Advancement

Suggested Reflection Questions

1. Your role at Burke's

2. When did this opportunity take place?

3. Summary of workshop/ opportunity

4. Goals & Collaborations:

   - What were your big takeaways from your workshop or project?

This June I was able to attend the CASE Special Event Conference in Nashville. About 300 other attendees (special events managers, Advancement directors, annual giving managers, and alumni relations managers) from around the country came together to talk everything events in Advancement. It was a great space to be able to go to learn more about what other schools and colleges are doing and what struggles they are dealing with. Which surprisingly are very similar to ours.

I wanted to be able to go to this conference to gain more insight and knowledge about campaign events. I was able to attend a few sessions on campaign events. I was able to get some new ideas that I think would be different for our community to keep people engaged.

One surprising thing that I was able to take away from the conference that I did not expect to be a huge…

The ISM Advancement Academy 2024 brought together leaders in enrollment management, development, and marketing communications, alongside school heads, for a week of impactful learning and strategic planning. Attendees engaged in powerful sessions designed to strengthen advancement efforts and left with a clear action plan for the upcoming school year.

During the Academy, I participated in insightful breakout sessions, including How to Create a Robust Alumni Program, Leadership Giving for the Annual Fund, Next Level Listening, and Building a Case for Giving. These sessions provided valuable strategies and best practices to enhance engagement and philanthropy at our school.

Additionally, the Academy featured a dedicated Mentoring Group, where we met throughout the week to set goals, exchange ideas, and develop actionable steps tailored to our individual school needs. The experience was both inspiring and practical, equipping me with new tools and perspectives to elevate our advancement efforts in the year ahead.

I had the pleasure of attending the NAIS Annual Conference - Cultivating Community. A few of the highlights included Van Jones speaking on the critical need for us to “call each other in” instead of “calling people out”. He stressed the need for us to find common ground with each other - even if it’s just one thing. In his experience, he has found unlikely allies in getting legislation passed and funding for issues that he found important because he didn’t require the individuals to agree with him on everything. Building connections on one thing can create opportunities to build connections around a larger number of issues and reduce the toxic polarization that has been occurring in society.

Other interesting sessions were on topics such as board governance, crisis communications, student wellness, and communications strategies to reach parents from admissions and enrolled parent community perspectives. I came back to Burke’s…