This workshop will address the needs of new and existing managers to grow their skillsets and support their teams. Join us in tackling topics including effective management, performance management, and managing up, down, and across.

Designed for those with fewer than two years of advancement experience, this workshop explores the fundamentals of advancement across all disciplines (advancement services, alumni relations, fundraising, marketing and communications). Additional topics will include building a culture of generosity and the power of mentorship.

AI can be a helpful partner in advancement work, but many professionals are still figuring out where to start, what to trust, and how to use it in ways that actually save time. This interactive preconference workshop is designed for a mixed-experience audience and focuses on practical, advancement-specific uses of AI that participants can apply right away. Through discussion, live demonstration, and hands-on activities, attendees will explore how AI can support communications, donor stewardship, prospect research, meeting follow-up, and more. The session will also introduce key considerations for developing team-level guidelines around responsible AI use, including data privacy, ethics, and maintaining a human voice. Participants will leave with reusable prompts, simple workflows, and a clear framework for applying AI thoughtfully within their teams.

Whether you're launching a planned giving program or looking to elevate an established one, this comprehensive session will equip you with practical tools for every stage of the legacy-giving lifecycle. Participants will learn how to build a strategic prospect pipeline using data, donor behavior, and targeted marketing; how to confidently initiate planned giving conversations using frameworks like the PAPPA model; and how to integrate planned giving seamlessly into annual and major gift strategies. The session also covers essential program-building steps, effective messaging, and ways to communicate tax benefits that motivate donor action. Beyond securing commitments, attendees will explore stewardship practices that strengthen lifelong donor relationships, prevent attrition, and increase documented gifts. The session concludes with best practices in estate administration, tracking, and communication to ensure donor intent is honored and families feel supported. Participants will leave with a clear roadmap and actionable tools to grow, manage, and sustain a high-impact planned giving program. By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify and prioritize planned giving prospects using data, donor behavior, and targeted marketing strategies.
• Build or strengthen a planned giving program through effective planning, goal setting, resource allocation, and integration with annual and major giving.
• Initiate confident, donor-centered planned giving conversations using frameworks such as the PAPPA model and develop messaging that resonates with diverse donor motivations.
• Communicate the tax and financial benefits of planned gifts in ways that are accurate, accessible, and compelling for donors.
• Design stewardship and legacy society strategies that deepen engagement, prevent donor dropout, and encourage multiple or increased planned gifts.
• Implement estate administration processes that track progress, ensure clear communication with families and advisors, and safeguard donor intent.

In higher education advancement today, professionals are being asked to do more with less, navigate constant change, and maintain relationships in an environment that feels increasingly complex and uncertain. And most days, it feels like the target keeps moving. When things shift, it's easy to look outward, to leadership, coworkers, the market, or "the system." But the people who thrive in this environment do something different: they start by looking inward. They take responsibility for their mindset, their behavior, and their impact. In this high-energy, interactive-driven keynote, Karen McCullough helps audiences move from reacting to change to leading themselves through it.

In moments of institutional crisis—whether sparked by public health emergencies, reputational threats, or executive directives—the communications office becomes a central leadership force. This session explores how communications professionals not only manage messaging but also shape institutional response, guide executive visibility, and build trust across stakeholders.
Drawing from real-world experiences including pandemic response, campus safety incidents, and executive council messaging, Linder, Meloney will share a leadership framework for crisis communications. Attendees will learn how to:

Elevate the communications office as a strategic partner in executive decision-making.
Position senior leaders as visible, credible voices during disruption.
Coordinate cross-functional crisis teams that include legal, police, and executive offices.
Develop messaging that balances transparency, empathy, and institutional priorities.
Use digital platforms to manage perception and maintain engagement.

At MSUM, Giving Day became more than a 24-hour campaign-it's now a catalyst for strategic growth and donor momentum. Over six years, MSUM Giving Day grew from $157,000 in 2019 to $672,000 in 2024, even weathering a pandemic pause in 2020.

By shifting from chasing donor counts to cultivating meaningful relationships, the MSUM Foundation raised more with fewer donors, proving that depth matters more than volume. Key strategies included:

Prioritizing relationships over transactions: Average gift sizes increased as the focus moved to meaningful engagement.

Driving efficiency through technology: Processing time dropped from three weeks to three days, freeing staff for higher-impact work.

Stewardship that proves it: Immediate thank-you systems generated an additional $40K in gifts.

Campus-wide engagement: Deans, coaches, and faculty embraced philanthropy year-round, making Giving Day the culmination of ongoing momentum rather than a one-off event.

This case study offers a roadmap for transforming Giving Day into a momentum-building engine that drives both immediate results and long-term culture change.

You have alumni in every state and every major city. There are affinity group opportunities everywhere. But you can only do so much!

In this session, we examine how to prioritize your geographic network and affinity group development. By blending hard data and soft data, you will leave equipped with tools and a sense of direction for how to choose what group to pursue. We'll finish up by looking at a few tactical opportunities to continue to engage with the groups that don't make the cut.

Many universities—large and small, public and private—are seeking to build or revitalize regional fundraising programs. At the University of Denver, we faced this challenge head-on post-COVID, recognizing that while our metro-area alumni base is strong, a vast and untapped philanthropic market exists beyond our backyard.

This session explores how DU reimagined its regional development strategy to unlock new donor potential, align with institutional priorities, and fuel momentum toward a $1B campaign. We’ll share the framework we built—including a documented process, internal rules of engagement, and a collaborative partnership with central and unit-based advancement teams—along with candid lessons learned and real-world scenarios.

Donors and alumni are motivated by more than just numbers. They are moved by stories. In today’s competitive fundraising landscape, cause-based storytelling offers a powerful way to transform outreach from transactional to transformational. This session will demonstrate how aligning compelling narratives with solicitations fosters authentic connections, inspires action and cultivates lasting loyalty. Through real-world examples and practical strategies, attendees will learn how to craft stories that not only engage alumni but also drive donor support across campaigns of all sizes.