2026 Conference Sessions

AI for AG, AS and You: An Update on Who’s Using AI To Do What – Right Now?
Bob Burdenski with Koonal Patel, Loyola University Chicago and Co-Moderators TBA

It’s a “meeting of the minds” AI-style, as we’ll provide an update on who’s implemented what uses of AI to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their work in annual giving, advancement services and any other AI-enhanced corner of the office.  You’re among the  contributors for an inventory and discussion about who’s using AI for exactly what at the moment.    The topics will include:
– Using AI To Write “First Drafts” of Content or Messages?
– Using AI As a Search Engine to Find Answers to Questions?
– Using AI To Create Graphics, Video or Designs?
– Using AI To Review Your Work For Clarity, Voice, Biases, Etc.?
– Using AI For Summarizing Content or Notes – Meeting Recording Minutes, or Groups of Messages?
– Using AI For Data Analysis?
– AI for Automation/Coding/Programming?
– Other Ways You Use AI?
– What Specific AI Tools Are You Talking About – and For What?
While acknowledging the non-adopters (including those with environmental concerns), join us for a look at who’s currently incorporating AI into their work – and how.

An Annual Giving Directors’ Forum – Participation, Pipelines, and Pivots
Participants TBA

From participation, to pipeline? From socks to more sustained stewardship? From alumni, to other audiences? And what of AI? We’ll talk about the continuing value of a broad base of giving (including capital campaign participation goals), and what it all means for a variety of educational institutions.

The Athletics Giving Day 
Paige Gustafson, Albion College

Athletics giving days have become engines for engagement, pride, and philanthropic growth—but what makes them successful? This session will explore strategies for designing and executing athletics-focused giving days.  We’ll discuss how to harness team rivalries, student-athlete storytelling, volunteer ambassadors, and multi-channel marketing to drive participation and dollars. From setting goals and structuring challenges to leveraging coaches and alumni networks, this conversation will highlight practical ideas and real-world lessons learned. Come prepared to share your own experiences and leave with fresh insights to elevate your next athletics giving day.

The Best of Both Worlds: Properly Blending Direct Mail with Digital Campaigns
Theresa Aide and Kate Cominsky, CFRE, Suttle-Straus

Direct Mail is still the most effective tool for fundraising today, but when blended with a well-timed and coordinated digital campaign it becomes even better. Learn how 7 different techniques can be orchestrated together for a 30-day campaign where digital ads act as an accelerant to put “fuel on the fire” to get your donors to give more and give faster to achieve your goals in record time.

Beyond the HR Checklist: Exploring Onboarding through Examples & Conversation
Kelly Lawrie EdD, Ohio Northern University

Strong onboarding in advancement goes far beyond completing HR paperwork and system access requests. In university advancement environments—where alumni engagement, annual giving, advancement services, and fundraising teams rely heavily on collaboration, institutional knowledge, and relationship-building—effective onboarding can directly influence retention, productivity, and long-term success. This interactive session explores practical onboarding approaches that help new team members feel connected, informed, and empowered from day one through year one. Using real-world examples, peer discussion, and collaborative activities, participants will examine how institutions are onboarding new staff in ways that build confidence and culture.

Care & Communication in Times of Change: Practical Strategies and Discussion
Kelly Lawrie EdD, Nicole Neely and Garrett Allen, Ohio Northern University

Change is constant within higher education – whether navigating leadership transitions, staffing changes, campaign pressures, budget uncertainty, restructures, evolving donor expectations, or shifting institutional priorities. During these moments, communication and care become essential leadership practices at every level of an organization. This interactive discussion-based session explores practical strategies for supporting teams, maintaining trust, and communicating effectively during periods of change. Through facilitated conversation, case studies, and reflection, participants will examine approaches that foster transparency and continuity.

Data Mining
Andrew Gutierrez, Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Direct Mail Still Delivers
Matt Sulzer and Sara Pond, MCR

Direct mail remains the primary driver of donors and dollars for most annual giving programs. Join MCR for an interactive session that explores classic best direct mail performers, as well as cutting-edge ideas to get your mail opened, read and churning results. Together we’ll dive into:
▪️Audience Styling – unique campaign packaging, creative marketing, as well as eye-popping designs and copy for your core segments
– Leadership
– Renewal/Retention
– Acquisition
▪️Priming & Timing – connect your message with other channel
– Giving Days
– Donor Journeys
▪️Ask Strategies – when, where and how much to ask

A Digital Fundraising Forum
Hugh Vandivier, Wabash College and Ramona Maza, UIC Health

There’s more to digital fundraising than your giving day! Join a terrific team of hosts for a chat about all things digital fundraising. What’s actually working right now—and why? From email and social media to giving days, automation, personalization, and donor journeys, participants will explore practical strategies that drive engagement and inspire giving across online platforms. Come ready to discuss lessons learned, compare tools and tactics, and exchange ideas you can immediately apply to strengthen your digital fundraising results.

Donor Stewardship
Mary Weingartner, UNICEF

An Engagement Center Forum
Alexis Allen and Nick Evans, University of Louisville

Engagement centers can be an important part of modern advancement strategy, blending technology, student talent, and personalized outreach to build stronger donor relationships. This session will share ideas on how institutions are evolving their engagement center models beyond traditional phonathon approaches to include omni-channel communication, data-driven segmentation, and meaningful student employment experiences.  We’ll discuss staffing structures, training practices, technology platforms, and metrics for success, as well as how engagement centers can support pipeline development and long-term donor engagement. Bring your questions and insights to this conversation designed to spark new ideas and practical takeaways.

Favorites from the 27th Annual Giving Appeal & Idea Exchange
Bob Burdenski

For 27 years, Bob Burdenski has hosted an annual exchange where hundreds of institutions share thousands of annual giving innovations, ideas and success stories. Awesome appeals, terrific technologies, dynamic discoveries and marvelous messages. It was a great year of pushing the envelope in direct mail, digital and beyond. Come and see 3-time CASE Innovations in Annual Giving author Bob Burdenski dump out his bag of BOB (Best of the Bunch) favorites with some specially-selected fundraising ideas.

Form Follows Function – Reports and Dashboards
Ernest Olivier, DePaul University

A Gift Administration Forum
Andy Leeson, Loyola University Chicago and Co-Moderators TBA

This “audience participation” session will attempt to answer fundamental gift processing and entry questions that have raised concerns for decades! We will begin by asking the audience to list the gift processing issues rearing their ugly heads in day-to-day gift processing. The panel will try to suggest solutions to those problems and reflect on national best practices. The panel will also come prepared to discuss various topics, including gift dates, receipt requirements, gift processing metrics, copying/scanning requirements, and recurring giving issues. 

A Giving Day Forum
Logan Heggemann, University of Chicago, Emily Vetne, Wabash College, Bailey Daily, Purdue for Life Foundation

A Healthcare Annual Giving Forum (In Two Parts)
Patients, Physicians, Providers, Policies, and Pipelines
Meredith Howell, UChicago Medicine, Ramona Maza, UIC Health, Leah Evanchuck, Rush University Medical Center, and Victoria Gajc, Northwestern Medicine

Healthcare institutions offer their own challenges (HIPAA) and opportunities (grateful patients, healthcare professionals, companies and the community) for annual giving fundraising. Join us for a special annual giving forum all about healthcare. Join us for a two-part forum that will share group information and discuss topics including:
✔ What does the prospect journey look like: from acquisition to renewal to major giving prospect?
✔ Using digital options to the fullest: emails, unique web landing page, ongoing impact updates;
✔ Tribute and 3rd-party giving-making the process easy and meaningful;
✔ What’s new in stewardship;
✔ Valuable vendors – Who are you using? Email vendors? Print? Business Associate Agreements?
✔ Giving initiatives: Doctor’s Day, Giving Day, Nurses Week? Do these help?

The Hot Gos on P2P: What’s In, What’s Out, and What You Need to Know
Paul Klenk, GetThru

P2P texting is still one of the hottest tools in fundraising, but the landscape is changing—fast. In this session, we’re spilling the tea on what’s working, what’s not, and what fundraisers need to know to stay ahead. From compliance updates to engagement strategies, we’ll cover the do’s, the don’ts, and the must-tries for 2025. Whether you’re a texting pro or just getting started, you’ll leave with the latest best practices and real-world examples to elevate your P2P program.

An Independent Schools Fundraising Forum
Tony Difilippo, Mount Carmel High School and Co-Moderators TBA

Bring your questions, answers, challenges and solutions to this open discussion session on the unique opportunities and challenges facing fundraising programs at independent schools. From annual giving and parent participation to alumni engagement, stewardship, volunteer management and events, this session will encourage the sharing of ideas, lessons learned, and practical solutions. We’ll exchange successful strategies, discuss emerging trends, and collaborate on ways to strengthen donor relationships and build a culture of philanthropy within our school communities. 

It Takes a Campus: Building Partnerships That Power Annual Giving
Laurel Palmer, Western Michigan University

Successful annual giving initiatives rarely happen in a silo—they’re the result of intentional, sustained relationships built across campus. In this panel discussion, annual giving leaders from across the field share how they’ve cultivated meaningful partnerships with academic units, student organizations, faculty, athletics, alumni relations, communications, and more to amplify participation, deepen donor engagement, and drive results. These are the stories of partnerships that started small and grew into something bigger—from making the ask internally, to co-creating goals that resonate with partners, to keeping momentum alive long after your initiatives wrap.  Whether you’re building your first campus coalition or deepening partnerships you’ve cultivated for years, this conversation will remind you why the work matters—and send you home with practical ideas, fresh perspective, and some motivation to pick up the phone on Monday morning.

Priority Audiences – An Update on IU’s Leadership and Loyalty Giving 
Presenters TBA, Indiana University Foundation

How are portfolio management and audience segmentation business objectives the same, and how are they different and how can we begin thinking about annual giving audience segments differently? How can we achieve that elusive annual giving “personalization” at scale for our prospects and donors, allowing us to deepen our relationship with them without meeting 1:1 with donors? Which are the most valuable pieces of data that help prioritize and curate effective journeys for our donors and prospective donors? And how do you know if it’s working?  This session will highlight what have traditionally been major giving strategies for prospect management and how IU has spent the past year applying those to content, recognition, and multi-channel solicitation campaigns at scale, and how we identify what we call Priority Audiences and scaled Loyalty and Leadership Annual Giving.

All About the Pipeline: A Leadership Annual Giving Forum
Samantha Sanchez, University of Missouri, Justin Pusczykowski, Griffin Museum of Science and Industry and Others TBA

What I Learned After Education Fundraising – Working for Other Kinds of Not-For-Profits
Justin Pusczykowski, Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, Justin Prevost-Schultz, Chicago Food Policy Action Council, Anna Gerlach, Safety Service Systems 

No built-in database of (alumni) prospects?  No deans?  No easily-available students?  No problem?  Hear from a group of former education fundraisers on what was different “on the outside,” what expertise was transferable (and what was not), and reflections on what education fundraising gets right, or not.  

Multimedia Storytelling
Jen Davis, Joliet Junior College

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising – Recruiting, Readying and Retaining Your Volunteer Rainmakers
Bob Burdenski

You’re a first-rate frontline fundraiser, but you may be mismatched when a peer voice is more productive. Peers can provide a “join me” testimonial, a pre-existing relationship, some prospect research, and an important extra set of hands. Whether it’s alumni agents, parent class chairs, giving day advocates, crowdfunding champions, board and committee lead donor partners and more, “handing the microphone to someone else” can leverage time, resources, relationships, emotional attachments and institutional knowledge. Join CASE Laureate Bob Burdenski for a participatory best practice review.

Pipeline… What Now?!!
Rachel Spencer, Vanillasoft

If you’ve ever nodded along in a meeting about pipeline “development”, “sustainability”, or “vitality”, secretly wondering what on earth it means and what exactly it’s got to do with you — this is a must-attend session. We’ll peel back the jargon and get to the heart of what keeps “The Pipe” flowing. From first-gifts to major-gifts, Engagement Centers to Leadership Giving, we’ll unpack how you can make a positive impact on donor pipeline (without a PhD in ‘Buzzword Studies’).

Principles of Ethically Influencing Annual Giving
Clark Gafke, LEAD Philanthropy

Discover the science behind donor motivation in this engaging and insightful session! Principles of Ethically Influencing Annual Giving will equip you with eight proven principles—Authority, Consistency, Contrast, Liking, Reciprocity, Scarcity, Social Proof, and Unity—that inspire donors to make meaningful gifts to their university. Rooted in the groundbreaking research of the Cialdini Institute, these principles provide a framework for authentic and ethical donor engagement. Clark Gafke, a Cialdini Certified Professional and Ethical Influence Practitioner, will guide you through the subtle yet powerful elements of everyday communication that drive generosity. With practical examples and actionable takeaways, this session will empower you to build stronger connections with donors and achieve sustainable results in annual giving. Whether you’re a seasoned fundraiser or new to the field, this session will improve the way you approach donor engagement!

The Project Manager – An Appreciation
Staci Hundt, Loyola University Chicago

Strong project management can make the difference between a successful initiative and one that struggles to gain traction. This conference session will explore how effective project management practices help teams stay organized, aligned, and focused while navigating competing priorities, tight timelines, and limited resources. We’ll examine strategies for setting clear goals, building accountability, improving communication, and managing stakeholders across departments. 

Recurring Giving
Tony Difilippo, Mount Carmel High School and Elizabeth Tavares, UNICEF

Small Shop Strategies for Getting Things Done
Jen Davis, Joliet Junior College, Michelle Williams, John Carroll University

Small fundraising teams are often expected to deliver big results with limited staff, time, and resources. This interactive session will explore practical strategies for prioritizing work, maximizing efficiency, and building momentum in lean advancement operations. We’ll discuss managing competing priorities, leveraging volunteers and campus partners, using technology wisely, creating scalable stewardship and engagement efforts, and identifying high-impact activities that move the needle. Join your colleagues from small shops to share real-world solutions, creative ideas, and lessons learned about how to stay nimble, collaborative, and effective while doing more with less.

Teaching and Training the Team
Dania Calandrino, Art Institute of Chicago, Christina Pulawski, Zuri Group

Investing in your team’s growth is one of the most effective ways to strengthen performance, improve retention, and build long-term success. This session will focus on the importance of intentional teaching, training, and professional development within the workplace. We’ll explore strategies for onboarding new staff, developing skills across experience levels, creating a culture of continuous learning, and empowering employees to take ownership of their work.  Learn ideas for coaching team members, transferring institutional knowledge, and building stronger, more confident teams that are prepared to adapt and thrive in an evolving environment.

Trendy with a Chance of Impact: Data-Driven Trends Shaping the Future of Giving—and What They Mean for You
Vickie Woodhead, GiveCampus

Discover the key annual giving trends shaping advancement strategy and execution–and how they apply to your institution. This session will share insights from a meta analysis of philanthropy research, GiveCampus data, and real-world examples. You’ll leave with actionable tools and data to evaluate your performance, understand how peers are adapting, and identify opportunities for meaningful impact.
In this session, you’ll…
• Understand the most significant trends currently influencing advancement strategy, execution, and annual giving performance.
• Connect these trends to your institution’s specific goals and challenges.
• Gain insight from aggregated data, including patterns emerging from annual giving programs.
• See real-world examples of how peers are responding to these trends—at both macro and programmatic levels.
• Identify where your institution can take action to drive measurable impact across your advancement efforts.

What Happens When You Test Everything? Annual Giving Reimagined
Haley Hamilton, University of Colorado, Boulder

Annual giving programs often rely on familiar strategies—repeating the same emails, timelines, and tactics year after year. But what happens when you start testing everything?
This session explores how small, intentional experiments can transform your approach to annual giving without requiring a full analytics team or complex data infrastructure. Through real-world examples and practical frameworks, we’ll show how to move beyond “this is how we’ve always done it” and toward a culture of continuous improvement.  Attendees will learn how to design and implement low-lift tests across email, messaging, and audience segmentation; interpret results without overcomplicating the data; and apply insights quickly to improve performance. Whether you’re a one-person shop or part of a larger team, this session will provide actionable tools to start testing—and learning—right away.

Writing for Annual Giving
Jordan Revenaugh, Albion College

Join us for a forum discussion on the annual giving writing process. What themes resonate? What voices do you use – including the voice of your institution’s leadership? What considerations do you make for different audiences? How do you use humor? Urgency? Guilt? Peer pressure? When do you write with brevity, when do you write an extended proposal, and when do you write for “however long it takes to tell the story?” And what about AI tools? Join us for some direction and some discussion on ways to approach your annual giving writing objectives.

The YOUofL Class Gift – Student Philanthropy Success
Alexis Allen and Nick Evans, University of Louisville