A whistle stop tour of the training and experience I’ve gathered over the years in one quickfire session, fuelled by my own belief in the value of education. Early career fundraisers and those new to HE will benefit from this can-do and morale boosting session, covering tips for meetings and making the ask, as well as confessing some mistakes, navigating the weird and wonderful world of academics, steps for career progression, tackling imposter syndrome and sharing some “made it!” moments. This will be an inspiring talk with practical and easily applicable advice for attendees to take back to their institutions and forge ahead with real belief in their potential, their careers and our sector.

In this session, Gerard and Tim from the UCL Alumni and Supporter Relations team will discuss how to build alumni engagement programmes that meaningfully enrich the student experience throughout the student lifecycle, from student recruitment to graduate outcomes. They will share insights on how to prioritise which programmes to pursue, how to ensure the student voice is embedded into your programmes, and how to report on impact.

Almabase is an integrated alumni engagement platform that works on top of your Raiser's Edge NXT to bring digital engagement, event management, and online giving into one system. It helps advancement teams strengthen relationships, boost participation, and increase giving — all without adding staff. With automation and a seamless two-way CRM sync, Almabase keeps data accurate and up to date across systems, making it easy to plan events, run targeted campaigns, and engage alumni year-round. The result is a smarter, scalable approach that helps institutions turn thousands of constituents into lifelong supporters.

Does ROI really show success? Your Director of Finance or External Advisory Board might be fixated on Return on Investment, but is it the true measure of your office's success? In a time of financial strain, justifying your work has become more critical than ever. Fundraising often requires a long-term approach how does that align with institutions needing immediate results? Join us for three perspectives from diverse institutions and office sizes, sharing real experiences navigating internal and external ROI discussions and the complex connection between fundraising success, and impact and ROI.

In a landscape of growing educational choice and economic scrutiny, independent schools must articulate their unique value more clearly than ever. This session will explore what makes independent schools distinct — including their ethos, flexibility, alumni loyalty, and deep-rooted traditions — and how these attributes can be harnessed to strengthen advancement strategies across fundraising, engagement, and communications. Using Glenalmond College as a case study, we will examine how the school has leaned into its heritage, location, and values to create a compelling and authentic proposition that resonates with alumni, parents, and supporters. Attendees will gain insight into how to connect institutional identity with advancement efforts to build sustainable, long-term support. Key Takeaways: - Clarity on what defines the value proposition of independent schools, and how it differs from other education sectors. - Practical strategies to communicate your school’s distinctiveness in ways that engage alumni, prospective families, and donors. - Insight into Glenalmond College’s approach, including lessons learned from aligning its heritage, values, and advancement efforts. - Tools to audit and refine your school’s current messaging to ensure it reflects your true strengths and resonates with supporters. - Confidence to lead internal conversations around value, mission, and stakeholder perception as the foundation for successful advancement.

How do you design an operating model that sets your teams up for the challenges ahead? How do you make the most of what you’ve got when times are lean? How can you get onto the front foot of organisation change conversations? And where on earth do you start? Join us to take a look at how university Marketing, Communications, Recruitment and Admissions functions are setting themselves up in 2025. Who’s reporting where? How do teams work together? How does structure enable (or otherwise…) really effective teams? We’ll share insights from a syndicated piece of size and shape benchmarking research that shone a light on these questions and more, including a quantitative review of a. Structure charts b. Role titles c. Job descriptions, remits and spans of control d. Headcount e. Scale and remit of non-centralised marketing/external relations practitioners in other departments/functions/divisions (professional services and academic) All augmented by rich qualitative stakeholder interviews which contextualised the data and brought it to life. Along the way we’ll talk about: - How different institutions are optimising their structures and resource for greatest impact - When small is beautiful, and when big is better - But how, in the end, it isn’t actually all about structure.

As the UK continues to attract international students from around the world, their successful transition into meaningful employment, whether in the UK or globally, remains critical to sustaining the UK’s competitiveness as a global education hub. Drawing on key findings from the British Council’s recent International Student Employability report, this roundtable will explore how higher education institutions, employers, and national agencies can work together to better support international graduates. The session will also introduce the Alumni UK programme and highlight how it complements existing careers and alumni services offered by UK universities. Following a brief presentation, participants will break into small groups to discuss practical ways to bridge key gaps in international graduate employability. Each group will focus on one of three themes and share insights back with the wider group.

Join Universities UK CEO Vivienne Stern and CASE President and CEO Sue Cunningham for a fast and forthright conversation about the trends impacting institutions in the UK and around the world and what major organisations are doing to support institutions during this time of change and challenge. Find out about the political and governmental context for higher education today, in the UK and in other countries, and how advocacy in support of the sector takes place at the national and international level.

Academic colleagues have the potential to be the star players of recruitment activity - but the relationship between academics and the marketing and communications team can be patchy, transactional or challenging. In this campfire session, we'll be discussing why these issues can arise, how to build better relationships with academic colleagues and how to make sure the relationships between different teams are smooth and productive. It will be a positive, solutions-focused session, so please come with your best ideas!