Session Description: As institutions navigate competing priorities, reputational pressures, and shifting stakeholder expectations, advancement teams are increasingly required to respond with both strategic clarity and values-driven judgement. In this Opening Plenary, participants are invited to examine and reflect on the lived realities of institutional leadership and the complex challenges shaping advancement today. Through a range of leadership perspectives, participants will consider the tensions, trade-offs, and decision-making pressures faced across fundraising, alumni engagement, communications, operations, and strategy. The session explores how advancement professionals can remain attentive to broader institutional priorities, while leading with credibility, resilience, and purpose.

Session Description: As alumni and constituent engagement programs mature—and as institutional expectations rise—teams are increasingly expected to demonstrate strategic value beyond isolated events, programs, or tactical outputs. Institutions must shift from a program-driven approach to a strategy-led framework that directly supports organisational priorities such as lifelong learning, volunteerism, philanthropy, and reputation building. This interactive workshop equips participants with a practical model for designing an actionable, stakeholder-supported alumni engagement strategy rooted in the CASE Alumni Engagement Metrics (AEM) framework. Through guided exercises, facilitated discussion, and collaborative planning tools, attendees will learn how to define meaningful outcomes, elevate the “why” behind their work, and structure a multi-year roadmap that both deepens and scales alumni engagement. Participants will leave with clarity, confidence, and a tangible set of planning tools to support strategic decision-making and cross-institutional alignment.

Session Description: In an increasingly complex and scrutinised environment, philanthropy and institutional impact cannot be realised by the ask alone. This session challenges advancement leaders to reconsider the conditions that enable sustainable giving at scale. Through a facilitated, peer-based discussion, we will explore how trust is built and protected, how participation creates momentum, and how leadership shapes both. Participants will leave with a practical lens for aligning people, culture and strategy to support enduring philanthropic outcomes.

Session Description: As donor expectations evolve, the role of Donor Relations must extend far beyond stewardship. Today, the challenge is not just to deliver best practice – but to anticipate next practice. This session explores how universities can reimagine their Donor Experience programs to meet a new era of philanthropy – one defined by personalisation, transparency, and emotional connection. We’ll unpack how Deakin University has developed a holistic, evidence-based Donor Experience model that enhances relationships, deepens trust, and drives sustained giving. Through real examples and insights gathered from benchmarking with leading institutions across Australia, the UK, and the US, participants will learn how to build a program that not only thanks and reports, but truly transforms how donors feel about giving. Attendees will walk away with a roadmap for embedding “next practice” donor experience principles that create loyalty, elevate brand reputation, and ultimately strengthen the philanthropic pipeline. Donor Experience is not just about stewardship – it’s about creating a sense of belonging and meaning that no other organisation can replicate. The next frontier of donor relations lies in building emotionally intelligent, data-informed experiences that inspire lifelong advocacy and investment.

Session Description:To extend the audience of our flagship professional development webinar series, Monash refined the use of behaviour based segmentation and targeted messaging. As a result, the audience grew by 2,000 alumni over the year, representing 23% audience growth. New reporting also delivered actionable insights, and confirmation that the strategies being employed were achieving the desired outcomes. Inviting all the people, to all the things, all the time isn’t the best way to grow your engagement. Targeted invitations based on past behaviour help to show your alumni that you know what they are interested in.

Session Description: Higher Education campaigns are no longer following the traditional playbook. There is a growing number of variations for how you can structure a campaign and its goals, with expectations of both internal and external stakeholders often higher than before. In this session a panel of leading Advancement professionals with extensive experience of leading many of Australasia’s largest campaigns will give insights and share case studies into how campaigns are evolving and innovating.

Session Description: How often do you feel misunderstood by your Dean, President, Head of School? Have you ever been asked, “why don’t you call MacKenzie Scott and ask her for money?” by a professor or teacher? Maybe your Director of Finance thinks all you do is go out to fancy lunches and dinner parties. Developing an internal culture of Philanthropy at your university or school is just as important as developing that culture with your alumni or parent donors. This session will cover four important strategies to begin building or strengthening a culture of philanthropy with your administrators, faculty and staff. The session is applicable to and draws examples from both universities and independent/international schools.

Session Description: Leadership transitions are inherently challenging and can introduce uncertainty for advancement efforts. As long-term trust and confidence are essential to philanthropic growth, how transitions are managed matters deeply. This session explores how advancement leaders can navigate periods of change while sustaining momentum, maintaining donor confidence, and supporting team stability. Featuring Oonagh Kane, Interim Executive Director for Advancement at the University of Melbourne, the session offers practical strategies for positioning advancement as a stabilizing force—helping institutions lead through transition with clarity, consistency, and confidence.

Session Description: Campaigns are often seen as the high point of fundraising, but what happens around them is just as critical. This session explores how feasibility studies and campaign planning can do more than assess readiness, serving as tools to identify gaps, strengthen infrastructure, and guide long-term success supported by data-driven insights. Through a brief presentation and panel discussion, we will share practical examples and strategies for using the campaign process to build momentum, deepen donor engagement, and create a more sustainable fundraising program.

Session Description: This one-hour session, led by John Godfrey and Edward Wong, will take the form of a facilitated roundtable clinic focused on the realities of cross-border fundraising, with particular attention to Asia while drawing on comparative insights from the USA, UK, and the Middle East. Designed as a consultation-style discussion rather than a traditional presentation, the session will create space for participants to share their experiences, challenges, and aspirations in an open, peer-informed environment. Building on the idea of short consultations, the entire session will function as a structured, interactive clinic. Participants will be invited to briefly outline their international fundraising goals or barriers, after which John and Edward will offer tailored insights, prompt group discussion, and encourage shared problem-solving. This format ensures minimal sales content and prioritises practical value, relevance, and exchange of real-world perspectives. There is clear and growing interest in understanding fundraising practices across Asia — particularly in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore — as evidenced by frequent enquiries over the past two years. This session responds directly to that demand, offering grounded insights into regional differences in donor behaviour, regulatory considerations, and relationship-building approaches, while also situating Asia within a broader global context. Ultimately, the session aims to demystify international fundraising, surface common challenges, and equip participants with actionable ideas they can adapt to their own contexts. Attendees will leave with a clearer sense of opportunities, risks, and strategies for engaging donors across borders.