Thursday, February 22, 2007
9:15 - 10:30 a.m.
Do you know where your data is? How safe is your data and what can you do to reduce your risk?Shawn Drew
Director of Information Management, Development and Alumni Relations
University of Washington
Protecting your alumni and donor data is increasingly difficult and expensive. This session will explore ways to improve your security and what to do when those measures fail.
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Best Practices in Gift Processing: You Don’t Have to Learn the Hard WayLynne Becker
Senior Counsel
Advancement Solutions
In this case study session, hear how one university blew up its gift processing office and put it back together — with spectacular results. By addressing workflow, processes and procedures, metrics, audit control, and more, they went from “The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight” to a shop where, today, each gift processor handles 400 gifts a day. Come hear the inspiring — and true — story of how they did it.
2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
The Bad Attitude Survival Guide: Keeping the Service in Advancement ServicesLynne Becker
Senior Counsel
Advancement Solutions
If telling your staff that "the customer is always right" just gets you eye rolls, grumbling, or shaking heads, all is not lost! In this session, AS professionals at all levels will get the tools they need to identify the root causes of bad attitudes, navigate conflict, and combat burnout. You'll learn the skills you need to keep yourself and your team motivated, and to foster a more cooperative, productive and mutually respectful working environment. Other disciplines welcome!
3:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
The Essential Stewardship Tool BoxJulia Emlen
Principal
Julia S. Emlen Associates
The stewardship workshop is full of tools that we have come to rely on in providing service to our donors: acknowledgments, endowment reports, events, gift clubs, etc. It is time to take a look at this array of instruments to determine which ones could use some sharpening and which ones might be used to greater effect. We will refer to the Donor Bill of Rights as our template to evaluate our standard armamentarium. Perhaps we’ll find a few underused instruments of stewardship in unexpected places.
Friday, February 23, 2007
9:15 - 10:30 a.m.
Building Bridges: Creating an Effective Advancement Operation ModelCatherine Harder
Executive Director of Development Operations
University of Calgary
This presentation explores building relationships and cooperative partnerships with the multitude of academic and administrative units at your institution that are involved in an effective advancement operation. Panel speakers will highlight how the University of Calgary has created a unique development operations team framework, resulting in improved turnaround time for requests, data integrity, service delivery and increased trust.
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Building Online Communities: Lessons Learned and Setting a Path for the FutureGreg Churchill
Information Technology Coordinator
University of Victoria Alumni Services
Online communities have become an increasingly important tool for institutions seeking to build relationships with students and alumni. This session will examine how online communities have evolved over the past decade and where they are headed in the future. Social networking sites, online mentoring, blogs, digital photo albums, electronic newsletters and more will be discussed in the context of online communities. Greg Churchill will speak on the best practices for building and maintaining an online community, increasing online participation, measuring success, and maximizing value.
2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
A Research Toolkit for Development OfficersChris Mildner
Senior Research Analyst
Oregon Health & Science University
While development officers usually don't have time to do extensive research on prospects, there are quite a few web sites that can help them make decisions about whether a prospect is worth a discovery visit or whether to request research if that service is available in-house or through a research consultant. There are also some sites that can help DODs develop a ballpark gift capacity estimate. Suggestions from the audience will be encouraged during the course of the presentation and there will be time for questions, discussion and ideation afterwards.