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.

How often have your staff come to you to tell you about an inappropriate comment, touching, or other more egregious behavior from a donor, board member or volunteer? Or do you simply hear about it second hand because reporting it means losing a prospect or being told that it's "just part of the job"? Staff who work in the field have put up with harassment in many forms for many years, but with recent cultural shifts and efforts like CASE"s Zero Tolerance Policy, advancement shops are taking action. Please join the presenters to learn about how some shops are taking concrete actions and practices to prevent harassment and discrimination in advancement, fundraising, and related functions and how you can take these approaches back to your own team, including training to empower and protect staff members, as well as transparent reporting and remediation processes. Through gathering research, developing guidelines, and creating concrete actions and practices to address the problem, and sharing our own journeys, we can all help change the industry to create a safe and respectful workplace culture.

This session will highlight innovative and inclusive approaches to building the pipeline through scalable qualification efforts for various audiences - from alums, to parents, to friends! We will take a deep dive into Discovery Journeys, and how they leverage frontline fundraising and mass communication strategies to identify and qualify leadership donors and provide valuable insights into the donor pipeline. This session will also cover the impact of the new Discovery Officer role as an essential part of these efforts, and how this work directly aligns with overall campus-wide pipeline goals.

Advancement’s revolving door of talent can be disruptive, both to internal and external stakeholders. Demand outstrips supply of talented practitioners, and polling firm Gallup reports that 42% of employee turnover is preventable but often ignored. Even as our colleges, universities and schools are evolving demographically, 85% of fundraisers self-identified as white in 2022, according to U.S. Census estimates. How do we transform our organizations into workplaces of choice, where a full range of talented professionals can contribute, achieve, and grow, without having to move every year or two? No one has completely resolved these challenges, but there are bright, thoughtful, committed innovators focused on continuous improvement. Attend this interactive discussion among forward-thinking leaders building organizations that are high-performing, welcoming, inclusive, and collaborative.

Join us for an informative session on "Equitable & Inclusive Alumni Engagement through Alumni Chapters"! Discover strategies for fostering inclusive alumni chapters that represent the diverse areas of your college community. Learn how to create and sustain affinity chapters that advocate for various interests and backgrounds, ensuring every voice is heard. Acquire practical tips for maintaining inclusivity and enhancing engagement across all alumni groups. This session will equip you with the tools to build an equitable and inclusive alumni network.

This session reflects on the 5-year evolution of a graduation celebration, intended for all students, but particularly those students and their support system who may not be able to participate in the traditional 2-hour ceremonies due to family, physical accommodations, work, or travel. This session will help you understand how to design a custom celebration that can be adapted for various budgets, audience sizes, and in-person or virtual formats.

How do you measure student belonging? How do you measure student engagement? How do you measure self-confidence? Can understanding those concepts help with retention? San Francisco State University (SFSU) wanted to find out so that they could know how they were serving its Latinx students. In partnership with KNow Research they conducted a bespoke research project where they explored student belonging, engagement, and self-confidence, examining aspects of campus life that either enhanced or challenged Latinx students' sense of belonging. It’s groundbreaking research of which the insights provided a clearer understanding on the Latinx students’ sense of belonging and its impact on retention efforts.