Message from Chair

Institutional fundraising campaigns are, at their core, marketing structures and efforts. As communications and development professionals, our opportunity is to use them to the full benefit of both raising money and building the brands of our institutions.

This conference will explore campaign marketing trends, including the use of social media and Web 2.0 strategies in development communications and marketing research. It will also provide basic how to's for campaign newcomers, and encourage exploration into the role of communications and marketing in the shaping of our institutions' philanthropic cultures. A key part of the conference agenda will be the identification of topics to explore by the participants themselves, and a seminar-style final session to share best practices and explore issues and topics raised by participants.

Mary Gresch, Conference Chair
Principal
Mary Gresch and Associates

Mary Gresch serves as a consultant to universities on brand development, campaign communications and integrated marketing planning. The former associate vice president for strategic communications and marketing at Washington State University, her 25-year career has included work as a development officer, journalist, and leader of marketing and communications.

At WSU, Gresch led the university's highly effective and nationally recognized brand development and integrated marketing efforts for seven years. She was promoted to that position after serving as director of communications for the Washington State University Foundation, where she led the nationally award-winning Campaign WSU communications and creative strategy. Her 25-year career has included all aspects of leadership and management in campaign communications, from research through message development, execution, and integration; developing institutional marketing and campaign communication plans; staff development; organizational structure; creative strategy and execution in all media; media relations; advertising and media placements, and budget management. Current clients include the Oregon State University Foundation, Seattle University, the University of Idaho, the University of Montana Foundation and Marylhurst University.

She serves on the Public Affairs Advisory Committee for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she earned her undergraduate degree. Prior to her tenure at WSU, Gresch was the director of public relations and publications at the Cate School in Carpinteria, Calif., and a development coordinator for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Molly Brown
Senior Director for Strategic Communications and Donor Relations and Associate Campaign Director
Oregon State University Foundation

Molly Brown serves as senior director of strategic communications and donor relations and associate campaign director for the Oregon State University Foundation. She was a member of the senior management team that planned and publicly launched OSU's first capital campaign in October 2007. The Campaign for OSU has a goal of $625 million and stands at $565 million with 16 months to go.

Brown has been involved in development work at OSU since 1990 in positions ranging from proposal writer in corporate and foundation relations and director of prospect research to her current leadership role overseeing print, electronic and events-related marketing efforts for the OSU Foundation. She holds two degrees from Stanford University and considers her undergraduate minor in fiction writing to have been her best training for a career in marketing.

Genevieve Haines
Director of Integrated Communications
UCLA 

Genevieve Haines helps businesses and non-profits achieve their communications goals through public relations, marketing and social media outreach.

As director of integrated communications at UCLA, Haines took the university's social networking presence from non-existent into a nationally recognized leader in just two years. High points include YouTube's selection of UCLA's channel as a beta-test site and case study, recognition in The Wall Street Journal, and creation of Facebook pages for the university and its chancellor. Haines also handles UCLA's paid advertising campaign and leads brand-building activities to encourage consistent messages across a decentralized academic environment.

Prior to joining UCLA, Haines spent ten years at a Los Angeles public relations firm. There she ran $20 million in programs for Rob Reiner's First 5 California early childhood education campaign, served as "Tony the Tiger's campaign manager" (per the Los Angeles Times) as Tony competed for induction into the Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame and placed Spider-Man Pop-Tarts on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Her professional Internet experience began in 1994 when she served as a White House intern in Presidential e-mail. Since then she has presented on social media in meetings and Webinars for hospitals and universities, and as guest faculty at the 2009 Big Ten Fund Raisers Institute.

Cheryl Nations
Creative Director
University of Washington

Cheryl Nations is the creative director at the University of Washington. She joined the university in early 2000 with a focus on advancement communications. In 2006, her team evolved into UW Marketing with a revised mission to oversee the overall reputation of the university, reporting to both the vice president of advancement and the vice president of external affairs. As lead of UW Marketing's Creative Services group, she oversees the university's brand as well as directs the creative strategy, messaging, writing/editing, design and production of university-wide communications in support of the president, provost and government relations in addition to the foundation and central advancement office. She also oversees their media planning/buying efforts.

The University of Washington publically launched their $2 billion comprehensive campaign, "Campaign UW: Creating Futures," in the fall of 2004. When the campaign concluded in 2008, the UW had raised $2.67 billion. Campaign communication highlights include the development and implementation of a campaign identity; resources/tools for unit-based staff to ensure harmony in a central/de-central structure; and communications planning and execution of projects from it's public launch through it's successful closing.

For the past six years, Nations has been a volunteer for CASE at the district level, serving on conference committees and the board of directors. Currently, she is chair elect for CASE District VIII. Prior to joining the University of Washington, she worked in the private sector in marketing and communications, including at Seattle-area ad agencies and educational publishers.