12:00 PM–1:00 PM
Conference Registration
Location: 4th Floor Foyer

Welcome to Seattle! Stop by the registration desk any time before 1:00 p.m. to check in and pick up your conference materials.

1:00–1:30 PM
SAI Welcome + Activity
Location:  402, 4th Floor
All Faculty

1:30–1:35 PM
Sponsor Remarks
Location: 402, 4th Floor
Speakers: Elizabeth Kolb Farr, Principal, Huron 

1:35–2:15 PM
Welcome to Advancement: The Impact Starts Here
Location: 402, 4th Floor
Speaker: David Smith, Chief Advancement Officer, Miami Country Day School

A career in Independent School advancement is a journey. We’ve got some energy bites and brilliant nuggets to prepare you for this exciting time! 

2:15–2:30 PM
Refreshment Break
Location: 4th Floor Foyer

2:30–3:45 PM    
Elective Sessions (Choose One)

• Annual Giving Fundamentals
  Location: 402, 4th Floor
  Speakers: Tim Crouch, Director of Development, St. Mark’s School of Texas and Elizabeth “Oz” Oswald, Director of Institutional Advancement, Nightingale-Bamford School
  
  What is Annual Giving? Annual giving fuels the mission and vision of your school and is at the center of every strong advancement program. Annual gifts provide critical resources for the school and serve as the gateway to philanthropic engagement. After this introductory session, you will have a solid understanding of the role that the annual fund plays with your constituents and how it supports the school’s budget.
   
• Preparing for a Campaign
  Location: 401, 4th Floor
  Speakers: Matt Gould, Chief Advancement Officer, Lovett School and Melanie Hoffmann, Executive Director of Development & Alumni Relations, St. Alban’s School
  
  Independent school campaigns are complex, intense, and demanding. Learn how to assess the readiness of your team, leadership, and community in preparation for a campaign, whether it is a capital, endowment, or comprehensive one. Determine what questions to ask and what steps you should take to prepare your shop and your school for a campaign. Understand critical pieces you need to put in place, such as your strategic case for support, goal setting, policies, and budgeting, before you embark on what may be the largest and most transformational endeavor at your school.
   

3:45–4:00 PM
Transition Break

4:00–5:15 PM
Elective Sessions (Choose One)

• Alumni Engagement Fundamentals
  Location: 401, 4th Floor
  Speakers: Tim Crouch, Director of Development, St. Mark’s School of Texas and Kerry Johnston, Director of Advancement, Charlotte Latin School
  
  What is the purpose of your alumni relations program and how can you strategically inform and engage alumni? Learn how to create a program that builds loyalty, identifies new volunteers, and influences your school’s enrollment and philanthropic goals. Discuss how to develop engagement strategies that cover the alumni life cycle (i.e., events, networking, mentoring, reunions, and class giving) and share ways to measure success with alumni metrics.
   
• Major Gifts Fundamentals
  Location: 402, 4th Floor
  Speakers: Brent Caburnay, Chief Development Officer, Francis Parker School and Elizabeth “Oz” Oswald, Director of Institutional Advancement, Nightingale-Bamford School
  
  With the stakes high to secure significant funding for your organization, major gifts can be an intimidating process for even seasoned development professionals. But effective use of the donor cycle will help guide you through the steps toward a successful major gift ask. Define a major gift for your institution, understand the essentials of a major gift program, and learn how to establish a prospect management system. This session offers all the basics to help demystify major gifts and set you up for success.
   

5:15–6:30 PM
SAI Welcome Reception + Building Relationships
Location: 4th Floor Foyer
Speaker: David Smith, Chief Advancement Officer, Miami Country Day School

7:00 PM
Dinner on Your Own

8:00–9:00 AM
Continental Breakfast–Table Topics
Location: 4th Floor Foyer & 402, 4th Floor

All attendees are encouraged to attend. Table topics will be announced in advance. 

9:00–9:15 AM
SAI Morning Announcements
Location: 402, 4th Floor
Speaker: David Smith, Chief Advancement Officer, Miami Country Day School

9:15–10:30 AM
Building Your Narrative
Location, 402, 4th Floor
Speakers: Brent Caburnay, Chief Development Officer, Francis Parker School and Gustavo Segui, Director of Marketing & Advancement, International School of Curitiba

What is a school’s narrative and why does it matter in the world of advancement? Do you know your school’s mission statement? Its values? Its history? Its strategic plan? How can clear, consistent, and powerful messaging lead to increased engagement and success in fundraising? Explore the multitude of ways your school’s story is told and learn how you can more effectively bring your mission and values to life in your advancement work. Bring your story to life, whether to strengthen the annual fund, build the endowment, or shape a campaign.

10:30–10:45 AM
Refreshment Break
Location: 4th Floor Foyer

10:45–Noon
Elective Sessions (Choose One)

• Essential Elements of a Successful Campaign
  Location: 401, 4th Floor
  Speakers: Matt Gould, Chief Advancement Officer, Lovett School and Kerry Johnston, Director of Advancement, Charlotte Latin School 
  
  Independent school campaigns are complex, intense, and demanding. Learn how to assess the readiness of your team, leadership, and community in preparation for a large capital or endowment campaign. Once a campaign is underway, what does it take to hit the goal? Explore the essential elements of a successful campaign, including the case for support, volunteer leadership, and prospect management.
   
• Alumni Giving and Programs
  Location: 402, 4th Floor
  Speakers: Tim Crouch, Director of Development, St. Mark’s School of Texas and Melanie Hoffmann, Executive Director of Development & Alumni Relations, St. Alban’s School
  
  Does your alumni program truly strengthen your alumni community and expand your giving pipeline? Meaningful, intentional engagement, through reunions and other core programming, consistently leads to higher philanthropic participation.
  
  Reunions and similar programs create opportunities to reconnect alumni with your mission, bring them back to campus or together virtually, spark new energy, and encourage bold thinking about the school’s future. These touchpoints deepen affinity, strengthen class bonds, and open the door to greater investment, and understanding your school’s culture is essential to designing alumni experiences that resonate and inspire.
  
  Explore how strategic programming can reinforce lifelong connections between your alumni and the School while driving increased overall giving.
   

Noon–1:30 PM
Lunch on Your Own

Have you done your consultancy dilemma yet? Please have it completed by 4:30 PM. 

1:30–2:45 PM
Elective Sessions (choose One)

• Advanced Annual Giving
  Location: 402, 4th Floor
  Speakers: Melanie Hoffmann, Executive Director of Development & Alumni Relations, St. Alban’s School  and Elizabeth “Oz” Oswald, Director of Institutional Advancement, Nightingale-Bamford School
  
  How do you design a successful annual giving campaign? Annual giving is more than asking for giving participation and bridging the gap between tuition and the student experience—it is about building a pipeline of loyal donors who will answer the call during a campaign and transformative giving effort. Learn how to design, implement, and steward a successful annual giving campaign, including ways for launching or advancing giving days, accurately segment constituents to ensure concise reporting, build realistic gift pyramids, effectively manage volunteers’ time and talent, and properly recognize every gift to your school.
   

• Advanced Major Gifts
  Location: 401, 4th Floor
  Speakers: Matt Gould, Chief Advancement Officer, Lovett School and Kerry Johnston, Director of Advancement, Charlotte Latin School

  What do you do when a donor wants to control all aspects of their gift to your institution? What happens when a major donor's child is having trouble in your school? How do you engage a donor who wants to give your organization a $1 million to start a program outside its mission? These are some of the difficult situations you may face as a major gift officer. Building on what was learned in Major Gifts fundamentals, this scenario-based session will allow us to dig into the fundamentals as we navigate the complexities of the giving relationship and achieve the best possible outcome for your institution and donors.

2:45–3:00 PM
Refreshment Break
Location: 4th Floor Foyer

3:00–4:15 PM
Inclusive Excellence in Advancement
Location: 402, 4th Floor
Speakers: Brent Caburnay, Chief Development Officer, Francis Parker School and David Smith, Chief Advancement Officer, Miami Country Day School

Why does inclusive excellence matter in independent school advancement? This session will explore how to build greater cultural competency across your advancement program: fundraising, alumni relations, communications, and special events. 

4:15–4:30 PM
Transition Break

4:30–6:00 PM
Cohort Session: Consultancy Dilemma
Locations:
            401 – David Smith and Elizabeth “Oz” Oswald cohort
            402 – Brent Caburnay and Gustavo Segui cohort
            404 – Tim Crouch and Kerry Johnston cohort
            405 – Matt Gould and Melanie Hoffman cohort

6:00 PM
Dinner on Your Own

8:00–9:00 AM
Continental Breakfast–“Ask Us Anything”
Location: 4th Floor Foyer & 402, 4th Floor
All Faculty Panel

All attendees are encouraged to attend. Table topics will be announced in advance. 

9:00–9:15 AM
SAI Morning Announcements & Closing Remarks
Location: 402, 4th Floor
Speaker: David Smith, Chief Advancement Officer, Miami Country Day School

9:15–10:30 AM
Journey to Making the Ask
Location: 402, 4th Floor
Speakers: Tim Crouch, Director of Development, St. Mark’s School of Texas and Matt Gould, Chief Advancement Officer, Lovett School

Are you nervous about asking for money? Do you need a new volunteer? Making the ask is the easy part. Getting to that point takes hard work, preparation, research, relationship building, and diligent planning. Review everything – from getting the appointment, to meeting preparation, to sitting down with the community member. Discuss tactics that make the job easier for fundraisers and volunteer managers, and clarify how the entire office can make this process more effective. Learn from faculty members and bring your own experiences to share with others. 

10:30–10:45 AM
Refreshment Break
Location: 4th Floor Foyer

10:45–11:45 AM
Cohort Session: Planning Next Steps & Evaluations
Locations:
            401 – David Smith and Elizabeth “Oz” Oswald cohort
            402 – Brent Caburnay and Gustavo Segui cohort
            404 – Tim Crouch and Kerry Johnston cohort
            405 – Matt Gould and Melanie Hoffman cohort

11:45 AM
Institute Adjourns