Affinity work is key to meaningful alumni engagement and participation. In this session, we’ll share the creative ways that Babson College has fostered alumni engagement among its athletes, married couples, and reunion classes to build philanthropic support for our annual Athletics [fundraising] Challenge, Bsquared … happily ever after wall, and Class Days of Giving.

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 enhanced the culture of giving across our colleges statewide. The primary objective is to engage attendees in an active conversation, an exchange of ideas about how we collectively define success in today's fundraising climate.

Join campus leaders from Boston University and Colby College for new insights and a lively discussion around building donor pipeline. From surveying to better understand your audience, to persona building & targeted engagement, to evaluating and implementing new tools to move donors up the ladder at scale, building a pipeline of donors from entry to major gift, is key to fundraising on campus today. In this session, staff from Boston University and Colby College will talk about the work they’ve been doing, the challenges they had along the way, how they ultimately found success at scale, and engage presentation participants in a lively discussion that will prepare them for returning to campus with new strategies and ideas.

Engaging recent graduates is typically top of mind for many alumni engagement and annual giving teams. Social media plays a big role in helping Graduates Of the Last Decade (GOLD) alumni stay connected to their university. In this presentation, we'll look at how to leverage social media to stay in touch with GOLD alumni, how to help keep them engaged after graduation, and how to capitalize on university-wide wins to keep GOLD alumni proud of their alma mater.

In this session, led by Finalsite Chief Evangelist - Rob DiMartino, attendees will learn how several CASE and NAIS peer schools from across the country and spanning the globe are using the power of their digital engagement platforms to retain and build enrollment.

From a family’s first interaction with your school’s website to when they are fully immersed in the life of the school, expectations for the digital experience of your school have been accelerated and changed permanently. From admissions to academics, athletics, and advancement, an integrated digital strategy—once a "nice to have"—is now a necessity.

Join us to learn how schools are delivering a connected, engaging digital experience that extend from the website to all-in-one communications (email, SMS, Text to Voice, automated email drip campaigns) including leveraging real time integration with Database management systems.

The GOAL is engagement. You cannot recruit, retain, cultivate or educate with out it.

Let's dive into enhancing and growing your senior gift campaign. This workshop aims to provide participants with insights and practical tools to elevate their institutions' senior gift initiatives, from lessons learned at a peer institution. We will explore avenues to engage and inspire graduating seniors, that aims to foster a culture of philanthropy that extends beyond graduation.

Whether you are a seasoned advancement professional or new to the annual fund program, this session will give you a few ideas to try at your own institution. Join us to unlock the full potential of your senior gift program and make a lasting impact on both your donors and the future of your institution.

To fully flex your fundraising muscle you need buy-in from both the annual giving and advancement services sides of the house. How do you achieve the alignment necessary to drive meaningful results? The devil is in the data.
GiveCampus analyzed aggregate data from 4,532 campaigns and 4,973 giving forms to identify what’s moving the proverbial needle in fundraising and what’s not. Find out from fellow higher ed fundraiser Jessica Gagnon at Boston College how she's leveraging that data to drive decisions at key stages of the philanthropic lifecycle, and how she got everybody—including advancement services—to back her team's biggest bets.

Let’s face it, not every advancement team is built the same. But that doesn’t mean they can’t raise the same (and even better).

While being a member of a smaller team certainly poses challenges, it forces its members to embrace critical thinking, innovative ideas, and modern technology. In this session, you’ll learn about how Central Catholic High School, with an eight person team, did just that and exceeded their goals thanks to multi-channel communications, a unique approach to alumni volunteers, automated donor comment collection, and more repeatable low-touch strategies. When you leave this session, you’ll be ready to smash your goals by embracing efficient and modern marketing techniques and technologies.

Are you ready to save time and engage more?

Promoting the message that annual fund dollars will close the gap between the actual cost of education and tuition is becoming less and less of a compelling argument to potential donors. Today’s sophisticated donors want to know that their gift, regardless of its size, will have a measurable impact on the school. Shifting your message to encourage donors to make their annual gift in support of programs or academic departments that they are most passionate about is critical to motivating your stay-the-course donors to give more and attracting new supporters. By doing so, your school will be better prepared to increase the giving participation rate by: (1) developing more customized solicitations that speak to potential donors’ passions; and (2) creating more personalized stewardship reports to show the impact of their specific gifts on the school. Perhaps more importantly, the school will also uncover the areas / projects that resonate most with donors, which will help it to be more strategic in its outreach both for the annual fund and for major gift engagements.