Join conference chair, Ayanna McConnell, and faculty leadership to learn how to get the most out of your time at the conference while getting a framework on giving and engagement trends for young alumni and students.

Meet colleagues from similar institutions and discuss some of the reasons why you’re attending. We’ll also use this time to explore some hot topics/challenges facing young alumni and students and work as a team at your tables to develop strategies to meet them.

Design your Alumni Engagement Timeline Today! Alumni Engagement plays a crucial role in fostering a strong connection between institutions and their graduates. Teaching current students about the value of being an engaged alum, creates a lifelong relationship that benefits both the individuals and the institution. In this session we explore the Alumni Engagement Timeline together and design a model that engages the significance of collaboration across institutions and campus partners. We will share how we are leveraging these collaborations at the University of Washington to enhance every UW student’s Husky Experience. Activity: participants will be asked to creatively approach a scenario requiring bold innovative thinking about how advancement adds value to current students and alumni at their institution.

Providing a consistent experience as students transition to young alumni has a profound influence on their connection with their alma mater for the rest of their lives. In recent years, Penn has been strategic in creating student programming that easily translates into initiatives for young alumni with the goal of cultivating sustainable philanthropy. In this session, attendees will learn how Penn's Young Alumni and Student Philanthropy team welcomes recent graduates into the young alumni community through thoughtful communication, events, and volunteer opportunities.

In a busy world of multi-channel communications, direct mail and social media continue to be tried-and-true vehicles for annual giving and engagement. When competing for attention, what makes your mail piece, tweet, or post stand out and get noticed? We will talk about strategies for compelling content regardless of channel and how different types of organizations, both large and small, can get big results from direct mail and social media.