Talent – do we have enough hours in a day to unpackage all that is involved in recruitment, retention and performance management within our industry? Our talent challenge seem all at once critical, non-stop and never ending. Adjacent to that conversation is management and how to bring the best out of your people. And one more thing that is least talked about yet has incredible influence on how we work – organizational structures and change. At this keynote, we will cover current challenges in these three areas, review real life scenario and contemplate solutions, and if we have the strength to execute on them.

The University of Oregon re-imagined donor engagement after realizing that future campaigns will suffer if we did not ramp up efforts to identify the next generation of donors now. With younger generations poised to inherit $73 trillion in the next twenty years, we recognized the need to increase pipeline activity, especially among regional communities.

As a result, we have created Strategic Engagement Officers that are housed within Development to bridge the gap between the Alumni Association and Development Officers, and to inspire prospects who are not engaged and/or stagnant in the donor pipeline.

We will delve into the strategies that led to being recognized with the 2022 Grand Gold in CASE’s Targeted Constituency Engagement category and the 2021 Gold in CASE VIII’s Alumni Relations Pivot category. We will also discuss how our tactics differ from teams outside of Development, how we work in partnership with the Alumni Association, and how we navigate internal relationships with schools and units, development officers and our colleagues around campus.

From conception, to trial and error, to momentum moving forward, learn how our engagement team has identified strategies to find new donors and strengthen the pipeline.

The WSU Foundation embarked upon an analysis of positions descriptions and metrics for our frontline fundraisers. Hear about the process for structure and implementation across the WSU system with an equity lens. Our focus was on creating a professional development path for frontline fundraisers to standardize position descriptions, titles, metrics, funding structure/budget, and salary bands for entry-level through senior-level fundraisers.

This presentation is a case study detailing the rapid growth and success of the Giving Tuesday campaign at the University of Victoria (UVic). Started in 2016 as a volunteer-led student-focused awareness event, with a small digital component, Project: Add Sprinkles has grown in six short years into an innovative and engaging campus-wide celebration of philanthropy. Highlighting award-winning aspects of this giving day campaign, this presentation will walk participants through the growth of Project: Add Sprinkles. We will discuss our creative and innovative process of concept design, specifically highlighting the practical approach we took to create multiple award-winning elements in a single event such as the Great Giving Gram-alanche and the student-focused Philanthr-opoly. This presentation will candidly discuss obstacles we faced and how we utilized tools and systems, while building and leveraging internal campus partnerships to grow Project: Add Sprinkles into a campaign the community is eager to engage with.

Advancement professionals do their best work when they have a successful partnership with their colleagues in communications. In order to inspire others to give their talent and treasure, advancement professionals need to be equipped with powerful stories of the institution from its students, its faculty, its alumni and the impact of all their work. Those stories need to be told in a way that resonates with the donor, speaks to the donor’s concerns, and moves them to action. In this session, strategic communications and development professional Judy Asbury shares how advancement professionals can best partner with their colleagues in communications. She will cover: • The two fundamentals of all communication plans: goal(s) and audience(s). A thorough understanding of each is critical before deciding on the best communication vehicle, such as a website, case statement, news story, video, brochure, etc. • The myriad of communication vehicles and tactics and understanding when to employ them. • How to avoid common misunderstandings between the two departments/professions. • How to measure the success of communications and advancement efforts, and make adjustments as needed.

From hybrid workplaces to the rise of digital engagement, Advancement leaders are exploring new ways to build teams, set goals, and deliver results. With a strong grounding in research and harnessing short case studies from different areas within Advancement (operations, major gifts, etc.), this conversation will explore some of the new ways that teams are working now and offer practical tips that leaders and teams can use to work smarter, together.

FURst Aid is a series of free hybrid events for animal lovers. Attendees learn practical first aid skills from a diverse pool of experts at the Oregon State University Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine to help care for their furry friends in crisis. Launched in fall 2021, the series included four events last academic year (more coming this year). This presentation covers how FURst Aid offers public outreach, engagement and service as well as continuing education to professionals (including our alumni). It also provides practical tips and lessons learned for offering a successful hybrid event series. Though produced by a small advancement team and on a tight budget, the series yields great results and reaches a wide spectrum of audiences. By offering all events free of charge, we eliminate any economic barriers to this public service. From an advancement perspective, the series has enabled the college as well as the Oregon State University Foundation to engage with a strategically important community for alumni relations, marketing and fundraising efforts. Session attendees will learn how to tap into their own experts to engage their own core communities, and how to successfully advertise, manage and run a hybrid event series.

Navigating the complexities of scholarship fundraising around diversity, equity & inclusion, and protected classes, is critical to long-term fundraising success in many CASE District VIII institutions—and easier said than done. Oregon State University Foundation’s Scholarship Task Force, working with colleagues across the Foundation and University over the course of three years, developed and implemented guidelines for working with donors to inspire scholarship gifts that stand the test of time. Their case study illustrates the benefits of consistent guidelines for donor conversations, partnering with campus leaders, and specific language in gift agreements. OSUF colleagues will share how this process changed the culture of fundraising as OSU. They’ll address the challenges they faced along the way and the professional satisfaction they gained through this project. Their goal is to help other CASE District VIII institutions maximize the impact of scholarship funding on student success through integrity and transparency with donors.

In less than one year, Oregon State University donors contributed over $92 million to transform Reser Stadium, exceeding an $85 million fundraising goal. The fundraising effort to complete Reser Stadium was led by the OSU Foundation, with success driven by 20 donors who each made gifts of $1 million or more. Construction is underway on the $161.5 million project that by fall of 2023 will turn the stadium into a national best-in-class football facility. The project includes year-round programs and spaces serving OSU students, faculty and staff, fans, and community members, including a state-of-the-art welcome center for new students and their families, and a 35,000-square-foot wellness center. After years of planning for the Completing Reser Stadium fundraising effort, the OSUF team overcome several challenges on the way to reaching the fundraising goal. During this session we will talk about the challenges and opportunities that were presented to us along the path to success.