The “great wealth transfer” is a monumental phenomenon that is already underway and will continue to impact our work. Over the next two decades, Boomers are expected to transfer approximately $68 trillion in assets to younger generations. This transfer presents a unique opportunity for transformative philanthropy and strategic adaptation within alumni associations. This session will share actionable insights on how alumni associations can leverage this as an opportunity to forge stronger connections with aging constituents while maximizing philanthropic impact.

Alumni Engagement and Community Partners share common values and goals when it comes to building lasting and life-long relationships with their stakeholders not only on campus but also in the surrounding community. Targeted events that foster a sense of "togetherness" and "community" are imperative to smaller towns that thrive on the impact that the students provide during their time at our university.
Finding our niche and standing out with admissions and recruitment visits has been instrumental since the development of these new community centered events. Come listen to how we have been ranked #1 in the state of Minnesota for the Best Game Day Atmosphere the past few years.
Through this presentation, you will hear how one institution takes a new approach to community centered events, has grown them into highly anticipated events for the entire community, and the economic impact that it has brought to the city, along with the excitement and buzz that started in 2017 and continues to grow each year.

Learn how Marian University (Indianapolis) utilized the 10 year anniversary of their College of Osteopathic Medicine to secure a $29M naming gift from a family who had $0 giving history until three years prior.

During the University of Chicago's Alumni Weekend in May 2024 there were at least 13 unique incidents of student, community, and alumni protest. Actions ranged from chalking, handing out pamphlets, disrupting events, occupying buildings, and damaging equipment.

Our campus, as so many others, had been home to an encampment on the main quads, just weeks before 2,500 attendees arrived for Alumni Weekend and Reunion events. The University of Chicago's commitment to free expression required the UChicago Alumni office to create a contingency plan that accounted for anticipated disruption, while abiding by the Chicago Principles.

Join us to review the Chicago Principles of Free Expression and the components of the Alumni Weekend contingency plan, constructed to include stakeholders across the University and beyond. Materials reviewed will include scripts to aid staff during events which are being disrupted, large scale protest plans, training materials for all staff volunteers, and the code of conduct for alumni participants. Session will review case studies using actual protests from the weekend and lessons learned.

For ten years at Purdue University, the University Residences program has brought successful alumni back to campus where they live among students for one week. Our program’s alumni, referred to as executives, provide students with opportunities to interact with fellow Boilermakers around their areas of expertise and interests in formal and informal settings – from lecture halls to residence halls and dining courts to basketball courts. The hallmarks of our program are small group and one-on-one interactions. Since the fall of 2014, over fifty executives have returned home to our residence halls and gifted our community their time and talents. Our Executive in Residences (EiR) program includes a campus learning community, student ambassador program, a full-time live-in Executive in Residence, and both fall and spring break trips, where student travel to visit executives in their homes and workplaces, connecting our university’s past to the present.

This session will focus on strategies for building and sustaining affinity networks that foster community, amplify alumni voices, and increase engagement across diverse demographics. Participants will explore how to align affinity networks with the institution's goals while ensuring they foster a culture of inclusion and belonging.

How can you elevate cherished alumni traditions and allow room for fresh experiences? Learn how Denison University reimagined its reunion experience with enhanced technology, fresh programming, and record-breaking participation. Explore how Macalester College brought its 150th anniversary to life, connecting a global alumni base with fresh twists on existing programming, new ways of storytelling, and ample opportunities to celebrate. Join us to learn about the process from concept creation through execution including planning, communication, events, and more. You’ll walk away with actionable insights and ideas to help you transform your own campus events into unforgettable celebrations.

Since the pandemic, more fundraisers do their work remotely. What is the impact on our bottom line? Can anyone work from anywhere? What are best practices based on recent research?

Are you looking to build relationships between seemingly disconnected teams? Join the Northwestern Alumni Association to learn how to bridge the gap between gift officers and engagement professionals through event programming that draws both donors and alumni who have not yet given. We will share information on the development and creation of events that span a variety of topics and formats and how our shared priorities have led to success for both engagement goals and giving targets. Additionally, attendees will learn how to cultivate meaningful and long-lasting relationships with gift officers.

As the national trend of declining donor counts continues, many institutions are ramping up engagement and acquisition efforts to attract new prospective donors. But increased data collection like this can often lead to differing schools of thought between the engagement professionals who seek to grow the donor pipeline and IT/data partners who aim to protect data integrity. What are the right pieces of data to collect? How can data quality be protected? At what point does data collection hinder a positive customer experience? Is there such a thing as too much data? This session will show how Ohio State Advancement has taken a collaborative approach to working through these questions and more by bringing the two business areas together to develop solutions.
Key topics will include:
• How to align teams, practices, and goals.
• How to determine the right data points to ensure quality data while collecting engagement data to build and strengthen the fundraising pipeline.
• How to select the right data collection tools for varying types of engagement opportunities.
• How to tell the story of how engagement and acquisition data impacts the long-term health of an organization.