Join in a conversation about the context and experiences of women in advancement leadership. Explore research on the field, hear from a panel of women leaders, and explore best practices and resources to encourage and support women’s journeys to leadership. This session aims to motivate, empower, and energize--whether you are looking for networking, planning for career growth, seeking to enhance your leadership skills, or creating organizational environments where women leaders can thrive.

Join us for an engaging and interactive panel discussion where leading fundraising professionals share the personal stories and hard-won insights that have transformed their approach to donor relationships. In this session, our esteemed panelists will recount real-life experiences—from the challenges of building trust with new donors to the innovative strategies that have sparked long-term engagement and growth. This panel is designed not only to inspire but also to equip you with actionable takeaways. You'll learn how these leaders have navigated complex fundraising landscapes, overcome obstacles, and created impactful donor stewardship practices that resonate in today’s dynamic environment. Through candid storytelling, our panelists will reveal: • Personal Journeys: How pivotal moments and unexpected challenges shaped their philosophies on donor engagement. • Effective Strategies: Innovative techniques and practical tips for cultivating and sustaining donor relationships. • Lessons Learned: Insights into what works—and what doesn’t—in building a donor-centric approach that drives meaningful impact. Whether you’re an experienced fundraiser or just starting your journey, this panel offers a wealth of knowledge and a fresh perspective on how storytelling can be a powerful tool in connecting with donors. Expect an interactive discussion with plenty of opportunities for Q&A, where you can share your own experiences and challenges, and discover how to transform them into strategies for success. Don't miss this chance to be inspired and to take away practical insights that can elevate your fundraising efforts to new heights at CASE District V.

Get ready to learn from giving day experts! Join Emily Berry and Lola Mauer, the masterminds behind Miami University’s #MoveInMiami and Ball State University’s One Ball State Day, whose campaigns have collectively earned nearly 100 CASE awards. Discover the tips, tricks, and strategies that have made these institutions leaders in the giving day space. You’ll learn how to rally your campus community, maximize donations, and gain inspiration to elevate or launch your own giving day. Whether you're looking to boost your current campaign or exploring why a giving day is a smart investment, this session will provide you with actionable insights and proven strategies for success. Come prepared for a fun, informative, and motivating session that will empower you to make a real impact on your next giving day!

What are the building blocks of engaging content creation? They're not what you might expect. This session explores how to create environments that set the stage for bold ideas and big results. We’ll focus on actionable strategies within your control, whether you’re leading a team or creating content yourself. Leave energized and ready to transform your content strategy with practical techniques that maximize your existing resources.

How can volunteerism fuel lifelong connections and lead to transformational giving? In this interactive session, we’ll explore data-driven strategies to enhance volunteer engagement and recognition, connecting these efforts to philanthropy. Whether you're running a small program or managing a large alumni network, you’ll discover adaptable tools and tactics to build meaningful volunteer experiences that inspire deeper relationships and drive financial support. You will learn how to leverage data to identify engagement gaps and opportunities, create personalized recognition strategies that resonate with volunteers, and connect volunteerism to the donor pipeline, transforming alumni involvement into impactful giving. Through case studies, discussions, and actionable exercises, you’ll leave equipped to build a volunteer program that not only engages but also fosters a culture of giving. Ready to transform volunteerism into philanthropy? This session is for you.

Affinity Groups. This tried-and-true engagement strategy has yielded big results at many institutions. But they can run the spectrum in both investment and results. Do you create a mini alumni association, or do you simply try to harness the momentum formed by organic groups? We will look at pro's and con's for each method, when each would be appropriate, the opportunity for a blended approach, and best practices for these powerful programs.

Since the pandemic, more fundraisers do their work remotely. What is the impact on our bottom line? Can anyone work from anywhere? What are best practices based on recent research?

Discover how to transform unassigned prospects into engaged donors through strategic relationship management. This session will showcase how to keep potential donors "warm" by ensuring ongoing communication, even without immediate assignment to a relationship manager. Additionally, we'll explore the rapid growth of Illinois Tech’s regional events program, driven by targeted outreach using geographic mapping tools, which has significantly increased alumni participation nationwide.
We'll also touch on how integrating key engagement forms into their platform has streamlined volunteer management and improved data capture, enabling more effective alumni engagement.

As the national trend of declining donor counts continues, many institutions are ramping up engagement and acquisition efforts to attract new prospective donors. But increased data collection like this can often lead to differing schools of thought between the engagement professionals who seek to grow the donor pipeline and IT/data partners who aim to protect data integrity. What are the right pieces of data to collect? How can data quality be protected? At what point does data collection hinder a positive customer experience? Is there such a thing as too much data? This session will show how Ohio State Advancement has taken a collaborative approach to working through these questions and more by bringing the two business areas together to develop solutions.
Key topics will include:
• How to align teams, practices, and goals.
• How to determine the right data points to ensure quality data while collecting engagement data to build and strengthen the fundraising pipeline.
• How to select the right data collection tools for varying types of engagement opportunities.
• How to tell the story of how engagement and acquisition data impacts the long-term health of an organization.

Unlock the power of AI in your daily advancement tasks with this hands-on session! Discover free or low-cost tools like ChatGPT that can streamline donor communications, enhance alumni engagement, and simplify data management. Through real-world examples and an interactive activity, you'll learn how to implement AI solutions today, without waiting for large-scale institutional changes. Walk away with practical strategies to make your work more efficient and impactful, all while staying ahead in the evolving world of higher education advancement.