Are gift clubs dead? Not if you ask their members! But Starbucks, Target, and Amazon have changed what people expect from loyalty programs, and fundraising needs to follow suit. See how the annual giving team at Caltech put personalization over perks and stewardship over rewards to build a leadership annual giving program that accounts for nearly 90% of their annual gift revenue and is growing at a rate of 10% each year.

In the dynamic world of advancement for education, effective management and support of volunteers is crucial for organizational success. This session, "Advancing Board Management," delves into the volunteer component of advancement, exploring how to optimize work with a variety of volunteer groups including alumni boards, advisory boards, foundation boards, governing boards, task forces, and committees.
We will begin by examining the best practices of high-functioning boards, highlighting key strategies that drive efficiency and impact. Learn about proven techniques to cultivate a productive board culture, establish clear roles and responsibilities, and implement robust governance structures.
Next, we’ll explore effective engagement strategies for board members that enhance participation and commitment. We’ll share innovative approaches to involving board members in meaningful ways, ensuring they are both motivated and empowered to contribute their best.
Finally, we’ll discuss ways to leverage communities of practice to increase collaboration among colleagues doing similar work, helping to provide for a more cohesive and coordinated approach towards effective board management.

Want to maximize your Gala ROI? Discover the transformative power of volunteer engagement. In this presentation, we will delve into innovative strategies to enhance your return on investment (ROI) by empowering your volunteers. Learn how the Chinese American International School (PS-8), leverages our volunteer's unique skills and passions to create a more dynamic and efficient event that not only meets but exceeds our fundraising goals.

Each and every message we send and receive over the course of the day is coded by the
sender and decoded by the receiver. This leaves room for misinterpretation and confusion
if we aren’t careful. Using Schramm’s Communication Model, this interaction session will
demonstrate the power and impact of coding and decoding of messages and attendees will
leave with a new perspective on the intentionality we should consider with every
communication we send (or receive).

This session is designed to equip fundraising leaders with the tools and strategies to elevate their entire advancement team’s awareness of planned giving, even among staff who don't specialize in it. Attendees will learn how to train their teams to recognize planned giving opportunities, identify key donor signals, and seamlessly introduce these conversations into routine donor interactions. By the end of the session, leaders will be prepared to empower their staff with practical knowledge that strengthens donor relationships and ultimately increases planned gift commitments.

With competing communications priorities and a limited news team, Cal State Fullerton’s Office of Strategic Communications and Brand Management created a user-generated website for the campus community to share news, announcements and accomplishments. Learn how we launched the site, set guidelines for content submission, promoted its widespread use and grew submissions by 20% from year one to two. Additionally, our user-generated content site has become a tool for fundraisers to increase the volume of donor stories and capture information for prospect research; a tool for talent management teams to recognize faculty and staff achievements at all levels; and a tool for expanding internal news and promoting inclusive coverage by empowering campus partners to share their information.

We will provide tips and lessons learned on how to maintain daily operation of the site (managed by professional writers!), discuss practical and ethical considerations for non-writers sharing content, share the campus feedback we have received, and give you a preview of our next steps as we get ready to launch version 2.0.