Increasingly the pressure is on to purchase the latest text-messaging software or use the latest trending social media tools to reach donors, not to mention to abandon things like phonathons and other “outmoded” forms of outreach. But in independent schools sometimes the “old-fashioned,” personal way is the best way to cultivate, engage, and retain donors, and to run your annual fund campaign. This session will focus on using everything from handwritten, personalized notes on solicitations and acknowledgements to lively phonathons to, yes, text messages and emails, to good old-fashioned phone calls and coffee dates to meet and exceed your annual fund goals, all while building good will among volunteers and constituents, and even having a little fun at your job!

In an effort to create a more robust networking environment for our alumni, six northern New England independent schools collaborated to create a larger professional networking series for our alumni. Our goal was to generate connections beyond those made by attending a single school’s event and to expose younger alumni to successful professionals in their respective fields and regions. The group of schools hosted three networking events - one virtual Alumni of Color event and two in-person events, one in Boston and the other in NYC. All three events included a panel discussion as well as a traditional mix-and-mingle networking opportunity. The panel theme for the two in-person events focused on early to mid-career professionals and consisted of an alumni panelist from each school representing a wide variety of professions. The virtual Alumni of Color event focused on code-switching and career preparedness. To facilitate the traditional “mix and mingle” aspect for the virtual event, we utilized Glimpse, a digital speed networking platform. We plan to host these events again in 2023 and will invite additional schools. In the future, we hope to add additional locations and more virtual opportunities.

While the professional world grappled with reopening offices following the pandemic, most independent schools made the decision to bring their Advancement teams back in person. But the Head of School and Director of Advancement at The Hewitt School in Manhattan leaned into their motto “By Faith and Courage” by fully embracing a hybrid Advancement model to meet their donors and their team members where they are. As a girls’ school committed to workplace gender equity, this bold culture change offered Advancement team members — 80% of whom are working mothers with young children, a demographic commonly represented in the nonprofit community — a more equitable, flexible, and sustainable approach to their work and an opportunity to bring their whole, authentic selves to Hewitt. Through online donor meetings and alumnae events, a virtual capital campaign planning study, and major donor zoom solicitations that built strong relationships with the community, The Hewitt School reached more constituents than ever and realized record fundraising results in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Join this session to hear how together, Hewitt’s leaders explored a new model for the modern workplace with a focus on building, retaining, and leading an inclusive Advancement team in a hybrid environment.

As part of the CASE OIC: Opportunity and Inclusion Center’s work, CASE is determined to identify and eliminate pervasive systemic barriers. We’ll cover two components of the OIC’s DEIB capacity building services – the CASE Advancement Inclusion Index and CASE Executive Advisor Program. Participants will learn how both can be used to support professional development for leaders, enable a better understanding of a diverse workforce and diverse engaged alumni, and enhance retention of leaders with diverse lived experiences.

Schools very much have to live by what they say. Ultimately it is what they put in as the ‘secret ingredient’ in their marketing gravy that makes their school stand out! While parents will often say that they are looking for strong academics and small class sizes, what they ultimately are looking for are the other things—who you are, the space you occupy in the academic world, your history, traditions, and culture, how the curriculum is delivered—that cements your brand identity. Your gravy. All the other things that you are, the things that make you, YOU! When you uniquely communicate the value and positioning of your school, you can deliver messages about your brand—who you are, the space you occupy, your differentiation. But it’s not just about delivering the information, it’s about delivering an experience.

During periods of leadership transition, it can be challenging to maintain fundraising success and begin new development initiatives. Though these times can cause uncertainty, they can also open doors and uncover new opportunities for growth. Utilizing data-driven strategies can be an effective way to develop new fundraising plans, engage the greater school community, and advance development activities.

In this session, you will learn how a new head of school and director of development navigated this period and are working diligently towards building a culture of philanthropy that reverberates throughout the entire school community. You will walk away from this session understanding how to utilize data to build a fundraising plan, engage educators, families, and other supporters, and ensure successful and sustainable development efforts in the years to come.

"Let's add that as another constituent code!", they said. "Let's create a new fund!", they said. All too often, in an attempt to capture more information, we create new categories rather than simply place information in the appropriate "room". This results in a database that can have in excess of 50 constituent codes and no use of attributes or volunteer tabs, as well as tables within attributes that contain duplicate information. Think about your data in terms of having a perfect white t-shirt and keeping that one, instead of keeping the off-white shirt, the shirt that is a bit too-small, too large, has the wrong neck - sometimes we keep all, and mistakenly wear the wrong one. When we do this with data, reporting and analysis are skewed and inaccurate.

We'll teach you how to assess your constituents codes, attributes, attribute tables, as well as campaigns funds and appeals through a Marie Kondo lens. This has to be a partnership between our advancement services teams, as well as our frontline fundraisers when it comes to understanding the why behind moving or removing information. Clean and tidy data allows us to refocus impactful data and reduces frustration when creating reports.

When you walk your campus, do you know the stories of those whose names appear? If no naming exists, have you proactively prepared for discussions as you plan your next campaign? Stepping back for a moment, should there be naming altogether? Together, leaders from Harbor Day School, Episcopal Academy, and Carney, Sandoe & Associates will dive into both the philosophical considerations and practical applications for naming recognition - past, present and future.

With CASE behind the advancement section of DASL - Data and Analysis for School Leadership, along with National Business Officers Association at the helm of financial operations, the combined power of the NAIS DASL dataset will ensure schools have the tools and deeper insights they need for financial viability.

In this session you will learn why and how the DASL data can be useful for benchmarking and comparisons. There are significant updates to the advancement section of DASL, and includes expanded questions, analysis, and perks only for CASE members. The most important of these is the measurement of advancement effort, not just advancement results. The session will provide participants with the key measurements you should be tracking to analyze the impact of the School’s investment in the advancement program, measurements that the CASE Independent School Fundraising Awards Committee uses to identify the most productive fundraising programs.

We will describe your access to a Graphical Program Summary, which will convey graphically the fundraising progress your institution has made over time, relative to your five closest peer institutions. You will leave this session with important information and know-how that you can apply immediately when you get back to campus!

Giving days have become a staple of annual funds in the past decade. But as the novelty of give days wears off and fundraisers face high inflation and other economic uncertainty, how can development officers and their partners in marketing/communications ensure give days (along with annual funds more generally), hit their targets?
Woodberry Forest School did its first OneWoodberry give day in 2017, and the event has become a staple of our annual fund efforts. Over the past two years we've adjusted our video strategy to ensure the day stays fresh and exciting to all participants, helping the school reach record donation levels in a challenging fundraising environment. Tyler Campbell and Jacob Geiger, the two session leaders, have been a part of each of the Woodberry give days.
This session will explore the evolution of Woodberry's give day video strategy, but it will also invite participants to engage in brainstorming and discussion to examine how they might revitalize their own annual giving days.