Advancement leaders often focus on raising more dollars, but the real disruption is building quietly beneath the surface: fund management. Misaligned spending, underutilized funds, manual processes, and donor trust risks are converging into an invisible tsunami that will reshape advancement operations whether institutions are ready or not.

This session introduces the Fund Management Maturity Model, a framework built from national benchmarking and 100+ sector conversations. Participants will quickly assess their organization’s current stage, benchmark against peers, and identify where cracks are forming.

Through interactive polling and self-assessment, attendees will leave with a clear view of the risks ahead and a practical roadmap to strengthen stewardship and resilience, before the wave hits.

Join us for a unique behind-the-scenes look at change management in action. From a first meeting on campus in January to a new name and new governance in September, the new Texas A&M University-Victoria has some stories to share. How do you move from a highly centralized model of governance to a highly decentralized one? Who orchestrates the acquisition and conversion of IT, Human Resources, Student Information, Alumni and Donor Information systems, and more? How are fundraising and engagement impacted positively and negatively by this major shift? What does one list on their resume for the school they graduated from or work for? What happens to the mascot and alumni? If you thought you had seen it all, come hear what our year has been like in Victoria!

Student engagement is most effective when it is intentional, data-informed, and sustained across the entire undergraduate experience. This session explores how the University of Louisiana at Lafayette partnered with CMAC to conduct a comprehensive, campus-wide student engagement initiative and translate those findings into a cohesive four-year engagement program. Participants will learn how CMAC facilitated broad stakeholder input through structured engagement sessions, capturing student voices, institutional priorities, and cultural context unique to UL Lafayette. The presentation will outline how these insights informed the design of a scalable, inclusive engagement framework that supports students from their first year through graduation. The session will highlight the resulting four-year engagement plan, including strategies tailored to each stage of the undergraduate journey—first-year transition and belonging, second-year connection and exploration, third-year leadership and professional preparation, and fourth-year persistence and post-graduation readiness. Attendees will gain practical takeaways on conducting campus-wide engagement efforts, aligning programming across divisions, and building a sustainable model that strengthens retention, belonging, and student success.

Fundraising isn’t about the perfect pitch — it’s about asking better questions. In this interactive session, you’ll learn a simple framework for building trust, watch a live “first date” style conversation with a volunteer, and leave with practical skills to strengthen donor relationships right away.

How do you unite a campus of 20,000+ faculty and staff—and more than 400 campus communicators—within a historically siloed environment? At The University of Texas at Austin, internal communications has been reimagined to better connect, engage, and empower the university community.

This session will highlight how UT is transforming the way messages are shared, voices are amplified, and community is built from the inside out. By fostering employee engagement, strengthening cross-campus collaboration, and elevating more connected storytelling, UT Austin is creating clearer pathways for faculty and staff to stay informed and engaged.

Attendees will walk away with both inspiration and practical examples they can adapt to strengthen internal communications and employee engagement at their own institutions.

One thing is for certain, change is a constant. In advancement, fundraising priorities shift and evolve, and the needs of the fundraising and alumni teams have grown over time. CRMs have significantly changed over the years to manage all the complexities of data and technology.

To lead a team through a CRM transition - a fundraising system selection and implementation is not for the faint of heart. It requires vision, strategy and the ability to guide teams with confidence through periods of uncertainty and change. In this session, two senior advancement services leaders - with more than 50 years of combined experience at institutions such as Colorado College, Southern Methodist University, Stanford University and Santa Clara University - will share proven strategies for successfully navigating change at every level. Drawing on their deep expertise in CRM system selection and implementation, gift processing, prospect management, data integrity and system security, they will highlight what it takes to keep teams aligned, processes efficient, and stakeholders informed, engaged and on target.

Like advancement work, pinball is more complicated than it looks. Learn how I've applied the strategies I've learned in pinball tournaments to the work we do in engagement at OSU. We'll talk about strategies for all things engagement: donor relations, events, marketing and communications, and annual giving. And... you may learn a thing or two to so you can dominate at an arcade near you.

97.5% of every institution's donors sit outside of managed portfolios—receiving only direct mail and mass marketing. Over time, this has led to rising lapsed donor rates, weaker pipelines, and increasing pressure on already-stretched advancement teams. In this panel, leaders from St. Mary's University and Texas State University share how they are using autonomous AI technology to scale one-to-one donor relationships and extend the reach of their advancement strategies—without adding headcount. Both institutions have deployed Virtual Engagement Officers (VEOs) to engage overlooked donor segments, strengthen retention and reacquisition efforts, and build long-term pipeline momentum. Panelists will discuss what drove their decision to adopt autonomous fundraising, how they've integrated VEOs alongside their existing teams, and what results and lessons they've gathered along the way.
Learning Objectives: By the end of this session, attendees will be able to: • Understand how autonomous AI can expand team capacity and extend one-to-one donor outreach. • Evaluate where AI supports direct revenue-generating activities like retention, reacquisition, and pipeline growth. • Apply data-driven insights from peer institutions to inform strategy and future adoption.

After years of dormancy, reactivating alumni networks can feel like starting from scratch—but it’s also a powerful opportunity to reimagine what alumni engagement can look like. This session explores how New Mexico State University reignited its alumni networks with a small, new team and no recent alumni programming. Learn how identifying passionate alumni champions became the key to rebuilding momentum and activating a network of Aggie pride. We’ll share a practical framework for launching and sustaining alumni networks, including a customizable Alumni Network Leadership Manual, lessons learned from early wins and missteps, and essential guidance on legal counsel and liability. Whether you're rebuilding or starting fresh, this session offers inspiration and tools to help you mobilize volunteers and create lasting alumni impact.

Alumni engagement is a cornerstone of institutional success, yet strategies often differ significantly between two-year and four-year institutions. This session pairs two professionals with complementary expertise: a former alumni director at a four-year university, now a professor of communication, and a current executive director of advancement and marketing at a community college.
Together, they will explore scalable, mission-driven strategies for alumni engagement, focusing on how communication, storytelling, and relationship building foster deeper connections with graduates.
This session goes beyond traditional alumni programming to examine how faculty can play an active role in strengthening alumni relationships. By integrating alumni perspectives into the classroom, faculty can create a bridge between current students and graduates, cultivating a cycle of engagement that supports both student learning and institutional advancement.