"Whitman Day" was originally an internal term used for an annual visit to the School each spring by the naming donor to meet with a select group of finance students and to host an industry speaker. Following his passing, we turned the day into a community building event that connects students, faculty, alumni, parents, donors and friends across the globe to the building. By holding simultaneous gatherings in multiple cities for external audiences (alumni, online program students, etc.), hosting activities in the building for our internal audiences and local alumni, and engaging with our global community through digital, print and virtual efforts, we have grown esprit de corps and an identity for our School stakeholders within the larger university. We also capitalized on the wide-spread attention on the School among our various stakeholders on this one day as a chance to add an additional annual fund solicitation.

As part of the CASE OIC: Opportunity and Inclusion Center’s work, CASE is determined to identify and eliminate pervasive systemic barriers. We’ll cover two components of the OIC’s DEIB capacity building services – the CASE Advancement Inclusion Index and CASE Executive Advisor Program. Participants will learn how both can be used to support professional development for leaders, enable a better understanding of a diverse workforce and diverse engaged alumni, and enhance retention of leaders with diverse lived experiences.

Major gifts are critical to the success of any comprehensive campaign and giving days are critical to building institutional awareness and annual philanthropy. Learn how MCLA merged these two together to leverage multiple six-figure gifts into giving days that raised historic funds and participation. Through the power of relationship building, peer-to-peer fundraising, and volunteer activation, we’ll share how a rural college inspired a community to give and how you can do it too! Whatever size “major” is for you, embrace the opportunity to leave no dollar behind, impact more students and build excitement along the way!

The internet is one of the best things that has ever happened to people with disabilities – as long as they can click a trackpad, see the content, and hear the audio. But what about when they can’t? Like the rest of us, university donors and alumni are increasingly dependent on technology in their daily lives. It’s more important than ever that we ensure our digital experiences are accessible to all people, regardless of their abilities. In this presentation, you will hear about why digital access is so important, and some of the steps that we take at UMBC to ensure that we are inclusive of people with disabilities.

What a time to be alive! And unlike other times in our history; it feels like the perfect storm for the social sector. From the board to the receptionist desk, every role has felt a little like the twilight zone. Our jobs are being revealed as layered, nuanced, and “heavy”. One of the best things about our sector is our ability to pivot and in this talk, Kishshana will share what she’s seeing as what’s now and what's next.