Bob Dylan was not singing about higher education when he sang “the times they are a changin’,” but indeed many universities nationwide are experiencing an era of challenge and change. Our relatively small school at the flagship university in Colorado has experienced significant change over the past year-plus — from deanship transitions to sweeping budget and organizational change. These changes have led us to pivot and evaluate our communications strategies in real time while we attempt to remain true to our mission and center community-building among faculty, staff, students, and supporters. We don’t have all the answers, but we know we are not the only ones interested in exploring inclusive and transparent communications strategies during times of change and processing our emotions as staff leaders. In this interactive session, we will work through lessons learned around change management in our school as we explore case studies together about budget constraints, political scrutiny, leadership transitions, humanizing change management, and more.

Time is valuable, and that is what makes volunteering such an impactful component of alumni engagement. Creating volunteer opportunities for alumni to connect with students, the university, and each other is the ultimate win-win proposition. Over the past year, the Colorado School of Mines (Mines) has grown participation in its volunteer program by more than 70%. This growth in volunteerism can be attributed to increased access to opportunities, establishing expectations, tracking participation, and consistent stewardship. Mines is a mid-sized university with around 8,000 students and 40,000 alumni. The Mines Foundation and Alumni Engagement shop align with the university in both size and budget. To optimize for our size and staff bandwidth, we have developed techniques that increase our impact while maintaining a small to mid-sized team. Developing a robust volunteer offering has improved our collaboration with university partners and elevated the Mines signature student experience. Volunteerism has cultivated stronger alumni connections with the university and advanced individuals through the donor continuum.

The NDSU Foundation strives to create to the pinnacle volunteer experience for their Trustees. That is no easy task with over 70 Trustees. Learn how they have implemented personas and metrics to measure and personalize the volunteer experience.

This is our story about a unique partnership between two university centers and how, by celebrating alums over the age of 80 who are optimally aging, we have created an extraordinary avenue of engagement. Through the Eight over Eighty Award Program, we are connecting, and at times, reconnecting extraordinary alums with the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. By partnering with the Csomay Center for Gerontological Excellence, we have provided both centers the opportunity to collaborate in a myriad of ways over the simple fact that our alum is an octogenarian! Our perspective on what collaboration looks like has expanded. We view our deepening relationships potential as endless. Join us as we share how this unique partnership has led to win-win-win situations for the Center of Advancement, the Csomay Center, and for the nominated alum.

In an era where donor count is trending down and questions about the value of higher education are trending up, how can communications and marketing professionals keep audiences engaged and ready to give? With the help of some killer sticker incentives and a little ingenuity, Kansas State University Foundation is daring to ask donors what they care about and then creating personalized content strategies that hit the engagement mark.

In a world of ever-evolving multichannel engagement strategies, finding the perfect game plan for donor connection can seem like a daunting task. Many of us, particularly small to mid-level Foundations and Fundraisers with tight budgets, often find expensive one-size-fits-all programs out of reach. We're here to offer an alternative approach and share our resources with other institutes and programs facing the same challenges. Discover how to master the art of donor engagement in-house, make the most of the resources you already have at your disposal, and find ways to create the perfect donor engagement plan for your organization.

We all know that culture can eat strategy for lunch, but how do you turn a feeding frenzy into feeding to fuel? Leaders of MSU Denver’s Advancement division undertook a multi-year initiative based on Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead curriculum to transform their staff culture that was challenged by lack of accountability, staff turnover, and underperforming productivity. Starting with an assessment of staff and organizational culture they went through a yearlong program followed by self-developed practices that have transformed their organizational culture and become a model for the rest of the university. These changes have resulted in a quadrupling of fundraising outcomes, staff feedback that they have grown professionally and personally, career advancement for many, and the attraction of top talent. This session will share their process and provide insights on fostering a healthy staff culture that will feed your strategy not serve it for lunch.