A roundtable sharing insight into how we became the first UK HEI advancement office to implement this solution for all our philanthropy and alumni engagement operations. Abbey will share their CRM implementation from perspective of three different stakeholders: 1. The Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement Department – how internal culture and ways of working were assessed and considered. 2 . How our external stakeholders and their digital expectations of us shaped our implementation. 3 . How we worked with an external implementation partner and welcomed their consultation and assessment of our operations.

Early adopter? Sceptic? Intrigued bystander? There have been many discussions about how AI can be used as a tool in prospect research and how it can help professionals in the workplace more generally. In this roundtable, we will discuss our experiences of using AI and share any useful tips and use cases.

A roundtable for people who work in Gifts within Advancement Operations to discuss current themes and challenges they are facing and share tips and solutions with each other.

A roundtable for people who work in insight and analytics to discuss current themes and challenges they are facing and share tips and solutions with each other

Do you feel pigeon-holed by your job title? Not sure where Advancement Operations is going to take you? Join our panel for an honest conversation about navigating roles and building a portable skillset. From making the most of your first role to equipping yourself for a step into the unknown, we’re mapping out how to make your skills travel further. Bring your questions and prepare to map out your professional future.

As trends in Fundraising, Engagement, analytics, and the ever-present AI accelerate, the single strongest predictor of success isn’t a shiny new tool. It’s your data model. Robust models make your future: they scale as you grow, keep data trustworthy across teams, and open the door to automation and AI. Loose, ad hoc models break it: reports don’t reconcile, integrations crack, and governance becomes impossible. In this session, we’ll break down what “robust” looks like in practice using Blackbaud’s data model as our guide: how aligning to real world processes; how an open, extensible architecture supports no code and low code innovation; and how good modelling accelerates outcomes from cleaner pipelines to better stewardship and faster decisions.