Course Category: Webcast Recording

Effective Donor Cultivation Strategies for Academic Deans

Donor cultivation is a critical element of sustainable fundraising practices. Academic deans must employ strategies that are aligned with the donor’s personality, values, and philanthropic outlook to meaningfully develop the donor relationship. Without this intentional approach to donor cultivation, less strategic fundraising strategies may cause a dean to fail to build a relationship with a donor that would allow them to contribute through the institution in a way that is aligned with how they want to impact the world.  Join us for this one-hour training to learn how to use specific strategies to foster relationships with your donors in individualized ways. You will identify the key principles of donor cultivation, learn what to listen for in donor conversations, and consider different methods of donor engagement while working through real-world donor scenarios.

Encore and Live Q&A: Bridging the Process Gap for Major Gifts Between Advancement Services and Frontline Fundraising

When your institution receives a major gift, whether in the form of one single gift or through a multi-year pledge, it is important to manage that gift accurately. This includes placing the gift in its appropriate account on campus, ensuring that pledge reminders are sent out and payment secured in a timely manner, and that the donation is used according to donor intent. However, when frontline fundraisers introduce new gifts, the institutional destination and purpose of the gift can get lost in translation as it makes its way to advancement services for processing. Therefore, it is vital to ensure that the processes between advancement services and frontline fundraising are sound, and that communication is consistent to prevent circumstances that can lead to loss in revenue, missed pledges, or money spent incorrectly.   Join us for this online training to learn how the University of Utah created a new position to specifically address these common problems within advancement. This session will help your shop to identify and scale your current process by adopting some of Utah’s best practices to better streamline communication across these two areas. 

Celebrating Success as First-Generation Faculty: A Time for Discussion

Navigating faculty life and culture can be challenging for anyone, regardless of their background. To be successful, faculty need to understand the subculture of higher education, know how to network and navigate politics on campus and in their discipline, and be able to advocate for themselves and set boundaries effectively. But for first-generation faculty members, there can be additional barriers in confronting the hidden curriculum and trying to successfully manage research, teaching, and service. Not to mention the fact that first-gen faculty members are often best suited to support first-gen students in their journey through college, which can add unofficial service time to their calendars. Join us for a one-hour facilitated discussion about thriving as a first-gen faculty member. You will have the opportunity to: Hear from our speakers about their journey through college, graduate school, and faculty life. Discuss ways to celebrate successes, support students, and maintain the boundaries needed to be successful as faculty. Network with other first-gen faculty members from different institutions.

Identifying Funding Sources to Achieve Your Academic Unit’s Strategic Plan

Academic deans, center directors, and their leadership teams can spend a considerable amount of time developing a detailed and action-oriented strategic plan for their college or academic unit. Identifying and implementing achievable goals not only requires the appropriate stakeholders, accountability measures, and communication plans, but also a clear understanding of the funding sources available to actualize a strategic vision. Aligning funding sources to strategic goals requires knowing the relationship between funding and strategic planning, your role as a “doer” vs. “guide,” and methods for building that knowledge in others through worksheets and reporting. Join us for this online training to develop skills in establishing a strategic planning and budget alignment process and supporting the development of your leadership team to achieve their strategic goals by allocating funding. This process will provide leaders with a tactical approach to guide strategic thinking and budget alignment.

Encore and Live Q&A: Cultural Humility: A Framework to Mitigate Personal Bias

We all have biases that show up in our interactions and perceptions of others. But these biases can be problematic when they are used unconsciously or consciously to judge, misinterpret, or limit our interactions with others. How often do you pause and reflect on your social interactions and ask yourself “What did I assume about this person that was not accurate”? By reflecting and holding ourselves accountable to how biases show up in our interactions, we not only encourage our own personal growth, but we also create an opportunity to fully understand another person’s lived experience. Join us for a re-airing of the training that took place in March 2021, followed by a live Q&A with the speaker. You will understand the root cause of your biases and develop a practice that helps mitigate bias in your interactions with others. In this training, you will learn how to develop cultural humility as a framework and daily practice that helps you: Suspend judgement and be curious about other people’s perspectives and backgrounds Ask questions to aid you in reflection about your own beliefs and behaviors Interpret your interactions with others You will also explore barriers that might perpetuate your assumptions about […]

Encore and Live Q&A: Portfolio Prioritization: Maximizing Opportunities for Your Donor Pipeline

A portfolio is the engine that drives a gift officer’s work and sets them up for future success. However, for new or seasoned professionals alike, opportunities to look at your portfolio with a different viewpoint can be highly beneficial as you seek to understand your portfolio data and prioritize donor relationships. Additionally, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, institutions are facing a reset moment with their portfolios as they are able to travel again to meet donors in person. Join us for a re-airing of the training that took place in April 2022. You will learn how to identify key data points in your portfolio which you can then use to cultivate relationships with your donors and chart a path for success in your own portfolio management.  

Time Management: A Disciplined Approach to Priority-Setting

Is your endless to-do list keeping you from accomplishing what’s most important? We all have responsibilities and tasks competing for our attention, but all too often, our two or three most important efforts are reduced to just another item on the list. Join us for this essential training to learn strategies and exercises that will teach you the discipline needed to protect your time and schedule, allowing you to focus more greatly on your biggest priorities. After the training will be a discussion led by the speaker, Steve Riccio.

Honoring Names: A Simple Way to Promote Belonging

When you pronounce names incorrectly, you have an impact. People with non-Anglo or non-European names, which are perceived as being more difficult to pronounce, may feel anxious and excluded. When power dynamics are at play, students and perhaps even those you supervise, advise, or teach often avoid the conflict and resist making corrections or discussing the issue, which may leave them feeling as if they matter less. Join us for re-airing of this training to learn simple strategies for honoring the names of all those you encounter. Immediately after the re-airing, you will have the opportunity to engage in a live Q&A and discussion with the speaker, Zaragosa “Mito” Diaz-Espinoza, Ph.D. We will discuss a brief history and negative impact that mispronouncing names has on people–international students and individuals who are given names that are not common in North America. You will be provided with easy-to-use tools and strategies that will help you learn and retain the correct pronunciation of names. If you’re interested in creating a more inclusive environment by preventing and/or repairing harm to your students and colleagues, this training is for you.  

A Masterclass in Discovery Work

Discovery work is an essential part of the fundraising process because it’s your first access point to learning how to optimize a potential donor’s philanthropic interest. Refining your approach and strategy is a great way to continue gaining confidence in your ability to be conversational as a fundraiser. The ability to ask insightful questions that keep prospects and donors talking and sharing will ultimately lead you to align your donor with the best possible opportunity for their philanthropy goals. Join us in this online training to deepen your skillset around discovery work and improve upon your first impression as a representative of your organization. Go into donor conversations equipped with the right questions to ask that will build trust and enable you get to know your donors more intimately.

Securing Transformational Gifts: A Conversation About Engaging Principal Gift Donors

Securing a principal gift can have an immense impact on the way an institution is able to meet its mission and serve students effectively. However, identifying and cultivating relationships with potential principal gift donors takes patience, intentionality, and compromise. In this useful question-and-answer virtual webcast, our expert instructor, Mitchell Spearman, will call upon his experiences working with philanthropic families who shared transformational gifts with institutions across the country. By engaging with participants and sharing his own insight and advice, Spearman will help advancement professionals to understand how to more effectively approach engaging principal gift donors and their families to secure transformational gifts. As a participant, you will have the opportunity to submit your questions in advance and we will do our best to incorporate these questions into the live event.