All sessions were recorded during the 2021 Inspiring the Largest Gifts and Stewardship and Donor-Centered Advancement conferences in June.

Program Recordings

Charity Begins at Home: Stewarding Relationships Within Your Organization

Speakers: Sandra Campero, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Advancement Operations and Heidi Rosano, Senior Director of Donor Stewardship, University of California, Irvine

Donor Relations professionals focus much of their time and energy to build stewardship programs and strategies for their external constituencies, but it is just as important to focus our attention at home within our own teams and colleagues. This session will explore leveraging these external donor stewardship strategies and applying them internally to strengthen relationships, foster collaboration, and build partnerships within our own organizations.

Concepts, Requirements and Organization for Relationship-based Fundraising

Speaker: Rebecca Tseng Smith, Senior Executive Director of Development, University of California, San Diego

Nurturing a relationship to inspire the largest gifts of a lifetime differs substantially from the rest of major gift fundraising. Examine the requirements, concepts and organization that distinguish this person-centered aspect of fundraising from traditional major gift fundraising.

How Inclusive, Collaborative Teams Achieve Exemplary Donor Communications

Speaker: Valerie Harris, Senior Director, Stewardship Communications, University of Pennsylvania

Explore the role of diversity, collaboration, cross-disciplinary training, and customized technology in achieving excellence in donor-centered communications and supporting fundraisers in maintaining exemplary donor relations. This session will share how an intentional approach to team building and interdisciplinary skills-training contribute to exceptional donor communications and advances the institution’s DEI goals. Valerie Harris, Senior Director, Stewardship Communications, will discuss how the University of Pennsylvania uses collaboration supported by customized technology to protect and maintain exemplary donor relationships in two primary stewardship processes in higher education—gift acknowledgments and scholarship reporting.

What are Donors Telling Us?

Speaker: Ron Schiller, Founding Partner, Aspen Leadership Group

We’ll discuss what today’s donors are telling us—in their own words and through their behavior—about how organizations and institutions need to adapt to a changing landscape. Increasingly, many donors will “develop” themselves. Are we willing, and able, to listen?

What's the ROI? When to Go Digital vs. Paper vs. Both

Speaker: Margaret Stutt, Associate Director, Donor Stewardship, University of California, Berkeley

Old school professionals believe that paper and handwritten notes are the gold standard. Millennials are excited by the cost-effectiveness and video opportunities with digital. What is the ROI to both, and when is it most advantageous to use paper, digital or a hybrid model? We'll look at a few case studies from when our experiments have soared and flopped, and lessons learned in the process. Case studies include acknowledgments, annual report, impact reporting, handwritten notes, video cards and custom coffee table books.