Schools Conference - Be Inspired

Programme

Sunday 7 March 2010

18.00 Welcome Drinks Reception
Old Library, Wadham College, University of Oxford, with a presentation from Sue Cunningham, Director of Development, University of Oxford on the £1.25 billion Oxford campaign - Oxford Thinking.

Monday 8 March 2010

08.30 Registration opens

09.30-10.30 Opening plenary: The Art of Influence
Caroline Goyder, The Central School of Speech and Drama/Author of The Star Qualities
A performance derived toolkit for staying true to yourself in challenging professional situations, while also having the flexibility and charisma to influence others.

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10.40 - 11.35 Breakout session 1
Choose one

Appearances DON'T count: using your case for support to RAISE money
The case for support is your most important tool in conveying the urgency and importance of your school's fundraising priorities. Before you print any glossy brochures, learn what materials are effective - and how to use them - to engage prospects and inspire early commitments.
Katherine Precht, Associate Vice President for Development. The American University in Cairo

Events: you did what?
Whether you are planning an alumni event, organising a school wide party, or just having a get-together, event planning can be a challenge - How do you make it happen? And most importantly, why do it? Christopher Massi and Jane Narich both have a wealth of experience in the field. This session will provide you with some new and original ideas as well as share with you some that worked and some that did not! This is a wonderful opportunity to share ideas, what worked and what didn't!
Jane Narich, Director of External Relations, Benjamin Franklin School, Barcelona and Christopher Massi, Director of Development, Merchants Taylor's School - Northwood

A toybox of tools to enhance your online marketing and communications
Let us take you well beyond Facebook and MySpace to discuss a range of exciting existing and emerging social media applications to enhance your online marketing and communications activities. We also encourage you to keep your mobile phones turned on in this session and leave creative inhibitions outside the door. You'll feel like a kid in a toyshop.
Tracy Playle, Senior Consultant, Pickle Jar Communications

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12.05-13.00 Breakout session 2
Choose one

Creating and utilising a US 501(c) (3) foundation
If would like to receive donations from American individuals and American companies, you need to have a 501 (c) (3). Learn best practices from a school that has been working with a 501 (c) (3) for over 20 years and from another one that has just set this up.
Michaela Seeger, Director of Development, International School of Zug Anel Luzern (ISZL) and Mark Silversten, Aiglon College

Identifying and connecting with major gift prospects
They're out there, but how do you find them and make the first moves? This session examines ways in which you can locate and engage potential major donors.
Tim Edge, Development Director, King's College School, Wimbledon

Market research: what to do next
You believe in market research and have gone to great lengths to collect data to aid decision making. What kind of analysis is needed? Can you uncover the actionable information? And how do you get everyone to "believe" the data. The days of going by your gut may be over.
John Clark, Director of Advancement, American School in London

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 14.00 - 14.45 Showcase Sessions
Choose one

The feasibility study: assessing potential, shaping the future
How is your school, its vision and plans, perceived by potential funders and volunteers? To what extent is a campaign or increased fundraising activity likely to succeed - how much can be raised, what for and over what timescale? How should your school move fundraising forward - what structures, systems, investment and resources will it need to realise its ambitions? These are some of the questions that are addressed in a feasibility or donor assessment study. Anna Mundell and Ian Jones will talk you through the planning and the process, sharing some of the lessons learnt at a number of independent schools.
Anna Mundell and Ian Jones, Iain More Associates and Elisabeth Anderson, Foundation Deputy Director, Fettes Foundation.

Five tips for how technology can help transform the Development Office
In this session we will discuss how technology can be used to its full potential to improve your relationships with your alumni, boost your profile and increase income, with minimal effort.
Tony Davey, Product Manager, IRIS NFP Solutions

The Annual Fund: My heart says yes but my Head says "No"
Not surprisingly, senior management get excited about transformational gifts. They often don't understand why you need an Annual Fund to create the culture of giving that will support major philanthropy. Or if they do, the senior management want undesignated gifts, or gifts for projects that you know will not inspire small donors. You realise how important it is to get your Annual Fund right, but find it difficult to make convincing arguments to gain vital internal support and to persuade people internally to make the investment required to ensure success. This session tackles this issue from a number of angles: examples and statistics that will help you convince colleagues to think long-term; how to set KPIs beyond income that will help others understand what is being achieved; how to create an effective case for support for when everyone says 'there are no small projects worth doing'; how to integrate that case for support into capital campaigns and endowment campaigns that excite the boss; and, of course, how, through planning and segmentation, to choose and time the most appropriate solicitation methods to make the AF such a success that it has to earn respect!
John Rux-Burton, Managing Director, Rux Burton Associates

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14.45 - 15.50 Breakout session 3
Choose one

Drafting a development plan
Would you drive a car in a foreign country without a road map or GPS? Neither should you attempt a development programme without first creating a development plan. In this hands-on session, you will be guided through the necessary steps to drafting a development plan and making it work for you and your school!
Pam Winthrop, Development Director, Copenhagen International School and Carrie Levenson-Wahl, Director of External Affairs, International School in Paris

Planned Giving
This session takes a look at how to establish a planned giving programme that encourages your entire community to consider a bequest. What are independent schools currently doing to promote this form of giving? What can we learn from each other and how can we do it better?
Tori Roddy, Head of Alumni Relations, Westminster School

Sustainable leadership: using coaching to develop your team
This session will introduce coaching as a vauable set of attitudes, skills and techniques that leaders can acquire. It will focus on how to develop a coaching style that suits people working in educational advancement, demonstrate examples of situations where it has worked in developing effective teams and give some insights into the reasons why it works. If there is time the session will offer a demonstration of speed coaching.
Lady Kitty Chisholm, former Director of Development at Brunel University, UK (2003-2007)

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15.55-17.05 Breakout session 4

Relationship fundraising
Whether your focus is annual giving, legacies or major gifts, its all going to go better if you can build and maintain excellent human relationships. This session will explore the importance of inspiration, meaning and belonging in achieving fundraising success, and will provide his twenty top tips for enhancing income by paying increased attention to the people who are your benefactors or prospects.
Tony Bretherton, Director of Development and Chief Executive, Wells Cathedral School Foundation

Working with your Alumni Association
Many schools have a long running Alumni Association which has been operating for many years before the establishment of a development office. During this session we will be discussing the best ways for you to work with your Association and key supporters to ensure that there are mutual benefits for both parties.
Nick Gilbert, Development Manager, Bryanston School

Magazines and print: how to make them work for you
The economic crisis became an enrollment nail-biter for any school without a hefty endowment. Find out how one international school took the marketing challenge head on, with its publications, both electronic and print, on the front line. This practical session will ensure you go home with the tools to review, and perhaps refresh, the way in which your school is telling its story without breaking the bank.
Emma Silva, Associate Director Marketing and Publications, American School in Paris

Tuesday 9 March 2010

0815 - 0850 Breakfast Roundtables (RT)

Eight tables of ten, a topic and a moderator - this session gives you a unique opportunity to find fellow practitioners who face the same problems as you do and look for feasible solutions together.

RT: Marketing and Development: working together, or not?
Moderator: Lesley Humphreys, Marketing and Development Director, Millfield School

RT: Crisis communications: what to do when a disaster happens
Moderator: Michaela Riches, Marketing and Development Director, Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby

RT: Campaigns
Moderator: Adrian Ballard, Head of Foundation, Sherborne School

RT: Tips on Twitter
Moderator: Tim Gibson, Web Content editor, Oxford Brookes University

RT: Telephone fundraising - a student caller's view
Moderator: Mark Downes, Development Officer, Annual Fund and a student, University of Oxford

RT: Legacies
Moderator: Megan Callaway, Head of Development, Girls Day School Trust

RT: International schools benchmarking project
Moderators: Jane Narich, Director of External Relations, Benjamin Franklin School, Barcelona and Kate Hunter, Executive Director, CASE Europe

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09.00-10.00 Breakout session 5
Choose one

Working with your development board
The Development Board should be an integral part to the success of a Development Office. From experience of working with a Board, this session will cover some of the do's and don'ts, how to get your Board motivated, giving the Board roles and getting them to sell the School and your campaign. This will be an interactive session.
Helen Tranter, Director of Development, Haileybury

Friends or Foe: friendship groups
Taking advantage of supportive groups in your community, whether it be parents, alumni or students can vastly enhance the work you do. These groups can contribute in many ways and be very helpful or as sometimes happens, become time consuming and energy wasting. What is it that makes the difference and how can you avoid your enthusiastic helpers from becoming major headaches?
Jane Narich, Director of External Relations, Benjamin Franklin School, Barcelona and Tori Roddy, Head of Alumni Relations, Westminster School, London

Reputation Risk
The reputation of your school is a valuable asset - what are you doing to protect it from harm? What kind of marketing and communications activity can help identify and prevent damage to reputation among your key stakeholders? In this session learn about reputation protection techniques and methodologies that are rapidly becoming best practice.
Gary Honey, Head of Marketing and Communications, Winchester College

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10.00-10.45 Showcase Sessions
Choose one

Re-energising the annual fund
This session will focus on practical ways to elevate your annual fund by applying a data-driven model and campaign methodologies.
Charlie Michaud, Director of European and Middle East Operations, CSS Fundraising

Engaging your constituents: maximising the power of your school's web presence
This session will look at the ways that rich media, social networks, and secure, private, portals can be used to push timely and compelling web communications in a simple and effective manner.
Clive Ungless, Director of International Operations, finalsite

Fundraising through Alumni Relations
In uncertain financial times, engaging your alumni community has never been more important. Across the US and UK, independent schools are successfully integrating their alumni relations and development activity to enhance alumni communications - creating specific and relevant information for individuals. Join this session to learn how the US and UK models compare and how online alumni engagement is an essential strategy for independent schools.
Sandra Luther, Internet Solutions Manager, Blackbaud Europe

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11.15 - 12.00
Breakout session 6
Choose one

How schools can learn from universities
Having recently made the move from fundraising in a small girls' school to fundraising in a Russell Group University, Helen will explore areas of best practice which are easily translatable from one sector to another. Using her experience she will also look at lessons that University fundraisers can learn from their colleagues in the school fundraising environment!
Helen O'Donnell, Head of Development, University of Liverpool

Social Media for community building and development
New media, applied well, can make a massive difference to the effectiveness of education marketers and development professionals. In this session you'll learn what the various types of new and social media actually are, how they can be applied effectively -and horribly misapplied. Presenter Barak Kassar is a new media leader from Silicon Valley, now based in Europe. He will also take you behind the scenes in the building of the vibrant school community site: www.escuelabv.org. This community is home to an array of stakeholders, from potential donors, alumni, and, of course, current families. Learn what worked, what did not, what it took to get the community to a "tipping point" and what lies ahead.
Barak Kassar, Principal and Creative Director, Rassak Experience

Australian models for development
The role of development in schools continues to grow in importance. Difficult financial times require schools to implement strategies that will grow their support base. England, Australia and New Zealand are all at differing points on the development continuum and this session will draw on a number of case studies to help delegates identify where they might be.
Craig Considine, Headmaster, Millfield School

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12.00-13.00 Closing plenary - Paul Sheff, President Catholic Memorial School
Through the Looking Glass: thoughts on the future of institutional advancement
A consideration of how five current trends might affect institutional advancement in the early stages of the 21st century: the recent world-wide economic decline; continued incursions of technology; the rapid rise of social networking; early efforts to utilise research on women as philanthropists; and the interplay of vision and branding within all levels of education.

13.00 Lunch and networking

14.00 Conference concludes

CASE Europe reserves the right to change/amend the programme without notice.