Course Category: Webcast Recording

Structuring Scholarships for Women and Students of Color in a Shifting Legal Landscape

When donors want to establish a scholarship for the two federally protected class groups that receive the most legal scrutiny–women and students of color–your advancement shop must navigate risk in a way that doesn’t scare away donors or distract from their intent. It’s necessary to understand the shifting legal landscape affecting scholarships for these protected class groups. Join us online to learn how to establish scholarships for women and students of color that abide by federal guidelines. In this training, you’ll learn how to conduct a thorough review process of your current gift agreements to help protect the reputation of your institution and donors against legal or political scrutiny. To apply these strategies to your context, you will have the opportunity to share your own examples of scholarships for women and students of color ahead of time. Some examples will be showcased during the training to highlight what language to include or exclude to mitigate risk best.

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.

Effectively Manage Matching and Challenge Gift Campaigns

Many educational institutions benefit from large matching or challenge gifts (not to be confused with corporate matching gift programs). A donor makes a gift or pledge with the expectation that the advancement shop will raise the same amount of funds from other donors. For example, a donor may pledge $50M to a new building project if the development staff can raise an additional $50M from other donors. These are exciting opportunities because they show your biggest donors that you care about growing the impact of their giving, but you also know they require a lot of hard work and careful management, often on a tight timeline. You probably have more questions than answers on how to manage these campaigns. Join us online to learn how to show your biggest donors that you care about growing the impact of their giving. You will hear from two experts who can answer your questions and provide best practices on how to successfully approach match and challenge gift campaigns. In this training, you’ll learn how to: Secure and cultivate donors who wish to provide a challenge gift as well as matching gifts. Structure a matching gift campaign that meets the development goals for both […]

Engaging Deans and Academic Leaders in Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving

Collaborating with academic leaders is a strategic priority for many of us, and by connecting with deans and academic leaders in intentional ways early in the fundraising cycle, you help your academic colleagues see themselves within philanthropy. Perhaps more importantly, you also provide alumni and donors the opportunity to realize the impact of their investment. Join us online to learn how partnering with academic colleagues through meaningful engagement can support your work in building your pipeline and lead to greater alumni and donor engagement. This may feel challenging at your institution, but our expert’s proven strategies and best practices will offer support in identifying the best course of action for you.

Diversify your Alumni Board

Your alumni board is the foundation of your efforts to engage alumni and donors successfully. However, to expand beyond traditional engagement strategies that intentionally connect with your diverse alumni population more effectively, you need to have an alumni board that reflects the current diversity of your student and alumni body. How you construct and implement a new nomination process for your board can contribute to building diversity and representation. In this webcast, you will hear from our expert, Durice White Galloway, Associate Vice President for Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving Strategies at Arcadia University, about how a diverse alumni board is critical to institutional strategy and university advancement work. Join us online to learn how to identify, adjust, and avoid nomination processes that aren’t equitable in practice so that your nominations enable the diversification of nominees and future board members. By also practicing proactive inclusivity and partnering with existing cultural affinity networks and campus centers, you can better market your board and lead towards a more diverse pool of candidates. We will work through how you can: Reform your nominating process to be more inclusive. Change your voting policies and procedures to be more equitable. Bring campus stakeholders and leadership […]

Building and Maintaining External Relationships as Chief of Staff

A Chief of Staff often serves as the convener between the university and the community at large. From working with local leaders to law enforcement to local employers, having strong relationships with those outside the institution can help to efficiently and collaboratively tackle challenges that arise. In this 60-minute webcast, you will learn how to identify these key partnerships, initiate conversations, and maintain open communication between all parties.

Navigate Challenging Conversations with Donors

Your donors’ views of current events may not always align with your personal or institutional values and mission, which can create tension when cultivating the relationship. How do you navigate through those conversations in a way that sustains or even builds the connection? Join us online to hear from our expert facilitator on how the University of Utah is approaching challenging conversations with prospects and donors. You will hear stories and examples of how the university has responded to some of the most challenging situations on their campus and walk away with guidance for how to facilitate dialogue that aligns your internal stakeholders, prospects, and donors around these often difficult-to-talk-about topics: Racial Justice and Student Activism Politics Leadership Transitions The Value of Higher Education

Change and Continuity Planning Post-COVID: A Process for Leading with Greater Intention

For the past year, the pandemic has caused academic leaders to have to pivot rapidly. Whether working on college-level strategic plans, the implementation of new academic programs, or the retooling of curriculum, the nature of the crisis necessitated quick, decisive action without much room for pause or deliberation. Fast forward to today, and though the need to engage in continuity planning and manage ongoing change hasn’t gone away, we are no longer in full-blown crisis mode. You can afford to slow down, ensure your change initiatives align with your division’s mission and vision, and plan more purposefully. Join us for an interactive training that will help you reset and approach the change you are leading with more intention. Our instructor, Joshua Beck, Associate Dean in the Division of Social Sciences at the University of Chicago, will share lessons learned from his own experience designing and implementing complex projects and provide a framework you can use to plan your own continuity and change efforts. You’ll be given time to apply the framework to an initiative you are working on during the program and will be guided through initial planning for your own project.

Developing Corporate Partnerships for Undergraduate Research and Design Projects

Gaining corporate partners to sponsor undergraduate research and design projects is a great way to provide students with quality work experience and enhance the reputation of your institution. But there are many challenges associated with approaching potential partners and closing the deal. Understanding how to clearly communicate your goals and anticipating what questions future partners are likely to ask are key components to success. Join us for this one-hour webcast and learn how to prepare for meaningful and successful conversations with future corporate partners. Our expert will guide you through how to: Prepare: Anticipate challenges, prepare a value statement, and clearly communicate the ask Onboard: Make the transition from potential partner to partner seamless Deliver: Provide the processes, tools, and student mentoring to execute projects successfully

Simplifying the NSF Grant Proposal Process and Setting Yourself up for Success 

Join us for a virtual training that will answer your most pressing questions about the National Science Foundation (NSF) grant process, a funding source that contributes over $8 billion annually to scientific research. By learning how to navigate the application process, you can ensure that, along with the intellectual merit of your work, you’ve done all you can do to set yourself up for success. We will cover key components of NSF grant proposals including: What is the NSF and what types of research do they fund? Is the NSF the right source of funding for your research? What steps do you take to begin the process? What makes a good proposal?

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