From tracking alumni engagement to presenting fundraising data to leadership, dashboards are creatively solving problems and making day-to-day work more efficient for advancement professionals. Here, five Circle of Excellence Award-winning dashboard creators provide a deep dive into the origins, execution, and successes of these projects. 

Salt Lake Community College renamed its business school to honor philanthropist Gail Miller.

There’s a long-held belief in fundraising that major donors, especially new major donors, do not give large unrestricted amounts of cash to organizations. But could there be a way to shift this paradigm in advancement about unrestricted giving? To help donors consider an unrestricted major gift, practitioners must frame the need for such support in a tangible way that gives the individual something to contemplate. That involves drafting a comprehensive case and making a strategic ask for an unrestricted gift. 

Advancement professionals share stories of data in action. They are using the metrics and insights that come from participating in CASE’s industry-leading surveys to set strategy and goals, benchmark against peers, target constituent groups, enhance programming, meet campaign goals, and add new staff.

In fall of 2016, the CASE Commission on Alumni Relations created the Alumni Engagement Metrics Task Force to address the need for an industry-wide framework to measure alumni engagement. The result was the Alumni Engagement Metrics survey, CASE’s first truly global survey. Now, with results from three years of AEM, advancement professionals who work in alumni relations are benefiting from measuring their results in four areas: volunteerism, experiential, philanthropic, and communication. The ability to document positive outcomes is already elevating the profession. In this article, we hear from CASE members who participated in AEM and how it is changing their work for the better. 

Incorporating role-playing into board training can help trustees and volunteers gain confidence and be able to anticipate roadblocks when fundraising for institutions. Here, Laura Grams, Director of Institutional Advancement at Berkeley Preparatory School, discussed how her school is applying the practice of role-playing to make for better advancement opportunities.

Sharing best practices for donor reports and creative fundraising appeals. 

Held May 17-21, 2021, Central European University's Philanthropy Week featured six virtual panels and debates, all exploring trends in philanthropy. 

The seeds of alumni support are sown even prior to enrolling in college.  Formative pre-college experiences play an important role in shaping pro-social habits, mindsets, and dispositions that predict later-life support for one’s alma mater.

Oct. 10, 2020 was etched in the minds of many UC Davis staff, alumni, and donors. That was the date the university had planned to publicly launch a US$2 billion campaign. When the pandemic hit, UC Davis’ team launched the campaign online. Here’s what they learned.