More details about the timing of the days can be found by clicking Learn More and Register, but session descriptions of the two days are below:   

Understanding the Value of Campaigns 
Comprehensive campaigns can play an integral part in centering and lifting philanthropy and brand awareness while furthering the mission of your institution. In this opening session, we’ll highlight the recent success of many campaigns that we see in the news, as well as positive and negative campaign trends. Knowing how to objectively assess the philanthropic health of your campus is a critical skill for an advancement leader. Developing it is essential in preparation for your next campaign. You’ll learn best practices for adjusting your case for support from other industries that can be applied to philanthropic efforts in higher education. 

Identifying and Assessing the Most Critical Campaign Planning Steps 
Our expert speakers will first provide a historical overview of campaigns and how to manage your institution’s expectations (and community understanding of them) before walking you through the steps involved in planning a successful campaign. These steps will include considerations for who to involve in your planning process, when to involve them, and a suggested timeline for your preparation. 

Aligning Fundraising Goals with Academic Priorities 
Why are you in a campaign? Your answer must line up with your institutional mission and academic priorities, and your campaign goal should be set based on actual prospects and the history of your institution’s fundraising efforts. Additionally, your campaign needs to be a priority not only for institutional leadership, but also for your academic unit leaders. Learn how to build a campaign pyramid and orient these leaders to serve as strong partners in your fundraising efforts. 

Working with Campus Partners 
A campaign is not just the responsibility of the fundraising team—it is an organization-wide effort and commitment. Together, we will consider how to create meaningful partnerships that will make your campaign a success—from athletics to student affairs, to legal counsel, research, government affairs, marketing and communication, academic affairs, and more.

Preparing Your Team 
There are many variables to factor in when preparing your own team for your next campaign, including analyzing the current staffing structure and staff size and making the case for more resources as needed. Team members may be new to your organization or experienced with campaign work. Staff may have different understandings of your campaign goals or need greater clarity about their specific roles in a campaign. Therefore, it’s critical to prepare a vision for your team to find meaningful ways to connect to your next campaign while also helping your campus to meet its intended goals. This session will help you to think through ways to prepare your own team for your next campaign launch and use this long-term initiative to prepare staff for succession planning. 

Analyzing and Managing Your Campaign Prospects 
Understanding and analyzing potential campaign prospects—including alumni and existing donors—and projecting their capacity is critical information to gather during the planning stages of your next campaign. But how do you highlight important patterns in your data, identify gaps in your pipeline, and develop a metric-driven strategy? And how do you craft stories for your president, board members, and other key stakeholders that encourages their support and engagement? In this session, we’ll review a few institutional case studies to diagnose their readiness to effectively launch a new campaign based on their current alumni and donor pipelines. 

Considerations for Creating a Volunteer Structure for Your Next Campaign 
While we know that it’s common practice to utilize volunteer leaders, who are often current or prospective donors, have you considered how to structure a meaningful partnership with your select volunteers to advance your campaign’s strategic priorities? You’ll hear a case study on how one institution structured their volunteer leadership program—which includes resources and ideas for recruiting, onboarding, and training—for campaign success and beyond. We’ll also share information on considerations for recognizing your campaign volunteers and preparing them for an exceptional experience from the very start to the end of your campaign. 

Considerations for Your Communications & Stewardship Strategies 
The planning phase may be the right time to consider your distinct communication message and identity during your campaign. We’ll provide you with different considerations when planning your communication strategy as part of your silent phase. We will also explore different kinds of communication media that your campus may choose to deploy to reach your alumni, donors, parents, students, staff, faculty, and other critical partners during your campaign. It is just as essential to consider what Donor Relations and Stewardship practices you have in place, knowing that your donors may give again during the silent and public phases of your campaign. We’ll explore creative communication and stewardship practices, including digital tools to show donors the impact of their gifts in the most personalized way possible. 

Final Recommendations for Campaign Leaders 
Campaigns are long-term fundraising efforts, lasting 5 to 10 years. This timespan will inevitably include hurdles you must overcome to be successful. We’ll finish our time together with a conversation around considerations for preparing and managing through the unexpected changes and leave you with some final recommendations from our expert speaker panel.