In today's fast-moving fundraising landscape, data isn't just a tool; it's the foundation of strategic decision-making. But how do you shift from occasional data use to a true data-centered culture, where insights drive every conversation, strategy, and donor interaction? This session explores how you can foster a mindset where data is valued, accessible, and actionable at all levels, from leadership to frontline fundraisers.

True influence doesn't come from authority—it comes from how you listen, communicate, and connect across silos. This session explores a communication framework grounded in inquiry, framing, advocacy, and personal voice, designed to help you lead across boundaries and generate organizational value—regardless of your title.

Join us to discover how you can leverage various project management techniques to ensure your Advancement team operates at peak efficiency. With numerous projects and competing priorities, both large and small, it can be challenging to stay on top of everything. Project management tools can help you achieve your goals, support team well-being, and position your team to be more proactive and less reactive. In this session, you'll learn practical strategies to streamline your workflows, prioritize tasks effectively, and enhance overall productivity.

Reporting isn't just about numbers, it’s about shaping decisions, priorities, and performance. This session covers essential metrics and KPIs across the donor lifecycle and outlines the core types of reports every advancement team should have in place. We’ll also explore best practices for data delivery: how to get the right information to the right people at the right time, in a format they’ll actually use.

Collecting and storing information is one primary function for advancement operations. But the next steps towards sound computational philanthropy practices would be making sense of the ocean of knowledge and turning that into actionable insights. For this extension of our introductory session, we will explore some good practices in data organization from the perspective of building in-house computational philanthropy products such as predictive model and other types of scores. We will also explore some basic to more complex practices for predictive modeling, which are foundational to understanding machine learning and AI.

Meet your cohort by room 121.

In today's ever-evolving workplace, it is crucial to develop effective strategies for managing up to your supervisors and navigating your organization's structure. We will explore the art of managing from your seat, providing you with insights and practical techniques to cultivate strong relationships with supervisors and peers while influencing the decision-making process. We will explore how to effectively communicate your ideas, and results to supervisors, ensuring your contributions are acknowledged and appreciated. Additionally, we will delve into techniques for growing your reputation and credibility and positioning you for success in today’s rapidly changing work environment.

Join us for an engaging presentation that explores the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) in the realm of educational fundraising. Uncover the potential of AI to revolutionize how institutions connect with alumni, build relationships, and secure vital financial resources. Come learn how AI can empower your institution to achieve new levels of fundraising success while fostering lifelong relationships with donors.

Do people read emails anymore? Yes—they do. But not the way you think. This talk will show you exactly how to write subject lines, optimize your links, and lay out your email copy so your message gets across. In this session, you’ll learn: How to write good subject lines that increase open rates. Typical email reading patterns and how to use them to your advantage. How to appropriately use formatting and white space. Recommendations on sentence structure and reading level. How to use links and buttons to guarantee click-through. A quick way to test if your email will get read. This session is useful for everyone, whether you send mass emails or just internal ones.

Curious how values-driven strategies can enhance your engagement efforts but unsure where to start? Join us to explore how understanding identity-based data can strengthen alumni engagement. You'll learn how to use insights to design meaningful experiences, recognize and respond to the unique needs of different alumni groups, and ensure every interaction promotes connection and community.