All sessions are Central Time.
All Thursday and Friday sessions are at the DePaul Conference Center, 8th Floor, 1 E. Jackson Blvd.
9:00-10:15 a.m. – Breakout Sessions
Leadership and Loyalty Annual Giving
Lindsey Pearsey, Indiana University
8005
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 begun applying those to content, recognition, and multi-channel solicitation campaigns at scale, and how we identify what we call Priority Audiences and our vision for the future of scaled Loyalty and Leadership Annual Giving.
The Donor Lifecycle: How To Best Use Data & Analytics To Retain & Grow Your Donor Database
Chad Carpenter, Teuteberg, Inc.
8204
This will be a deep-dive into the trends and best practices of how to use data to build successful Annual Giving Campaigns. With a focus on using segmentation, propensity scoring, and analytics, this session will highlight ways to “follow the data” in order to enhance your donor development efforts.
Gift Administration When There Is No Gift Administration
Elizabeth Tavares and Kristine Buggenhagen, Loyola University of Chicago
8206
Picture this: a donor wants to give your institution a major gift. But there is no gift agreement template. There’s no formal review process with General Counsel. Development Officers have no guidelines they are trained to follow. What do you do? Or perhaps, you run a report and learn that there is money just itching to be used but there are inappropriate restrictions placed on the gift. How do you honor donor intent and serve the institution? Join us as we share how Loyola has taken steps to improve historical models while still dreaming of a dedicated gift administration team.
Perk Up Your Annual Appeals with Personalization Strategies
Theresa Aide, and Kate Cominsky, Suttle-Straus
8002
Data can be used to personalize your appeal campaigns using many variables. Let’s explore how you can use personalization to improve your fundraising results. Get 11 examples of personalized mail in this session!
10:30-11:45 a.m. – Breakout Sessions
Public Broadcasting’s Sustainer Giving Secrets
Anne Ibach, Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) with Bob Burdenski
8005
Anne Ibach has crafted OPB Sustainer giving strategies that have more than doubled Membership revenue over the past twelve years – even as other not-for-profits struggle to get traction with recurring-giving donors. She’ll talk about her data-driven successes with the OPB Sustainer program, and offer advice for those seeking to build recurring giving programs at their own institutions.
A Leadership (and Digital) Gift Officer Forum
Heather Uzowulu, Carroll University, and Meredith Howell, University of Chicago School of Medicine
8204
Let’s talk about all things leadership annual giving. During this forum, we’ll share ideas around building the case for a LAG team, developing cadences and metrics that matter, and sharing results with your internal partners to create enthusiasm for pipeline building.
A Donor Relations & Stewardship Roundtable
Mary Weingartner, UNICEF USA and Melissa Mares Stambor, Catholic Charities Chicago
8206
Donor Relations is evolving at a dizzying and exciting pace. This facilitated roundtable will provide the opportunity to discuss trends and explore special topics. Attendees are encouraged to bring questions, ideas, challenges, and triumphs. All levels of participation are welcome.
What’s the Big Deal? Key Differences Between a Call Center & an Engagement Center
Jeff Pacini, David Wishart and Kindra Samons, Legends
8002
The future of the student call center continues to be a hot topic across the industry. The term “Engagement Center” has become a buzz word, but what does that really mean? How is it different from the traditional call center? During this session we dispel the myths, share insights, explore data and inspire your institution to evolve your call center from a “channel” to a coordinated “strategy.”
11:45-1:15 p.m. – Lunch on Your Own
1:15-2:30 p.m. – Breakout Sessions
A DIY Engagement Center Forum
Jenn Freienmuth, Lawrence University
8005
As the fundraising landscape in higher education shifts it may be time to reimagine traditional approaches to fundraising and donor engagement. This session will explore how to transform a traditional phonathon program into an engagement center with minimal cost. Together, we will explore the successes and lessons learned as Lawrence University turned their phonathon program into a Philanthropy Engagement Center. Bring your curiosity and your questions!
Teaching Giving on Giving Day – Inside Loyola’s Student Philanthropy Scavenger Hunt
Megan Karwacki, Loyola University Chicago
8204
Have aspirations to include your student body in giving day, but don’t have a campus culture of student philanthropy? Enter the student scavenger hunt! Learn how Loyola University Chicago has launched a scavenger hunt that keeps the focus for our students on philanthropic education and engagement. We’ll talk through everything you need to know, including securing donor funds, awareness building and communications, day of execution, closing out the campaign, and more!
Developing a Prospect Score & Other Prospecting Tips
John McBride, School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Andrew Gutierrez, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
8206
Are you in a small shop and need a way to figure out which people in your database are most likely engaged with your organization? Are you in a big shop with a lot of resources but want to customize some of your prospecting pulls? If so, then please join us to discuss ways to create easy-to-use and easy-to-make “prospect scores” that will help you quickly identify which prospects have been engaging with you the most. Looking at data points that are most important to your organization and linking them with relative values can give you a custom score that you can use to prospect fast and efficiently.
Why Data is the 4-Letter Word Savvy Fundraisers Swear By
Felicity Meu, GiveCampus
8002
To fully flex your fundraising muscle you need buy-in from both the annual giving and advancement services sides of the house. How do you achieve the alignment necessary to drive meaningful results? The devil is in the data. GiveCampus analyzed aggregate data from 4,532 campaigns and 4,973 giving forms to identify what’s moving the proverbial needle in fundraising and what’s not. Find out from fellow fundraisers how they’re leveraging that data to drive decisions at key stages of the philanthropic lifecycle, and how they got everybody—including advancement services—to back their biggest bets. Upon completion, participants will understand how to:
• Maximize the results of their own fundraising efforts based on aggregate data
• Convince key stakeholders at their institution to take a chance on change
• Get more creative and launch bold initiatives that drive better outcomes
2:45-3:45 p.m. – Breakout Sessions
A Giving Days Forum: Extended Days, Additional Days, Giving Tuesdays, Google Analytics, Multichannel Metrics, Dean Diplomacy and More
Alison Harper, Missouri State University, and Miyoko Grine-Fisher, Lawrence University
8005
Many giving day fundraising programs are now ten years old or more – and the timing, the duration, the metrics, the purposes, methods and more have all changed and evolved over that time. Join us for a giving day check-in: How do you (continue to) define success? What about Giving Tuesday? How do you achieve campus cooperation? What if we did this more than once a year? And for more than 24 hours? Join us for a giving day forum.
Gift Administration When There Is No Gift Administration
Elizabeth Tavares and Katherine Buggenhagen, Loyola University of Chicago
8204
Picture this: a donor wants to give your institution a major gift. But there is no gift agreement template. There’s no formal review process with General Counsel. Development Officers have no guidelines they are trained to follow. What do you do? Or perhaps, you run a report and learn that there is money just itching to be used but there are inappropriate restrictions placed on the gift. How do you honor donor intent and serve the institution? Join us as we share how Loyola has taken steps to improve historical models while still dreaming of a dedicated gift administration team.
Email Fundraising + Digital Analytics Bootcamp
Beth Hatcher, Beth Interactive
8206
You’ve overcome the “send sweats,” and your email is in inboxes! So what happens next? All about email fundraising, this interactive workshop will cover strategies to take your email communications to the next level—and how to leverage post-campaign engagement data to drive greater giving. We’ll walk you through the latest email fundraising best practices, advanced analytics and A/B testing. We’ll also present case studies on how emails can build a donor pipeline through acquisition and engagement. Finally, we’ll provide practical tools like an email send checklist and library of samples, so that you can begin implementing your new ideas right away. Participants can even get live feedback on their email campaigns, with guidance on copy, design and fundraising strategy! Just send your sample in advance to beth@bethinteractive.com. Join us for this instructive bootcamp—and walk away full of actionable and practical next steps to see real results with your next email campaign.
Segments of One: Successful Strategies that Leverage Personalized Print and Video
Tim Hallinan, Western Illinois University and Jon Van Oss, Evertrue
8002
Imagine your donor communication as personal as a living room conversation. These are stories that resonate. It’s conveying a genuine Thank You. And having the perfect timing to congratulate someone on life’s milestones. Join Tim Hallinan from Western Illinois University and Jonathan Van Oss of Evertrue/DBInsights, Inc. as they show you how you can use print and video to personally connect with your donors.
4:00-5:00 p.m. – Breakout Sessions
In Search of the Unrestricted Giving Unicorn
Bob Burdenski
8005
Some say the case for unrestricted gifts is impossible, but these days many institutions need them more than ever. And for many donors, “area of greatest need” remains their top choice – they just want to support the institution. Bob will be armed with examples and ideas from across the education fundraising spectrum, set out to discover whether or not unrestricted gifts can still exist, and how institutions successfully attract (and keep) them.
Playing to the Crowd – Getting the Most Out of Crowdfunding
Ramona Maza, University of Illinois, Chicago
8204
Join UIC’s Ramona Maza and learn about UIC’s Flames Funded crowdfunding platform — including its use for UIC event fundraising. Then, share your own crowdfunding victories and challenges as Ramona will lead a discussion on the latest good ideas and strategies for crowdfunding success.
Records Management 101 – A Panel Discussion
Kristine Petroshius & John Taylor (Moderators), Chris Amherst, and John McBride
8206
Please join our group of industry experts prepared to discuss your records management concerns and conundrums! We will encourage audience participation as you are the experts, too! We will come prepared to discuss topics including data governance, deceasing best practices, common data entry errors, when – and when not – to create a spousal/partner record, matching gift company management, daily and weekly data integrity edits, and whether you really need to create a new record when you receive a gift from an existing donor’s estate. While we will be happy to discuss these topics with you, we also want to review what is most important to you! We will add your suggestions to our list at the session’s opening.
An Independent Schools Forum
Moderators TBA
8002
More session information to follow.