Higher Education's challenges are numerous and complex. Are you ready to lead? This panel of current and former college and university vice presidents, will stimulate your thinking about how to turn challenges into successes. How will we approach challenges such as declining trust in higher education, continued declines in donor participation and event attendance, national cultural/political divisions, board and legislative intrusion, uses of A.I., recruiting and retaining talent, staff work expectations, and managing multiple constituencies. Bring your questions to ask your C-Suite colleagues who serve on their respective presidents' cabinets.

This session will discuss the strengths and opportunities of a college-specific development officer versus a centralized model at Jacksonville State University (JSU). We'll explore how these different approaches impact fundraising effectiveness, donor relationships, and overall advancement strategies at Jax State.

"Every person on the planet has sass and smart-sass qualities in them." - Dictionary.com . Do you know and have the skill sets to solicit, acknowledge, and steward the gifts your charity seeks? What are the most important attributes in each category? If you've closed the gift and acknowledged why should you be included in the stewardship?

So you joined the road warrior club? Congratulations! But now what? Learn and connect with your fellow new and seasoned road warriors to "hit the ground running". Gain the tools of the trade to be a great fundraiser, travel easier, and advance your career, with a healthy dose of hilarious or jaw dropping stories from the field.

Relationship building is the heart of philanthropy. The listening skills a fundraiser needs to be successful at building strong relationships with donors and prospects differs from your usual listening activities in work and life. In this session, you’ll learn the components of active listening and how to develop your listening skills to build solid and lasting relationships. This session will focus on building cultural competencies and practicing emotional intelligence to take your fundraising to the next level.

Will we achieve our fundraising goal this year? Do we have enough asks planned in our pipeline to achieve our goal? Questions like these arise throughout the year in advancement organizations of all shapes and sizes. When they arise in your institution, do you have a reliable method to forecast fundraising results with confidence?

In this session the University of Central Florida Advancement and Partnerships team will share a roadmap for forecasting fundraising totals that has been successfully used to project fundraising attainment within a reliable margin to actual dollars raised. From the analysis methods used to determine discount rates for solicitations to sample reports shared with leadership, this session will provide insights into goal setting techniques, managing fundraiser performance, and monitoring pipeline movement through this method of forecasting fundraising.

The higher education landscape is constantly evolving, presenting both challenges and opportunities for fundraisers. From navigating new regulations and technologies to adapting to the shifting priorities of students and donors, leadership must ensure their institution operates at the highest level and utilizes current best practices. A robust suite of highly-tailored policies and procedures can be the key to ensuring your college is equipped to serve your communities and prepare for a bright future. The Broward College Foundation and CCS Fundraising recently partnered on an audit to assess the current state of the foundation’s policies and procedures. This collaboration led to the development of a new, comprehensive suite of policies designed to enhance operations and protect against emerging threats. Join CCS and BCF as they discuss the essential policies your institution needs to support enhanced operations and mitigate risks such as digital currency gift acceptance and naming policies in the age of cancel culture.

Frontline fundraising has long been a holdout in advancement’s data-driven renaissance. This is where the art, rather than the science, of fundraising was paramount. The importance of data as the currency in relationship-based giving programs, however, has never been greater. From well planned and managed cadencies to qualify, cultivate, and close major gifts to collecting and recording data points that will be foundational in predictive modeling, it has never been more important for gift officers—and the programs whose success they power—to be data minded.

This session will invite gift officers to reevaluate their relationship with data and own their opportunity to manage their portfolios and prospects with their role in managing data to maximize insights in mind. It will also focus on how fundraiser managers and advancement services professionals can partner with gift officers to manage a data-forward frontline fundraising program.

While most organizations direct their attention to alumni donors, out of necessity Elon University has more strongly emphasized parent and family fundraising for the past 40 years. Explore Elon's adapted fundraising model and discover engagement strategies to enhance parent and family fundraising in your organization. We'll delve into the efficient cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of parents within a limited timeframe, and discuss engaging campus partners to maximize fundraising success.

Learn effective strategies to engage and motivate your college advisory board to actively participate in fundraising efforts. This presentation covers best practices for setting clear expectations, building strong relationships, leveraging members' networks, and providing the tools and support needed for successful fundraising. Whether you’re looking to boost annual giving or secure major gifts, this comprehensive resource will help you harness the full potential of your advisory board to meet and exceed your financial goals.