Course Category: Free for All-Inclusive Members

Uncomfortable Conversations are Necessary, Not Unkind

For years, there has been an increasingly dominant narrative in our society about the importance of being kind or “politically correct.” While these are important principles, we must nevertheless unpack and examine how this narrative often gets in the way of difficult yet essential conversations about race and racial inequity. The truth is, if we are unwilling to engage with well-intentioned or well-meaning colleagues in critical conversations when bias appears, we are therefore consciously allowing for ignorance and harm to perpetuate. This means that conversations like these are not only critical, but also necessary for healing ourselves as individuals and as a collective. This first session will give you an opportunity to reflect on the messages you have learned over time about how to engage in conversations about race. We will explore how these messages have influenced your daily decisions to engage or disengage in difficult conversations over time. You will practice intentional engagement versus moving past uncomfortable scenarios and arrive at a place where you are more actively willing to take part in the conversation.

Developing a Cause-Based Campaign Initiative that Aligns with Your Community Needs

The past two years of annual giving have given rise to more short-term, cause-based campaigns, in which newly formulated 60- to 90-day campaigns have become more of the norm than the exception. With this change, advancement shops have been able to generate a more focused pipeline for different areas of their institutions, acquire new donors, and increase awareness of causes to existing donors. This pivotal focus to identify societal needs continues to evolve, but with limited campaign resources, it is inevitable that not every cause will be developed into a short-term campaign. Join us online to learn how to identify and develop a cause-based initiative that is specific to the institutional strengths and community needs for your next short-term campaign. During this training, you will learn how to: Identify guiding principles to help you define and choose which cause-based initiative to pursue. Decide which cause-based campaigns to begin, continue, or sunset. Know the roles and responsibilities of team members and campus partners.

This training will be awesome

Title of VT/WC Pullquote Login On: June 22, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. ET JOIN ZOOM MEETING Full Event Information VIEW EVENT PAGE Including: Agenda Overview Speaker Bios Prepare for the Workshop This workshop is intentionally designed to allow for maximum learning, connections, and engagement. We advise the following in order to participate fully:

Transitioning Leadership Annual Donors into Major Donors

To shift the mindset of a leadership annual donor into that of a major donor requires you to go beyond just knowing their capacity; you must also understand what the donor wants to see their gift accomplish, and how to align that specific desire with your institutional needs. This requires knowing how effective each component of your leadership giving program is and how to best manage and develop your leadership annual donors. Join us in this interactive virtual training to learn portfolio management and stewardship techniques to successfully transition leadership donors into major gift prospects. In this program, you will: Assess your leadership giving portfolio by evaluating the effectiveness of your donor strategies Identify high impact stewardship to build an authentic relationship with your leadership donors Practice productive donor conversations and key talking points, so you’re prepared for your next upgrade ask

Developing Campaign Volunteers to Optimize Your Faculty and Staff Giving

Faculty and staff giving campaigns are an integral part of every annual giving strategy. However, the key to their success is the participation of dedicated volunteers. Without those volunteers, your faculty and staff giving campaign cannot reach its full potential. As a result, by changing how you approach potential volunteers among your faculty and staff, you will be better positioned to maintain a healthy philanthropic culture on campus while also generating an increase in donors and financial donations among your colleagues. Join us online to learn and discuss how your shop can improve your faculty and staff giving campaign by: Creating alumni affinity groups among faculty and staff Identifying and developing campaign ambassadors Securing leadership buy-in to gamify fundraising efforts on your Day of Giving  

Actualize Your Purpose and Legacy: Workshop on Improving Your Well-Being

The pandemic has required all of us to pivot in new ways. We’ve often had to take on additional responsibilities that may not align with our strengths and interests, and have had to manage our relationships almost exclusively in a virtual space. Still, our success is often measured in immediate gains, and it’s unclear how to plan for the future. Amongst all of this, you may be feeling more disconnected and depleted than ever before, which is why there’s never been a better time to reconnect with the priorities that bring you joy and improve your well-being—those that fulfill your long-term goals and contribute to the legacy you want to create. Join us online for an interactive workshop that will help you refocus your time, energy, and future work in realizing your purpose and legacy. You’ll begin the workshop by assessing the current state of your well-being and reflecting on the factors that most contribute to it. You’ll then explore to what extent inherited norms shape your definition of success, so that you can create your own definition of success based on your values and the impact you want to have in the world. Finally, you’ll document a practical and […]

Taking a Proactive Approach to Leading Change

In the current environment, change is no longer an infrequent ‘initiative’ that needs managing—it is all around us, it is constant, and it is not going away. But this does not mean that leaders should give up their autonomy: In too many cases, we experience change as happening to us (reactive stance) instead of proactively shaping the change we want to see, and the pace at which we want it to occur. Join us online to learn how you can take a more proactive approach to change management. Through a combination of instruction, case studies, and group discussion, you’ll gain practical tools for convening others and accelerating progress on your change effort, even against the backdrop of meetings and committees that characterize decision-making in higher education. Specifically, you’ll learn how to: Assess your own influence and authority Identify and persuade your critics Discern when and where to spend relational capital Maintain focus on the bigger-picture goal

Building Confidence as a New Leader: Overcoming Internal Barriers

One of the most challenging barriers new leaders must overcome is the lack of confidence they often face when starting a new role. Whether they are first-time leaders or assuming a new level of responsibility, new leaders must grapple with such internal pressures as misplaced emotions, preconceived notions, and negative self-talk. Learning how to identify and combat this pressure can help them to successfully navigate the transition into leadership. Join us for a highly interactive, 90-minute virtual training designed to help new higher ed leaders across all levels and functional areas to manage feelings of vulnerability in their positions and also reprogram negative thoughts. Using case studies and participation from the audience, our expert instructor will address: Identifying negative self-talk and a lack of leadership confidence: What types of intrapersonal language choices do you find yourself using when you feel unsure in your new role? What behaviors come out in those moments of uncertainty, and how do these behaviors impact your leadership ability? Getting to the root of the issue: What situations cause you to feel particularly vulnerable, and how can you identify the root causes? Why are these situations particularly difficult for you, and how can you prepare for […]

Communicating Effectively about Instances of Bias or Discrimination

In recent years, there has been an uptick in egregious biased or discriminatory incidents that have caught the attention of news and media outlets. When such instances occur, institutions must issue a timely communication quickly, and Chief Diversity and Marketing and Communication Officers are often the ones in charge of formulating the response. However, in the pressure of the moment, it can be difficult to keep communication aligned, maintain focus, and develop a clear plan of action. But each of these aspects is critically important to ensuring that you can collaborate seamlessly, and that you can execute notices in a responsible and timely fashion. Join us for this live online event to discuss how you, as the Chief Diversity Officer or Marketing and Communication Officer, can co-lead in times of crisis in order to issue timely communication regarding biased or discriminatory incidents as targeted at historically minoritized groups during prominent or local events. In this training, you will explore the decision-making influence you should have and will also learn how each of your areas of expertise can be most strongly leveraged. Specifically, we will address how to: Clarify the roles of the Chief Diversity and Marketing and Communications Officers in […]

Conflict Management: A Practical Workshop for Leaders

In this workshop, you will learn strategies to help you manage and resolve various conflicts within your department or institution. You will be introduced to practical tools that address conflict in its earliest stages before it becomes a formal dispute. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to resolving conflicts. That’s why our expert instructor will present numerous scenarios and discuss the use of framing, facilitation, and other dispute-resolution tools to help you:

Loading survey...