This breakout session offers a unique exploration into three real-world scenarios of volunteer leadership that has deviated from its intended course resulting in confusion, disengagement, and oftentimes, damage. Drawing from the experiences of three seasoned professionals, attendees will delve into strategies and insights for realigning wayward alumni leadership to their original purpose, supporting institutional needs, and fostering collaborative partnerships. Through candid discussions and case studies, participants will gain practical tools to address challenges, rebuild connections, encourage collaboration, and guide alumni leaders toward shared goals. Join us to learn from these stories of resilience and transformation, and leave equipped to navigate similar situations in your own volunteer engagement endeavors.

In a constantly changing and global Advancement world, how can we lead our teams with meaning and with purpose to execute a comprehensive campaign? Especially a campaign that has never been attempted before, with ambitious goals that have never been tested? How can we take fundraising and alumni engagement to the next level when there is such a diversity of stakeholders involved? At Niagara College Canada, we have an incredibly large international student population (more than 50 percent of our overall 2023/2024 intake), and we are currently planning for the largest comprehensive campaign in College history (launching Spring 2024). Our two primary campaign goals? To raise $60 million+ and engage 50,000+ alumni over 5 years. This will involve a huge increase in active fundraising and trailblazing alumni outreach unlike anything seen before in our landscape. In this session, come explore key questions and issues with us as we share how the College is devising/executing our strategy while also building out its team resources and community connections to maximize success.

Fundraisers and DEI leaders are tasked with navigating the multifaceted world of philanthropy – a world influenced by both explicit and implicit biases. Implicit biases, often subconscious, can profoundly influence our decision-making processes and, in turn, the design of our data systems. This potentially results in the collection and interpretation of skewed or one-dimensional data. In this session will dive deep into:
• Understanding One-Dimensional Data: Recognizing its limitations in capturing the complexities of racial equity in philanthropy and the possible negative implications.
• The Power of Predictive Analytics: Exploring its pivotal role in recognizing and addressing racial dynamics, ultimately fostering a more inclusive and equitable philanthropic landscape.
• Practical Tools for Equitable Outcomes: Introducing Asset and Transformation Mapping as key methods to achieve sustainability and fairness in philanthropic impact.
Join us as we unravel the nuances of racial equity in fundraising and provide actionable insights for harnessing data for a just and equitable philanthropic future.

Fulfillment at work doesn’t come by happenstance; it takes effort and a growth mindset. Are you thriving, or merely surviving, at work? Perhaps you are eager for a change because you feel stuck or unfulfilled, but are uncertain of your next steps as a development professional. You are not alone. If your career path for personal growth and advancement is unclear, this session is for you. Learn how to unbox yourself, leverage your strengths, and harness the power of change to become “unstuck” as a development professional. Come ready to be invigorated, empowered, and introduced to the thriving state of work wellbeing!

In University Advancement, some of your most underutilized fundraising partners are the students who pound the pavement each semester to raise money from companies to fund their organizations. They likely have a roster of donors they return to annually and an already-established stewardship plan to enrich the relationship, but how can you tap into this ecosystem to create major gift partners? In this session, you will hear stories of companies that went from making sporadic, one-off gifts to multi-year, $100K+ commitments, strategies for positioning yourself as the liaison between companies and student organizations, and proven methods for building your corporate fundraising collateral.

Whether you're steering a large university through a comprehensive brand overhaul or guiding an independent school with limited resources, this session promises to equip you with the knowledge and tools needed to initiate a successful brand transformation journey. Presenters from Temple University and The Philadelphia School, both leading educational institutions in the city of Philadelphia, will join together alongside their creative partners from 160over90 and J2 to deliver an interactive discussion to help audience members explore how their school’s rebrand can be a welcome reset to help them move them move their institutions forward. This is serious business, but we’re going to have fun. In this engaging presentation, we'll explore innovative and cost-effective strategies that can be implemented by schools of all sizes. From creating a compelling brand narrative to leveraging digital platforms for maximum impact, our expert speakers will share real-world examples and success stories that demonstrate the transformative power of strategic branding. We’ll dig into identifying the right timing, understanding the commitment needed from your leadership, how to build inclusion, consensus, and joy in every step of the process. You’ll hear firsthand what it takes to find your school’s authentic identity and then clearly and impactfully articulate it to the world.

SUNY Geneseo, a small liberal arts college in Western NY, has doubled their annual Reunion attendance since adding affinity anniversaries and celebrations into their Reunion programming. Learn how the addition of alumni affinity programming contributed to the largest Reunion in their college’s history (in 2022) and how your Reunion program can benefit (and grow) by adding alumni affinities.

Lucille Tarin and Mary Ann Sigler Stanton, will present on two programs that have been built over the past two years within University Advancement (UA) to support the entire division - - People, Success and Operations (PSO) and Strategic Philanthropy Programs (SPP) and how we work together to strengthen our shared goals. Both PSO and SPP were created three years after a division-wide reorganization, and after COVID forced Advancement to look at our organization with fresh eyes and with a new awareness of what could be accomplish and how. While the university has a human resources department, it became clear that our division of just over one hundred would benefit from oversight and coordination at a more granular level.

PSO is responsible for:
• Talent Strategy
• UA Employee Engagement & Culture
• Professional Development & Performance Management
• Operations
• UA Success - Objectives & Key Results

Our fundraising arm moved into an individual top level strategic philanthropy team, with 3 regional teams focused on prospects at the 100K and up level, a principal gifts team, and a brand new team, the Strategic Philanthropy Programs, Education, and Corporate, Foundation and Government Relations team. This team serves as the "sherpa" for fundraisers and focuses on:
• Onboarding new and professional development of gift officers
• Building/Maintaining resources for fundraisers
• Liaising with the university leadership regarding fundraising priorities and proposals
• Providing philanthropic support to our top level affinity based deans’ councils
• Collaborating with university communications on all philanthropic communications
• Corporate, Foundation & Government Relations
• Affinity based fundraising when leadership level prospects are involved

We will review the hows and whys of these new departments, the impact on the division, and how we have staffed them. Ahead of the majority of the university, UA allows 100% of our staff to have hybrid work options, and a small percentage are entirely remote. UA served as a model for the rest of the university as they confronted alternative work arrangements. While walking attendees through our origination, we'll also share examples of projects upon which we have collaborated.

JHU recently completed a major CRM Project - a complete digital transformation of several data systems into one main fundraising CRM. How did they do it? How did their team and project thrive? Join the session to learn how the JHU team engaged with several partners to lead their team, their data and JHU through this change. Learn about the opportunities they took for business process improvement, staff development and overall operational efficiency.