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.

Learn from the award winning “Only in Nebraska” campaign what to do and not to do to make your next campaign a success. With a university system that has four unique campus brands, we still wanted everyone to share a single, unified message. In this session we will share how we started with a systemwide visioning day with top campus influencers and then developed campaign priorities for each campus and individual unit. Next, we used that information to build a comprehensive communications plan to publicly launch the campaign while considering all possible audiences from students to faculty and campus leaders to trustees and major donors to alumni of all four campuses.

As we share our “Top Five Lessons Learned from a Campaign Launch,” we will explain how we partnered closely with our campus partners to ensure that everyone felt they could see themselves in this campaign. We will also discuss how adding an engagement goal to our normal fundraising goal has rallied everyone around the campaign. Publicly launching a campaign is so much more than a cool logo and a catchy tagline – let us share with you how we approached it, Only in Nebraska.

Let’s be honest – managing and reporting on donor funds is no small feat and advancement teams cannot do it alone. We rely heavily on our systems, processes, and organization partners to help us create the best donor experiences we possibly can. But if you ask yourself: Are our donor funds being utilized? Are they being used correctly and timely? Should we be worried when we send out our annual donor fund reports? And if you've shared some of these concerns, you're not alone. In recent years, many organizations have grappled with similar questions, finding little guidance on this vital aspect of any advancement operation. Join us in this session as we look at several case studies on how organizations like yours built the case for support to create and grow a fund management program. It's time to bring the discussion on funds management challenges out of closed-door conversations and begin an industry dialogue to identify what tools, resources, and standards need to be in place to successfully manage and steward donor funds. Whether you are new to funds management or seasoned in the field, come prepared to share your experiences and glean insights from others in this collaborative space.

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 today's rapidly changing landscape of alumni relations and advancement, graduate-level academic units face the challenge of effectively engaging alumni through central programming, particularly when it is assumed that graduate-level alumni will not want to engage in centralized programs. This presentation will showcase innovative strategies and best practices for utilizing centralized programming to achieve graduate-level engagement and philanthropic goals.

This session will delve into key areas of advancement to uncover effective strategies and valuable insights. The session will be structured around three core topics: Stewardship, Scholarships, and Annual Giving. Each segment will highlight successful practices and lessons learned from various initiatives, offering a comprehensive overview of what has proven effective at Northeast Community College. By examining examples and discussing strategic approaches, participants will gain actionable knowledge to enhance their own advancement efforts. This session promises to deliver a blend of practical tips and inspirational success stories, aimed at optimizing outcomes and fostering growth in advancement activities.

As higher education institutions face increasingly complex fundraising landscapes, the role of campaign leaders has evolved significantly. Today’s campaign leaders must balance strategic vision, data-driven decision-making, and collaborative leadership to drive successful fundraising efforts. This session will explore how the role of campaign leaders is changing and what skills and strategies are essential for success in modern fundraising campaigns.

In this session, we will examine the following key areas:

• The shift from traditional to strategic campaign leadership
• The importance of data and analytics in campaign planning and execution
• Building and leading cross-functional teams
• Engaging stakeholders and fostering a culture of philanthropy

Many organizations are hesitant to accept more complex gifts like real estate, cryptocurrency, charitable gift annuities, or various other gifts of assets that seem to be outside of their grasp. There are many valid reasons for this. The organization may not want to take on the risk of accepting a highly complex gift. Their gift acceptance policies may not even allow them to accept complex assets. Or they may simply not know whom to turn to for help. This session will explore the ways in which even fundraising shops of all sizes can accept large, complex gifts that have the power to transform their organization.

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.

In Fall 2023, Colorado State University unveiled a dynamic brand platform, launching across campus and in a multilingual recruitment campaign inviting audiences to “Find Your Energy” at CSU. This multi-year, award-winning initiative utilized an omni-channel approach for launch and expansion. MarComm collected broad feedback from stakeholder groups in the CSU community to foster adoption before launching this initiative, which captures a sense of awe and inspiration, telling stories about what makes CSU special. Learn how CSU, determined to propel its position as a leading higher ed competitor in Colorado, engineered alignment to capitalize on brand development and yield impressive results.