In This Section
Conference HandoutsKeynote Speech
Guy Kawasaki: The Art of InnovationSpecial Sessions
Chief Advancement OfficersMaster Classes
Alumni Relations Development - Campaign Strategies Advancement Services - You and Your Team Communications - Media TrainingPre-Conference Sessions
New Advancement Professionals Emerging LeadersTrack Sessions
Alumni Relations Development Communications Advancement Services Community Colleges Independent Schools Professional InterestAlumni Relations
Sunday, November 15 - 1:30-2:45pm
Parent Programming
This session will cover the basics and some innovative approaches to engaging the parents of students in the life of your institution. From Orientation and BBQs to making the ask, come learn about best practices for engaging this important constituency.
Alan Ball, Director of Annual Giving, Harvard-Westlake School
Successully leading a team of more than 300 parent, alumni, and student volunteers, Alan Ball assists in the management of special events and in the design of various constituent communication pieces. Due in part to Ball’s work, Harvard-Westlake raised $6.3 million in FY 2007-08 and despite the economy surpassed $6 million once again in FY09. Ball holds a graduate degree from The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University.
A Golden Partnership: the Development Office, the Board, and the Development Committee
A successful development effort relies on building strong relationships between the advancement office and leadership volunteers on both the Board and the Development Committee. Developing strategies for how to keep the volunteers active, focused, and effective fundraisers, while fostering a good working and communicative relationship, are key to ensuring positive outcomes—all of which takes ingenuity and a targeted plan. Whether newcomers to development or seasoned professionals, fundraisers must be able to motivate and encourage leadership volunteers to be effective solicitors on behalf of the institution.
Terry Pink Alexander, Director of Development, Head-Royce School
Terry Pink Alexander is the Director of Development at Head-Royce School, an independent K-12 school in Oakland, California founded in 1887. She has 30 years of experience fundraising for academic institutions, the arts, medical research, and international youth exchange. Through successful volunteer leadership programs, Terry has successfully built and carried out creative fundraising strategies for multi-million dollar campaigns, class reunion giving programs, and annual funds.
Betsy Crabtree, Trustee, Head-Royce School
Betsy Crabtree is president of SFArts Media LLC, publisher for San Francisco Arts Monthly and manager of SFArts.org, two communication vehicles that promote arts and cultural events in San Francisco. A trustee at Head-Royce School in Oakland, California, Crabtree has served on the Development Committee for seven years and chaired it for three. From 1990-1993, she worked in the development office at The Hamlin School as publications director.
Newcomer, Intermediate, Advanced
Sunday, November 15 - 5:00-6:15pm
Legal And Data Integrity: Information Every Senior Alumni Relations Person Should Know
From audits to the Spam Act and everything in-between, today's senior team in alumni relations has to be conversant with the changing laws and policies that daily affect the planning and execution of events, various services, and communication. This workshop will provide a broad overview of what you need to know now, and how to stay up to date in future.
Newcomer, Intermediate, Advanced
Monday, November 16 - 9:00-10:15am
International Alumni and Development--Best Practices
All educational institutions have a growing number of alumni living outside the U.S. Given the costs associated with reaching this audience, we must maximize our people and program resources with academic and other campus units. This panel discussion will offer best practices and lessons learned by seasoned industry colleagues, as well as from fellow attendees.
Robert Kerr, Assistant Vice Provost, University of California, Davis
Robert Kerr has a background in student affairs, central campus administration, development, alumni relations, and now university outreach and international programs. Kerr earned his Ph.D. from Kent State University in psychology and counseling; he currently serves on CASE District VII Board of Directors and chairs the Education Committee.
Judy Nagai, Director of External Relations, William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, UNLV
Judy Nagai has worked in higher education for more than 15 years. In 2002, she joined the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to establish a unit-based, comprehensive alumni relations program for William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration. In 2008, she was appointed the college’s Director of External Relations, leading efforts for major gift fundraising and alumni relations.
Michael Warder, Vice Chancellor, Pepperdine University
Michael Warder is Vice Chancellor of Pepperdine University, where he divides his efforts between extending the University's mission statement through fundraising and promotion, and furthering the School of Public Policy, where he is also a senior fellow at the Davenport Institute. As Pepperdine’s overseas undergraduate programs operate in Shanghai, Buenos Aires, London, Florence, Lausanne, and Heidelberg, Warder is currently developing a university-wide global strategy.
Newcomer, Intermediate, Advanced
Monday, November 16 - 10:45am-12:00pm
How to use social networks in your alumni relations work
This session offers an overview of social networks, explains the value and risks of using commercial networks and developing your own. Discuss with peers how to leverage commercial networks to support your alumni relations work.
Christina Sponselli, Business Manager, Online Communities at University of California, Berkeley
As business manager Christina Sponselli oversees the online alumni community’s business and marketing strategy, and manages the institution’s social media presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, and Twitter, among others. Previously, she was a high technology consultant for KPMG, and a journalist with several national magazines, including Health and Parenting. Sponselli holds a bachelor’s degree from Emerson College in Boston.
Monday, November 16 - 2:00-3:15pm
Planning & Strategizing Special Events in Today's Economy
The story is becoming all too familiar: in spite of recent staffing cuts and a dramatically reduced budget, the president still expects your division to significantly advance the institution and surpass your previous year’s operational goals. On top of that, you are being asked to plan bigger and more elaborate events. But special event planning can itself be an elaborate process. Aworking team has to be recruited, goals must be established, and consensus must be reached—all before a save-the-date can even be printed. At this interactive session, participants should come armed with questions regarding their anticipated event challenges. Suggestions for managing the event, as well as post-event strategies will be shared, offering attendees fresh ideas, new approaches, and practical tips.
Jean Bjerke, Vice President, Advancement, University of La Verne
A 30-year development veteran, Jean Bjerke has spent the past 17 years at the University of La Verne, where she and her team have raised more than $91 million and recently completed a five-year, $42-million“Building on Excellence Campaign,” featuring a $26.1 million Campus Center Project.Previously, Bjerke served as Campaign Director for KCET-TV/Los Angeles and as Director and Associate Vice President for Chapman University. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.
Deborah Mandabach, Communications Consultant
After 14 years in higher education, first at the University of La Verne, then the University of Redlands, Deborah Mandabach now consults in the fields of communication and special event management. In addition to participating in several successful fundraising teams, she has managed numerous high-end special events, including campaign "galas," major donor recognition events, golf tournaments, anniversary celebrations, and presidential inaugurations.
Regina Webester, Vice President, Institutional Advancement, Southern California University of Health Sciences
Regina Webester joined Southern California University of Health Sciences in 2008, where early on she was assigned to manage the presidential inauguration. Prior to her current post, Webester was Associate Vice President for Development at California State University, Fullerton, fundraising for numerous programs and schools; Vice President of the Los Angeles Women's Foundation; and Executive Director of Development at the University of La Verne.
Newcomer, Intermediate, Advanced
Monday, November 16 - 3:45-5:00pm
Strengthening Your Alumni Program
Looking at various methodologies and available tools and strategies, this session will explore how to find and engage alumni, plan and execute successful activities, and how to moblize your institution’s faculty to locate and recruit alumni. Planned discussion will also cover establishing an Alumni Hall of Fame and Hall of Champions.
Ginny Baxter, Foundation Executive Director, Long Beach City College (LBCC)
Over the last several years, Ginny Baxter has raised more than $30 million for Long Beach City College and, in 1991, received the first Network of California Community College Foundations Excellence in Development Award. She has supervised the LBCC Alumni Association since 1983, and when budget cuts resulted in the layoff of the alumni director, Dr. Baxter and her administrative assistant, Lois Schneider, successfully took over the reigns and created new ways of reaching out to alumni through Facebook and e-mail.
Newcomers
Tuesday, November 17 - 10:45am-12:00pm
Alumni Discovery Initiative
Now more than ever, institutions are tasked with finding innovative, cost-effective and practical ways to engage alumni and identify new donor prospects. Georgetown University developed a program called the Discovery Project, which hired current students and recent grads to conduct in-person interviews with alumni. UC San Diego, a large public institution, and the University of San Francisco, a small private school, have each adapted the Georgetown model to fit their advancement needs. Learn how each institution has created a distinctive program to reconnect alumni, engage new volunteers and cultivate new donor prospects.
Jessica Bartolini, Program Manager Discovery Project, University of San Francisco,
Jessica Bartolini is the Program Manager of the Discovery Project at the University of San Francisco. The Discovery Project is a new alumni outreach effort launched in July of 2008 in which recent graduates conduct in-person interviews with alumni across the country with the goal of reconnecting alumni and identifying new major gift prospects. In this role she has responsibility for managing and coordinating all Discovery efforts including all data management, communication, outreach and follow-up. Before joining the Advancement team at USF she was the Coordinator for Annual Giving at the University of Nevada, Reno where she managed the student phonathon program and coordinated with the manager of Annual Giving on all the annual fund direct mail. During her undergraduate years at USF she worked for Athletic Development as a student assistant and also worked as a student caller for University Advancement. Jessica graduated in 2006 with a Bachelors degree in Psychology and is currently working on her Masters in Nonprofit Administration from USF.
Greg Murphy, Alumni Discovery Initiative Manager, University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
A UCSD graduate and young entrepreneurial professional with extensive student government and leadership experience, Greg Murphy has conceived, developed, and successfully implemented UCSD’s Alumni Discovery Initiative.
Armin Afsahi, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Alumni Affairs, UCSD
Also a UCSD alumnus, Armin Afsahi is a seasoned advancement executive with more than 17 years of private and public sector experience in institutional advancement, strategic management, business development, marketing, technology and operations, gained in public and private universities, as well as in technology, education, and consulting firms.
Nicki Nabasny, Director of Development, Major Gifts & Discovery Project, University of San Francisco
Nicki (Pichel) Nabasny began her career in university advancement as a student caller at Santa Clara University. Now as director at USF, she is responsible for managing and coordinating major gift fundraising, alumni outreach, and volunteer engagement for both the School of Nursing and the School of Business and Professional Studies. She also has oversight of a USF’s new alumni outreach effort launched last year, the Discovery Project, in which recent graduates conduct in-person interviews with alumni across the country with the goal of reconnecting alumni and identifying new major gift prospects.
Newcomer, Intermediate, Advanced