Our attention and resources are continually pulled in opposing directions. Tensions compound in the intersecting worlds of advancement and higher education. Do we prioritize needs of donors or faculty? Today or tomorrow? Performing or learning? Our default approach in such situations is to see dilemmas, then make tradeoffs. We focus on the most urgent, rewarded, or comfortable. Yet this either/or thinking is limiting at best, detrimental at worst. There is a better way. Marianne Lewis has spent the past 25 years studying the traps, opportunities, and navigation of tensions. As a professor and dean, she also lives tensions herself. Both/and thinking involves a shift from a tradeoff to a paradox mindset. Embracing competing demands can enable more generative, creative, and sustainable solutions. Join us to examine how both/and thinking can help you learn and thrive amidst tensions.

Transform your financial reporting with a powerful but often overlooked feature - attributes! Join Kierstin Sykes from the UC San Diego Foundation, as she reveals how leveraging attributes revolutionized their reporting processes, turning a 2-3 day cash flow statement preparation into a one-hour task. Learn practical strategies for using attributes to streamline complex financial reports, automate footnote preparation, and reduce manual data manipulation. With over 73% of nonprofits spending 5+ hours weekly manipulating data outside their accounting systems, this session offers game-changing solutions for:

*Creating automated cash flow statements
*Simplifying investment reconciliations
*Streamlining tax reporting and financial statement classifications
*Managing special handling
*Building efficient footnote disclosures
*SImplifying transfer of gift data from CRM to ERP

Perfect for financial professionals looking to save time, reduce errors, and produce consistent, audit-ready reports. Discover how attributes can transform your reporting workflow and eliminate hours of Excel manipulation. *CPE Credit: Attendees can earn up to 1 CPE for this session.

A few months ago, the world’s first fully autonomous fundraiser interacted with its first assigned donor. During this time, two dozen+ nonprofits joined together as cohorts to engage donors with an AI-powered Virtual Engagement Officer but more importantly research, develop, and accelerate the deployment of autonomous fundraising for our entire industry.

All nonprofits can relate to the fact that they have more donors and alumni than they have fundraisers with capacity to build relationships. This is precisely where autonomous fundraising changes what’s possible.

In this session, cohort members will present the results they’ve seen from autonomous fundraising – donors engaged, dollars raised, and pipeline built, in addition to their experience being the first organizations in the world to deploy a Virtual Engagement Officer to a portfolio of their donors.

We’ll present what we learned, what we got right, where course corrections were needed, and how we navigated AI in a field defined by relationships. We’ll share all of our findings including portfolios for autonomous fundraisers, sourcing engagement content independently, accuracy, transparency, ethics, and more.

Finally, we’ll conclude by looking at where we are going, how we can continue to further personalize donor journeys, push the outer limits of technology, and more. *CPE Credit: Attendees can earn up to 1 CPE for this session.

In turbulent times many smaller institutionally-related foundations (IRF’s) are seeking alternative economic models to be fully self-sustaining. The Kean University Foundation’s economic model is unique and, we believe, cutting edge. As we enter our sixth year in our restructuring plan, and embark on our first comprehensive capital campaign in more than 15 years, the Foundation employs all staff and absorbs the costs associated with staff benefits, human resources, information technology, legal, etc. This presentation summarizes the funding and spending plan for the Kean University Foundation as well as the organization’s competitive cost per dollar raised. *CPE Credit: Attendees can earn up to 1 CPE for this session.

What are the opportunities and challenges for foundations and their leaders? What proactive choices can we make to make a difference? CASE President and CEO Sue Cunningham will engage three foundations leaders in conversation about the challenges the sector is facing, the pace of change, and the opportunity to lead.

As political forces increasingly try to gain control over higher educational institutions, it's important to understand the differences between dependent, interdependent, and independent foundations. What sets each one apart? What are the pros and cons of managing each type? Why is it important to update your foundation’s Memorandum of Understanding with your institution? Our panel will dive into these questions and more, addressing this key topic for all college and university foundations.

Change is inevitable, and sometimes it’s imperative. It can be instigated intentionally, or it can be generated organically by an outside force. At Lehman College, a top Hispanic serving institution, the catalyst for change was an extraordinary gift from Mackenzie Scott. This gift, unexpected and thrilling, introduced the opportunity for the Institutional Advancement department to reassess how it interacts with leadership and campus stakeholders and build new habits and practices to improve internal and external communication, which in turn increased fundraising. While a Mackenzie Scott gift is unique, the strategies Lehman implemented in its wake can be applied across institutions. This session will offer perspectives from advancement and foundation executives on how they modeled effective change management and encouraged leaders, volunteers, and employees to embrace new ways of operating. *CPE Credit: Attendees can earn up to 1 CPE for this session.

In the competitive realm of higher education, fundraising success relies on more than just passion and a great case; it requires a strategic approach. Participants will learn how strategic planning principles can inspire cohesion within fundraising teams while also enhancing their overall fundraising success.

In this session participants will learn:
• The key components of strategic planning.
• Strategies for fostering a culture of adaptability and innovation within your fundraising team through the strategic planning process.
• How to build bridges between fundraisers and their partners (such as Deans, University leaders, and engagement or communications branches), enhancing collaboration to drive fundraising success.
• Ideas for setting clear expectations that align with your organization’s vision.
• Best practices for building the tools and resources needed to support your fundraising goals. *CPE Credit: Attendees can earn up to 1 CPE for this session.

Key technologies like Data Quality & Management, Artificial Intelligence, CRM and Other Applications, and Data and Application Integration enable the optimization of fundraising results and donor engagement. But limited budgets in most institutions require careful prioritization of technology investments. How do we decide which technologies provide the greatest return in terms of new business, increased engagement, and operational optimization?

This case study shows how one university used a program strategy to develop a Technology Portfolio and Road Map which provided the basis for the technology transformation, prescriptive guidance to make the projects successful, and critical input to the next fundraising campaign and budget. CPE Credit: Attendees can earn up to 1 CPE for this session.