Your head is full of everything you've learned about advancement. Now what? Where do you start? How do you pull together all the pieces for a successful program? How do you get the greenlight for a great new idea? We'll discuss ways to plan for success, whether you're managing an office, a program, a staff-or just yourself. We will cover the why, approaches for ensuring ROI, managing outcomes, aligning resources, and lead an interactive exercise to support the development of meaningful roadmaps.

The future is here, but are we ready for it? Digital transformation is all the buzz within the higher ed Advancement industry, but very few organizations are successful in implementing comprehensive digital strategies. Applying a digital lens over traditional development work can help organizations reach further, faster and make donors feel well taken care of. Come discuss some of the industry trends around digital transformation and how this approach can fit into relationship-based work.

Strong fundraising pipelines are built long before a proposal is written. This session explores how advancement services, alumni engagement, communications, fundraising, and related teams can work together to build a healthier long-term donor pipeline across the institution. Using examples grounded in behavioral science and prospect development, attendees will examine how engagement signals help identify future donors, how organizations move constituents from engagement to philanthropy over time, and how advancement services professionals can support sustainable donor growth beyond short-term fundraising outcomes. Participants will leave with practical ideas for thinking more collaboratively, strategically, and institutionally about pipeline development.

Effective fundraising goals can serve as a planning exercise that illuminates the path to success - clarifying priorities, strengthening portfolio strategy, and improving follow-through across the year. This session offers practical approaches for strengthening goal setting with fundraisers through clarity, collaboration, and structure. We establish shared language around key concepts - metrics, targets, and goals - to support consistent understanding and reduce misalignment in practice. We then explore common approaches to individual fundraising goal setting and the organizational supports that make them effective, including structure, technology, portfolio management practices, historical context, and institutional priorities. When designed well, goal setting becomes both a system for organizational alignment and a tool for fundraisers to gain clarity, focus their efforts, and engage more meaningfully in planning their success.

What is our purpose in doing good stewardship and building meaningful relationships with our donors? How do we retain donors and inspire them to keep giving? Our best future donors are our current philanthropic partners already invested in our mission and our future. Explore the why and how of stewardship that results in substantive relationships with donors who are inspired, generous, joyous and invested in our institutions. The faculty will end with their words of wisdom and time for questions.