When a transformational leader departs, the way you say goodbye matters. This session offers a behind-the-scenes look at UC Riverside’s nine-month farewell to Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox—blending branding, stewardship, event strategy, and internal morale into a unified send-off. Learn how to celebrate leaders who are often major donors, elevate your institution’s values, and strengthen employee culture through intentional messaging and events. You’ll leave with a framework, creative ideas, and a practical exercise to jumpstart your own farewell strategy.

Leadership effectiveness is either constrained or amplified by one factor: self-awareness. Research shows that self-aware leaders are more empathetic, better at conflict resolution, and more successful at inspiring results. Yet, in the high-stress world of fundraising, we often default to a culture of "niceness" that avoids tough truths and undermines our mission. Join us for a session that moves past basic management theory into the heart of authentic leadership. We will explore the two dimensions of self-awareness—internal clarity and external perspective—and provide a roadmap for moving from "ineffectively nice" to "courageously kind." You will leave with a practical toolkit for building a high-trust, psychologically safe team culture.

This session explores how University of Washington Advancement transformed its employer brand to attract and engage top talent. By leveraging LinkedIn, a dedicated careers website, and a branded recruiting newsletter, the team evolved from reactive recruiting to a proactive, story-driven talent strategy. Recruiting leaders Sarah Eytinge and Denise Lin share the challenges they faced, the tools they implemented, and the lessons they learned in building a cohesive and compelling employer brand that resonates with both candidates and internal stakeholders. The strategies shared are both scalable and practical, whether launching a single storytelling channel or developing an integrated, multi-platform presence. Participants will leave with actionable steps to strengthen their employer brand and apply these approaches within organizations of any size.

How do we move from one-off events to long-term, culturally nuanced relationships with Latinx alumni? This engaging panel will explore how the University of California as a case study and is developing an evolving, systemwide framework informed by Tara Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth model to recognize and uplift the assets Latinx graduates bring to the alumni experience. Through stories of intergenerational connections, multi-dimensional pride,, and institutional trust-building across diverse communities, we’ll share what it takes to create meaningful engagement that lasts well beyond graduation. Come away with ideas, insights, and inspiration to reimagine alumni relationships with authenticity at the core.

Advancement Services professionals are often the quiet engine behind fundraising success — managing data, processing gifts, supporting colleagues, and absorbing constant requests. When workloads feel overwhelming, the instinct is often self-blame: work harder, respond faster, push through. But overwhelm isn’t always a personal productivity problem. Often, it’s a systems design issue. This session explores how the Advancement Services team at Harvey Mudd College redesigned its approach to task management to prioritize clarity, visibility, and team well-being. By reframing task management as a shared systems strategy — rather than an individual endurance test — the team reduced reactivity, strengthened collaboration, and built a more sustainable foundation for growth. Participants will gain: A new framework for understanding burnout and capacity, six principles for well-being–centered task management, Practical strategies for improving intake, prioritization, and visibility, and ideas for using task data to advocate for resources and recognition Grounded in Advancement Services but applicable to any team navigating growing demand and limited capacity, this session offers a fresh lens and practical tools to help teams move from chaos to clarity.

Turn your supporters into champions for student success! Learn how to harness their networks and generosity to boost your Emergency Grants Program. This simple, effective approach makes giving easy, impactful, and deeply meaningful—ensuring students get the support they need, right when they need it most. Team members from the Cabrillo College Foundation will share the origins of our program that started with 100 women giving 100 each and now raises $300k annually with an endowment that has now grown to $3.3M. We will share the nuts and bolts of our program and give a blueprint for others to create their own successful fundraising powerhouse.

For generations, American higher education has been the engine behind the nation’s progress, driving our economic prosperity, building a skilled workforce, and nurturing a vibrant democracy. But colleges and universities are experiencing a growing crisis of confidence. Once respected institutions whose importance was assumed, they have suffered a steady decline in perceived value. Just ten years ago, 57% of Americans expressed significant trust in higher education. Today, that number has plummeted to 42%. This isn’t just a concerning trend—it’s a wake-up call. There are many reasons this is happening, but a core part of the problem is the narratives used to describe the value of a college degree, which too often focus narrowly on student recruitment and the job-market return graduates receive on the cost of tuition. Left out are countless ways higher education benefits everyone, whether or not they have earned a degree. To combat this erosion of trust, CASE has partnered with marketing firm BVK to create a public service campaign to promote the value of higher education, utilizing research on how to successfully change minds and shaped by the perspectives of those who most benefit from the work that higher education does. Called “College: Proud Sponsor of America at its Best,” the campaign seeks to remind Americans that college is a public good that uplifts every facet of our society, from creating a skilled workforce and fostering economic prosperity to improving our health, promoting democracy, and protecting our national security. This session will introduce participants to the campaign and the various ways their institutions can join the movement.

CRM transitions are often long, complex, and daunting—so much so that many institutions delay adopting new fundraising technologies and improved workflows until the dust settles. But what if waiting is the costliest mistake of all? In this session, we’ll challenge the wait-and-see mindset and make the case for prioritizing innovation in the midst of CRM change. You’ll hear directly from the University of San Diego who embraced better solutions during a CRM transition and came out stronger for it. Learn how they improved outcomes, engaged donors more effectively, and implemented smarter workflows—without waiting years to act.

The University of San Diego’s internal campaign stakeholders are developing aligned, scalable infrastructure in advance of the public phase of a comprehensive campaign. This session will bring together leaders from 3 different areas of integrated advancement breaking down silos to offer a practical roadmap to help you move beyond reactive stewardship and toward intentional, strategic engagement of campaign donors at every level. Participants will hear about the development of recognition policy, the design of a campaign website and an example of a successfully tailored major gift announcement. They will walk away with customizable stewardship templates, communication cadences and storytelling strategies that support smooth execution, sustained donor confidence and campaign momentum—from day one.

As advancement teams face increasing pressure to demonstrate impact and return on investment, alumni engagement is shifting from measuring participation to cultivating purpose driven relationships that advance institutional priorities. For land grant universities in particular, effective engagement is moving beyond nostalgia toward alignment with core missions of access, service, applied research, and economic development. This session explores how advancement and alumni relations professionals can intentionally align engagement and volunteer strategies with mission driven values. By positioning volunteerism as a strategic asset, institutions can activate alumni as ambassadors, mentors, and philanthropic partners. This approach strengthens institutional outcomes while inviting alumni to engage with clarity, purpose, and measurable impact.