Transformational gifts don’t just fund bold initiatives, they deepen trust, shift institutional momentum, and often change the lives of donors and fundraisers alike. In this session, we will explore what sets transformational giving apart from other major gifts and how to recognize and cultivate the moments that lead to “gifts of a lifetime.” Whether you’re new to frontline fundraising or leading a principal gifts program, you’ll gain practical strategies for building long-term donor relationships, navigating institutional readiness, and aligning donor vision with mission-driven impact. Real case studies and interactive discussion will ground the conversation in both strategy and heart.

Despite being the majority of advancement professionals, women leaders often encounter unique challenges to reaching and thriving in chief advancement executive roles. This dynamic session brings together a panel of accomplished chief advancement executives to share insights, strategies, and real-world examples on successfully building teams, achieving ambitious fundraising outcomes, and navigating these challenges. Drawing on data from the groundbreaking BOLD Women in Advancement study in 2025 of women chief advancement executives, this session will explore actionable strategies for supporting women leaders and fostering organizational success. Attendees will gain inspiration, practical tools, and data-informed recommendations to advance their leadership and create more inclusive workplaces.

Capturing your school's brand isn't as simple as "point and shoot," but with the right strategy, and an emphasis on relationship building with external vendors and your internal stakeholders, you can make the most of your photography day and limited budget. Hear from Andrea Joseph, a sought-after professional photographer who works with schools throughout the Washington, D.C. region, and two of her longtime clients: Nancy Schwartz (St. Andrew's Episcopal School) and Kirsten Petersen (Landon School). You will come away with the tools you need to advocate for investing in professional photography, a playbook for organizing and completing your photo day, and insights that will help you stay nimble and creative when the best-laid plans must change.

Engagement is a critical component for campaign success; the tricky part is tracking engagement in meaningful ways. In this session, learn how to track engagement as part of your next campaign, how to share the impact of engagement on fundraising, and ways to scale this work based on your needs. This session will include a case study on the UConn Foundation's recent efforts with their "Because of UConn" campaign, including a peer group review, and an interactive group activity to help you build out your campaign engagement plan.

This session explores how institutions can transform their online presence to better serve Gen Z learners and the growing population of neurodivergent students. Research shows that nearly one‑third of adults under 30 identify as neurodivergent and that neurodivergent adults face disproportionate challenges such as unemployment up to eight times higher than neurotypical peers. Using a case study from SUNY Empire State University, we will share how collaboration with neurodivergent students and accessibility experts guided the redesign of the university's website. Practical takeaways include the power of global motion controls, predictable layouts, clear labels, and short forms – features that increased inquiries and applications immediately upon launch.

A panel of professionals from two private universities will share how they navigated change within their recognition societies. Attendees will hear candid reflections on what worked, what didn’t, and how to apply those lessons to their own programs. The conversation will be moderated by the Donor Relations Group, which has partnered with these institutions in varying capacities as well as hundreds of nonprofit organizations across the sector.

This session dives into how digital gift officers and discovery programs are reshaping donor qualification and engagement. Attendees will learn how to leverage data, technology, and digital outreach to build a digital gift officer program that works with their institution. We will cover the case for discovery, building strategic caseloads, program management and more to strengthen your pipeline. Tools and strategies will be shared for advancing discovery efforts in today’s evolving fundraising environment.

Athletics can be one of the most passionate and visible drivers of engagement on campus. Learn how to partner with your athletics department and channel that energy into fundraising success. This session explores high-impact strategies for partnering with your athletic departments to boost donor participation, amplify giving and create memorable engagement opportunities. Learn how to collaborate between the two departments to align advancement priorities with athletic team pride to build donor pipelines for athletic affinities and annual funds. Whether you're new to advancement or looking to level up your athletics fundraising game, this session offers actionable ideas, real-world examples, and tools to help you win—on and off the field.

With a high concentration of alumni living in our home state, we set out to meet them where they are—literally. Through a branded series of events hosted in communities across the state, our alumni engagement and marketing teams collaborated to turn a regional outreach idea into a sellout success.
In this session, you’ll hear from the alumni engagement leads, the marketing lead, and the project manager who helped bring the vision to life. Together, they’ll share how strong internal collaboration, data-driven planning, adaptive marketing, and community-specific messaging resulted in amazing attendance and meaningful alumni connections.
Attendees will walk away with a clear blueprint for how to scale a local engagement strategy, implement agile marketing tactics, and build a cohesive brand that resonates deeply with alumni in your home state.

Discover how the UMass Amherst Foundation successfully launched a dynamic series of alumni networking events that advanced multiple institutional goals.
Branded as “New Year, Bigger Network,” these events were designed to foster meaningful alumni engagement while addressing key Advancement objectives. Leveraging the support of influential alumni volunteers, the events emphasized clear, tangible takeaways for attendees which increased alumni interest and attendance.
A coordinated marketing strategy, curated programming, and strong collaboration among Advancement staff and alumni volunteers were central to success. Across two events held in fiscal year 2025, we reached 665 total registrations and quickly moved to a waitlist. Notably, 24% of attendees were first-time registrants. The no-show rate was significantly lower than other UMass events, and over one-third of attendees were recent graduates or young alumni.
Post-event survey feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with alumni rating their likelihood to recommend the event to a friend or colleague at an average of 8.7 out of 10.
In this presentation, we’ll explore key successes and areas for growth and outline how we’re evolving the model in fiscal year 2026. We’ll also share insights and adaptable strategies to help institutions of any size replicate this scalable, cost-flexible model.