12:00–1:00 PM ET
Opening Key Session

1:00–1:30
Networking by Affinity Group

1:30–2:15 PM
Elective Sessions

Storytelling and Community Building in a Virtual World
Learn how Foxcroft School showcased the compassion, adaptability, and resilience of its community by launching Celebration Days, a six-week program centered around a series of virtual celebrations that honored hallmarks of the School’s culture: Service, Learning and Wellness. This integrated communications and giving campaign united the School community and resulted in heightened social media interaction and greater opportunities for personal engagement across all constituencies. In this session you will learn how to build community, share meaningful stories, and maintain school culture while presenting all constituencies with an opportunity to engage with and contribute to your School.
Marion Couzens, Director of Institutional Advancement, and Katherine Murphy, Donor Relations and Reunion Coordinator, Foxcroft School

2:30–3:00
Sponsor Sessions

3:15–4:00
Elective Sessions

Be Done With Your Annual Fund In Only 4 Weeks
Does your annual fund drag on and on? Has parent participation become stale? Join Randolph School’s small Development Team for a discussion on how to bring the excitement back to annual giving and boost parent participation…all in just 4 weeks! By shortening our annual fund campaign, we surpassed our participation goal, increased revenue, and were able to spend the rest of the year focused on developing strong donor relationships. Learn how to leverage that powerful beginning of the year excitement by creating weekly themes, building an army of volunteers, and making it all about the students!
Meade Davis, Director of Advancement Outreach, Randolph School, and Jill Gaunt, Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations, Randolph School

Building the Analytics Framework
Ease of access, accuracy, and standardization are the foundation to any strong analytics program, and establishing this is often the first challenge any data-focused organization faces. This session will work through a concrete, technical solution that is rooted in the ability to nimbly support fundraising requirements – a Data Warehouse. We’ll answer some of life’s biggest questions, like what is a Data Warehouse, and why do I need one? And, more importantly, how do I hack my way to one in an environment with little technical support and limited resources?
Christa Zufelt, Associate Director of Analytics, Phillips Academy

Creating a School-Wide Culture of Alumni Engagement
As alumni relations professionals, we strive to be relevant to constituents at every stage of their lives. What about our “alumni-to-be” and those who influence their lives, otherwise known as students, parents and faculty? Join Latin School of Chicago’s Team Alumni to learn how they establish trust, inspire future engagement and demonstrate the value added of a strong alumni network. Leave this session with concrete, scalable ideas for growing the best concept of “alumni” in the hearts and minds of students, parents and faculty, while also engaging current alumni in the life of your school in unique and meaningful ways.
Stephanie Chu, Director of Development for Alumni Relations, Latin School of Chicago, and Teresa Sutter, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations, Latin School of Chicago

Telling Your School's Nuanced Stories
Learn a few ways to move from telling people your school’s mission statement to showing them your mission at work. We’ll look at how you can leverage your storytelling to show your audience what your school is really about and why it matters. Specific storytelling platforms discussed include your magazine, a podcast, presidential messages, and other communications.
Erin Dentmon, Advancement Writer, The Westminster Schools

4:15–5:00
Elective Sessions

What Your Black Advancement Colleagues Want You to Know Now
In this time of racial reckoning throughout our country, independent schools have found themselves ill-equipped to bridge the gap between the lived experience of Black community members and their missions. As Black students past and present made their struggles within our institutions known through the use of social media accounts and demanded acknowledgment of and remedies for the pain of “learning while Black,” advancement teams found themselves scrambling to respond. This challenge is amplified because Black professionals are often too scarce among those who raise the funds, engage alumni, and communicate messages for our schools. It is clearly no longer acceptable to be colorblind in our offices and ignore the fact these constituents are demanding more empowered and equitable roles in our schools. 

As co-founders of the Black Advancement Networking Group (BANG), a New York-based organization dedicated to supporting and uplifting Black professionals in advancement roles in independent schools, these three professionals have varied experiences in several urban and suburban schools in the New York City metropolitan area. They will help you gain deeper insight into how your school can respond to the needs of their students, parents, alumni, and colleagues of color.

Come to this session to have your assumptions about your Black students and families challenged, better understand where you are missing the mark in communicating with this increasingly important demographic, and learn how the ways in which you operate may be unintentionally contributing to the microaggressions potential donors are experiencing at your school and that colleagues are experiencing on your teams.
Jan Abernathy, Director of Strategic Communications, The Browning School, Courtney Archer-Buckmire, Director of Advancement, Grace Church School, and Marjorie Jean-Paul, Director of Development and Alumni, Buckley Country Day School

5:00
Conference adjourns for the day

12:00–1:00 PM ET
Panel Key Session

1:00–1:30
Networking by Districts

1:30–2:15
Elective Sessions

7 Keys To Fund-Raising Success
Loosely based on the seven cardinal virtues, this session will magnify your exploration of fund-raising and provide new tools for your success.  The 7 Keys to Fund-Raising Success blends new-age thinking with great wisdom from historically thought-provoking leaders, such as Lao Tzu and Abraham Lincoln.  Philanthropy has a special meaning to those involved.  It is a great joy to work with our donors and benefactors, who strengthen our communities. This session will awaken a refreshing way of thinking about your donors, how you can connect with them to build shared visions, and then unify those dreams into realities
Stephen Sturman, Director of Institutional Advancement, The Orchard School

Board of Visitors - Engaging Out of Town Alumni
Many colleges and universities have a board of visitors program to cultivate relationships with alumni who serve as out of town advisors to school leadership. Hear one independent JK - 12 school's story on how they have used a board of visitors program with over 20 years of demonstrated success.
Elizabeth Coulter, Associate Director of Development - Donor Relations, Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School, and Amy Dove, Director of Development, Brian Thomas, Assistant Head of School

Changing the Giving Culture: Growing Leadership Gifts and Building a Foundation
This workshop aims to come up with innovative and nimble ideas to rework a parent culture, inspire generosity, and build a sustainable structure from which to motivate and inspire donors between campaigns. An entirely new Advancement team arrived as parents making final pledge payments from the last campaign. Donors suffered from fatigue and mistrust. What to do when a GIFT is the newest four-lettered-word, seemingly counter to a school’s culture? We’ve all worked with successful volunteers in the past, but what happens when the team begins with few allies? How do you move forward in a culture and climate of “no”? Our priority was to inspire the entire community and reeducate with a culture of philanthropy. We bifurcated the old parent participation volunteer structure and crafted a pilot parent leadership giving volunteer program with 10 parents. The objective was to increase leadership giving from current donors; to inspire new parents early in the year; to maintain the school's value around equity. Parent coffees and donor meetings allowed us to exceed our $1.5M goal the first year and increase leadership giving by $300Ks in year two. Learn a model that brings parent volunteers on as insiders and partners.
Devon Wilson-Hill, Director of Annual Programs, Shady Hill School

Empowering Students to Plan Your Social Media
Social Media can be time-consuming, but you know it is critical to your success as a school. But who has time to craft perfectly branded content? Your students! Come learn about ways you can empower students to create your content without sacrificing quality, branding or the security of your social media accounts. Bring your favorite device and let's get to work!
Elizabeth Broughton, Development Director, Winston Salem Christian School

2:30–3:00
Sponsor Sessions

3:15–4:00
Elective Sessions

60-Hour Gala Makeover: How to go from live to virtual and exceed your goal
An annual gala to raise money for financial aid is supposed to be a glamorous night filled with laughter and joy. In 2020, St. Andrew’s had to cancel its in-person gala two days before it was scheduled to take place due to COVID-19. That didn’t stop the Advancement staff from creating a virtual gala that was well “attended” and encapsulated all the fun and community that is the hallmark of an in-person gala. In the end, St. Andrew’s not only exceeded its goal by more than 25%, but nearly matched its record for most successful gala in school history.
Richard Coco, Director of Communications and Marketing, St. Andrew's Episcopal School, Patrick McGettigan, Director of Development Operations, Strategy, and Research, St. Andrew's Episcopal School, and John McMillen, Academic Dean, Class of 2021, Math Teacher, St. Andrew's Episcopal School

Advancement Services - the Force Behind Fundraising
Are we capitalizing on all the data that we have access to? Do we allow data to drive our donor relations strategy? Are your frontline fundraisers spending too much time behind a computer? This session is designed to be provocative, to stretch our thinking about the role advancement services should play in driving action within our offices, and the critical role they play in compliance and reporting. We will examine a new staffing model to better support frontline fundraisers through prospect research, data analytics moves management, and reporting.
Philip Higginson, Associate Head of School for Philanthropy, Ravenscroft School

The Role of Questioning and Listening in the Major Gift Engagement Process
We all are energized when we feel involved in the life of an organization about which we care.  In this session, we will cover the value of asking good questions to engage more deeply those who are close to the school.  During our time together, we will cover the ways in which major gift and annual fund giving officers can intentionally ask questions to guide a conversation toward a more meaningful connection.  Participants will learn about the kinds of questions that are effective and will then pair off with others to test the process both from the perspective of the questioner and the recipient.  We will cover how to plant seeds that lead to significant gifts, what to listen for, and the role this step plays in a longer major gift conversation.
Jonathan Bridge, Assistant Head of School for Advancement, University School

When Reality Strikes: A Dynamic Approach to Fundraising Leadership
President Eisenhower once said that “plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” Indeed, nothing in today’s independent school goes precisely to plan, especially fundraising. Surprises big and small call for course corrections to match, yet schools often feel bound by already established strategic plans or campaign studies. This can result in leaders being afraid to pivot, course-correct when circumstances dictate or demonstrate what UVA Professor Jeanne Liedtka calls “intelligent opportunism.” In this session, an experienced head of school will describe how he has effectively navigated complex situations with dynamic strategies and innovative tactics. He will offer counsel on how to lead through surprises, not around them, as well as prepare your school to demonstrate its best intelligent opportunism by capitalizing on disruptions and opportunities that result from change. By rethinking the standard strategic plan and crafting your messaging carefully, you will learn how to convert an unexpected left turn into a successful journey for the donor and for your advancement leadership.
Scott Erickson, Head of School, Phillips Brooks School

4:15–5:00
Elective Sessions

What Does an Equitable And Inclusive Advancement Office Look Like?
DEI is not just the work of an individual or team within the school community. It is imperative that externally-focused offices understand how to contribute to the school's goals, fostering belonging for all constituents. It can be daunting to know where and how to begin. 
  
Looking through CASE's lens of integrated advancement, this session explores how to be more equitable and inclusive in Fundraising, Alumni Relations, and Communications. With actionable steps and key questions with which to examine your own office, this session enables you to begin your path to being an anti-racist development team.
Christine Pina, Chief Advancement Officer, Miss Porter's School, and Ann Snyder, Director, Independent and International Schools, CASE

5:00
Conference adjourns for the day

12:00–1:00 PM ET
Roundtables

1:15–1:45
Sponsor Sessions

2:00–2:45
Elective Sessions

Beyond Feature Marketing: How a Content Strategy Can Help You
NAIS' recent parent survey found that families hire schools for specific jobs. Beneath this finding is an acknowledgment that families have problems -- sometimes named, sometimes unidentified -- that they want schools to solve. And yet, many schools market their distinctive features without fully understanding how (or whether) those features intersect with their audience's anxieties and aspirations.  

The founder of Hawken's Redesigning School podcast and website will share how a small team used an audience-centered approach to launch the pod, blog and video channel to encourage families to consider the Mastery School of Hawken, a new ungraded, problem-based high school.

Our approach can help other schools looking to launch innovative programs or clarify their position in the marketplace by focusing first on their audience's anxieties and aspirations and second on how the school's distinctive features solve one or more of those problems.
Terry Dubow, Director of Special Projects, Hawken School

IQ Opens the Door, EQ Closes the Gift
Need to enhance your prospect management system? Wondering how to build a pipeline? Not sure how to qualify your constituents? How do you move them through the steps to close a gift? Join us as we look at the importance of using IQ to identify prospects and report on them, then shift to using EQ to cultivate donors and close gifts. Learn how to build a systemic prospect management system that combines advancement services and major gift moves management from a 15-person shop.
Meghan Gould, Principal Giving Officer, The Hill School, and Ali Jacobs Greenly, Director of Prospect & Data Management, The Hill School

3:00–3:45
Elective Sessions

4:00–5:00
Closing Key Session

5:00
Conference Adjourns