Many years ago, when I was the executive director of the Brookdale Community College Foundation in New Jersey, U.S., I had a very limited professional development budget, so I had to stay close to home to learn all that I could about higher education advancement. Finding resources and networking opportunities during that first leadership fundraising role was difficult, especially in a pre-webinar, pre-YouTube world. For those of you in similar circumstances, I realize that attending the CASE Conference for Community College Advancement just isn’t a reality. I get it. 

So, while in New Orleans, I met with our Community College Leadership Committee to consider the most relevant webinar topics to run for you this year. (Don’t forget to watch the September webinar “Employee Giving Strategies for Community Colleges”—and make sure to check the CASE Online Learning Center for a giant catalog of webinars you can access 24/7 as a CASE member.) Keep an eye on our community college web page and your email for announcements about upcoming webinars.

Next, I’d like to share my quick takeaways from conference sessions, discussions, and cocktail reception chitchat.

Government Relations: As federal funding is curbed and overall political support for higher ed is shaky, it is imperative that you know your local elected officials well—and they know your college’s impact on your community. Make sure to invite these leaders, regardless of party affiliation, to your events, especially those focusing on workforce development/training and scholarships. 

Major Gifts: While you may wonder if the return on investment for special events is worth all of that work, efforts focused on major gifts pay off—no doubt about it. If possible, invest in a part-time prospect researcher to comb through your donor database for the top prospects. Develop a moves management strategy for your top 10 to 20 prospects and donors. It would be fantastic if you had a committee of community friends and/or foundation board of trustees/directors to help you. 

Donor Stewardship: Our luncheon keynote speaker, consultant Amy Eisenstein, urged everyone to commit to contacting one donor in your community college community every day. Our work is about relationships, so get to know those who support your institution well—wish them a happy birthday, invite them to something fun on campus or in the community, ask them to speak to a class related to their field, and find out what they think about local happenings and programs at your school. If you don’t agree with them on an issue, that’s ok—you’re building a professional relationship, so just listen, nod, and stay neutral… and change the subject as soon as possible! (“Yes, that’s an important topic right now in America. Have I told you about the success we’ve had with our new _____ scholarship?” 😊) 

Alumni Giving: If this isn’t a priority for you, you aren’t alone. Community college advancement leaders are focusing on corporate, foundation, and nonalumni individual giving—and have been for years. Don’t let your college and foundation leadership pressure you to do what the four-year school up the street is doing. Our alumni are different, and it takes a very focused staff member (or many staff members) to find them, contact them, and identify the best ways to engage them and ask them to give. Yes, you often have to spend money to make money, and if you have the resources—bravo! But be careful here. Alumni giving should be part of a greater alumni engagement strategy with your school. I’ll share more about this topic in the upcoming year, but you may want to check out our “Strategic Alumni Fundraising for Community Colleges” webinar from 2024 if you haven’t already. If your community college offers bachelor’s degrees, make sure to read “Engaging Students and Alumni from Four-Year Programs.” 

Special Events: Look closely at each event’s ROI—if that’s low, ask some tough questions and decide if these “friendraisers” (if they don’t make money, that’s what they are!) are worth your staff time and effort. I may sound like Captain Obvious but keep expenses down by asking students and staff to volunteer at your events.

Memorandum of Understanding: This legal document is critical to the relationship between your college and foundation. It often covers which entity pays foundation staff salaries, who manages what student and alumni data, what the foundation should provide to the college in terms of scholarships, program support, etc. Please check the CASE Library for sample MOUs and contact our librarians at [email protected] if you need help. 

What Successful Community Colleges Across the U.S. Do Differently: This is a survey that consultant and longtime CASE member and community college leader Betheny Reid and I conducted over the summer. It’s a refresh of a 2018 survey of the top fundraising schools—this time, while all of the participants are strong fundraisers, we made sure to include schools from rural, urban, and suburban environments as well as schools in big systems. Here’s a CASE members-only link to the results, which were shared at the closing plenary of the conference. You’ll see interesting info about the relationship between college presidents and advancement leaders, the size of foundation boards, the growing use of gift fees, and lots more. 

Again, these are just a few of my notes from the conference. Those who were able to attend learned much more and had the opportunity to network with hundreds of community college fundraisers—including grants professionals—from across the U.S. and Canada. If you couldn’t join us, consider reviewing your FY27 budget now to see if you could make it to the 2026 conference in Palm Springs, Oct. 7–9. Extra early bird rates are available until Dec. 31.