Course Category: Free for All-Inclusive Members

Increase Engagement and Giving Through a Selective Alumni-Student Mentoring Program

All alumni-student mentoring programs connect students to alumni for professional development and engagement purposes. But while some programs aim to serve as many students as possible, other programs try to foster meaningful connections by being highly personalized and selective. Join us online to learn about Leadership OU, a highly selective, award-winning program at Oakland University. This program pairs only 15 promising students with mid-career alumni mentors while also connecting those students to alumni guest speakers who are prominent in their fields. While Oakland chose to serve only a small number of students because of limited resources, they’ve successfully channeled the selectivity into one of the program’s greatest assets. Through their year-long professional development curriculum, they’ve inspired $90,000 in mentor giving and $108,000 in speaker giving.

Creating Intentional Programming to Support the Success of Men of Color

Approaches to retaining men of color are never single-pronged. Successful strategies might encompass academic skill development just as much as social-emotional development. The University of Central Florida’s Multicultural Academic and Support Services (MASS) initiative is especially notable as a retention strategy for men of color, because it tackles 5 different components of development – including leadership development. Join us online to learn more about UCF’s MASS Initiative, which has increased retention for African American and Hispanic students from 85% to 91% over a 10-year period. You will learn the various elements of a successful retention strategy to help you customize your own approach, and you’ll hear first-hand from a student how the program has helped him.

Using Surveys to Improve the Donor Experience

A donor survey effort can improve the quality of your fundraising by helping you to: Look beyond dollars raised to measure success Prioritize future investments Evaluate programmatic success Join us online to learn how to design and deliver donor surveys that will help you challenge your assumptions and learn more about your donors. You will leave with advice on how to use the survey responses to tell a better story and improve your overall operation.

Integrating Effective Mentorship into Campus Culture: A Success Story

Whether you’re looking to start a student mentoring program or are already running a successful one, you’re likely hoping to reach as many students as possible. Wake Forest University is expanding its reach by providing guidance, training, and resources for mentoring relationships through a central office. The Mentoring Resource Center empowers faculty, staff, alumni, and peers to fulfill their mentoring roles successfully; however, the programs themselves are still housed in the departments or offices that created them. Join us online to learn how Wake Forest aims to offer every student a mentor by working in a decentralized model that builds the capacity of others. They have scaled to serve over 2,300 mentees each year in formal mentorship programs, and they train over 700 each year on effective mentoring practices.

Student Philanthropy Programs that Encourage Alumni Giving: A Success Story

To consistently engage students and compel them to give back, you must offer student philanthropy programming that builds — helping students progress in their philanthropic education. “One and done” is not enough. Join us online to learn how a professional school is managing to build affinity and impressive patterns of giving through a 2-week student philanthropy campaign each spring. In the first week of Florida State University’s College of Law campaign, student leaders spread the word about giving in a silent phase. In the second public week, leaders, faculty, and advancement staff issue challenges that give students the chance to access events, generate matching funds, and earmark funds for certain purposes. While individual components of this campaign may not be unique, this is a very intentional model that emphasizes participation rather than dollar amounts. We can’t promise that you’ll be able to replicate FSU’s success, but you’ll leave with tangible ideas about how to proceed on your campus.

Frontline Fundraising Essentials: Outreach, Qualification, Visits, and the Ask

As a fundraising professional, you may feel unsure of how to move a prospect forward. In the early stages, how can you get the prospect’s attention and ask questions that fuel your next moves? Later in the cycle, how can you assess motivations and strategize visits that will support your asks? Join us online for a 4-part online training series that will help you create rigor in each phase of your process and offer new approaches to raise more dollars. If the following statements from each phase of the donor cultivation cycle resonate, then this series is for you: Outreach – “Getting in touch with prospects and donors is so much harder than I thought it would be, especially without a mature portfolio. I need to increase my successful contact rates and secure more visits.” Prospect Qualification – “Qualification is tough. I don’t know how to do the right research or ask the best questions in order to get the best yield from a prospect. I want to know as quickly as possible if I should include this person in my portfolio or move on.” Visits – “I have plenty of wonderful meetings with donors and prospects, but they don’t […]

Leading Through Change in Higher Education

Change is a constant in higher education – whether in the form of an individual role change or a change in the broader direction of the institution. Emotions like shock, denial, anger, or frustration commonly accompany these changes. But as a leader, you can grow in how you manage these processes to help ensure smoother, more successful transitions. Join us online to learn how to manage your next change process more effectively. Through common examples of changes within higher education, you will learn how to move individuals and teams more effectively through the four stages of change. Session 1 will help you manage changes that involve one person, while Session 2 will help you address changes that affect whole teams.

Key Considerations for Institutional Naming Plans and Policies

With an uptick in issues between institutions and major donors, staying current on philanthropic naming issues is more important than ever. Having sound naming policies will help you protect your institution’s reputation and bottom line. Join us online for a two-part webcast series that will help you adjust your naming plans and policies to account for today’s complex and dynamic environment. Session 1 will share considerations for valuing your opportunities that will help you validate your approaches. Session 2 will help you update your naming policies to ensure that you meet the needs of both the donor and the institution.

Responding to Hate Speech Incidents with Confidence

Hate speech incidents are a growing concern on college campuses and can come in many forms: Controversial keynote speakers and event topics Disruptive student demonstrations Anonymous hate speech written on campus property Register for this webcast to learn how to respond to hate speech incidents in ways that serve students, leadership, faculty, and staff. In these moments, you may feel torn between advocating for the students and acting on behalf of the institution. We’ll help resolve this conflict by sharing policies and procedures that create safe spaces for students while encouraging holistic institutional responses.

5 Key Skills to Facilitate Interdisciplinary Team

The need for interdisciplinary research is growing. As a research development professional (RDP), figuring out how to bring partners across disciplines together to fuel creativity and collaboration is tricky. You’re managing tensions around roles and credit, and you’re helping to translate between researchers who may value very different things. Join us online to learn and discuss five key skills for research development professionals seeking to build bridges across disciplines. New RDPs will leave with an overview of what it means to facilitate interdisciplinary research, and seasoned RDPs who’ve learned through trial and error will leave with more clarity on how to formalize efforts.

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