2025 Conference Sessions

We’ll have more than 30 sessions, so check back for additional sessions, session descriptions and the complete schedule. Speakers are unlikely to change – but they might.

An Introduction to Annual Giving and the Northeast Annual Giving Conference
(Monday Morning Pre-Conference Workshop)
Bob Burdenski

There’s a special FREE preconference workshop on Monday morning featuring CASE Laureate and CASE Innovations in Annual Giving author Bob Burdenski teaching a special “Introduction to Annual Giving… and NEAGC” workshop. This pre-conference program is FREE, but is a bonus session only for those attendees coming in-person to NEAGC in Baltimore. We’ll talk about the evolving goals, methods, channels, messages, metrics — and the very idea of “annual giving” itself. Pack up your newbies (or your “oldbies” in need of a refresh)!

Annual Giving Branding and Identity – The RhodyNow Story
John Garcia, University of Rhode Island

Session description to follow.

An Annual Giving Directors’ Forum: Participation, Pipelines, and Pivots
Christine Riendeau, College of the Holy Cross and Panel TBA

From participation, to pipeline? From socks, to more sustained stewardship? From alumni, to other audiences? And what of AI? 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.

Data Overload?
Stephanie Rasamny, MainSpring Media Communications

Getting lost in the numbers? Or having trouble capturing the right ones? No matter how clever our creative is, if we don’t capture the right analytics then it’s hard to tell if we’ve engaged our audience. In this session, we’re diving into email, social and web case studies with strategies to capture the analytics you need.

DIEB and Affinity Scholarships
Alyssia Coates, Brown University

Session description to follow.

Direct Mail: Going Beyond the Envelope to Optimize Results
Sara Pond and Matt Sulzer, MCR

This session goes beyond the envelope to showcase ways to balance your annual giving solicitation plan. Explore a variety of direct mail examples thoughtfully packaged with other channels. And, be ready to join in a lively discussion of creative ways to prime your audience and formulate the right solicitation frequency that optimizes results.
This session is packed with:
✔ LOTS of Direct Mail Samples!
✔ Audience-Priming Ideas
✔ Donor Journeys

Favorites From the 25th-Anniversary Annual Giving Appeal and Idea Exchange
Bob Burdenski, Robert Burdenski Annual Giving

For 25 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 CASE Innovations in Annual Giving author Bob Burdenski dump out his bag of BOB (Best of the Bunch) favorites for some of the clever and successful fundraising ideas of the year.

Filling the Funnel: Engagement Centers and DXO Strategies
Emily Etzkorn, VanillaSoft

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!

A Giving Day Forum
Amanda Tsapatsaris, Endicott College

Session description to follow.

An Independent Schools Forum
Skylar Beaver, The Lawrenceville School

Join Skylar for a forum session devoted to independent schools. Bring your questions, answers, challenges and solutions to this open discussion session.

The Integration of Engagement Data and Prospecting
Gina Simonetti, University of Rhode Island

Session description to follow.

Managing a Volunteer Peer-to-Peer Leadership Giving Society
Yoni Sunshine, Brown University

Session description to follow,

A Small Shop Forum
Christopher Chambers, SUNY Canton

Session description to follow.

Talk the Talk: Training Your Team Through Every Part of the Gift Cycle
Amanda Talbot, Brown University

In this session, hear about the process in which Brown University has piloted a training program for their front-line Annual Fund fundraisers. Want to try it out yourself? Experience hands-on practice qualifying, soliciting or stewarding your peers.