Transformational Gifts
Join peers and experts in the field in Washington, DC to better understand what makes the cultivation and solicitation of a transformational gift unique and how to best partner with campus colleagues and inspired donors to realize these impactful gifts.
Learning Objectives
- Define a transformational gift in the context of your institution, including how it differs from a principal or major gift.
- Create a transformational gift plan proposal based on case studies from real donor profiles.
- Describe how transformational gifts factor into campaign planning.
- Identify key institutional partners within your own advancement team and across your campus that are necessary to facilitate a transformational gift opportunity from proposal to implementation.
- Engage institutional leadership in the cultivation and solicitation of transformational gifts.
- Develop stewardship strategies to support and engage transformational gift donors.
Who Should Attend
- Vice presidents and chief development officers
- Principal gift officers
- Philanthropic advisers
- Gift planning officers
- Estate planners
- Presidents
- Heads of School
- Deans and academic leaders
- Trustees
Meet Your Chair
Scott Mory
Scott Mory will be the Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff at George Washington University, as of July 1, 2024.
Most recently, Mory served as Carnegie Mellon University’s vice president for University Advancement. He was responsible for overseeing the university’s overall advancement efforts and for building partnerships with all of CMU’s philanthropic and volunteer communities, including university alumni, parents and friends; charitable foundations; and corporate donors.
Appointed in 2015, Mory worked closely with administrative and academic leadership to develop the philanthropic support that enables CMU to fulfill its potential and continue its ascent. Under his leadership, in October 2019 the university launched its most ambitious philanthropic campaign to date — Make Possible: The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon University. In Spring 2023, the university announced that it had achieved the campaign’s $2 billion goal more than 18 months ahead of schedule. To date, the university has received philanthropic commitments exceeding $2.26 billion from more than 66,000 supporters. Among the impacts these supporters have had include the creation of 62 new endowed faculty chairs, including 4 endowed deanships; more than 420 new endowed scholarships and fellowships; and new world-class facilities like the Tepper Quad, Alan Magee Scaife Hall of Engineering, the Highmark Center for Health, Wellness and Athletics, and the planned Richard King Mellon Hall of Sciences.
Mory was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) in July 2022. He is also a member of the advisory board of The Andy Warhol Museum.
Prior to joining CMU, Mory served as associate senior vice president and campaign director at the University of Southern California, managing the day-to-day activities of the Campaign for USC, a historic effort to raise $6 billion. He joined USC in 2007 as associate senior vice president for Alumni Relations, a position he held until his promotion to campaign director in 2012. Prior to USC, Mory served as assistant vice president for Alumni Relations and Annual Giving at George Washington University. He also was an adjunct professor in the university’s law school, teaching a first-year course on legal research, writing and oral advocacy.
Scott holds a bachelor’s degree from the George Washington University and a juris doctor from the George Washington University Law School. Following law school, he clerked for the Hon. John Garrett Penn of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and practiced as a litigation associate at the New York office of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP.