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.

Advancement and Development services are approaching a new horizon when working with internal employees and external partners. Through discovery work, Dallas College Advancement and Development has created a new model for leveraging funding using network systems to support students and provide partners with a roadmap for success. This session will explore the new model, its benefits, and how it can be used to create a more efficient and effective way to manage sponsored program projects.

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.

We all know that a robust donor pipeline is key to a sustainable, growth-oriented development operation. but how do we combine the relationship-building power of major gifts with the scalability of annual giving activities? The answer: Digital Experience Officers (DXOs)! In this session, you will hear how the OK State Foundation Annual Giving Team built a DXO program to engage and upgrade donors in the middle of the pyramid to identify and hand off the next generation of major gift prospects. Your presenters will share their experience building a program from the ground up, how they collaborated with peers to form a program that was right for their institution, and how the program has grown and changed in its initial two years.

Mentorship Matters: Join a University President and a frontline gift officer for a panel discussion to learn how their 7 year plus mentorship relationship has strengthened and advanced their careers. Learn how you can utilize their example of a strategic mentoring relationship to build your own mentoring network to advance your development career and grow in your professional development as an advancement professional.

As a leader of an advancement organization, prepare yourself and your team to embark on the impactful journey of crafting new cultural values. Unlike traditional approaches, we'll be diving into a dynamic process that involves each member of your team actively. This isn't just about drafting values on paper; it's about infusing your shared mission into the very essence of your organization.
In this session, you'll be guided through the process of creating values tailored to your unique organizational identity. Imagine the impact of involving your team members in a collaborative dialogue that shapes the culture you aspire to cultivate.
This isn't a one-size-fits-all process – it's an opportunity for you to glean insights and strategies that you can adapt to your specific context. Whether you're leading your organization, a team, or peer to peer, the principles shared will empower you to foster a culture that aligns with your mission and resonates with your team.
Join me for a practical workshop that equips you with the tools to shape a collective vision. This isn't just about values; it's about empowering you to lead intentional cultural change within your organization that is not only well received, but is owned, embraced and lived out each day.

Fundraising organizations play a critical role in our culture and the communities they serve, but they must be well-run and efficient to achieve their goals. If we're being honest, though, our organizations are often resource-poor, inefficient, and even behind the times. Building an effective organization through growth and change can be especially difficult.

In this session, Jake Logan, VP for Advancement at UTEP, and Chelsea Lamego, FundMiner CEO and previous AVP for Advancement Operations at UTEP, will discuss the innovative and analytical approach to organizational change that helped them garner the support of stakeholders across their organizations and exceed expectations along the way.

Jake & Chelsea will share real-life experiences you can apply to fundraising operations in any nonprofit organization on its path to success. They will discuss actionable methods to help you be more strategic, allocate your resources more effectively, and ultimately significantly impact the people you serve.

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.

Legal concerns in advancement aren't just for planned giving anymore. Whatever you do in advancement – fundraising, alumni relations, communications, or advancement services – knowing how the law affects your work could make the difference between celebrating success and a costly lawsuit. Learn from a "recovering attorney" and advancement veteran about key principles and situations to consider, whether you're planning an event, managing a fundraising campaign, writing a press release, maintaining a database, or organizing a reunion. You'll hear about plenty of real-world examples, so bring your hardest questions and toughest challenges to this lively, engaging, and interactive session – no retainer required!

A panel of women juggling children, aging parents, and leadership in advancement will engage in a healthy Q&A.