CASE’s 50th anniversary is also a time to look to the future. Five advancement leaders share thoughts on the challenges ahead, along with what makes them optimistic in this roundtable discussion.

The pandemic and the Great Resignation (on top of years of financial pressures and change) have created new levels of stress and mental health challenges for higher education staffs around the world. Here’s a snapshot of mental health in today’s advancement workplaces—including what institutions, leaders, and individuals can do to address burnout and support well-being.

How should development and alumni relations best work together? It’s an age-old question for advancement—more relevant now than ever, as institutions grapple with constant change. Ultimately, the fundraising cycle works best when it’s a shared responsibility: when both alumni relations and development teams work together to ensure the greatest potential for success.

Colleges and universities have been working on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging for decades, but higher education leaders say the last two years have sparked a shift. The 2020 racial reckoning and Black Lives Matter movement, campus protests, and pandemic pressures have changed the conversation, expectations for, and nature of diversity leaders’ work. Here’s what advancement professionals should know about diversity leaders’ roles in higher education today—and the future of DEIB work for development.

Major gift officers in university advancement voluntarily leave their positions for similar roles at other institutions at an alarmingly high rate—once every 18 months, on average. But workplace compassion can help retain fundraisers, according to research. Here’s how advancement leaders can create positive change to increase team members’ satisfaction and retain talented gift officers. 

Spurred by the pandemic, millions of people have quit or changed jobs in 2020 and 2021. How has the “Great Resignation” impacted higher education? It’s led many advancement professionals to consider work-life balance, workplace flexibility, pay, and stability. Now, institutions are realizing the pre-pandemic status quo needs a serious overhaul if they are going to stem the tide of people leaving the sector.

Vita Pickrum has spent more than a decade in advancement marshalling support for Delaware State University students and connecting with her peers in development at historically Black colleges and universities. Here’s why, she says, strategic focus and showcasing impact are crucial today.

For more than 50 years, a collection of remarkable artworks by Australian Indigenous children sat untouched in a university basement. Now, Curtin University in Perth has launched a campaign to give these pieces a permanent home in Western Australia.

Explore the practice and benefits of networking for advancement professionals. A trusted network across institutions and outside of your field can help identify job openings, generate invitations for presentations or speaking engagements, show novel approaches to organizations facing similar challenges, and more.   

Simon Fraser University's online Honouring Ceremony celebrated Indigenous graduates with cultural drum and music presentations, ceremonial gifts, and more.