s first fully autonomous fundraiser interacted with its first assigned donor. During this time, two dozen+ nonprofits joined together as cohorts to engage donors with an AI-powered Virtual Engagement Officer but more importantly research, develop, and accelerate the deployment of autonomous fundraising for our entire industry.

All nonprofits can relate to the fact that they have more donors and alumni than they have fundraisers with capacity to build relationships. This is precisely where autonomous fundraising changes what’s possible.

In this session, cohort members will present the results they’ve seen from autonomous fundraising – donors engaged, dollars raised, and pipeline built, in addition to their experience being the first organizations in the world to deploy a Virtual Engagement Officer to a portfolio of their donors.

We’ll present what we learned, what we got right, where course corrections were needed, and how we navigated AI in a field defined by relationships. We’ll share all of our findings including portfolios for autonomous fundraisers, sourcing engagement content independently, accuracy, transparency, ethics, and more.

Finally, we’ll conclude by looking at where we are going, how we can continue to further personalize donor journeys, push the outer limits of technology, and more.

In turbulent times many smaller institutionally-related foundations (IRF’s) are seeking alternative economic models to be fully self-sustaining. The Kean University Foundation’s economic model is unique and, we believe, cutting edge. As we enter our sixth year in our restructuring plan, and embark on our first comprehensive capital campaign in more than 15 years, the Foundation employs all staff and absorbs the costs associated with staff benefits, human resources, information technology, legal, etc. This presentation summarizes the funding and spending plan for the Kean University Foundation as well as the organization’s competitive cost per dollar raised.

In the competitive realm of higher education, fundraising success relies on more than just passion and a great case; it requires a strategic approach. Participants will learn how strategic planning principles can inspire cohesion within fundraising teams while also enhancing their overall fundraising success.

In this session participants will learn:
• The key components of strategic planning.
• Strategies for fostering a culture of adaptability and innovation within your fundraising team through the strategic planning process.
• How to build bridges between fundraisers and their partners (such as Deans, University leaders, and engagement or communications branches), enhancing collaboration to drive fundraising success.
• Ideas for setting clear expectations that align with your organization’s vision.
• Best practices for building the tools and resources needed to support your fundraising goals.

Key technologies like Data Quality & Management, Artificial Intelligence, CRM and Other Applications, and Data and Application Integration enable the optimization of fundraising results and donor engagement. But limited budgets in most institutions require careful prioritization of technology investments. How do we decide which technologies provide the greatest return in terms of new business, increased engagement, and operational optimization?

This case study shows how one university used a program strategy to develop a Key Advancement Technology Portfolio and Road Map which provided guidance and business justification for the technology transformation projects and critical input to their fundraising campaign strategy and budget.

Change is often discussed in our business. We make predictions, we adjust to our university's changes in leadership, in strategic plans, etc. We can fall victim to diverting our focus as foundation leaders to all the activities that are "fundraising adjacent" and divert our energy, our resources and our teams away from some of the basic tenants in our business that are timeless...the fact that meaningful, values aligned, authentic fundraising has been and will remain a critical component to the impact of higher education creates for our world. This session will feature a discussion and Q&A about what will change in our space, what will not and how we navigate our foundations to best serve the perpetual mission.

Overview
In today’s philanthropic landscape, effective stewardship is crucial for building lasting relationships with donors and ensuring sustained support and retention of donors. As one of the few Stewardship departments in the country housed within a Marketing & Communications team, this session will focus on a reimagined stewardship program by detailing the development of a comprehensive stewardship handbook and the implementation of an innovative student scholarship “thank you” process, that went on to become a nationally award-winning CASE event, "Notes from the Nest." A key emphasis will be placed on fostering collaboration and partnership across campus and within the provost's office to enhance stewardship efforts.