Here are NEAGC’s sessions for Wednesday, March 6th.
All times are Eastern.
8:00-9:00 a.m. – Breakfast and Networking in the Rangos Ballroom
9:00-10:00 a.m. – Breakout Sessions
Getting Nerdy with Numbers in 2024
Jake Strang, University of Pittsburgh and Julie Knight, Carnegie Mellon University
Rangos Ballroom
Are you new to Excel sheets or are you thrilled to create new data models? Whether you’re diving into reporting for the first time or crafting automated dashboards, this session will provide you with data and reporting insights specific to annual giving. Join us as we delve into the intricacies of reporting annual giving metrics, unveiling the essential calculations and expert tips for effective reporting. Furthermore, we’ll explore strategies to streamline report updates. Get ready to embrace the nerdy side of data management!
Utilizing Volunteers with a Purposeful Commitment to Giving
Carolyn Garibaldi, Fairfield University
McKenna/Peter/Wright Room
Fostering a strong connection between alumni volunteers, the university, and their former classmates is a vital component of building a vibrant and enduring educational community. Equipping alumni volunteers with the necessary resources, guidance, and opportunities enables them to serve as catalysts for meaningful alumni engagement and can lead to increased giving to your institution.
Tackling Texting!
Kellie Sullivan and James Trubiano, Boston University
Connan Room
Boston University will share how they grew their texting donors in one year from 100 to over 1,000 gifts. From segmentation and audience changes, to making the most of its technology, Boston University took chances to evolve and grow their texting program. Including information on the use of Gifs, Video, Images, A/B tests and more. The team at BU will be sharing the calendar and results of each type of text message. We hope you leave with at least a few ideas you want to take back to your institution!
Donor Journeys: From the Engagement Center to Leadership Giving (and everything in between!)
Rachel Spencer, VanillaSoft
Danforth Room
At the core of donor-centricity is a keen focus on the “donor journey”: a journey that could span a lifetime (or just a few touch-points); that should be personal (but also consistent within a group); intentional (but always ready to pivot); individually tailored (and infinitely scalable). A piece of cake…right?! This session will explore how the concept of the donor journey can be applied to Engagement Center, Leadership Giving, and DXO programs – with a view to enlisting it as a source of inspiration (rather than overwhelm!)
10:00-10:30 a.m. – Break
10:30-11:30 a.m. – Breakout Sessions
The Best of the 24th Annual Giving Idea Exchange
Bob Burdenski, Robert Burdenski Annual Giving
Rangos Ballroom
For 23 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 for some of the clever multimedia fundraising ideas of the year.
Let’s Talk About Incorporating Engagement Goals into Comprehensive Campaigns.
Colin Hennessy, University of IowaCenter for Advancement
McKenna/Peter/Wright Room
Is it just me, or does it seem like we’re always in a campaign? As the numbers get bigger and bigger and expectations balloon, one question is repeatedly asked: what about engagement goals? In this session, hear how a large Big 10 University meets this challenge head-on. We’ll discuss metrics, getting buy-in, and how to frame the story so it resonates with everyone.
Annual Giving in a Decentralized Campus
Simone Moran, York University (Canada) with Ashley Devenport, University of South Florida, and Megan Murphy-Keller, University of Virginia Alumni Association.
Connan Room
Join Simone, Ashley and Megan for a chat about centralized annual giving offices supporting decentralized campus units with their annual giving programming. Both Simone and Ashley will share insights representing centralized teams at different levels of centralization while Megan provides valuable insight from a decentralized unit contact point of view. How many times can we say centralized in an hour? Let’s find out while we dig into what is working and where teams can grow and highlight some of the benefits of collaboration. This is an open discussion with lots of room for questions!
Level-Up With Video
Alan Ham, The George Washington University, Justin Ware and Sophia Rowe, {firstname}
Danforth Room
As the forefront of direct response fundraising moves from analog to digital spaces, video is an increasingly fruitful medium to connect with alumni and donors. From crowdfunding to call centers to traditional direct response annual giving campaigns, GW has begun to find success employing video as a gateway to deepening relationships and connecting with donors at scale. Join GW and Firstname.co to learn how their partnership has helped re-envision the role that video plays in direct response annual giving at GW.
11:30 a.m.-Noon – Conference Closing and Sponsor Drawing in the Rangos Ballroom