UCL has been on a journey to embrace being data driven – using innovative reports to understand what behaviours impact this year’s income and our future success. Our journey has used expertise from across the office but in particular, it has showcased the strength of our operations teams. From getting the data structure right, gathering and tidying the data well, reporting it clearly, establishing trusting but candid relationships and then using these to make specific recommendations to increase effectiveness. We took a theory on how best practice could strengthen all our activity and ultimately transformed how we work. We will demonstrate how operations and fundraising have come together to produce actionable insight which has a real-world effect on our income, the key behaviours of our fundraisers and the vision and direction of the department as a whole. We will bring to life the UCL moves management system and reporting suites, showing how they are used daily as well as strategically. We will show how we adapt and allow them to evolve to maintain their effectiveness. Finally we will show how this does not just raise the performance of fundraisers but all those who work in an advancement office.

AI has many applications but entrusting it with your biggest asset - your reputation - might not seem like one of them. Join this session to learn what we mean when we talk about AI, and how it can be applied to donor or partner due diligence. We’ll then hear how Cambridge University were inspired by Xapien’s AI to overhaul their due diligence process, resulting in maximum protection, and maximum efficiency during their Dear World…Yours, Cambridge Campaign and beyond.

Join the University of Bath and the University of Southampton sharing their experience of growth within their teams – how did they manage that growth, what unexpected things happened within their teams, and what lessons did they learn. After a short presentation, a panel discussion with the audience should open up others to share their examples and questions of the impact of growth.