In this session, you’ll learn how to create and maintain a custom AI assistant that helps you work smarter, scale your impact, and free up time for the human side of philanthropy. You’ll see how it can support your work across annual giving, research, and frontline efforts, with ideas you can adapt to your own context. You’ll leave with clear ways to keep your AI sharp, relevant, and actually useful in your day-to-day work.

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.

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.

Regardless of how an advancement shop chooses to structure alumni relations and development, there are often natural opportunities for alumni teams to collaborate with development teams to engage prospective and current donors in meaningful ways. In this session, you will hear relevant examples of alumni professionals partnering with development officers to cultivate donors in the major gift cycle, while also providing alumni audiences with unique and special experiences. You will gain insight into the win-win opportunities that you can create in your advancement shop that lead to major gifts while also engaging alumni with impactful, alumni-centered programming.