The University of Oregon is committed to developing innovative programs that promote inclusivity, leveraging partnerships with community stakeholders, engaging alumni and major gift prospects, and supporting student career readiness. The team responsible for engaging new prospects in the state of Oregon developed a way to meet these needs through an innovative event built off mutually beneficial outcomes and relationships with community leaders. In 2023, the Oregon Engagement Team created a new event that brought together efforts of the UO's Lylle Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center, the Black Business Association of Oregon, the UO Alumni Association Black Alumni Network, and the Portland Trail Blazers to engage students, build community, identify and cultivate major gift prospects, address workforce development for our region, and connect students with business leaders. The event was such a success, planning began for a similar event in 2024 that evolved into a networking experience for BIPOC Alumni Network Board leaders, University of Oregon Portland students, and notable Oregon BIPOC business chambers and associations. These strategic engagement events have accelerated the UO’s ability to support students from underrepresented communities, build partnerships with key members of the community, and strengthen relationships with alumni.

Be our guest as we explore how to continuously engage donors to annual giving and engagement programs. Learn how ASU Foundation uses a little enchantment to design events that keep donors coming back and deepening their commitment, be it through philanthropy or volunteerism, to the institution.

College athletics inherently creates built-in affinity groups within a university and the surrounding community. Learn how to tap into these groups by capitalizing on the nostalgia of historic moments, teams and players to plan an inspiring event and reconnect the community, alums and business partners back to the university. Hear from the Arizona State University Alumni Association team on how they have developed and built events such as their annual Legends Luncheon celebrating Sun Devil Football and this year’s Affinity Reunion celebrating 50 years of Women's Volleyball.

How can a small team of three accomplish the work of ten while delivering a caliber of work that is unique, rewarding, and engaging for their alumni? It's no small feat; you might ask yourself, "How do we meet our alumni's expectations? How do we execute initiatives with limited financial and human resources? How do we stay current and innovate?" The answer lies in your very own campus partners. TRU Alumni rebranded and relaunched itself in 2021 with the aim of providing our alumni with meaningful experiences and encouraging our campus partners to buy in. So, how did we do it? Our alumni team of three went not only went fully digital, we expanded into 'new media'! With a digital strategy in hand we implemented a phased approach toward meaningful integration back to in-person pieces, we were nimble enough to capitalize on opportunities presented to us. This allowed our digital side to grow without being too burdensome on our limited human resources and budget. Today, we want to share how you can learn from our strategies, challenges, and successes to improve your department.

In light of the Supreme Court's recent decision regarding the consideration of race in university admission processes, and the continued attacks on civil rights across the country, it is imperative that we continue to identify strategies for engaging diverse alumni communities through a social justice lens. We have also learned a great deal through the COVID-19 pandemic about how to serve and connect with alumni through virtual tools. This session will provide insight into how the UCLA Alumni Diversity Programs and Initiatives team has identified and employed new approaches, strategies and tools for engaging in life-long learning and relationship building with the diverse alumni communities that we serve. We will discuss how we define and operationalize a social justice lens that is nimble and capable of evolving in relation to the dynamic needs and interests of our alumni. We will also discuss the framework we utilize for fostering sustainable alumni engagement for identity-based alumni networks. We will then describe some of the key programming efforts and digital content that we have developed both virtually and in a hybrid format to connect with our alumni, and discuss both our successes and the challenges that we encountered. We will close with a list of our best practices for how any alumni leader, committed to both alumni engagement and social change, can assess their current offerings and begin to explore new possibilities for better serving and uplifting diverse alumni voices.

The University of California Merced graduated its inaugural class of undergraduates in 2009. As the newest campus within the UC system, the average age of UC Merced alumni is only 28 years old. By establishing a special “Alumni Scholarship Endowment” giving program, the university has been able to transition its young alumni from supporters and advocates to major gift donors. This giving program also includes a special “signing ceremony” event that not only deepens their commitment to their alma mater, but promotes giving and demonstrates impact to their colleagues, family, and friends. Join this session to learn more about generational giving, how UC Merced engages its young alumni population, and secures transformative gifts.

Stanford’s Office of Development (OOD) recently hosted its first in-person, multi-day staff retreat to build and nurture our team culture post-pandemic. OOD Connects brought together hybrid and remote colleagues from coast to coast, many of whom had never met face-to-face or been to campus, for three days of festivities focused on strengthening our sense of community, learning together, boosting collaboration, and connecting with the university’s mission. Planned by peers for peers, attendees listened to keynote speakers, participated in breakout sessions, took campus tours, gathered in communities of practice and with teams, and bonded during social activities including a petting zoo and staff recognition awards. Learn about our pitch and planning process, staff outreach, successes, challenges, and outcomes while also gathering ideas to support belonging and connection across your organization. You might even see an alpaca photo or two!

More than 40% of Boise State graduates have graduated in the last ten years, making the near-majority of our alumni either Millennials or Gen Z. And yet, this demographic is most often the least engaged when it comes to philanthropy towards higher education. By flipping the script and taking a strategic cause-based approach to giving day, Boise State more effectively aligned itself, and higher education in general, with the societal causes that resonate most with these demographics. This approach resulted in a record-breaking giving day with $566,388 gifted, a 74% increase in digital impressions, and a 59% increase in alumni giving with the greatest giving amongst alumni, in both dollars and numbers, coming from our Broncos Of the Last Decade. Join Boise State professionals as they provide a step-by-step guide and take-away toolkit to instituting a cause-based giving day.