After three years as director of communications for a startup company, in late 2014 I traded a spacious open-plan office and perks such as yoga and unlimited vacation days for a newly created position at my alma mater.

Advancement leaders from three community colleges share how they reorganized, strategized, and adapted in 2020 to continue to support the missions of their institutions.

Let's face it: No one who works in communications and marketing wants to design flyers or write email copy every day. These professionals crave inventive yet impactful projects that will propel the school, college, or university they serve. But too often creative people devote their workdays to cranking out uninspired deliverables for Director So-and-So's upcoming event. When a marcomm team functions as a service-level agency, its members live in reaction mode. Its agenda is set by urgent requests from other units rather than the institution's strategic goals.

For many new VPs, the talents that helped them excel and get promoted aren't necessarily the ones they need to do well as a key strategic leader.

During the October 2013 meeting of the CASE Commissions, all three commissions participated in a joint discussion on the topic of integrating the advancement disciplines. Given the interest in the discussion and questions we've received, the CASE Library has prepared a collection of resources on this topic.

Here's how managers—and the people who hire them—can improve. Leaders share what to do, what not to do, and how to know the difference.

Advancement professionals are diligently focusing on DEIB initiatives within their teams.  And more and more of them are beginning to look outward as well. Two advancement professionals with wide experience working in the DEIB space offer practical strategies to more effectively identify, involve, solicit, and steward alumni of color.

The CASE Library has developed this resource collection to support members with small advancement teams. Learn how educational institutions are raising money and engaging constituents in spite of limited staff and resources.  

The principal of Christina Chang Equity Consulting discusses empathy, embedding anti-racist systems, and understanding our history.

With more and more universities embarking on record-breaking fundraising campaigns, grappling with stagnant enrollment, and defending their place amid seismic societal shifts, employees with institutional knowledge and deep-rooted relationships with faculty and staff are essential to communicating the values of an institution and connecting the public with stories that embody those values.