Join us for an insightful session on the transformative journey of The University of Texas at Tyler’s website. This session will delve into the collaborative efforts, strategic planning, and innovative design that culminated in the successful launch of a unified, modern website.

The project team, over 18 months, moved more than 20,000 pages of content and files into the new template system, consolidating our administrative sites in one content management system (CMS). The creation of the new suite of templates was done with significant research and stakeholder feedback. With this launch, content from several sites, including WordPress sites, were combined into a single, cohesive, branded, accessible and robust new .edu.

Discover how internal teams and external partners came together to create a digital presence that reflects the university’s mission and vision and learn about the challenges and triumphs encountered along the way.

SMU is a nationally ranked global research university located in Dallas. The institution is known for its tenacious spirit and academic drive fostered by its alumni, faculty, and students. Beyond academics, SMU Athletics is committed to student-athlete excellence with its athletics program striving to be among the best in the nation.

Building on its storied history in sports and academics, SMU joined the prestigious Atlantic Coast Conference (“ACC”) in July 2024. This strategic move positions the SMU Mustangs to compete in one of the most competitive intercollegiate conferences in the country—offering a unique opportunity to expand its reach in the classroom and on the field across a broader national audience.

This panel explores the strategic and executional work that SMU marketing and 160over90 undertook to build the “Mustangs Must” reputation enhancement campaign which launched in market with the ACC entry and has expanded to provide an overarching level of brand awareness, enrollment consideration, sports attendance, and positively impact ongoing fundraising.

Engaging your magazine’s audience in the digital age means considering social media storytelling from Day One. But translating a feature story idea from the page to Reels requires outside-the-box thinking—especially when you’re working with limited staff and budget. This session will cover how planning, collaboration and student involvement can result in dynamic storytelling that will organically expand your magazine’s reach, across platforms. We will outline a scalable approach to content planning that resonates with a diverse community of students, alumni, faculty, staff and donors.

In the fast-paced world of professional fundraising, the pressure to secure larger and larger gifts is intense....unfortunately, I have bad news...the pressure won't let up! This session unveils nontraditional strategies that moved fundraising at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff from annual yields of $2M to a record breaking year of more than $12million; we're convinced that we can help you move the needle as well. This inspiring and strategy-filled seminar introduces participants to techniques in expanding corporate giving, alumni outreach, and processes in building a non-affiliated donor pipeline. At the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, we grew foundation and corporate giving by more than 200%, expanded alumni giving by 50%, and even increased faculty-staff giving by more than 40%. This hands on learning session is filled with practical tips that will show you how you can create a Personal Fundraising Plan (PFP), grow your non-affiliated donor pipeline, and attract those high capacity donors that always seem to get away. Designed as a best-practice session for new Development Officers, or even the veteran advancement leader looking to reinvigorate their fundraising strategies, this insightful session just might be your secret sauce for success!

In 2023, Texas Tech Health El Paso was approved by the state to receive funding to build a cancer center on our campus. When opened, this will be the only comprehensive cancer center in El Paso, nearly 300 miles south of the nearest existing cancer center in Albuquerque, and the only one in the nearly 1,000 mile stretch between Dallas and Tucson. The problem was that, beyond funds to construct the building, there was no other funding—for talent recruitment, for equipment, for patient services and support, for program development, for research. It has been left to our Institutional Advancement team (Development and Marketing-Communications), and other teams on campus (Research, Government Relations) not only to find additional funding but to begin the process of clarifying what funding is needed, how it will be used, and of course where it will come from.
Through a combination of marketing, grant writing, and direct personal appeals, we have, in a short time, raised nearly $35 million toward these purposes, over $30 million of which is private funding generated by Institutional Advancement. These gifts are headlined by a $25 million private donation to drive recruitment, planning and operating, as well as a $5 million operating grant. More broadly, they include a likely (though still pending) $1.2 million in equipment funds, nearly half a million dollars in future cancer patient support, and several hundred thousand in cancer screening funds.
The key to this windfall has been the strong working relationship and creative coordination between Institutional Advancement leadership, the university president, the Corporate Foundation Relations team, the Marketing/Communications team, and the Government Relations team.
This presentation will provide an overview of Institutional Advancement’s lead role in the coordination, explication, and appeals to individual and institutional donors and funders that have brought us here.

Participants will collaborate in small groups to create a print marketing campaign of their choosing from start to finish, guided by experts Carrie and Trey. The simulation will walk them through the key stages: planning, design, printing, and distribution. Groups will start by outlining a basic marketing plan, brainstorming with insights from Carrie and Trey. They’ll then sketch a quick mock-up using pre-printed design elements, discuss print options, and explore distribution strategies. The session wraps up with a collaborative share-out, offering practical insights into the creative process and decision-making behind effective print marketing.