If you are new to community colleges and/or educational advancement, where do you start? It all begins with solid planning. This pre-conference, designed specifically for people with fewer than three years of community college advancement experience, will give you a solid foundation to help ensure both your success and that of your college. You will learn how to develop an annual plan, key elements of stewardship and – most important – how to build and nurture relationships internally and externally. You’ll leave with plenty of examples, good questions to be asking, and pearls of wisdom from several experienced advancement professionals. Plus, you’ll be connected with a new group of professional colleagues who will be friends and fans for the rest of your career.

Community college presidents face immense pressure to deliver results: Enroll more students, raise more money, engage more alumni, develop more partnerships, get more “good” publicity. Join us for a special pre-conference workshop just for community college presidents. CASE President & CEO Sue Cunningham will lead a series of candid conversations with community college presidents about what is working – and what isn’t – in community college advancement today. We will surface challenging questions including: - How can advancement efforts align to support strategic enrollment management efforts? - How can advancement efforts support workforce development priorities of the college and community? - How much time and effort should we put into alumni relations? - What are the most effective fund-raising strategies (and is my college raising as much as it should be)? - What are the keys to a high-performing foundation board (and staff)? - How can I advance the college’s brand and my personal brand more favorably in the media and with stakeholders? Plus, those who register for the pre-conference will be invited to submit questions and topics ahead of time to be added to the discussion. This workshop, while led by three experienced presidents, will draw on the experience and expertise of everyone in the room, so plan to share your successes (and challenges) as well. Please note that you must be a current or incoming community college president or campus CEO in order to register for this pre-conference. Foundation presidents/CEOs should not register for this event.

The Opening Session will give us a chance to celebrate the successes of our institutions, get our creativity flowing, and connect across all the ways we help champion our institutions. In this interactive session, CASE President and CEO Sue Cunningham will offer her view of advancement and the state of the profession and offer insights and inspiration on why advancement is even more important than ever. Conference attendees will also be joined by members of CASE’s US-Canada Council for this session, enabling the Council to hear about the successes and opportunities community colleges are experiencing.

In this lightning-fast session, I’ll condense 25 years of on-staff and client alumni magazine and higher ed communications experience into 60 ideas that you can use TODAY to make your print publications — including magazines, major anniversary publications, and even campaign materials more read, more loved, and more valuable.

From optimizing your print publications for the coffee table to techniques that can 8x the effectiveness of your headlines, to “engagement engineering” to make stories as feedback-friendly as possible, participants will come away with concrete ideas that they can implement immediately and make a real difference for their publications and communications.

Five years ago, CASE acquired the Voluntary Support of Education Survey (VSE) and introduced new metrics on alumni engagement. What major trends have we been tracking since then? Where are trends for community colleges similar or different than other types of institutions? What do we know and what don’t we know? In answering these questions, we will focus on the unique challenges that Community Colleges have in building sustainable data practices--staffing resources, broad alumni populations, historically low participation in benchmarking, and some pervasive data myths--and ways to overcome these challenges. Regardless of where you are in your data journey, you will leave knowing ways to improve your strategic use of data, track more of what matters, and utilize the resources CASE has to offer to support your efforts.

In April of 2023, Holyoke Community College held its third annual day of giving, #TogetherHCC: Drive to Change Lives, raising over $250,000 from 506 donors. Located in Western Massachusetts, HCC staff set out to raise their giving day game by implementing a donor-centered approach before, during, and after the big day. This session will provide practical steps and strategies for small shops to execute a giving day that both broadens the donor base and fosters a culture of philanthropy.

Communication expectations continue to shift among our graduates – meeting those expectations can lead to higher engagement. In this session, we'll share results of our national survey of over 2,000 alumni on areas of interest, expectations, and opportunities to build engagement and support. We'll then share examples of how some community colleges connect with alumni through segmented, targeted communications to further deepen their relationship with the institution. Participants will leave this session with concrete ideas to inform communication strategies and next steps to broaden and deepen overall alumni engagement.

In the world of crisis communications, no two emergency events are the same. In this session, you will hear a unique first-hand account from a Public Relations professional who navigated a shooting crisis on their community college campus in Louisville, Kentucky on April 10, just hours after a mass shooting at a local bank took place a mile away. You will learn how to adapt in the moment of a crisis, identify key planning strategies and how to best prepare for an unexpected emergency event on your campus.

Work smart, not hard. In this session, you will walk away with a formula to conduct a Recency, Frequency, Monetary (RFM) score in seconds. We will go step-by-step through using a traditional RFM score to find prospects who have demonstrated a meaningful affinity. We will overlay these scores with an RFM+ approach. The RFM+ approach goes beyond the standard philanthropic indicators to measure additional types of engagement and affinity, such as event attendance and membership data. We will show you how to use wealth screening results to identify prospects with a strong capacity and are giving to like organizations. Lastly, we will share a Community College CASE Study of our work.

Wouldn't you like to boost the philanthropic potential of your institution? If you are a college president, come to this session and grow in confidence around your role as the campus' chief fundraiser. If you are a foundation executive, come to the session and grow your capacity to be your campus president's fundraising partner. An accomplished foundation executive and a seasoned campus administrator take you through the evolution of their work together to begin to install a culture of philanthropy on and off campus.

Develop a women's giving circle full of diverse and powerful women who are committed to raising funds to support and make an impact in the educational goals and dreams of women students. The end result of the giving circle is an event where funds are raised and given away in the form of scholarships all in one night. Event attendees get to vote on the students who they think should receive the scholarships.

Synergy in today’s competitive philanthropic landscape is critical to success. Foundation staff and volunteer leaders are partners in this effort. To maximize your College’s culture of philanthropy and impact, they must coalesce and lead around a shared mission and vision.

Their agreement about the case for support, priority prospects, Board composition, and fundraising plan provide a baseline. Beyond that, the most dynamic duos bring a certain type of magic to their partnership. While there is no single approach to developing an inspirational partnership, this panel will offer tips and tools to help you build or strengthen this relationship.

This focused discussion will bring together two pairs of Executives and Chairs to 1) share stories about what makes their relationship unique; 2) lead session participants in dialogue to help find their own magic; and finally, 3) explore sample tools and team-building exercises designed to find inspiration.

.Ivy Tech Foundation is the largest singly-accredited community college in the country. They were founded in 1963 and have 75 academic programs serving nearly 180,000 students. With 43 locations across the state of Indiana, they employ approximately 6,500 faculty and staff.

In 2020 they started their journey to implement a cohesive CRM across multiple campuses.
They began the journey during the pandemic and work from home. They performed the implementation with a small and mighty team, and they had to learn an entirely new product and streamline their business processes.

Hear about their transformative outcomes and how they have become more efficient in their processes and procedures, how they have provided data easier and accessible via mobile devices, and how they have utilized dashboards for ease of reporting.

The team kicked off their project in March of 2021 and went live in October of 2022 and they support 105 Salesforce/ascend users.

Standing up a campaign at a community college can be a tall order. Culture, infrastructure, staffing, budget, institutional and community buy in, major gift pipelines and volunteer engagement all present major hurdles. In this session, come engage with the advancement leadership from Amarillo College to learn what mattered most when it came to standing up their $45M comprehensive campaign.

Learn how a small, rural community college and its foundation created two distinct last dollar scholarship models to strengthen area high schools, the college, the community, and grow talent to foster regional economic development. Learn about the program benefits, student eligibility, program components, first-year outcomes, projected future numbers, the funding model and how to engage partners.

What to do if you suddenly find yourself at the helm of a rudderless Advancement ship and the passengers are relying on your to get it safely back on course. This is for those people who are beginning, or want to turn around, a Foundation/Advancement operation that has never existed or has been neglected for so long it's on the rocks and about to sink. What can you do when you have less than zero resources and need to turn the boat around? Where is the biggest bang for the buck? How can you exponentially increase impact without increasing personnel? How can you leverage connection and technology to bring about the needed change and get your operation back on course? This was where we found ourselves at Diablo Valley College and you can hear what we've done so far.

How do you create a lasting stewardship experience that effectively recognizes each donor’s impact and makes the scholarship more meaningful to the recipient? The Foundation for Seminole State has developed a unique technological approach to donor stewardship which has resulted in greater donor satisfaction, higher levels of recipient involvement, and increased giving. This session will demonstrate how the Foundation’s Online Scholarship Catalog has transformed the donor-student experience which has led to significant donor satisfaction, higher levels of recipient involvement, and increased giving. This session will demonstrate how the online catalog has transformed the donor-student experience, which has led to significant growth in the number of endowed scholarships and higher donor gift amounts.

Your institution just celebrated its 50th Anniversary, is in the thick of developing a new strategic plan, and is in a major website redesign. And your board of trustees decides to change your institution’s name by dropping the word “community.” Whew! Hear how Oakton College approached this monumental task. We implemented a brand refresh, strengthened our brand relevance, aligned institutional efforts, and doubled down on community. We will share how we approached this work: the wins, the challenges, the lessons learned, and how we rolled out our brand launch.

Philanthropy and pickleball have more in common than you think! In this session a Community College Foundation Director and her Major-Giving Expert "coach" share relationship strategies in a fresh new way. The most successful advancement leaders invest in coaching - just like pickleball players score big wins with expert coaching. A mindset of patient persistence will elevate you to the next level of giving...and winning success!

Strong brands go a long way in student and employee retention, revitalized relationships with partners and donors, and in creating a welcoming environment and a sense of belonging. Hear how Arizona Western College approached this monumental task without hiring an outside agency. We'll share about the wins, the pitfalls, the cynics, the fans, the rollout, the lessons learned - and of course the before and after. Attendees will learn the basics of leading branding change and the benefits and challenges of going it alone.

A robust campus culture of philanthropy starts at the top. Working in collaboration, the foundation chief executive, the foundation board chair, the institution president, and the chair of the campus governing board (if there is one) working in collaboration can have a transformative effect on institutional culture and the effectiveness of fundraising. This session will outline critical leadership and governance practices to foster effective partnership among the senior-most staff leaders of the foundation and college and chairs of foundation and campus governing boards. Issues addressed will include:
• Using the foundation-institution MOU/operating agreement to develop and memorialize a shared vision for foundation-institution relationship,
• Creating a dynamic partnership with your board chair,
• Strategies to enhance strategic alignment between the institution and foundation boards, and
• The essential partnership between foundation CEO and campus President.

Join us for an exhilarating breakout session that will revolutionize your approach to donor stewardship and engagement! Discover the secrets to creating meaningful connections and nurturing long-term relationships with your supporters. Learn how to craft impactful impact reports that showcase the transformative power of their contributions. Explore the Howard Brown Giving Society, a prestigious recognition program that inspires elevated giving. Gain insights into planning unforgettable donor events that leave a lasting impression. We'll also delve into the art of crafting an engaging annual report card that highlights achievements and fosters trust. Plus, uncover the magic of holiday stewardship and its role in deepening donor relationships. Lastly, discover how a scholarship reception can strengthen bonds and attract new benefactors. Don't miss this game-changing session packed with practical strategies and inspiring ideas that will take your donor stewardship to new heights!

Imagine exuding greater confidence and becoming your best self as you effectively build up the people around you and catalyze your team to greater levels of active engagement. Unleashing your personal power enables greater productivity, resilience, and inspires change. This empowering keynote will inspire and equip you to embrace your inner strength and shine with unwavering confidence, overcome challenges, and make a lasting impact on your community college and the world around you. Lunch service will conclude at 1:00 PM.

Are you having a difficult time “managing up” to organizational leadership and board members about realistic fundraising goals and activities? 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.

If you are looking for a blueprint for annual fund success, this presentation is for you. Join Ron and Sue Rescigno as we guide you through the necessary steps it takes to create a comprehensive annual fund program that provides its donors and prospects with a continuous flow of communication throughout any given year. You will learn how the process Rescigno’s developed, when followed, even during a recession, results in a thriving annual fund that includes more new donors, better donor retention, and more major gift prospects than ever before. We will provide you with the tools you need to implement a revenue-generating machine for your annual fund. Colin Davis, Executive Director of Spoon River College Foundation has followed the Rescigno’s process over the past three years with great success and will share first-hand knowledge of how the process works. This is not a fundamentals 101 presentation; rather it’s a deep dive into what it takes to create an annual fund program that builds the all-important foundation of the donor pyramid and leads to developing meaningful relationships with major and planned-giving donors.

Imperial Valley College was the co-winner of the 2023 Aspen Award for Community College Excellence. This presentation will reflect on the institutional perspective and outline the success metrics and the marketing and resource development interventions that led to the Aspen Award. Focusing on the key areas of equity, access, completion and transfers, this presentation will expand on the campus culture, marketing, communications strategies, resource development initiatives, and partnerships at the college. Participants will learn successful how the college used student engagement, marketing, communication strategies, and grant opportunities to promote the college programs. The presentation will outline the journey from a rural Hispanic Serving Institution, the challenges and successes that paved the way to this recognition.

Are you feeling less tuned in than you used to be...or just seem to have lost that lovin' feeling? It's time to have a frank and open discussion about this, and the things we can do to re-engage and achieve greater joy along the way. We all possess a unique combination of strengths, talents, and skills that are needed to make our community college that AMAZING place where every person can learn, thrive, and grow. Participants in this session will work together to identify actions they can take to help themselves and their colleagues bring back that lovin’ feeling, including a year-long action plan that can be shared with your home campuses.

Changing the game! Learn how Long Beach City College made Athletic Fundraising a priority. LBCC Foundation supports the vision to elevate LBCC Athletics through strategic annual fund development and a long-term athletic endowment funding. By building a relationship with your Athletic Department our goal is to empower and encourage you to understand the value collegiate athletics has in your fundraising portfolio. Through this relationship you will be able to provide essential leadership and access to quality resources that directly support the growth and progress needed for student-athlete achievements. Fundraising campaigns can be framed around corporate dollars on campus who facilitate large athletic projects and capital improvements, grants programs and summer youth programs through the use of campus athletic facilities. Additional funding and engagement can come from strategic community partnerships, faculty and staff monthly giving and payroll deductions for employees. Utilizing your campus facilities for naming campaigns can actualize major gifts to establish a long-term endowment. Athletics is the front porch into many institutions and understanding the value athletics brings to the table as well as maintaining successful fundraising programs will provide significant and long-term benefit during economic down times and budget cuts.

Building a culture of philanthropy involves engaging stakeholders in the stories of our students and alumni. A successful major gift strategy is aligning a donor's interest with our shared mission. This session will share three case studies of fundraising success in New Hampshire that collectively have built a culture where students choose community and donors give opportunity.

Thanks to the alignment of solid planning, a dedicated team, and inspired fundraising, the Alamo Colleges Foundation executed a successful gala called MOSAICO to support AlamoPROMISE students. Founded over 75 years ago, The Alamo Colleges had never before hosted a major fundraising gala. In Fall 2020, our Chancellor tasked our Foundation team to execute an event that would proudly showcase our ability to achieve our mission and shelve any stigma against community colleges by "showing our partners and donors that we have arrived." Join this session to find out how our Development Team overcame pandemic delays, leadership changes, organizational challenges and other concerns to create an inaugural event that raised $820,000 for student scholarships and support.

The Gumbo of Community College Fundraising has been cooking for the Louisiana Community and Technical College System since 2014 and the roux in the gumbo is just now being perfected for success. This session focuses on how elements of enrollment management, student affairs, academic affairs, workforce and economic development, fundraising, and governmental affairs are key ingredients to making the gumbo. Join this session to learn from a community college “Sous Chef” who has had the opportunity to work in each department at the college level and now is the “Executive Chef” at the system and what key ingredients played an important role to making a robust impact in Louisiana. These ingredients shared with attendees are key strategies to investments toward student success.

Learn how Mid-State Technical College, a small institution in central Wisconsin, completed a multi-year capital campaign, raising $13 million for construction costs and $10 million for furniture, fixtures, equipment, and technology. The college's cross-functional campaign team leveraged local, state, and federal partnerships to build and equip an Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering Technology, and Apprenticeship (AMETA) Center that will be ready to usher in industry 4.0 technology and student and incumbent-worker skilling opportunities. This campaign was in response to a workforce problem affecting the rural communities the college serves. It affects the district employers' current and long-term stability and growth and was assessed and validated by stakeholder data. The college and its partners developed a collaborative solution to develop a grassroots capital campaign without the use of consultants or fully dedicated campaign staff. The college secured funds from over 125 local, state, and national partners amidst the pandemic’s political and economic uncertainty.

Nearly 4 out of 10 workers in the U.S. plan to leave their job in 2023. In the advancement world, nonprofits are desperately seeking fundraisers, with situations becoming dire in some companies. Within this new and challenging environment of recruiting new talent and seeking to retain existing talent, the question remains: How do leaders build cultures where employees want to come work for you and want to stay? Attendees will leave the session with: * Three tips for attracting and retaining employees. * The top four questions to regularly ask direct reports and team members. * Ideas to create their own plan to engage their team and build a positive (and high-performing) culture.

Get ready to transform your institution by using organizational integration to create a welcoming "front porch" to college partners, alumni, and the community. Discover the advantages of strategically aligning the advancement, communications and marketing, and workforce and economic development departments. Unlock synergies, streamline processes, and maximize outcomes through alignment of goals, processes and systems. Explore implementation strategies, benefits, and the transformative power of this strategic approach. Join us as we open the doors to reveal a new level of partnership and excellence.

Learn how content marketing and storytelling is one of the most effective ways to jumpstart your digital marketing, especially with a small team. This session will outline how stories and evergreen content provide the most engagement in organic marketing and best bang for your buck in paid digital, while letting you use content again and again. We’ll provide some tips and tricks for finding stories and interviewing, along with what content sharing methods work best for a small team and budget, both paid and unpaid.

CASE “Shark Tank Challenge” Attendees of the 2023 conference can volunteer to compete in the “Shark Tank Challenge” – and a chance to win a $100 gift card! Up to eight five-member teams will be given a challenge to solve during the course of the conference. They’ll apply things learned during the conference, and collaborate throughout the event to come up with five key solutions to the challenge. There will be challenges for fundraising, alumni engagement, and marketing/communications. CASE will randomly assign teams based on participants’ preferences. Teams and challenges will be announced at the opening plenary, and each team will have five minutes during this closing event to present its best work to our “Sharks” – members of the conference planning team. They’ll be looking for creativity, good use of resources, and ideas that anyone can implement. Ultimately, the audience will select the Shark Tank Challenge winner, so this is a closing session you will not want to miss. For questions or to volunteer to be on a team, contact Paul Heaton (pheaton@case.org).