Periods of institutional transition can test even the most established advancement operations. They can also unlock new opportunity. This panel brings together advancement leadership from a range of global colleges and universities who are each navigating periods of great change. Drawing from real-world experience, panelists will explore how fundraising teams can move beyond preserving continuity to actively positioning fundraising programs for growth during moments of change. The conversation will focus on strategies for aligning with fresh vision and energy while thoughtfully honoring established legacies, relationships, and priorities. Panelists will discuss managing donor expectations, recalibrating messaging and goals, and supporting internal teams through transition while maintaining momentum and trust. Attendees will leave with practical insights on how to turn change into a catalyst for engagement, confidence, and renewed philanthropic impact.

Daily headlines – not to mention new policies from Washington, DC and some statehouses – remind us that public confidence in higher education has declined in recent years. How can colleges and universities reverse this trend by better utilizing survey research to reshape institutional messaging and guide institutional priorities? See the results of a new survey of Americans’ views on higher education as we explore what public opinion research can tell us about how to tell our institutions’ story better as well as how we can have a better story to tell.

Join three current Vice Presidents for Advancement and a former VP for Advancement in a thought exercise on the future of higher education philanthropy. Leave behind the daily news cycle and your institution's temporary challenges and help create the vision and shape the future for your successor and their successors. Some of the long-term issues to be addressed are:

- What will the Advancement team of 2040 look like, and what skills will be most important?

- Which of today's challenges are more permanent and which are temporary?

- How will we address the narrowing gift pyramid and how will staffing and resource decisions be affected?

- How should we think strategically about gifts at all levels?

- How can Advancement help our institutions improve public trust in higher education and build public and private support for our return on investment?

- In an era of increasing numbers of college closures, how can we help our institutions remain relevant to the marketplace?

- There are colleges consolidating across the country. How do we work with donors from separate institutions reforming into one?

- In an era of increasingly remote and hybrid student and alumni experiences, what will the campus experience be, and how will colleges foster a sense of place and purpose?

This strategy lab led by Cara Giacomini and Nick Campisi brings advancement leaders into facilitated discussion around a small set of philanthropic trends that are showing up across the sector—such as “more dollars, fewer donors,” shifting expectations for impact, changing donor roles across the giving spectrum, and growth in bequests and unexpected gifts. Participants will use these signals to compare approaches, pressure-test assumptions, and leave with practical ideas to adapt at their own institutions.

As traditional campaign models evolve, many institutions are organizing major initiatives in new ways-sometimes retaining classic campaign structures and sometimes adopting more impact-driven models built around outcomes, cross-functional governance, and new communication approaches. This applied case discussion compares two organizing approaches to explore what works, in what contexts, and why. Participants will surface decision points leaders can use to choose an approach and will apply a practical exercise to map how their institution can structure a major initiative for momentum, clarity, and measurable impact.