Thursday, February 22, 2007
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Start the day off strong with some lively discussion over a complimentary breakfast. Each table will be hosted by a moderator who will help start the conversation going and provide insight from their perspective. This is a great opportunity to dig into some of the relevant issues facing advancement professionals today. Share your ideas and hear about new ones in this informal setting with your peers.
Affinity Groups
Alumni Clubs: Taking Affinity to Action! Alumni affinity groups play an important role in college/university advancement. How do development and alumni relations professionals align historical affilitate groups with current institutional priorities and directions. This roundtable session will explore the ever-increasing challenges and opportunities involved in cultivating alumni affinity groups in a 21st century advancement environment.
Paul Rucker
Interim Co-Executive Director, University of Washington
Career Advice
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions…You have proven that you are an exceptional professional and now are awaiting your next career move. When to go, When to stay, and why? This is your chance to discuss your career with a veteran of 32 years. His insights, ideas and thoughts may help you as you consider what is next in your career.
Greg Sheridan
Associate Vice President of Constituency Programs, University of Washington
Electronic Newsletter Checklist
Identifying the essential components that will get you started and help you build your electronic newsletter program.
Greg Churchill
Information Technology Coordinator, Alumni Services, University of Victoria
Creative and Engaging Cultivation and Stewardship Ideas
A flair for the creative or the unusual can help build close and enduring relationships with donors. Come prepared to discuss creative cultivation and stewardship ideas. What are the most effective fun and perhaps even offbeat techniques you’ve used? Bring your favorite idea to share.
Michael Vandervelden
Major Gifts Officer, Albertson College of Idaho
No Money, No Staff, Let’s Start A Campaign, Oh My!
Are you short on resources and staff and needing to ramp up for a campaign? Then join us for a breakfast to hear how one small private college has gone from no staff to a strong and impressive team with limited dollars and time.
Andrea Bruno
Director of Institutional Advancement, Concordia University
Working With Research To Maximize Your Prospect Pool?
Chris Mildner, a researcher for 17 years and an editor of the Internet Prospector, will facilite a session to brainstorm ways that research and development officers can work together to build a high quality prospect pool for a successful campaign.
Chris Mildner
Research Analyst, OHSU Foundation
Reimagining Gift Clubs
If the sky were blue and all the flags waving, what would you want to accomplish with your gift clubs? Can you recast your thinking about gift clubs so that they become an instrument for stewardship and donor relations? Let’s talk about how to reduce the investment of time and labor involved in managing gift clubs, how to organize gift clubs to promote and acknowledge donor activity, and how to measure the results you can accomplish with your gift club program.
Julia S. Emlen
Principal, Julia S. Emlen Associates
Alumni and Parent Relations Parent Programs: Orientation, Parent Weekends, and More
Does your office work with parent programing? Are you dealing with helicopter parents? Are you seeing parent giving increase? If you answered yes to any of these questions, come share your stories, successes, and challenges with parent programing at a round table with colleagues dealing with similar issues.
Mela Kunitz
Assistant Director Reed College
Event Planning
The infamous RSVP - How do you get guests to respond? It’s a huge problem in this country and it doesn’t matter who you are. People just don’t respond to invitaitons any more. So, as a university event planner, how do you address this topic when you must have a head count.
Teddy Lenderman
Coordinator of Special Events at Indiana State University
Preparing for and Making the Ask
The time has come. You have carefully cultivated a good relationship and think it may be time to solicit a major gift. How do you prepare? How do you know what to ask for, how much to ask for, and if the time is right? Who should you take, and what should you say? What do you tell the prospect about the appointment? Explore these fundamental questions and many more.
Pauline Thiros
Planned Giving Director, Idaho State University
How Do Alumni Organizations Meet the Technology Demands of Young Alumni?
What is your Hip Factor? In this day and age of bewildering technology how does anyone over 30 know where to invest their resources to both meet the expectations of their young alumni, not break the bank and meet their strategic objectives. For participants, the outcome of participating in this discussion will hopefully be a better idea on how to find out what the audience you are targeting wants, where to start, the potential pitfalls to avoid and how to measure your results.
Barney Ellis-Perry
Director of Professional Affairs, Alumni Affairs, University of British Columbia
e-philanthropy
Catherine Harder
Executive Director, Development Operations, University of Calgary
Annual Fund Challenges
Volunteers and students play an important role in advancement and in Annual Fund in particular. How do Annual Fund professionals in today’s advancement environment meet the challenge of recruiting, engaging, training, organizing and managing both paid and unpaid volunteers and students for annual campaigns? This roundtable session will explore these challenges and encourage dialogue of participants.
K.C. Felt
Annual Giving Director, Idaho State University
The CFRE, What Is It, How Do I Prepare?
An open discussion about the value of seeking Fund Raising Executive Certification, qualifications needed prior to submitting the application, and study preparation tips.
Jennifer Neil
Executive Director, Planned Giving, Boise State University
Leveraging Athletics
Can sports be a vehicle for promoting academics? From the regular season to the championship game, this discussion focuses on working with the athletic department, bridging your institutional message to sports media and fans, and maximizing your opportunities at athletic venues.
Frank Zang
Director Communications and Marketing, Boise State University