We’ve heard about the enrollment cliff and its likely impact on higher education. For her dissertation, Dr. Carrie Phillips researched how marketing strategies might help mitigate this cliff. This session shares findings from visiting with chief marketing officers about how they’re preparing. The session will begin with a high-level overview of the enrollment cliff followed by a deep dive into how marketing strategies might lessen the impact. You’ll hear about the challenges participants face, strategies they’re exploring and best practices to consider. As you’re looking to navigate change at your institution, this session is a great place to start.

Embarking on a leadership role in advancement can be both exhilarating and challenging. While many of us began our advancement careers as specialists, (making in-person asks for big gifts, mastering back-office processes, creating marketing materials, etc.), sooner or later, we find ourselves managing teams. While we may be experts at “making the ask” or “mapping appeal code structures,” oftentimes new managers can find ourselves at a loss when required to give effective performance reviews or coach up a new team member. This session is tailored for advancement professionals who have recently taken the step from being practitioners to managing teams. You will hear from three of your colleagues who have made this leap and are now successful industry leaders. Madison, Karl, and Adrian will introduce you to the dynamic world of advancement teams, providing essential insights, strategies, and tools to help you become a more successful team manager and leader.

In this session, Carrie and Muriel will discuss the driving force behind UA Little
Rock's Affordability Campaign, illuminating its critical objectives and sharing
essential lessons learned. Discover how the campaign seamlessly melded alumni
and student messaging, forging a powerful alliance in the fight for affordable
higher education. This presentation promises to inspire and educate, offering
strategic insights for an unforgettable messaging & perception campaign that
leaves a lasting impact.

In the digital age, universities must consider how a thoughtful approach to social media content strategy can leave a lasting impact across all audiences and help to achieve your goals. In a unique session, co-hosted by the Texas State University Marketing Team and University President Kelly Damphousse, attendees will delve into the transformative role that social media plays in advancing a university's stature, amplifying key messages and goals while fostering a sense of community and engagement. President Damphousse and the TXST marketing team have individually found a sweet spot between social media content and community engagement while creating space for cross collaboration on content related to the university’s broader academic, fundraising, and community goals. Together, President Damphousse and TXST marketing have fostered digital communities that have driven unprecedented levels of engagement between the students, faculty/staff, alumni and community – all on social media. Learn valuable insights on how leadership can approach social media and build engaged communities online while implementing practical strategies for cross collaboration between leadership and your university’s accounts to harness the full potential of social media for your institution's growth, community engagement, and strategic advancement.

In this session, we will discuss the importance of CASE Insights on Alumni Engagement survey as well as techniques and best practices in gathering key data points in the four modes of Philanthropic, Volunteer, Experiential, and Communications engagement. Whether a small shop or large decentralized institution, we will explore how to successfully execute and utilize this key strategic initiative. Co-presenters Jenny Cooke-Smith and Chuck Arnold will present the latest findings from recent Alumni Engagement surveying activity as well as a deep dive into how to successfully (and efficiently!) complete the Alumni Engagement survey for your institution. Learn how measuring engagement really does drive your organizational outcomes and how your institution can take part in this important benchmarking project.

We will delve into our journey of moving away from a conventional, formal award dinner to a dynamic alumni recognition program. This strategic shift not only boosted event attendance but also created a pathway (and opened up the resources) to develop captivating awardee videos that continue to engage our alumni long after the award presentation.

Launching a Giving Day is no small feat. Contrary to what the name implies this type of high energy campaign encompasses much more than a single day of philanthropy. This session will outline everything from recommended timelines and strategic messaging to key successes and areas of improvement from UNT's very first on campus day of giving. Join us as we walk through the key components of starting a giving day from initial idea to fruition.

In the Spring of 2023, the UTSA Alumni Association had an identity crisis. It was striving to engage Roadrunner Alumni, but its brand was bland. From inconsistent design application to fickle messaging, they lacked a true marketing strategy. It was time for a REBRAND.

In working with partner and brand agency, Parallel, find out how the UTSA Alumni Association made its brand come alive, implemented it throughout its programming, and garnered alumni buy-in while capturing the unique spirit of UTSA. Plus, get the inside scoop the process start to finish, the things that worked, those that didn't, and what you should consider before taking the "rebrand" plunge.

In this dynamic conference presentation, we'll dive into the art and science of branding from both a marketing collateral and personal perspective. As higher education institutions, the data says that branding will help us stand out in a crowded marketplace. We’ll kick off the conversation with practical strategies and creative approaches to create memorable, authentic, and effective marketing collateral that resonates with your target audience.

But branding isn’t limited to our institutions; it extends to you as an individual. During the second half of our discussion, we’ll discuss building a personal brand that leaves a lasting impact. Drawing from real-life success stories, we'll explore how to cultivate your personal brand and how that can help you connect with donors, students, and industry peers. Then, we'll shift our focus inward to understand how your personal brand can empower and motivate your internal team.

ChatGPT is the fastest-growing app in history. For many users, this is their first experience with generative AI — technology that is designed to create content. And it’s their first time encountering how AI will transform how we live, work, and fundraise. In this interactive workshop, we'll talk about the rise of AI, help everyone understand generative AI and large language models, and talk about data protection and privacy. We'll then spend time in an interactive prompt engineering workshop, showing how generative AI can increase efficiency, generate ideas, and become a part of your daily work.