Since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of highly engaged employees has decreased. Why do we care? Highly engaged teams outperform the rest in outcomes critical to the success of your organization. Salary and benefits account for most of our budgets, so our competitive edge is based on the success of our people. Research shows that engaged employees have higher productivity and wellbeing, better retention, and lower absenteeism yet we spent little as leaders engaging staff in meaningful ways. This session will explain the competencies important to employee engagement and share tools you can use immediately.

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.