Good onboarding welcomes new colleagues into a team—like a welcome mat for the organization. That philosophy helps the University of California, Davis, U.S., start its newcomers in advancement off on the right foot. In 2021, the development and alumni relations division there launched The Learning DO–Development Officer Boot Camp. It’s a comprehensive, centralized, nine-week academy for fundraisers.

The average tenure for an advancement professional today is just five years. To keep staff on board, our workplaces need to be flexible, empathetic, inclusive, and transparent. Here, two researchers share what they’ve discovered about human-centered talent management and the key steps to retain staff: align talent to mission and values; engage the whole person; and recognize colleagues’ impact.  

The CASE Library maintains this collection of online samples for all CASE members. It includes examples of diversity and inclusion plans, mission statements, and DEI priorities and initiatives within institutional advancement divisions.

The CASE Library has compiled this sample collection of talent management programs from CASE Circle of Excellence entries and Currents articles. The collection first lists award-winning programs and then additional programs and initiatives.

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.

Kenneth Cooper, Executive Director of the Las Positas College Foundation and chair of the CCCA conference committee shares his reasons to attend the upcoming conference.

Meg Natter, CASE Director, Community Colleges and Foundations, invites you to join us at the Conference for Community College Advancement in Baltimore, Maryland this October.

Diverse, inclusive teams are more productive, more innovative, and more likely to retain and recruit talent. Advancement leaders who want to move the needle on inclusion at their organizations can turn to CASE’s Advancement Inclusion Index. The Index—a first-of-its-kind assessment tool—was just recognized with a Power of Associations Award from ASAE. Learn more.

Kenneth Cooper, Executive Director, Las Positas College Foundation, in Livermore, California, and Chair of the upcoming Conference for Community College Advancement, shares his passion for community college work, along with his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities ahead for the sector.

The University of North Texas started a new tradition in 2018: The Eagle Ring Dive. Now in its seventh year, it's a personal ceremony where students share the accomplishment of their graduation and build affinity with the university's alumni association.