When the TSTC Foundation announced it had awarded $1.4 million in scholarships in a single semester (up from $200k the year before) colleagues in financial aid assumed it was a typo. It also wasn't an overnight success: it was the result of a deliberate operational transformation - moving from manual spreadsheets and a limited portal to a centralized, full-cycle scholarship management system across eleven campuses. In this case study, TSTC Foundation staff walk through the full arc of that change, from the before state, the internal discussions, the implementation decisions, and the downstream effects they didn't anticipate (including how this impacted adjacent offices). This is an honest account of what transformation actually takes, not a polished success story, with concrete data points attendees can bring back to their own institutions.

Many community colleges focus on fundraising strategy while overlooking the operational infrastructure that enables sustainable growth. Gift acceptance policies, donor management procedures, board responsibilities, campaign readiness standards, prospect management practices, and advancement governance can all significantly influence fundraising performance.


Drawing from recent policy audits and organizational assessments, this session examines the policies and procedures that most directly impact fundraising success. Participants will leave with practical tools to evaluate their own advancement operations and identify opportunities for improvement.


Whether you are part of a statewide system, a multi-campus district, or a single college, attendees will leave with actionable strategies to improve collaboration, clarify fundraising roles, and strengthen philanthropic outcomes.

The Monroe Community College (MCC) Foundation launched a website to showcase naming opportunities for MCC's new Sydor Optics Advanced Technology Center (ATC), currently under construction and scheduled to open in Fall 2026. Gretchen Wood, VP and Executive Director and Dr. Emily Cohen, AVP of Advancement, will take you on a virtual tour of the new Sydor Optics ATC, highlighting pricing and details for naming classrooms, labs, and other spaces-many of which have already been claimed. They will share the MCC Foundation's process for developing the site, strategies for engaging donors, and the results and lessons learned from its early success in involving the community and driving gifts.

As part of a broader review of scholarship agreements and award criteria, one community college foundation identified potential compliance concerns related to long-standing scholarship criteria, including alignment with Proposition 209, Title IX, donor intent, and institutional values. Rather than approaching compliance as a barrier, the foundation used the process as an opportunity to strengthen donor trust, board leadership, campus partnership, and student access. This session shares how the foundation worked with legal counsel, board leaders, campus partners, donors, and a local community foundation partner to review and revise scholarship criteria with care, transparency, and mission alignment.


Presented by the foundation's executive director, director of philanthropy, foundation programs coordinator, and legal counsel, this session will offer practical perspectives from governance, donor relations, scholarship administration, and legal, governance, and risk management considerations. While this session does not offer legal advice, it will share one foundation's experience navigating complex scholarship criteria conversations while honoring donor intent and advancing student opportunity.


Participants will hear examples of mission-aligned criteria, strategies for navigating sensitive donor conversations, and lessons learned from a process that strengthened relationships, clarified donor values, supported thoughtful stewardship, and helped the foundation award more scholarships than ever before.

In this engaging and practical session, members of LLCC's Advancement team will showcase how intentional, innovative collaboration with local industry can unlock opportunities that benefit students, employers, and communities alike. Drawing from real-world case studies, we'll demonstrate how partnerships can evolve into powerful engines for impact-fueling scholarships, expanding program support, creating internships and career pathways, and even strengthening governance through Foundation board engagement.


Attendees will learn actionable techniques for identifying, cultivating, and sustaining high-value partnerships that stay relevant in a rapidly changing economy. From keeping relationships fresh and mutually beneficial to opening doors you didn't even know existed, we'll provide insights you can immediately apply in your own institution.

How do you raise money for a problem donors don't even know exists? Many community colleges face a challenge: People assume your college is publicly funded, tuition is affordable, financial aid exists, scholarships fill the gaps, and once a student is enrolled success is guaranteed. Before donors will give, they first have to believe a funding gap exists, that it's significant, that the college can't solve it alone, and that the donors' contribution is the essential bridge to student success.


In this session, you'll learn how Marin Community College Foundation built a donor campaign to do double duty: making student need visible while making the foundation essential. You'll leave inspired and with a replicable framework, plus a case-for-support and messaging formula that balances urgency, emotion, and rationale to move donors from misunderstanding to to action.

Let's be honest-most community colleges don't have the luxury of robust alumni databases or long-standing engagement traditions. So what do you do when you're starting with little more than a clear sense of what you don't have-and a goal to reconnect?

In this session, three community college executive directors-from Victor Valley College, College of the Desert, and Crafton Hills College-share how they each launched a grassroots, competition-based alumni campaign using a shared framework and a lot of hustle. This wasn't a polished, top-down initiative-it was a volunteer-powered effort built from the ground up.

What started as a simple idea-turn alumni outreach into a fun, fast-paced challenge-quickly became a powerful way to find former students, capture their stories, and bring them back into the college community. Each college adapted the model to fit its own culture, capacity, and community, and presenters will walk through what actually worked (and what didn't).

You'll hear how these campaigns were driven by volunteers, students, and small teams; how friendly competition fueled participation; and how storytelling, social media, and personal outreach helped uncover alumni who hadn't engaged with their college in years-sometimes decades.

More importantly, you'll leave with practical tools, templates, and strategies you can realistically implement-whether you're a team of one or part of a larger advancement operation.

This session is less about theory and more about doing. No fluff-just real examples, honest lessons, and a roadmap you can take back and make your own.

What You'll Take Away:

A flexible, proven framework you can adapt to your campus

Ideas for launching a low-cost, high-energy alumni campaign

Strategies to engage students, volunteers, and staff in the effort

Tactics for finding and reconnecting with "lost" alumni

Tools to turn engagement into long-term relationships and support

Because sometimes the best way to build an alumni base - is to go out and find it.