5:15–6:30 New Professionals/Conference Committee/District Board Reception
7:00–9:00 Dinners
Board and Conference Committee
New Professionals
8:00 AM–NOON CASE Views session (Available to Preconference Registrants Only)
10:00 AM–4:30 PM Registration Open
Pick up your conference materials at the registration desk located in the Century Ballroom Foyer on the 2nd floor of The Westin.
1:00–2:00 PM Breakout Sessions I
Anniversary Milestones – Goals, Outcomes and Planning
Moderator: Stacy Tucker-Potter, Director of Engagement, Truman State University
Panelists: Laura Geiser, Assistant VP for Brand Management, Saint Louis University; Diane Mendenhall, Associate to the Chancellor for External Engagement, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Current Student to Alumni: Making the Engagement Transition Success stories and best practices on how to educate and engage graduating student about the Alumni Relations and Annual Giving world. We will tackle before commencement engagement, securing post-graduation contact information, class giving, 9-month email strategy, stewardship and welcome gifts.
Speaker: Lisa Bartholme, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Generational Cohorts in Philanthropy Educational fundraising is noble and rewarding, yet it is often hard. Leading educational fundraisers is equally hard, rewarding, and noble. In part, successful fundraising requires an understanding of philanthropists and what motivates them. This can often be viewed through the lens of generational cohorts. Because the charitable habits of generational cohorts differ, it is important for front-line fundraisers and fundraising leaders to identify and understand these differences. How do we navigate the differences as fundraisers, advisors, and leaders within educational institutions? Using scholarly research and best practice from the philanthropic sector, this presentation defines generational cohorts and offers suggestions for connecting with their philanthropy. Specifically, the session will discuss the philanthropic characteristics of each cohort and offer techniques for navigating cohort differences related to their philanthropy.
Speaker: Michael Kateman, Assistant Vice Chancellor, University of Missouri - Columbia
Maximizing Impact in Small Advancement Shops: Breaking Down Silos and (Truly) Embracing Collaboration There is nothing harder than trying to get your job done while continuously running into barriers. And there is nothing worse than when those barriers are internal to your team. Visit with the senior leadership team from MSU Denver to explore strategies and best practices for breaking down silos and learning to collaborate to increase the productivity and outcomes of your small/intermediate advancement shop. Come with questions and struggles as this session seeks to help you bring your collaboration to the next level.
Speakers:
Jamie Hurst, Assistant Vice President for Strategic Engagement, MSU Denver Katie Biscoe, Associate Vice President for Development, MSU Denver Traci McBee Rowe, Director of Donor Relations and Advancement Special Events, MSU Denver Lori Herrera, Chief Financial and Operations Officer, MSU Denver
The Game Plan: Learning to Use Four Basic Plays for Winning the Planned Giving Conversation Do the words 'planned giving' give you the chills? All too often, gift officers, board members and especially donors tend to think that planned gifts are all about death or complicated, tax-oriented legal agreements so they are either quickly dismissed or ignored altogether. Then your boss or board chair hears about a transformational estate gift at another institution and wonders aloud, "How do WE start getting those kinds of gifts?" The answer to that question is simple: you need a game plan that's simple but effective. In this fundraising 'training camp' session, you'll receive coaching on the four basic plays that will help you introduce planned giving into conversations with donors and close not only planned gifts, but current gifts as well. You will learn about the playing field of planned giving and the fundamental approach to talking about planned gifts. We then do a deep dive on the four basics plays anyone can master in a short time, then wrap it up with a discussion on how to prepare for game day with your donor. You'll leave this session with the skills to compete and a winning game plan for your donors and your organization.
Speakers: Robert King, J.D., National Director of Gift Planning, Chiltern International Dalia Pineda, Development Officer, C.T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston
2:00–2:30 Networking Break
2:30–4:30 Breakout Super Sessions I
Fundraising Voices - LIVE
Speaker: Brian Gawor, Vice President, Research, RNL
Join us as we talk with five different CASE VI personalities and record live episodes of the popular Fundraising Voices podcast. We’ll span areas from donor engagement, alumni relations, fundraising, to major/planned gifts and campaigns as we ask some of the great people in our district to offer their take on the future of Advancement. Join in to ask questions and participate live in the discussion!
The Art and Science of Video Storytelling Come on a journey with us to learn the art and the science behind masterful video production that moves your audience from insight to action. We will take you on an interactive trip to help arm you with both the tools to tell your own stories through video. Some of what you will learn: the psychology behind capturing a compelling story, story finding, a creative process, how to create a shot list and location scout, the basics of camera settings, interview techniques and post-production.
Speakers: Mike Sukraw, CEO, Reliant Studios Kristin Sukraw, President, Reliant Studios Jared Stabb, Director, Reliant Studios Karl Birchley, Director of Photography, Reliant Studios
Storytelling Secrets: How Crafting Better Stories Can Help Frontline Fundraisers Close More Gifts
Stories inspire. Stories move people to action. And when an institution’s story and a prospect’s story intersect, fundraising magic happens. In this session, we’ll talk about identifying the stories to tell at your institution, honing your own narrative as a frontline fundraiser, and how to better understand the stories donors tell about themselves to help identify their giving priorities and affinity. By looking to best practices from experienced fundraisers and for-profit sales reps, we’ll share lessons on how to craft a pitch, identify the “tentpole topics” that set your business unit or institution apart, and new ways to find donors whose interests align to institutional needs so that gift officers can work faster to uncover and connect with the best potential prospects and close more gifts.
Speakers: Ana Compain-Romero, Advancement Officer, University of Missouri - Columbia Mike Nagel, Manager of Customer & Product Marketing, Evertrue;
Winning (Admissions & Development) Friends and Influencing People on Your Campus While marketing and communication offices are increasingly aligned with recruiters and admissions offices, it can still be a challenge to assert your place as the VOICE of the student and keeper (and explainer) of your school's competitive position. The truth is marcom offices should be the central office for tracking trends, student desires, media mentions AND competitive metrics. And you can do so - and raise your personal or organization's status - through some very simple and proven steps (and one wickedly colorful spreadsheet). Attendees will get the tools they need to better inform their work and gain a seat at the table when deciding everything from a recruitment strategy to academic program development.
Speaker: Jason Hughes, Chief Marketing Officer, Colorado School of Mines
4:45–6:00 Conference Kickoff and Keynote
6:00–7:00 Business Partners Reception
8:30–11:00 CASE After Hours Each evening, CASE VI participants are invited to grow their network, meet future business partners and partake in the fun that is so abundant in Kansas City. Join us each night of the conference and wind down from a day full of learning with a casual night of fun, food, and drink! Stay tuned for this year’s CASE After Hours events.
7:45–9:00 AM Advancing Your Institution During Uncertain Times
Sue Cunningham, President and CEO of CASE, will start the morning with a conversation about how advancement leaders can best support their institutions through times of uncertainty. Tapping into her experience in advancement across continents, she will share with you the ways CASE is your professional home, connecting you to resources and colleagues to help you create opportunity even through uncertainty. Together, especially during challenging times, we must redouble our efforts toward advancing education to transform lives and society.
Speaker: Sue Cunningham, President and CEO, Council for Advancement and Support of Education
9:15–10:15 Breakout Sessions II
Mission Possible: Navigating A Crisis Toward Campaign Success With over 34 years of experience, Hiles will reflect on the state of the profession and attributes of an effective Advancement professional. Additionally, Hiles will describe navigating through a national crisis at Mizzou 3 weeks after the kickoff of Mizzou’s $1.3 billion campaign. Participants will have the opportunity to think about and discuss crisis management/communications, best opportunities for their own professional advancement and the future of the profession. This will be an interactive session and will feature a video produced in the aftermath of the Mizzou crisis. Bring your ideas and questions.
Speaker: Tom Hiles, Vice Chancellor for Advancement, University of Missouri - Columbia
Microlearning for Advancement Staff: Delivering Right Size Knowledge at the Right Time Microlearning as a strategy is becoming more recognized and offers a feasible solution to the problem of providing training to a group of learners who must always be on the go. Find out how to incorporate microlearning as a viable option to meet the "need to know now" learning needs of your staff. In this interactive session, you will find out how to capture learning into bite-size amounts, achieve results by focusing on learning outcomes, and build microlearning modules easily and cost effectively.
Speaker:Deb Snellen, Executive Director of Organizational and Professional Development, University of Missouri - Columbia
State of the Industry: The Higher Ed CMO Study How do similar institutions approach integrated brand and marketing strategies? How are they allocating resources and thinking about brand reputation beyond enrollment marketing? How are your peers gauging success, and what staffing resources do they have to support their goals? In 2014, SimpsonScarborough first set out to answer those questions by surveying the industry’s CMOs and developing the most comprehensive report on the state of Higher Ed marketing. Now in its third installment, our 2019 CMO Survey is the largest we’ve ever conducted. Join us for the industry’s most comprehensive look into the state of Higher Ed marketing and apply our findings to benchmark your place in the industry, derive insights from the shifting patterns of resource allocation, and leverage our hard data to empower your conversations with institutional leadership for the support you need.
***CANCELLED***
Social Media Platforms and Storytelling Social media best practices continue to evolve and change. This panel will discuss what social media tactics and strategies are most effective and how making some tweaks can create greater impact. The group will also mention ideas that flopped and lessons learned from those experiences. This will be a highly interactive opportunity to engage with peers during the conference and openly share social media examples and strategies.
Telecommuting in Advancement – Best Practices for Maximizing Engagement and Outcomes for Telecommuting Roles Studies report benefits for employers who structure telecommuting into employee job descriptions. In a profession that sees high development staff turnover, how can these studies benefit your organization? How can employees be set up for success working remotely? If you're an organizational leader and are interested in adding telecommuting roles or would like to learn best practices for managing this arrangement, come to this session. If you are already telecommuting or would like to, learn best practices for enhancing your role.
Speaker:Suzanne Barnes, Director of Development – Corporations, Truman State University
Thinking Out of the Box: Multi-Department Collaboration Focused on Strategic Communications that Align Philanthropy with University Challenges Is it possible to connect the challenges facing your university/college and the stories you are sharing with donors about how their philanthropy makes an impact to achieve greater outcomes? At the Kansas State University Foundation, three departments (Development, Stewardship & Donor Engagement, and Communications) have joined in partnership to think out of the box about how we create multi-channel strategic communications to share with donors while also creating re-usable content that will help the university deal with its greatest challenge: declining enrollment. We began with the concept of a Gratitude Piece (Donor Impact Report) and evolved into a multi-channel strategic communication plan that will tell the stories of success as a result of private support to our donors through print and video via mail, social media, websites, and beyond. Good planning and captivating student stories will have the ability to also fit our student recruitment audience through slight modifications. We not only will improve our donors' experiences and increase their awareness and ownership, but we will also be assisting the university in enhancing their marketing and recruitment efforts by capturing current students' stories of life-altering experiences and relationships.
Speaker: Tracy Robinson, Senior Director of Development, Kansas State University H. Ryan Steele, Donor Experience Specialist, KSU Foundation
10:15–10:45 Networking Break
10:45–11:45 Breakout Sessions III
Digital Development Officers: How Kansas State is Connecting with More Donors and Passing More Prospects to Major Gifts The subscription economy, defined by the explosive growth of companies like Netflix, Spotify, HelloFresh, and Dollar Shave Club has changed the way we interact with businesses. As customers, we expect a custom, personalized experience everywhere we turn. This evolution holds huge implications for fundraising and donor expectations. While this subscription-driven industry has grown 200% annually, giving rates have dropped 33% and total giving declined in FY18. It’s time for advancement to adapt. Last year, the Kansas State University Foundation hired its first Digital Development Officers, a role created to quickly connect with thousands of potential donors with customized, one-on-one outreach. Hear how this newly formed team taps into social insights and donors’ digital footprint to personalize outreach, connects with people, and then refers the best prospects to K-State’s leadership giving and major gifts teams. With each associate responsible for hundreds of attempted connections a week, KSU can reach more high-potential prospects than ever before, while delivering a personal touch with every engagement. This leads to stronger connection with alums and new five, six, and seven-figure gifts for Kansas State. Learn how they got started, what the program looks like, and how to take this digital-first approach back to your campus.
Speakers: Georgina Clemons, Digital Development Officer, Kansas State University Foundation Eric Holderness, Associate VP of Development, Kansas State University Foundation Quinian Stein, Digital Development Officer, Kansas State Mike Nagel, Manager of Customer and Product Marketing, Evertrue
Engagement Scoring: Using Data to Drive Meaningful Change There are many ways engagement scoring can be used at your institution to improve programming, engagement, and solicitation strategies. In this session, we’ll cover how to get started with a scoring project, secure buy-in, plus review the list of things you should have in place before jumping in. Join the discussion about the types of data to include and what to think about as you consider engagement scoring. Hear how Colorado School of Mines Foundation used engagement scoring to identify and understand their alumni and supporters, which then allowed them to adjust programming and create more effective communications. Leave this session with a plan for analyzing your constituent data so you can take the next step to turn that data into meaningful change for your institution.
Speakers:
Sara Pond, Assistant Vice President, Pipeline Development, Colorado School of Mines Foundation Mirko Widenhorn, Senior Director of Engagement Strategy, iModules
From Jackrabbits to Fundraisers: How South Dakota State Trained Volunteers, Campus Partners and Staff in Campaign Best Practices Campaigns are a team sport. Volunteers, campus partners, faculty and staff all play key roles in campaign success. Insuring that each of the players is equipped with the training and tools to be successful can be a huge challenge. The South Dakota State University Foundation created a comprehensive, ongoing training program designed to build fundraising skill for those who will help make the largest campaign in the state’s history a success. Facilitated over a series of immersive experiences, the Jackrabbits Philanthropy Academy is tailored specifically to each audience and builds about previous lessons. Come learn about the Jackrabbits Philanthropy Academy, its philosophy, areas of focus and execution.
Speakers: Arian Bunde, VP for Strategy and Innovation, South Dakota State University Foundation Keith Mahlum, VP for Development, South Dakota State Jeffrey Hilperts, Senior Associate, Bentz Whaley Flessner
Innovations in Alumni ECommunications and Making EComm Work for You This is an A/B conversation - C yourself into it! ECommunications is key part of any marketing and communications strategy – especially for alumni engagement and fundraising - but how do you go beyond newsletters and boring event invites? And how can you make eCommunications work for you, no matter the size of your staff and institution? This session will explore some tried-and-true strategies and tools to increase your open rates, click rates and other metrics. And you’ll learn about some of the newest innovations, including auto-play video, A/B testing, audience segmentation, and more.
Speakers: Joanna Bean, Director of Alumni Relations and the Annual Fund, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Kayla Gronseth Boyer, Ecomm Marketing Assistant, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Managing Our Expectations Toward Millennials We all face the problem of a shrinking and aging donor file and our bosses are telling us to do something about it by reaching out to younger donors. But what should our expectations from these donors be? Learn about a 2019 study to determine the giving habits of the various different generational groups (i.e. Millennials, Gen Xers, Baby Boomers, etc.) and what we should be expecting from our own donors. Also learn how the Metropolitan State University of Denver (and other CASE VI institutions) are attracting young alumni through effective and proven direct marketing strategies.
Speakers: Jaimie Hurst, J.D., Assistant VP for Strategic Engagement, Metropolitan State University of Denver Jonathan Van Oss, Consulting & Analytics, Pledgemine
Media Panel: Working with Local, Regional and National Press to Tell Your Story – or Support Theirs A panel of local, regional and national media writers will be on hand to talk about how schools, colleges and universities can pique their interest, support their work (while also supporting their own) and engage in a respectful and occasionally mutually-beneficial relationship. This two-way conversation will include an active call-and-response pitching activity as well as a round of tips from these journalists on how to also make best use of our own "owned" media channels.
Moderators:
Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, University of Kansas Jason Hughes, Chief Marketing Officer, Colorado School of Mines
Panelists: Alex Knapp, Associate editor of science, Forbes Magazine Melody Rowell, Producer, KCUR “Central Standard” Stephen Bisaha, Higher education reporter, Kansas News Service
NOON–1:45 PM Awards Luncheon
Service Awards
Institutional Awards
Scholarship Recipient Recognition
2:00–3:00 Breakout Sessions III
Annual Giving Direct Mail Favorites Find inspiration for your next annual giving appeal by attending this session where a panel of annual giving professionals from a variety of institution types will each share some of their favorite annual giving direct mail pieces. We will talk through our development process, segmentation strategies, wins, challenges, and results. There will be ample time for questions and discussion during this interactive session.
Speakers: Carla Boren, Director of Advancement for Annual and Leadership Giving, Culver-Stockton College Jackie Jackson, Director of Annual Giving, University of Central Missouri Josh McCarroll, Assistant Director of Affinity Giving, Central Methodist University
Artificial Intelligence: Driving Frontline Fundraiser Activity For advancement, artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer the future, it's already here, changing the way organizations inspire gifts and spread a culture of philanthropy. This session will take you into the advancement strategy at Arkansas State University and show you how Dr. Jason Penry has used AI to increase activity for his frontline fundraisers and inspire gifts, at scale. Additionally, the AI in Advancement Advisory Council (AAAC), the only board monitoring, measuring, and promoting the ethical use of AI in advancement will dive into its research from the State of AI in Advancement Report. From attitudes on AI in our industry to how it can support fundraising strategy and produce transformative results, we'll cover all aspects of this disruptive technology.
Speakers: Jason Penry, Ph.D, Assistant Vice President, Texas A&M Foundation Adam Martel, CEO, Gravyty
Building an Alumni Spotlight Series with Minimal Effort and Big Returns With a small team, it can be challenging to devote time and resources to promoting and engaging your alumni. Learn from the communications team of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University of Kansas how building a simple and impactful alumni spotlight program elevated levels of engagement not just among alumni, but with students and campus partners as well. We’ll walk you through our simple process for creating and sustaining a series of profiles throughout the year that can be shared and repurposed across nearly all channels and publications with outcomes tied to student enrollment and recruitment, career messaging and even some alumni cameos in other promotional materials.
Speakers: Aspen Grender, Communications Strategist, University of Kansas Kristi Henderson, Chief of Staff & Communications, University of Kansas
How to Make Data Analytics Your New BFF Begin taking advantage of the power that is literally at your fingertips. Data analytics can be used by development and planned giving professionals to make them more efficient and effective at identifying and pre-qualifying prospective donors. This session will help you understand the power and ease of using data analytics as a tool in your work.
Speakers: Marie Murphree, Director of Development, Planned Giving, Truman State University Nathan Stelter, President, The Stelter Company
Integrated and Independent: Empowering Brand Builders to Drive Marketing Impact Marketing and communications professionals are under pressure to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of their work, especially when budgets are constrained and markets are more competitive than ever. These challenges are compounded in decentralized environments where staff and budgets are distributed throughout the organization, whether that’s across the entire enterprise or even across an individual academic school or college. This session will challenge you to move beyond the binary mindset of centralized vs. decentralized organizational models and find ways to make the unique structure and culture of institutions work for you. You’ll hear how the University of Iowa and Indiana University are making important strides in these areas, resulting in an integrated but independent community of brand builders who can deliver program-level impact while helping the greater good. For example, how have these universities moved the conversation from brand compliance to brand expression? How do they track marketing expenditures across the enterprise, and how do they benchmark effectiveness in a way that can apply to all units – no matter their target audience or marketing objective?
Speakers: Ben Hill, Senior Director for Marketing Communications, University of Iowa Rob Zinkan, Vice President, RHB
Managing the “Ask” – Essential Steps When Soliciting Major Donors Major gifts are crucial to any nonprofit...get ready to develop a plan! For more than 30 years, Diane M. Carlson has been helping her clients ask for and receive millions of dollars in support for their organizations. In this presentation, Diane walks her audience through the process of managing the “ask”, starting with prospect identification and ending with how to handle saying “thank you”.
Speaker:Paul Dunne, Senior Vice President, Catapult Fundraising, Inc.
Voluntary Support of Education Survey Results and Alumni Engagement Metrics Findings Find out how much US colleges and universities raised in FY2019. Also learn preliminary findings from CASE's new Alumni Engagement Metrics survey. Engagement includes, but transcends, philanthropy.
Speaker:Ann Kaplan, Senior Director, Voluntary Support of Education, Council for Advancement and Support of Education
3:00 - 3:30 Networking Break
3:30 - 4:30 PM Breakout Sessions IV
Cinematic Storytelling for Higher Ed By harnessing classic tools of cinematic storytelling — the same techniques that make us want to know what “rosebud” means and who’ll sit on the Iron Throne — we can craft videos that emotionally engage the audience. This session provides tips for employing tactics like suspense, mirror scenes, signposts and interwoven narratives to create powerful, intentional videos — ones that don’t just tell the audience what to think, but instead let them participate in the experience. It’s a deep dive into the maxim “show, don’t tell” along with practical suggestions for making that happen.
Speaker:Lucie Amberg, Strategic Communications, College of Arts & Letters, Missouri State University
Circle of Excellence Award Winners and Best Practices Listen from a few of the Circle of Excellence Award Winners and what they developed as best practices. Additional information will be added shortly.
Speakers:
Julie Adam, University of Kansas Wendy Flanagan, Drury University Katie Black, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Tyler Thomas, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Mitch Johnson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Steve Reed, Cottey College,
Fundraising Frontiers: Deep Learning – The Optimal Donor Journey From the team that brought you: Does Behavior Trump Capacity, see the progress one year later and uncover what machine learning has uncovered. This session will take you inside the inner workings of pioneering teams in the sector who took the risk that will pave the way for every charity to do more with less. In 60 minutes you will learn more from failure than from success and leave with battle-tested tactics, high-level strategy and the inspiration that you can take back to your colleagues. You will see: - Case studies on machine-learned predictions - Examples of optimized donor journeys - Common missteps in applying deep learning - Building a case for deep learning at your institution We will explore deep learning with recurrent neural networks which allows for learning on time-series data, namely the ordered steps a donor takes along the way to making a donation and continuing to donate.
Speakers: Greg Lee, PhD, Lead Data Scientist, Fundmetric Chris Steeves, VP of Development, Fundmetric
Great Gorilla Tour: 4,719.3 Miles, 14 days, 9 Cities, 9 States, and 225 Alumni and Friends Do you have alumni throughout the country you are seldom able to interact with? Does your budget limit you to visiting alumni that are a simple day trip away? Pittsburg State University Alumni and Constituent Relations sought to challenge this status quo by planning a road trip to bring alumni gatherings to their Gorilla faithful thousands of miles away. Attend this session to learn about how you can help your distant alumni feel like they are just as important as those who are 100 miles away.
Speakers: Dr. Jon Bartlow, Director of Alumni & Constituent Relations, Pittsburg State University Danielle Driskill, Assistant Director of Alumni & Constituent Relations, Pittsburg State University
Keep Calm & Market Planned Giving: Measuring the Results of Marketing Planned Gifts How do you measure the results of marketing planned gifts at a major university? In 2018, the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) planned giving office enlisted the help of graduate students in the MU Truman School of Public Administration to help them determine the historic ROI of the University of Missouri's planned giving marketing. This presentation will share the results of the project, show how the results are relevant to any charity with a planned giving program, describe the impact of an investment in planned giving marketing, offer a comparison of the results at MU against that of a benchmark institution, and recommend insights for developing planned giving marketing plans.
Speaker: James Preston, Assistant Executive Director, Extension & Engagement, University of Missouri - Columbia
The Power of Staying: The Advantages to Institutions and Employees of Lengthy Tenure's Development is a profession based on long-term relationships, yet the average tenure of a fundraiser is alarmingly short. There are advantages to both employees and institutions of longer tenures at institutions. Come examine those advantages and what institutions AND employees can do to solve challenges that prevent lengthy tenure. Hear from two professionals who have had extended tenures at their respective institutions about the power of staying and the personal fulfillment that you can experience from a lengthy tenure.
Speaker: Kevin Heyen, Senior Executive Director of Principal Gifts & Campaign Manager, University of Missouri-Columbia Charles Hunsaker, Director of Development at Truman State University
Yes, You Can Have Leadership Giving in the Annual Fund and Here is How! We used to view the annual fund as the bottom rung of the giving pyramid, and the donors residing there on an upward trajectory; our ultimate goal to move them up into consideration of a major or planned gift. Today’s giving pyramid is more likely to resemble a web, with the donor entering it from any number of points. As such, today’s annual fund professional needs to be able to build a fundraising landscape that can respond to a donor at any stage of readiness and guide them to making a fulfilling gift. This session will help you discover key factors for success in building a solid annual fund, and include examples of strategies that will move donors through the giving web and along a path of consistent and significant giving.
Speakers: Jill Ruhd, Development Officer, Dakota State University Jona Schmidt, Director of Major and Planned Gifts, Dakota State University Emma DeVos, CEO, InnovativeNonProfit
4:30–5:30 Business Partners Reception
8:30–11:00 CASE After Hours Each evening, CASE VI participants are invited to grow their network, meet future business partners and partake in the fun that is so abundant in Kansas City. Join us each night of the conference and wind down from a day full of learning with a casual night of fun, food, and drink! Stay tuned for this year’s CASE After Hours events.
7:30–8:00 AM Light Breakfast
8:00–10:00 Breakout Super Sessions II
Advancement Safe Space – What Are Your Challenges?
Take this opportunity to synthesize all you have learned during this CASE VI conference. Ask the questions you didn’t get answered. Make connections with other experts in your field so you can make an impact when you return to your institution. During this facilitated workshop with panelists and attendees you will be able to ask questions anonymously if you wish.
Moderator: Bob Otterson, Director of Development, NDSU Foundation Panelists: Curt Crespino, Vice Chancellor, External Relations and Constituent Engagement, UMKC Ernie Hughes, Vice President for University Advancement, Truman State University Holly Johnson, Executive Director, Hawkeye Community College Foundation Sarah Parsons, Director of Advancement Communications, University of Northern Iowa Foundation
Communicating Change Change without communication is stressful and challenging, even if the change is greatly needed. Employees and your other audiences need to understand the change to stay committed, connected and engaged. Your audiences — and how you communicate to them — can drive the commitment that leads to successful change. Irwin-Gish, executive director of communications, marketing and external relations for the College of Business, will share why communicating change is necessary and guide you through a method for communicating change effectively.
Speaker:
Sheri Irwin-Gish, Executive Director of Communications, Marketing and External Relations, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Online Engagement - Connecting with Alumni Anytime, Anywhere Alumni are looking to connect anytime, anywhere and consume information in real-time. How do we meet our alumni where they are? How do we provide meaningful online opportunities, resources, and real-time information that allow alumni to connect with us, and each other? Answering these questions has been pivotal to increasing our reach of engagement and is changing the landscape of our alumni relations services. Through virtual micro-mentoring and volunteer opportunities, social ambassadors and webinars, 85% of those who join us online are newly engaged (those who were not involved last year). Join us for a discussion about the importance of online engagement and how it can increase meaningful engagement with your alumni.
Speakers:
Heather Hanson, Senior Director of Alumni Engagement, University of Colorado, Boulder - Leeds School of Business Amanda Kramer, Alumni Engagement Program Manager, University of Colorado, Boulder - Leeds School of Business
Understanding Unconscious Bias - How It Affects Hiring and Relationships In this session, we will uncover the subtle nature of unconscious bias, including how it works and what it looks like. We will discuss how unconscious bias can negatively impact hiring, advancement, and work relationships, as well as strategies for overcoming and interrupting bias at work. The talk will conclude with a hands-on exercise, WAGES, developed by Dr. Cundiff to explore the real impact of gender bias throughout a professional’s career.
Speakers: Jessica Cundiff, Assistant Professor of Psychological Science, Missouri University of Science and Technology Neil Outar, Chief Diversity Officer, Missouri University of Science and Technology
