In 2022 Cardiff University launched The 30(ish) Awards – to celebrate the achievements of alumni who have made a positive contribution to their community, and all before they hit 30. Well, 30(ish). Designed to recognise the change-makers, innovators, and rule-breakers in the Cardiff University alumni community, there was an overwhelming response. Over the past two years, the alumni relations team has awarded 70(ish) winners and amassed more than 600 nominations and counting, as we continue to receive applications for the 2024 awards. Designed to fit with alumni relations aims, wider University strategy and ‘Civic Mission’, the awards have boosted internal engagement with alumni relations, opened up alumni engagement opportunities across the University and generated prospect leads and content for a variety of communications/marketing materials.

I was ready to take my next career step...but it hasn’t been easy! Like when my whole team quit... I’ll share key learnings from my first year as a fundraising team manager. For those hungry for a new challenge, we'll delve into preparing for a leadership role. For fellow managers, you may recognise shared struggles and spot opportunities or solutions. We’ll cover building a motivated and cohesive team, implementing a new strategy and creating a data-driven programme. You’ll leave informed about the good, the bad and the ugly, but reassured that it’s possible for the good to outweigh the rest.

Power dynamics are rife in the advancement profession, particularly between fundraisers and donors, or alumni engagement staff and volunteers. These unequal dynamics are often compounded by gender, age, class and wealth. Cultural norms in advancement continue to push fundraisers to prioritise philanthropic income over their wellbeing — with little to no support from their organisation when a boundary is transgressed. During this session, a diverse panel of fundraisers will discuss why we need to shine a light on this topic, before sharing recommended actions for both senior and junior fundraisers (and indeed all external-facing advancement professionals) around the safeguarding of staff through appropriate training, policy development, and the creation of safe spaces. We hope this session will empower you with the tools and recommendations required to drive positive change within your organisation. As a collective, we can change the sector for the better.

If you raise funds in the US, you need to understand the options that are uniquely attractive to American donors to ensure you benefit from the wealth transfer already underway. Your donors are increasingly using these techniques routinely, and you need a working knowledge of them, and how to reconcile them with regulations applying to non-US charities raising funds in the USA. Imperial College London has started bringing American gift planning techniques mainstream. We will help you think about how you can also respond to this growing trend while complying with IRS regulations. This session is relevant to everyone raising funds in the US, whether in regular giving, mid-value, legacies, major or principal gifts.

Every story is different. Every storyteller is different too. You might write with your head like Simon: drawing upon tools, techniques, structures, plotting. You might write with your heart like Emanuel: trusting your feelings, emotions, instincts, improvisation. Both approaches have their strengths. Once you recognise your favoured approach, you can lean into those strengths to keep your creative blocks at bay. Better yet, you can partner with somebody who favours the other approach for winning creative collaborations. Together, you will craft stories that will engage alumni, attract donors, recruit students, inspire volunteers, and retain staff. Storytelling is a spectrum.

This session is for trust and foundation fundraisers who are new to Higher Education and for fundraisers who would like to learn more about the methodology of trust and foundation fundraising. Two experienced Higher Education trust and foundation fundraisers will explain how to navigate the university internally and how to maximise academic interactions. And two trust and foundation fundraisers who are relatively new to the Higher Education sector will discuss the difference in approach they have found from the charitable sector and how they learnt best practice from peers at other universities.

If you are one of the many advancement professionals starting or restarting a small office for your institution, you are not alone. Join us in this panel discussion with experts in the fields who are managing “small shops” and have overcome many challenges of working with a very small team, low budget, large number of alumni and a high demand to show impact and positive results in short time. We’ll discuss the challenges, opportunities, lesson learned and provide tips to stay happy and sane.

This roundtable will explore how International Schools' advancement strategies adapt to new technologies and emerging educational trends. It will focus on the impact of recent technological disruptions and the rise of global educational movements. Participants will discuss how Advancement teams can utilize these changes to enhance academic excellence, foster cross-cultural understanding, and align with the school's mission. The aim is to emphasize the importance of evolving with changing technologies and trends, crucial for the growth of International Schools in a dynamic educational environment.