Presentations

Step it Up

A conference organized by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, District III; February 8-11, 2009, in Atlanta. More info about conference.

• Give Your Magazine a Second Life
  As alumni magazine editors, we love the feel of print. But the pull of today's online-all-the-time culture is relentless. In this session you'll learn how to reach more people with your polished prose through the power of electronic syndication. First you'll compare tactics for putting print magazines online. Then you'll explore techniques for repurposing news content within your school's Web presence and for pushing it out to key stakeholders and external Web sites.

Symposium on the Marketing of Higher Education

A conference organized by the American Marketing Association, AMA; November 16-19, 2008, in Chicago. More info about conference.

• Four Stratgies to Drive Online Giving
  This session explores how powerful electronic communications can drive online giving. You’ll examine the research about how donors use the Web, learn the four components of a strategic marketing communications plan for online fundraising, and see these principles in use by educational institutions and non-profits.

Online Strategies (2008)

A conference organized by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, CASE; October 30-31, 2008, in Seattle. More info about conference.

• The Language of Engagement
  Successful fundraising campaigns need solid communications plans that engage potential donors through consistent and powerful messages delivered in print and online. Learn the four essentials for creating a strong electronic communications strategy to boost affinity and philanthropy at your institution.
  
  
• Beyond the Printed Page
  Your alumni magazine may well be your best undercover fundraising tool, and it will serve you even better when it's paired with a great online presence. Examine four ways to take your news content beyond the printed page in an effort to tell richer stories and engage your constituents online.
  
  
• Once is Not Enough
  Got a great story to tell? Then tell it again and again to engage new audiences each time. Learn six ways to make a press release, magazine feature or lecture reach more people through the power of electronic syndication. Examine techniques for repurposing content within your school's Web presence and for pushing it out to key stakeholders and external Web sites.

ePhilanthropy for Fundraising Professionals

A conference organized by Academic Impressions; July 29 - August 1, 2008, in Charlotte, N.C. More info about conference.

• What Should ePhilanthropy Include?
  More than just online fundraising, ePhilanthropy requires the combined expertise of communications, engagement, and fundraising professionals who are eager to use both electronic and non-electronic vehicles to cultivate, solicit, and steward donors. In this session, you’ll be introduced to the building blocks of a robust ePhilanthropy portfolio, examine four essentials for your school’s ePhilanthropy strategy, and see these principles in use by educational institutions and non-profits.

• ePhilanthropy Practices for Your Website
  Your web presence stands at the core of your ePhilanthropy portfolio. You drive people to it online and offline. It’s where you engage donors, make the case for their support, and help them give. In this session, you’ll learn what to keep in mind as you build or re-tool your website to boost ePhilanthropy. You’ll see great sites in action and collect ideas you can use back home.

• New Venues: Social Networking Sites
  Once you've tackled the basics, it’s worth considering how emerging technologies might advance your ePhilanthropy. From user-generated content (think YouTube, Flickr, and Wikipedia), to self-publishing tools (blogs and podcasts), to social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, and alumni networks), it’s a new day every day online. In this session, we’ll explore the emerging technology landscape with an eye toward what’s tested, what’s tempting, and what’s trouble.
  

U.Va. Stewardship and Events Conference

A conference organized by the University of Virginia; July 21, 2008, in Charlottesville, Va.

• Donor Recognition Strategies
  To learn more about the types of individual and public recognition that our donors appreciate most, the College of Arts & Sciences at U.Va. surveyed our high- and mid-level donors in 2008. This presentation presents the results of that survey, as well as some information from a benchmarking study with other schools about their donor recognition activities.
  

Logging on: Better Development Through Technology

A conference organized by the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington; June 17, 2008, in Alexandria, Va. More info about conference.

• Beyond the Basics: Emerging Technologies and Advancement
  Once you've built a compelling website that makes your case, engages donors, and facilitates giving, it's worth considering how emerging technologies might advance your e-philanthropy. From user-generated content (think YouTube, Flickr, and Wikipedia) to self-publishing tools (blogs and podcasts) to social networking sites (facebook, MySpace, and Second Life), it's a new day every day online. In this session, we'll explore the emerging technology landscape with an eye toward what's tested, what's tempting, and what's trouble.
  

Online Strategies (2007)

A conference organized by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, CASE; November 1-3, 2007, in Chicago. More info about conference

• Powerful Ideas. Powerful Language.
  This session explains how powerful electronic communications can drive online giving. You’ll examine the research about how donors use the Web, learn the four components of a strategic communications plan for online fundraising, and see these principles in use by educational institutions and non-profits. Although we’ll touch on tactics such as campaign web sites and flash movies, our focus will be strategic: shaping your messages and the outcomes you seek.
  
  
• Reading Between the Lines
  During an era when readers can spot a fundraising pitch in an instant, your school’s best development communication could the least obvious one: the journalistically sound alumni magazine. In this session you’ll learn how to convey fundraising needs through stories that people want to read. You’ll compare four methods of delivering your content electronically. And you’ll explore the complementary relationship among print magazines, online periodicals and e-newsletters.
  
  
• Once is Not Enough
  Got a great story to tell? Then tell it again and again to engage new audiences each time. In this session you’ll learn six ways to make a press release, magazine feature, or lecture reach more people through the power of electronic syndication. We’ll examine techniques for repurposing content within your school’s web presence and for pushing it out to key stakeholders and external web sites.

Marketing, PR and the Net

A conference organized by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, CASE; April 21-23, 2006, in Denver. More info about conference.

• Moving From Experiments to Excellence: The Power of E-Fundraising
  Perhaps you’ve tried online giving forms, Flash email solicitations, or campaign Web sites to boost your philanthropy totals. Maybe you’re ready to tackle peer-to-peer solicitations online, or high-level donor cultivation and stewardship on the Web. In this session we’ll check out what works, what doesn’t (and how to tell the difference), and examine the power of putting it all together in a coordinated, multi-channel fundraising communications campaign.
  
  
• All Together Now: Development and Communications Can Collaborate
  Fundraising is at its most effective when the development and communications teams are, in fact, one team. In this session you’ll learn the four-step process PR professionals use for creating campaigns that engage constituents with their institutions’ main themes, and the three-step process that development officers use to engage donors with their schools’ fund-raising priorities. And you’ll see how aligning those processes lets alumni better support your institution—with their money, their time, and their expertise.
  
  
• Fundraising by Stealth, or What Happens When an Alumni Magazine Goes Undercover
  In an era when readers can spot a fundraising pitch in an instant, your school’s best development communication could the least obvious one: the journalistically sound alumni magazine. In this session you’ll learn how to plan an editorial line-up that engages your audience and lays the groundwork for communicating your school’s achievements, aspirations and needs. You’ll learn about the complementary relationship among print magazines, online periodicals, and e-newsletters. And you’ll find out what to do with those pesky donor profiles.
  

Good to Great

A conference organized by CASE District III; February 23, 2004, in Atlanta.

• Better Giving Through Segmentation
  If a man who graduated from your school in the '50s has little in common with an alumna from the '70s, and can barely imagine life for those who graduated eight years ago, why send them all the same annual giving brochure? In this session you'll learn how to create an annual giving campaign, segmented by age and gender, that raises more dollars. You'll see why it's essential for communicators and fundraisers to collaborate, why it's important to sequence solicitation and non-solicitation communications, and why you should consider using humor.