Gifts and records work is often viewed as transactional, yet it is essential to the accuracy, compliance, and strategic decision-making that power effective advancement operations. As demands for analytics, dashboards, accessibility, and campaign readiness continue to grow, these functions sit at the center of the advancement ecosystem. This session will examine how to reframe the value of gifts and records work, shift organizational perceptions, and position these teams as strategic partners with a seat at the table. Panelists will share practical strategies for elevating the function and strengthening its role in institutional planning and execution.

Not all gifts fit neatly into standard processing workflows. Complex, conditional, or unusual gifts can introduce compliance, technical, and communication challenges that require careful navigation and sound judgment. This session will focus on how to effectively manage these “sticky” gifts by unpacking the nuances that often make them challenging to process. Attendees will explore technical and compliance considerations, learn how to identify appropriate resources and decision frameworks, and gain clarity on when and how to escalate issues. The session will also address strategies for communicating across teams and building shared understanding within organizations to reduce risk, improve consistency, and support smoother gift processing outcomes. Participants will leave with practical guidance on what to do, how to do it, and how to strengthen organizational knowledge to manage these sticky gifts better.

CRM conversions are often framed as technical or fundraising-led initiatives, yet Gift and Records professionals play a critical role in shaping the core infrastructure of the system. Decisions around data structure, gift design, historical data, and business rules have long-term implications for reporting, compliance, stewardship, and trust in the system. This session will walk through the phases of a CRM conversion with a specific focus on what Gift and Records professionals need to understand, influence, and advocate for throughout the process. Participants will examine key considerations during planning, data migration, system design, integration, testing, and training, with an emphasis on protecting data integrity and operational realities. Through practical examples and lessons learned, attendees will gain insight into how to engage strategically in conversions and help ensure the new CRM is built to support accurate, sustainable gift and data processing from day one.

Effective gift processing does not happen in isolation. Professionals who excel in this work understand how gift processing intersects with fundraising, stewardship, finance, technology, compliance, and data, and they actively seek learning beyond their immediate functional area. This presentation will explore why broad, cross-disciplinary learning is essential to effective collaboration and strong gift processing outcomes. Through real-world examples, participants will examine how expanding their knowledge base supports better problem-solving, clearer communication, and more effective partnerships across advancement. Attendees will leave with practical approaches for building both depth and breadth of understanding and for collaborating more effectively across functional boundaries.

A data-centered culture is foundational to effective advancement work. Data integrity underpins system reliability, reporting, compliance, decision-making, and trust across the organization, yet it cannot be sustained by any single team or function. This session will explore what it truly means to build and maintain a data-centered culture and why the work is both urgent and collective. Participants will examine key concepts related to data integrity, compliance, data retention, and stewardship, along with practical approaches for embedding these practices into daily operations. The session will emphasize shared accountability and provide strategies for engaging colleagues across roles to ensure data is treated as a critical institutional asset. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how to foster organizational commitment to data quality and how to support consistent, sustainable data practices across their institutions.

Donor-advised fund gifts, matching gifts, and other third-party contributions often raise deceptively simple questions. Whose money is it? How can it be applied? And why does it sometimes feel more complicated than it should be? This session will unpack the unique rules, expectations, and gray areas that come with managing third-party gifts. Participants will walk through real-world scenarios, including common requests around pledge application, and explore the legal, ethical, and operational frameworks that guide appropriate decision-making. The session will help gift processing professionals build confidence in managing these gifts accurately and efficiently, while communicating clearly and consistently with donors, fundraisers, and internal partners.

Trying to figure out how to incorporate the CASE Global Reporting Standards into your gift processing practices? Or maybe some of the more nuanced parts of the standards, like the new guidance on pledges and/or gifts from donors under 65? Come chat with our speakers as we review parts of the CASE Standards and discuss suggestions on how to integrate them into your workflows.

AI conversations in advancement often center on fundraisers, but Gift and Data Services teams have their own meaningful opportunities to apply these tools in practical, day-to-day ways. From improving efficiency to supporting data quality and workflow management, AI can be a valuable asset when used thoughtfully. This session will provide a hands-on look at how Gift and Data professionals can leverage AI for real business needs. Participants will explore concrete use cases, productivity supports, and workflow enhancements, along with key considerations around ethical use, security, and AI governance. The session will balance possibility with responsibility, equipping attendees with ideas they can realistically apply in their own environments.

Receipts and acknowledgements are often viewed as routine outputs, yet they represent one of the most visible expressions of an organization’s stewardship. Far from simply documenting a transaction, these communications reflect accuracy, care, and respect for a donor’s intent. This session will explore the critical role Gift Services plays in managing receipts and acknowledgements effectively. Participants will examine key considerations such as turnaround time, accuracy, personalization, compliance, and tax regulations, along with the importance of correct fund attribution. The session will also address common points of failure and how to resolve issues when something goes wrong. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how thoughtful receipt and acknowledgement practices contribute strategically to donor trust, stewardship, and the overall fundraising operation.

In the pace of daily work, process documentation is often deferred or overlooked, yet it is essential to consistency, continuity, and scale. Without clear documentation, organizations risk relying on individual memory, reinforcing outdated practices, and allowing processes to drift over time in uneven ways. This session will focus on why documentation is a critical component of effective Gift and Data Services operations. Participants will explore how well-designed documentation supports shared understanding, reduces risk, improves onboarding, and enables more scalable programs. The session will also provide practical guidance on building and managing documentation libraries, establishing review cadences, applying quality assurance to documentation, and positioning documentation as a strategic knowledge asset for gifts and records teams.