The good news is that you’ve been hired to lead fundraising initiatives at your school. The bad news is that there’s a good chance, especially if you’re at a community college, that your president, leadership team, faculty, and professional staff assume all the development work falls solely on your shoulders. This isn’t fair—and it’s also detrimental to your financial success. How do we persuade everyone at our institutions that they play a crucial role in advancement? Let’s explore strategies for getting even the most reluctant colleagues to embrace advancement at your institution.

Feeling overwhelmed by your donor portfolio? Struggling to effectively cultivate and steward all your donors?

Discover the Secret Sauce to successful fundraising with the T36 (Top 36) approach, as shared by leaders from the Sam Houston State University Development team. The T36 provides a transformative strategy for managing donor portfolios across various areas, including Annual Giving, Major Giving, Alumni Relations, Donor Relations, Corporate and Foundation Relations, and Special Events.

Why the T36 Works:
• Effective Portfolio Management: Focus on the most impactful donors with targeted engagement strategies.
• Streamlined Strategies: Apply practical methods to ensure that each donor is effectively cultivated and stewarded.
• Enhanced Collaboration: Foster teamwork to build stronger donor relationships and maximize engagement.

By prioritizing the number of asks, setting clear ask minimums, and promoting collaboration, the T36 creates a sustainable and effective approach to fundraising.

Proven Results:
After a year of implementing the T36 strategy, our Advancement team achieved its second-largest fundraising year, surpassing our annual goal by over $2 Million. We’re on track for even greater growth in the coming years.

Join us on this journey and transform the way you manage your donor portfolio. Discover how the T36 can be scaled to all aspects of Advancement and lead to unparalleled success in your fundraising efforts.

The lights are fading, the party is almost over, the goal has been met…your campaign is coming to a close. Your development officer and leadership teams may be starting to breath deep, but now it’s our time to shine – it’s time for donor relations, stewardship, engagement, events, and communications to take the stage and breathe life into all that has been accomplished through your massive fundraising accomplishment. Join this session to explore to role of these teams in effectively recognizing donors to the campaign at all levels, reporting the impact of funds raised, stewarding new funds, consolidating and converting events as necessary, and more. We will explore key data reports to be pulling, important annual communications to be issuing, and how to develop retention strategy for these important donors. It’s now our job to retain and engage these campaign donors – until the next big party!

Join us for an engaging and interactive session where we dive into the latest trends in stewardship and donor experience strategies for higher education advancement. Discover how modern approaches and cutting-edge AI technologies can transform your donor relations, making them more personalized, efficient, and impactful. Through a mix of real-world examples and hands-on activities you’ll learn how to modernize donor experiences that exceeds expectations. Whether you’re a seasoned advancement professional or new to the field, this session will provide you with practical ideas, tips from AI, and innovative ideas to take your stewardship practices to the next level.

Clubs and Chapter events can vary in format, goal, budget, and audience... to name a few. The team at University of New Mexico will moderate a group conversation around best practices and lessons learned, encouraging audience members share their stories and participate in the dialogue. Let's learn from each other!

Join us for a panel discussion featuring three dynamic community colleges, Bossier Parish Community College, Houston Community College Foundation, and Paris Junior College, as they share their experiences and strategies utilizing events for milestone celebrations, alumni and community engagement, and prospect identification and stewardship. Learn how each institution approaches events in terms of advancing their institutions’ missions, weighing event return on investment, and the impact on staff and attendees. This session will offer candid and practical insights and actionable ideas that can be implemented by fundraising professionals at community colleges and beyond, ensuring continued growth and impact through strategic engagement.

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.