2024 Digital Wrap-Up!
It’s that time of year! I can’t imagine how you even found the time to read this with the push to secure year-end gifts, the stress of finals week on your campuses, all the reports to be run as fiscal years end for a few of you, the looming grant updates and submission deadlines, and that constant buzz of holiday shopping and parties and high expectations. Whew! We all need a break!
And here it comes, just when we need it most. The December holidays give us an opportunity to step away from our emails, rest, reflect on what we learned in 2024, and get recharged for new projects on the horizon.
What am I most excited about as I get ready for 2025?
Webinars! CASE hosted two webinars just for community college advancement professionals this fall and I’m going to set up a lot more in 2025. “Leveraging Workforce Development Partnerships” in November focused on all the details behind the Maine Community College System’s $75 million gift from the Harold Alfond Foundation. If you’d like to watch it (over 100 of you have already), just register here.
Over 200 members registered for our “Strategic Alumni Fundraising” webinar on Dec. 5. John Wolfkill, Executive Director of the Community College of Aurora Foundation in Colorado, did a great job moderating the discussion with panelists Allison Dolan-Wilson, Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Northern Essex Community College in Massachusetts; Chris Downing, Associate Vice President of Development & Community Engagement at Heartland Community College in Illinois; and Diana Pollard, Associate Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Executive Director at Dutchess Community College Foundation in New York. If you didn’t have a chance to watch, register here.
On Thursday, Feb. 20, 3-4 p.m. (EST), Chandler LeBoeuf, Vice President of Education at Louisiana Community and Technical College System, will share how his system is leading public-private partnerships in Louisiana to benefit students and employers. Learn more and register for the “Innovative Workforce Development: Community College Public-Private Partnerships.”
Thanks to many volunteers, especially those on the Community College Leadership Committee, a few more spring webinars will be scheduled. (If you have an idea for a webinar—especially if you are a marketing and communications or grant professional—please contact me at mnatter@case.org.)
Lots of wonderful things are on my 2025 CASE to-do list, including a refreshed webpage just for community colleges, and I can’t wait to work with you to provide more community college-focused programming. But first, a little rest… 😊
About the author(s)
Meg Natter joined CASE in 2023 and serves as Director of Community Colleges and Foundations within the Volunteer Engagement and Leadership division. For over 20 years, Meg worked at Brookdale Community College in New Jersey, U.S., in several leadership roles, including Dean of its Humanities Institute, Assistant Professor in the English and Women’s & Gender Studies departments, and Executive Director of the college’s foundation. Her advancement career includes five years as Senior Development Officer at Ocean Medical Center in New Jersey, where she focused on major gifts, and she earned the Certified Fund Raising Executive credential for six years.
In her role at CASE, Meg collaborates with the members of the Center for Community College Advancement Advisory Committee to address the needs of community college advancement professionals as well as the National Committee for College and University Foundations to focus on programming for CASE members who manage foundations. Meg is a CASE@Campus instructor specializing in creating a culture of philanthropy at community colleges, and is one of the CASE staff members leading the annual Conference for Community College Advancement, the Conference for College and University Foundations, and the Federal Funding Task Force meetings.
