Conference for Newcomers in Development
CASE requires all attendees, exhibitors, and staff to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 prior to participating in-person at any conference in accordance with applicable law.
Designed for development professionals with fewer than two years of professional fundraising experience and newcomers to education development, this conference explores the fundamentals of fundraising in education, from the annual fund to major gifts, and lays the groundwork for your successful career in advancement.
Benefits of Attending
Participation in this conference will prepare attendees to:
- Explain the essential elements of the educational fundraising process and differentiate between them, including unrestricted/annual funds, major and principal gifts and structured and planned gifts.
- Utilize existing constituent data to determine donor capacity, interest and inclination to give.
- Employ proven cultivation tactics to manage prospective donor relationships.
- Build upon the foundations covered to develop specific, donor-focused strategies.
Who Should Attend
- Development professionals with fewer than two years of fundraising experience
- Academic leaders and volunteers with fundraising responsibilities
- Newcomers to educational development
Meet the Chair
Floyd Akins
Floyd Akins is vice president for university advancement at the University of Toledo. Prior to his role at UToledo, Akins served as associate vice president for advancement at Michigan State University, where he oversaw constituent fundraising, individual giving and prospect development and corporate and foundation engagement. Prior to joining MSU he was a senior consultant with Aspen Leadership Group, an executive search and consulting firm specializing in nonprofit and philanthropic leadership, where he consulted with prominent organizations in higher education, the arts, community services, and institutes to recruit and retain talented advancement professionals.
Previously Floyd was an assistant vice chancellor for development for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In this role, he provided leadership and managerial support for UT’s Regional Major Gift Officers and Corporate and Foundation Engagement Team. He also helped develop the framework for and oversaw the creation of UT’s principal gifts program. He has been a strong advocate for diversity in advancement and higher education at all levels throughout his professional career and was the Co-Chair of UT’s Council for Diversity and Interculturalism.
Floyd has raised numerous multi-million-dollar gifts and managed staff in several billion-dollar campaigns. Before joining UT, he served as The Ohio State University’s Senior Associate Vice President for University Development and Vice President of the OSU Foundation and previously was Assistant Vice President for Principal Gifts at the University of Iowa Foundation. Other positions include Executive Director of Development in the Henry B. Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa and Director of the Capital Campaign at Grinnell College. In addition to his fundraising positions, he held numerous positions at both Grinnell College and the University of Iowa that included admissions, public relations and multicultural affairs.
He currently serves as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisor to Aspen Leadership Group. He has been an active speaker for CASE since 1998 and has chaired several conferences on major gift fundraising in both the US and Canada. He lives in Columbus, OH and received his bachelor’s degree from Eastern Illinois University and his master’s degree from the University of Iowa in Journalism and Mass Communication.