Anniversaries provide an opportunity to take stock—to look back with pride at what you (as an individual, a couple, or a collective group) have accomplished. And in that process of looking back, anniversary milestones are also a time to ask: “What’s next?” “What challenges lie ahead?” “What do we want to accomplish in the future?” 

Throughout 2024, that’s just how CASE celebrated our 50th anniversary as an association representing advancement professionals: We looked back at how far we’ve come and looked ahead to the future.

We set out to hear from CASE members about what the future of advancement holds. At 26 CASE volunteer meetings, conferences, and other events across regions and disciplines, we gathered more than 200 panelists and discussion contributors—along with conference participants who listened and asked questions. These voices represented the full range of CASE members from a cross-section of institution types, regions, advancement disciplines, and career levels.

CASE team members, with a little help from Microsoft CoPilot, reviewed more than 200 pages of notes from these conversations. We combined those with insights from our past two years of CASE Commission meetings (our volunteer advisory groups) to identify themes. Six key areas emerged—topics that demand our attention as we continue to prepare the advancement workforce to ably address challenges now and into the future. Here’s a brief overview of these key discussion topics—along with insights that came from the conversation transcripts. These “Future of the Profession” discussions will continue to inform CASE as we refine and develop our portfolio of services, trainings, and activities on behalf of membership.