Digital alumni engagement is more than just posting online—it’s about building real connections in virtual spaces. In this session, we’ll break down the difference between digital marketing and digital engagement, helping you understand how to move from simply sharing content to truly involving your alumni. You’ll learn approachable strategies, ways to measure what’s working, and see examples from other CASE institutions that are using digital tools to strengthen alumni relationships. Whether you're managing social media or planning virtual events, you’ll leave with ideas you can apply right away.

Attendees will meet daily with curated advisory small groups led by expert faculty members to debrief from the day’s learning and problem solve in real time.

• William Pierce: Multicultural Greek Council Room (4th floor), Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.
• Joycelyn Blizzard: National Panhellenic Council (2nd floor), Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.
• Reggie Bustinza: Tripp Commons (2nd floor), Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.
• Josh Harraman: Park View (4th floor), Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.
• Erika Jordan: Beefeater (3rd floor), Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.
• Caryn Schultz Korman: Great Hall (4th floor), Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.
• Terrance Smith: Langdon (4th floor), Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.
• Katie Young: Capitol View (4th floor), Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.

It will happen if it hasn’t already. You and/or members of your team must face a difficult decision. Not a black or white issue, but one of those grey areas with multiple points of view, involving volunteers, top donors, colleagues, faculty members, or someone you supervise or report to. What to do? In this plenary, we’ll give you the foundational guidance to set you up for professional success. You will then get an opportunity to engage in conversation working through real situations advancement professionals just like you, have faced. You will walk away with new insights, tools, and strategies that will help you and your team, operate at the highest ethical standards.

Most external facing advancement officers have experienced an uncomfortable, offensive, tricky, or harmful donor interaction. Perhaps you have. If not, chances are you will. Power dynamics are real, and it is easy to feel as if the donor, volunteer, or potential donor has ALL the power. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll equip you with tools and tactics to help you define situations, navigate difficult donor conversations in the moment, follow-up actions, and ways to create strategies that will minimize troubling donor interactions in the future.

Over the past decade, higher education has shifted from having our faculty experts comment during election years to candidates using our work and missions as polarizing talking points. Regardless of your role in marketing or communications, grasping the interconnected nature of higher education and politics will empower you to be more effective in your role. Teresa will provide vital tools for proactive, strategic, and thoughtful action. In addition, this session will provide data and national trends from the current election year to frame how we can help our leaders look around corners and return to strategically communicating with our internal and external stakeholders to remain true to our strategic foci and key messages. Teresa will share what works in a polarizing environment, what we need to plan for in the coming months, and how we should position our expertise for different stakeholders so we can have a leadership role in shaping our own narratives and our institutions’ reputations.

For more than 10,000 years humankind has been moved by great stories. Stories have changed the course of history, been used to right wrongs, and to educate new generations. Each of our educational institutions is bursting with powerful, meaningful stories. As advancement professionals, we have the opportunity and the challenge to capture this vital information and bring it to life. Many believe that the best fundraisers are also exceptional storytellers. This elective session will dive into the techniques and approaches that will help anyone learn to tell a great story, including time to role play what you’ve learned with your classmates!

Our alumni aren’t just names on a list, they’re constituents, stakeholders, potential life partners … a most valuable resource for our institutions. They want and deserve access (to a degree), a voice (always), and to be advocated for (who doesn’t!), so how we communicate with them—to open a relationship or to deepen one—is crucial. Let’s review strategies and deliverables for interacting with these important and often far-flung community members.

Fundraising campaigns are complex, and so is the blueprint for campaign marketing and communications. We have to reach a variety of constituents for a ton of different reasons over a period of years. And all the while we have to tell a coherent story based in our institution’s values, mission, and plans. So where to start? What to produce and why? This is doable.

A thriving donor pipeline doesn’t just support fundraising—it strengthens the entire advancement ecosystem. This session explores how to build a sustainable, long-term pipeline by connecting alumni relations, strategic communications, fundraising, and operations. Grounded in principles from behavioral economics, we’ll walk through a model that defines stages of engagement and identifies the signals that move people forward. Learn how to think bigger, and more collaboratively, about how your institution finds, engages, and develops potential over time.

Join us for an insightful presentation on the significance of student philanthropy at our organizations. We will explore how educating students about philanthropy through initiatives such as senior gift campaigns and awareness drives fosters a culture of giving that lasts beyond their time on campus. Attendees will learn best practices for implementing a robust student philanthropy program and understand the lasting impact of instilling philanthropic values in students before they graduate. Walk away with practical strategies to nurture the next generation of engaged and generous alumni.