Leading advancement teams today, amid change and hefty expectations, is like “constantly being in quicksand,” says Jhumar Johnson. That’s why cultivating resilience is crucial. Here, Johnson— who’s spent her career in development, including 11 years at the U.K.’s Open University—shares how resilience is built on consistency and trust, but also failure and joy.

Two simultaneous public-private partnership campaigns at Heartland Community College (Illinois, U.S.) yielded innovative new agriculture and manufacturing facilities. 

Kent State University transformed its phone center into a multichannel Alumni Engagement Center that’s revitalized the way it interacts with constituents. The new center has enriched relationships with alumni, friends, and partners—transitioning from transactional to transformational partnerships. Here’s how it works.  

“There are so many juicy and amazing things we can tease out of data,” says analytics enthusiast and CASE volunteer Amanda Jarmon. She is an advocate for people with neurodivergence, calling her own experience with it her “superpower’ that enhances her ability to deeply analyze data for her clients. 

Louisiana Community and Technical College System Foundation has created a model for workforce partnership and training that involves reimbursing colleges for each student that graduates or gets credentialed. Here’s how it works.

Armed with a photo booth, stickers, and more, the team at Taipei American School set out to revive annual giving in 2023. Fundraising at the pre-K–12 international school had been paused since the pandemic. Its 3 Weeks to 300 campaign aimed to raise 300 annual fund gifts, but ended up raising more than double that.

Chandler LeBoeuf, Vice President of Education for the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, and Executive Director of the LCTCS Foundation, has been part of the System since 2012, going from student affairs to advancement. Through public-private partnerships, he leads innovative workforce development programs, which work to get individuals credentialed in high-demand fields and into the workforce. Learn more about his career path ad advice on building similar programs. 

In its fall 2023 annual fund campaign, Reed College’s team showed donors how recurring giving is a convenient, powerful way to make a difference. The Portland, Oregon, U.S., college won a Circle of Excellence Award in fundraising for its revitalized campaign, which focused on consistency and impact. Here’s why it worked.

What kind of philanthropist are you? That’s what McGill University’s annual giving team invited its community to discover through a fun, Buzzfeed-style quiz for Giving Tuesday 2023.

Creating a comprehensive ask for annual fund gifts is beneficial for both schools and donors. By doing so, families can understand the reasons for giving and schools can reduce staff time by having one ask instead of multiple throughout the year. Having conversations with donors regarding the ask can also inform future giving success.