Are you prepared to outperform you peers, the industry, or your current trajectory? This session will help you explore how effective and engaged strategic planning can put you, your foundation, and your academic institution on a path to outperform the industry and the current trendlines. Examining how to identify goals (not just financial) that matter and have immediate and long last impact allows you to build the strategies, tactics and key benchmarks for new levels of success.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between a foundation and an institution ideally memorializes a shared vison for the partnership. Too often, MOUs are use as a contractual constraint to manage risk in in lieu of solid policies and governance practice. A good MOU process builds understanding of and commitment to the partnership among both administrators and board leaders. This session will share AGB’s newly revised Illustrative MOU and engage a group of foundation leaders in a discussion about the ways institution-foundation partnerships are changing and recommendations for the development, review, and renegotiation of MOUs as tool to foster effective collaboration.

The Office of Gift Compliance at the University of Colorado Foundation is focusing on tackling underutilized funds through a variety of approaches, encompassing an in-house developed gift compliance focused data set and report (Fund Purpose Report). This work has greatly improved the Foundation’s relationship with campus (controllers, fund managers, deans, etc.) and Advancement staff and has led to overall improvements in spending, transparency and communication surrounding gift funds.

The University of North Dakota and the University of North Dakota Alumni Association and Foundation, while two separate organizations have aligned priorities, coordinate messaging, and share storytelling assets to support both the strategic initiatives of the University as well as the fundraising efforts. The collaboration between the two organizations is yielding strong results for both organizations as they developed and prepared to launch a new university strategic plan and campaign. This presentation will review how the two organizations set up ongoing communication and systems that created the strong partnership and interwoven messaging between the strategic plan and campaign.

How can community colleges begin attracting philanthropy that measures up to their growing footprint? The key lies in delivering the right messages and the most personalized communications to educate donors about the outsized impact of their own community college. These institutions are the local bastion of access to higher education, especially for first-generation students. They are where a workforce hones skills and jump-starts careers. and where the future of a region's infrastructure and prosperity rests. Find out how you can better inspire generosity and allegiance by showcasing opportunities for donors to advance their interests and invest in their community's future.

No longer is it enough to be the best fundraiser in the room. Through a commitment to character development, continual learning, confirming the fundamentals, innovation, and modeling excellence, the leader of a development program can bring out the best from their team and build a successful program of significance. Through this session walking through "The Leadership Factor" chapter of the speaker's new book, "BeneFactors: Why Some Fundraising Professionals Always Succeed", attendees will learn the key factors to becoming leaders of the modern fundraising enterprise.

Finding the right alignment of institutional priorities and fundraising priorities is mission critical for success. This success is not only about meeting fundraising goals, but more importantly strengthening the impact on the related institution. Our colleges and universities are complex with many competing demands -- this session will help you to think through how to increase success on every level.

This session will explore barriers related to Inclusive Philanthropy and strategic data gathering, with discussion focused on collaboration across the university and advancement. Tools will be provided during the session, allowing attendees to identify the Institution's Strategic Pillars, the creation of a Transformation Map and the sharing of steps that can be used to draft a formal case statement to use as a roadmap for donors committed to social justice and equity action.

The Ivy Tech Foundation utilized a campaign planning process to create a closer working relationship between the Foundation and the College. This closer working relationship resulted in the first ever statewide campaign to provide philanthropic support of the College’s strategic plan. This session will share the strategies of campaign planning and implementation that led to a strong partnership between the Foundation and the College, engaged 19 campuses to focus on shared priorities, and formed the basis for the successful $285M campaign.