This session challenges the traditional model of community college grant development which can be reactive and inefficient. Leaders from the Dallas College Advancement & Development team will share why and how they have shifted toward a culture of strategic grant seeking. Learn how to use grants strategically to advance the innovation efforts of your college in a proactive and effective way. Participants will gain tools, insights, and strategies they can immediately deploy.

Our students are the future alumni and donors of our institutions; cultivating them and creating a culture of philanthropy is vital to the long-term success of our fundraising efforts. Learn how the Oklahoma State University Foundation Annual Giving Team adjusted student fundraising and engagement strategies following COVID. We will discuss best practices in Student Foundations, crowdfunding, stewardship, and talent acquisition. This session will cover ways to right size or start from scratch for all things student fundraising and engagement!

The expectations from a gift officer to their research colleague can often be summed up by the famous words of Jerry McGuire, "SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!!!". While this may be true for some, we believe there is a better way, one of collaboration and communication. Please join us for a practical workshop where gift officers, researchers, and managers will walk away with some best practices on how to effectively collaborate and maximize fundraising success.

Join us for a panel discussion centered on the book “A History to Remember: TCU in Purple, White, and Black” - a chronicle of the underexplored history of Black American memory at Texas Christian University. Anyone interested in race relations, the function of memory, and North Texas history will find the text and its layered analytical approach appealing. However, the panel also explores the pathways of the three authors who used their collective Black voice to elevate the voices of other Black Americans’ experience at TCU through the perspectives of students, staff, faculty, administrators, and alumni. Covering the institution’s first 150 years, the book interrogates and investigates the academic, athletic, artistic, and cultural impact of Black students, employees, and alumni from its beginnings, through segregation and integration, and the continued work of reconciliation. Given current debates over the value of diversity, these authors' perspective has local, regional, and national implications due to TCU's overall growth and position as one of the top 100 universities in the nation.

In an era where remote and hybrid work models have fragmented corporate cultures, the quest for a unified, engaged and dynamic team environment is more critical than ever. Drawing from Broadway's centuries-old model of uniting diverse talents into cohesive teams, organizations can transcend the challenges of distance and disconnection, fostering collaboration, adaptability, and deep connection that not only drive performance and purpose but also imbue teams with a sense of belonging and shared purpose.
Are you ready to explore the theater of team building? Join veteran Broadway performer Wendee Lee Curtis for a captivating keynote on how to create strong team cultures by leveraging lessons from the Broadway stage! You'll learn and use UNIQUE tried-and-true theatrical principles to QUICKLY build strong and resilient teams within your organizations.
Learning Outcomes:
-Learn how the ethos of musical theater can serve as a roadmap for people to come together and develop creative approaches for collaboration & community.
-Experience the power of theater-inspired exercises to strengthen team cohesion and identity.
-See how choreography and vibrant storytelling can produce powerful legacy communities.
With fun exercises and thought-provoking reflections, you'll discover how Broadway-inspired techniques can be used to turn a group of people into a passionate community of performers; raising the curtain and taking teams to the next level – TOGETHER.

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.

This session focuses on how to develop a playbook centered on integral principles of fundraising that are too often an afterthought for organizations: stewardship, marketing, and communications. Few organizations have a built-in donor base and even those who do, must stand out when cultivating gifts. Whether a small department or a large university, this session will provide practical examples and tactics for unique and meaningful stewardship that inspires donors during acquisition, cultivation and recognition events. The session will hone messaging and marketing that focuses on your organization’s mission, purpose and impact that resonates with any audience including the business community.

Behavior-based donor engagement and recognition is the way of the future. With limited staff, resources, and endless priorities and goals to meet, we must implement programs that scale in customization and is designed to affect retention, loyalty, and future fundraising. By developing a program based on donor behaviors, in lieu of arbitrary giving amounts, we can ensure we are communicating gratitude and impact to donors at all levels of giving. Beyond first-time donors, there are a slew of critical donor populations that also want and deserve great giving experiences! One size does not fit all, and as we look to tailor communications, events, and recognition based on DX best practices, we must prioritize and plan appropriately and efficiently – it requires both strategy and creativity! Loyal, lapsed, trifecta, monthly, renewed, and more—let's explore priority donor behaviors that drive the entire donor pipeline.

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 face of political and racial tensions spreading across the nation and the impact of a global COVID-19 pandemic that upended traditional norms, The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff reached a historic fundraising milestone, generating $10.1 million: the best fundraising year in school history! The success represented 200% growth over five years, moving UAPB from an average of $2M annually to the historic $10.1M high. Such fundraising success at a Historically Black College or University (HBCU), especially a small public university, is unprecedented. HBCUs face many challenges regarding fundraising and alumni engagement, but with creativity, perseverance, and non-traditional thinking, exceeding your fundraising goals can become more than just a plan! Join us for an engaging, transformative session and learn how we overcame extreme challenges and barriers to create a successful, comprehensive fundraising strategy.
In this session, you will learn the following:
• How to exceed fundraising goals even when your Institutional advancement office is understaffed, underfunded, and overworked!
• How to think beyond the urgent and immediate needs to grow your endowment.
• How to maximize time and resources to cultivate major donors.
• How to diversify fundraising to make corporate and foundation giving a base for expanding major gifts, scholarships, and endowment building.
If you have a small fundraising team with BIG fundraising goals… this session is for you!