8:00-9:00 a.m.
Continental Breakfast and Networking in the Sponsor Lounge
9:00-10:15 a.m.
Annual Giving: The Next Generation. Building Your Program from Design to Launch
Mark Casey and Tania Mistry, Caltech
Auditorium Room
What if you had the opportunity to redesign your annual giving program? Where would you start? What would you change? How would you know what would work? Caltech was presented with exactly that opportunity last year, and as a result they tripled the size of their annual giving team, increased leadership annual giving revenue, and started building true relationships with their most dedicated supporters. See what they did—and how—when presented with a once-in-a-program opportunity.
Leadership Annual Giving – Fundamentals of Personal (and Digital) Engagement and Face-to-Face Fundraising
Ray Watts, Claremont McKenna College
Mountain Vista Room
Annual Giving is a dynamic and changing field, no longer solely focused on mass marketing through direct mail and student phonathons. The “new normal” for annual giving is a team-centered approach with a group of individuals who have personal prospect portfolios and expectations of much more face-to-face identification, cultivation and solicitation work. This workshop will be structured in an interactive format, with a focus on real-time learning and specific coaching. Come prepared to share experiences and learn strategies and tactics to make you a better development professional as you get on the road and work with donors one-on-one.
Tracking Requests – Creating Visibility and Accountability through Functionality
Zac Spurlin, University of the Pacific, Chris Meneses, Caltech, and Valerie Nguyen, CSU Dominguez Hills
Valley Vista Room
Have you ever had a service request slip through the cracks? Have you ever sifted through your inbox trying to find that original request when the VP asks, “Where’s my report?” Requests continuously come to us in various formats, and staying on top of these requests can be challenging. This session will discuss how you can track service requests in your organization and some of the solutions available and provide insights and options to consider as you begin this process. We will explore internal solutions vs. third-party solutions, reporting needs, and overall objectives of a viable tracking system. The next time, you will have the request and your response in your VP’s hands before they ask for it!
What’s the Big Deal? Key Differences Between a Call Center & an Engagement Center
Jeff Pacini, David Wishart and Kindra Samons, Legends
Campus Vista Room
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.”
10:30-11:45 a.m.
The Digital Fundraising Strategic Plan
Ryan Lawrence, UC Berkeley
Auditorium Room
MOTM favorite Ryan Lawrence takes you on a tour of the process behind the creation of UC Berkeley’s first digital fundraising strategic plan. No matter the size of your institution, staff or budget, it’s critical to get the goal-setting right. Learn the scalable steps behind Berkeley’s first digital fundraising road map.
Leadership Annual Giving: From Arts and Culture to Higher Education Fundraising
Robin Savoian, Caltech and Karina Chappell, Scripps College
Mountain Vista Room
Returning to continue the conversation from her 2020 Meeting of the Minds session: What’s Working Elsewhere? Fundraising Success Stories from Outside Education, Robin will be joined by Karina to discuss the similarities and differences of donor outreach and navigating institutional red tape at non-profits with differing strategic priorities, while creating mission-driven experiences and meaningful donor impact. Robin made the transition to higher education in June 2023, after 20 years of fundraising experience at cultural institutions across Los Angeles. She will discuss past experiences at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, and touch on a few strategies she has brought with her to Caltech. Karina will add her experiences at the California Botanic Garden, Joshua Tree National Park and her current work at Scripps. The session will conclude with an interactive discussion on best practices in higher education LAG.
IRS (and State) Sticky Wickets
John Taylor, John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
Valley Vista Room
Back by popular demand, join John Taylor for a review of specific IRS issues impacting charitable giving. This session will focus on the complex legal issues that can impact gift solicitation and gift acceptance by your organization. We will cover the following:
✔ State Fundraising Registration Requirements
✔ Binding & Non-Binding Pledges
✔ Donor-Advised Fund and Family Foundation Issues
✔ Quid Pro Quo
✔ Donor Influence & Control
✔ Finish Line Topics Including Gift Dates, Scholarships, Cryptocurrency, & Corporate Sponsorships
John also wants to address related issues that keep you up at night! So please email him (johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com) with those questions; he’ll incorporate them anonymously into the presentation!
You Build It: A Custom-Built CRM in 1-Hour
Jamie White & Kyle Vaughn, High Tide
Campus Vista Room
Does the perfect CRM exist? In our experience the answer is no. The limitations of software often stops us from focusing on our ultimate goal of fundraising to help our institutions and ultimately our students. At HighTide we took this personally and accepted the challenge. In this session, we will crowdsource build a custom CRM based on the masterminds of those in attendance. Sounds crazy… we know… but if that isn’t crazy enough we took it one step further and created a way to migrate your data instantly. Join us and be ready to share your opinion on what will make the perfect CRM.
Lunch – 11:45 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Conference Luncheon in the Kellogg Center Dining Room (Lobby Level)
1:00-2:15 p.m.
Giving Days 101: Tools, Tricks, and Advice for Novices and Pros
Allison C. Berry, CFRE, West Point Association of Graduates
Auditorium Room
Unlock the secrets to successful Giving Days in this enlightening session designed for both beginners and seasoned teams. We’ll delve into the nitty-gritty details, covering crucial aspects such as choosing the right platform provider – with a checklist of essential questions you should ask. Learn the art of crafting a foolproof communication plan, structuring a winning schedule, and determining the optimal frequency for engagement. But that’s not all – discover the science behind donor incentives and how to elevate stewardship to an art form. Whether you’re just starting or looking to fine-tune your strategy, this session promises valuable insights, practical tips, and a dash of humor to make your Giving Days truly extraordinary. Get ready to revolutionize your annual giving campaigns!”
Annual Giving in a Decentralized Campus Environment –
Lessons Learned & Tips for Success
Rachel Robertson and Kelsey Rodgers, University of Utah
Mountain Vista Room
Whether its forming partnerships or herding cats, a central annual giving team has many interpersonal roles to play when engaging with its internal campus colleagues. Hear from Rachel and Kelsey how they’ve achieved annual giving effectiveness in a decentralized campus environment.
Data for the Data People: Metrics, KPIs, and OKRs for Advancement Services
Mark Longo, Caltech
Valley Vista Room
As advancement services professionals, we are often called upon to develop, track, and report performance metrics for our colleagues in other areas of our fundraising and alumni relations operation. Yet, despite all our good work, we often don’t have the time or energy to measure our own team’s success. In this session, we’ll explain the differences between metrics, KPIs, and OKRs. We will also review many of the most common measurements for the various areas within an advancement services operation. Isn’t it time that you focus on the data that illuminates your achievements?!
A Community Colleges Fundraising Forum
Doug Bennett, Orange Coast Community College
Campus Vista Room
Join OCCC’s Doug Bennett for a session all about fundraising for community colleges.
2:30-3:45 p.m.
An Annual Giving Directors’ Forum: Life After the US News Alumni Participation Decision
Nick Harvey, Western Washington University, Rachel Robertson, University of Utah, Allison Barry, West Point Association of Graduates
Auditorium Room
From participation, to pipeline? From socks, to more sustained stewardship? From alumni, to other audiences? We’ll talk about CASE’s Alumni Engagement Metrics, 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.
A Healthcare Fundraising Forum
Loni Rocchio UCLA Health and Nichole LeFebvre, Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health
Mountain Vista Room
Bring your questions, topics and success stories (or failures!) to this healthcare fundraising forum. We’ll discuss grateful patients, volunteers, event fundraising, corporate gifts and much more.
Selecting & Implementing a CRM – It Doesn’t Have to Be Scary!
Caroline Johansson, San Francisco State University with Jessica LaBorde, UC Davis, Zac Spurlin, University of the Pacific and John Taylor
Valley Vista Room
Everywhere you look these days, organizations are considering a replacement for their Advancement CRM. If whatever you are using is ten+ years old, you likely will start having these discussions if you have not already. For many, “out with the old and in with the new” is scary. We attempted to calm those nerves during a breakout session at last year’s MOTM. And we promised to dig into the topic more deeply this year. So here we are! Join John, who has been through three system conversions in the last five years, and Zac, Jessica, and YOU, who are either converting or recently did, to learn a few secrets on how to do these implementations right while sharing personal stories of what has been done wrong. We will discuss the importance of needs assessment, RFP development, managing vendors (rather than them managing you), and the importance of careful planning, design, testing, and flipping the switch!
Filling the Funnel: Engagement Centers and DXO Strategies
Emily Etzkorn, VanillaSoft
Campus Vista Room
From unaware to loyal giver, your constituents travel a journey to becoming a donor. It’s your role to make sure they land in a place that can answer their questions, support their connection to your institution, and nurture that relationship. Join VanillaSoft Fundraising Evangelist Emily Etzkorn for this session, and dive into the idea that your Engagement Center can and should be playing a crucial role in not just finding one-time donors, but also filling your DXO funnel and helping each and every donor land in the correct place at your organization. Discuss donor loyalty and pipeline development, strategies for leveraging your Engagement Center alongside your DXO program, and more!
4:00-5:15 p.m.
A Return to the University of Utah’s Recurring Giving Program – With New Data!
Rachel Robertson, University of Utah
Auditorium Room
Rachel wowed a full MOTM session room last year with an overview of the University of Utah’s big pivot to a recurring giving emphasis (including its all-recurring-gift-ask phonathon program). How’s it going? Rachel returns with some brand-new data and an update on the recurring giving successes at the University of Utah.
A Faculty and Staff Fundraising Forum
Bob Burdenski, Moderator
Mountain Vista Room
There may never be an ideal time to invite your faculty and staff to make a gift. Salary freezes, a lack of a giving tradition, unpopular campus decisions, competing charity campaigns, and many other variables can make it easy to talk yourself out of your faculty and staff as a prospect audience. Yet, some institutions enjoy remarkable faculty and staff fundraising success and a correctly-calibrated appeal can even serve as a point-of-pride for your employees. See some examples from a range of institutions, and add your own faculty and staff success -or failures – to this open forum.
Records Management 101 – A Panel Discussion
Valerie Nguyen, CSU Dominguez Hills, with Grant Potter, UC Davis, Eddie Padilla, CSU Los Angeles, and Tod Davis, University of the Pacific
Valley Vista Room
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. Or, if you prefer, you can send your anonymous (if you rather) suggestions to the moderator in advance: vnguyen@csudh.edu.
P2P Texting Compliance: The Boring but Important Stuff
Rachel Cleary, GetThru
Campus Vista Room
When peer-to-peer (P2P) texting was the next big thing for fundraising, it was a bit of a regulatory & compliance Wild West. Much has changed since then, and if you’re spending time, energy, and budget on a P2P texting program, it’s important to make sure your program is compliant with all the relevant rules & regulations. In this hopefully not-terribly-dry session, Rachel Cleary from GetThru will take you through the ins and outs of P2P texting compliance, including demystifying 10DLC, and what the FCC and TCPA have to do with your texting program. We’ll do our best to make it fun, and you’ll come away with the knowledge you need to make sure your P2P texts get through.