Thought Leadership

Tuesday, September 28, @ 11:30 a.m. PDT / 1:30 p.m. CDT / 2:30 p.m. EDT

Volunteers: Engaging your most valued partners

• Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, President
• Rod Kirsch, Senior Vice President
• Angela Greenwald, Vice President

Volunteers are some of our most trusted advisors, most valued ambassadors, and most important donors. And because they care deeply for our institutions, they are critical to how well we weather challenges such as the pandemic. Join GG+A consultants for an important discussion that explores the vital role that volunteers play within our institutions. The conversation is based on GG+A’s recently released Playbook “Volunteers: Engaging your most valued partners,” which is a collection of thought leadership articles offering practical ideas and tactics to effectively leverage volunteers. The panelists are featured in the Playbook and they will discuss a range of volunteer-related topics, including strategies to turn around an underperforming board and methods to equip boards to thrive well into the future.

 

Wednesday, September 8, @ 10:00 a.m. PDT / 12:00 p.m. CDT / 1:00 p.m. EDT

Fundraising at a Public Land Grant University

GG+A’s webinar series continues its ongoing conversations with leaders in the advancement world. Greg Willems, President of the Kansas State University Foundation, will join Pete Lasher to discuss a number of topics including building high performing fundraising programs, anticipating leadership transition, and the role of an affiliated foundation in a collegiate environment.

In his role as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Kansas State University Foundation, Greg Willems oversees 140 staff, over $1.2 billion in assets, and an annual budget of $23.5 million. A national thought leader on College and University Foundations and Fundraising, Greg led the KSU Foundation’s successful completion of a record setting $1.6 billion campaign for Kansas State in June of 2020. He additionally serves on the Kansas Department of Commerce Roadmap for Kansas and the Economic Development Task Force for Manhattan and the region.

 

Creating Engagement and Building Relationships in a Year Like No Other: A Conversation with the Barnes Foundation

• Nina Diefenbach, Senior Vice President, Deputy Director for Advancement, Barnes Foundation
• Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, President, GG+A

Join GG+A President, Suzanne Hilser-Wiles in conversation with Nina Diefenbach, Senior Vice President, Deputy Director for Advancement at the Barnes Foundation. In this webinar, Nina will describe how the development team has built on the Foundation’s fantastic online programming to engage current and new donors and prospects. Suzanne and Nina will also discuss the sustainable practices that have guided the Barnes Foundation in solving management challenges over the past year, and how the Barnes’s will continue to use those in the post-pandemic period. We look forward to having you join us for this insightful conversation!

Ms. Diefenbach leads an innovative, strategic Advancement program and is responsible for the Foundation’s $100 million capital campaign to enhance educational programs and community engagement initiatives, support operations, and strengthen the endowment. She oversees the Barnes’s fundraising, membership, and public relations teams, working to maximize and expand the institution’s public profile. She holds an MA in arts management from New York University and a BA from Trinity College, Hartford, CT. Ms. Diefenbach also served as a trustee at Trinity from 2010 – 2018 and is a founding member of their Women’s Leadership Council.

 

Friday, May 21, @ 10:00 a.m. PDT / 12:00 p.m. CDT / 1:00 p.m. EDT

Everything I Wish I’d Understood About Annual Giving

Annual giving has become more than the annual appeal. Join our panelists who have worked in small and large shops, education, nonprofits and healthcare (and with each other!), as they reflect on the twists and turns of their Annual Giving careers. Listen as they share the lessons they’ve learned about technology, segmentation, response mechanisms, metrics, HIPAA, the importance of colleague partnerships and what they wish they’d known when they first started out.

An advancement professional since 2005, Jayanne Sevast joined the Kutztown University Foundation in 2019 after nearly five years in the Office of University Development at Penn State Hershey Medical Center and the Penn State College of Medicine where she helped launch the first team of annual leadership gift officers working with grateful patients, alumni and friends. With experience in all aspects of annual giving and alumni and parent engagement, led a combined Annual Giving and Alumni & Parent Engagement during her tenure at Lebanon Valley College. An advocate for using metrics to assess levels of alumni engagement, she has presented nationally on how alumni professionals can place value on the traditionally “softer side” of advancement, use data gleaned from internal and external sources to refine engagement opportunities, manage volunteers, develop communications, and ultimately cultivate donors to achieve fundraising goals.

Kim Mougenel brings nearly twenty years of experience in development, alumni relations, and annual giving in healthcare, academic medicine, and higher education.

Kim serves as Director of Prospect Management within the Annual Giving team at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In this role, she oversees a team of 17 frontline staff in all aspects of prospect. management and personal solicitation within a $30M annual giving program.

Prior to Dana-Farber, Kim was a consulting VP at GG+A, working with clients such as Dartmouth College – Tuck School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, and Middlebury College. Kim had also held leadership positions at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center/College of Medicine and the Nevada Cancer Institute.

 

Thursday, April 29, @ 1:00 p.m. PDT / 3:00 p.m. CDT / 4:00 p.m. EDT

Navigating the critical issues facing high-performing advancement programs

Join GG+A Senior Vice President Pete Lasher in conversation with Jacline Nyman, Vice President, External Affairs at the University of Ottawa. In this webinar, Pete and Jacline will discuss a number of important issues facing uOttawa’s high-performing advancement program, including how she approached leading the university through the pandemic, the challenges and opportunities involved in relaunching the university’s fundraising campaign, and how the past year has influenced the way she and her team conduct business (and which of those changes will persevere once we return to some semblance of normal). She will also share her perspective as a leading female voice in philanthropy.

Dr. Jacline Nyman was appointed vice-president, external relations at the University of Ottawa for a five-year term beginning August 13, 2018.

As vice-president, external relations, Jacline advances the goals of the University through a diverse portfolio of activities that focus on raising the University’s profile, establishing strategic internal and external partnerships, fostering stakeholder engagement, and growing revenue to support the University in its research and teaching mission. In this role, she is responsible for the activities of the development office, the alumni relations office, the marketing and communications directorate, language services and advancement services.

Prior to joining the University of Ottawa, Jacline was the president and CEO of United Way Centraide Canada and worked with the Smith School of Business (Queen’s University, Kingston) as executive director of development and alumni relations; as vice-president of fundraising and donor relations at the York University Foundation (Toronto); director of development and external relations at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business (Calgary); and as director of advancement services and liaison manager for the University of Ottawa.

Jacline is an associate professor at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management and was formerly an assistant professor at Queen’s School of Business (Queen’s University) teaching marketing, marketing ethics and social responsibility. She actively researches in the fields of marketing, philanthropy and corporate social responsibility.

Jacline holds a Bachelor of Administration (University of Ottawa); an MBA (University of Calgary); a doctorate in Business Administration — Marketing (Cranfield University, U.K.). Jacline earned the ICD.D corporate governance designation from Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto in 2016.

 

Monday, April 12 @ 10 a.m. PDT / 12 p.m. CDT / 1 p.m. EDT

Maintaining momentum for major gifts fundraising between campaigns

Join GG+A President Suzanne Hilser-Wiles in conversation with Anne Westfall, Director of Development at the University School of Nashville. In this webinar, Suzanne and Anne will discuss how to maintain major gifts momentum in between campaigns. Anne will share her experience working on USN’s most recent campaign and provide specific insights on how her team remained focused on major gifts once the campaign closed. We look forward to having you join us for this webinar!

Anne Westfall joined University School of Nashville (USN) in fall 1999 as the Director of Development. In this role, she oversees annual giving, major and planned giving, campaign management, alumni programs, advancement services, and institutional events. She managed the school’s two largest capital campaigns and a year-long centennial celebration for this K-12 co-ed school formerly known as Peabody Demonstration School. Previously, Anne served as development director for Nashville Ballet and assistant director of development for Peabody College at Vanderbilt University.  She has a B.S. in Human and Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University. Anne currently serves on the board of the Planned Giving Council of Middle Tennessee.

 

Wednesday, March 31 @ 10 a.m. PDT / 12 p.m. CDT / 1 p.m. EDT

The head of school’s role in fundraising: A conversation with Sue Sadler

Participants:

• Elizabeth Kolb Farr, Senior Vice President, GG+A
• Sue Sadler, Head of School, The Bryn Mawr School

Many heads of school come to their roles with no prior fundraising experience. In this conversation, Sue Sadler, Head of School at The Bryn Mawr School, will share reflections and insights gained in her first three-and-a-half years as a head of school. How does she work effectively with trustees and fundraising staff? How does she engage, cultivate, solicit, and steward donors? What are the most important lessons she has learned about a head’s role in fundraising? How does she balance fundraising responsibilities with all the others?

In July 2017, Sue Sadler became the tenth head of school at The Bryn Mawr School, a K-12 girls’ school in Baltimore, Maryland. In this role, which is her first headship, Sue has played an important part in achieving the School’s fundraising aspirations, including reenergizing and completing a fundraising campaign to support Bryn Mawr’s new student center, which opened in September 2019. Previously Sue was associate head of school and Upper School director at Hathaway Brown, an all-girls school in Shaker Heights, Ohio, where she served for 31 years in a variety of capacities and was honored by a donor who established the Sadler Promise in Education Award. Sue holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Colby College and a master’s in the Arts of Education from Ursuline College.

 

Monday, March 22 @ 12:00 p.m. CDT / 1:00 p.m. EDT

How to build a leadership annual giving program

Description:  Join GG+A President Suzanne Hilser-Wiles in conversation with Janet McKillop, Vice President of Development at the J. Paul Getty Trust. In this webinar, Janet and Suzanne will discuss the Getty’s experience in designing and launching a leadership annual giving program. Janet will share why the Getty decided to launch the program, as well as lessons learned from the experience. We welcome anyone who is interested in launching a leadership annual giving program at their institution or wants to learn more about the value of leadership annual giving!

Janet Feldstein McKillop joined the J. Paul Getty Trust in February 2015 as Vice President of Development. As the Getty’s chief development officer, she leads all fundraising initiatives for the Trust and its programs. Previously, McKillop served as Associate Director of Development for Stanford University and Senior Associate Director of Development for Harvard University, supporting record-level fundraising campaigns at both universities. For six years, she led development and alumni engagement, including a major capital campaign, for St. Matthew’s Parish School, a Los Angeles-based independent school. McKillop began her career as a corporate finance investment banker with J.P. Morgan and was later a research associate and teaching assistant at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, focused on entrepreneurship and venture capital. She holds both an undergraduate degree in art history and an MBA from Stanford University.

 

Wednesday, March 17 @ 12:00 p.m. CDT / 1:00 p.m. EDT

Strengthening donor dialogue: successfully using survey data to qualify and reinvigorate donors at Kutztown University

Participants:

• Jayanne Sevast, Kutztown University Foundation
• GG+A SurveyLab Team

Description: At the height of the pandemic, Kutztown University Foundation engaged GG+A SurveyLab to conduct a survey aimed at qualifying new donors and helping it prioritize its prospect pools within the philanthropic landscape. Join Kutztown University Foundation’s Jayanne Sevast and the GG+A SurveyLab team as they discuss the impact and results of the donor survey. The discussion will explore how the survey contributed to the university’s fundraising operation’s growth, as well as how it helped legitimize the university’s advancement efforts.

An advancement professional since 2005, Jayanne joined the Kutztown University Foundation in 2019. She previously spent nearly five years in the Office of University Development at Penn State Hershey Medical Center and the Penn State College of Medicine where she helped launch the first team of annual leadership gift officers working with grateful patients, alumni, and friends. With experience in all aspects of annual giving and alumni and parent engagement, she led a combined Annual Giving and Alumni & Parent Engagement during her tenure at Lebanon Valley College. An advocate for using metrics to assess levels of alumni engagement, she has presented regionally on how alumni professionals can place value on the traditionally “softer side” of advancement, use data gleaned from internal and external sources to refine engagement opportunities, manage volunteers, develop communications, and ultimately cultivate donors to achieve fundraising goals.

 

Monday, March 15 @ 12:00 pm CT / 1:00 pm ET

WHY STEWARDSHIP MATTERS:  CREATIVE SOLUTIONS TO ENGAGE DONORS NOW AND INTO THE FUTURE

Panel:

• Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, President
• Megan Collier, Consulting Associate, SurveyLab
• Anne Kohn, Consulting Associate
• Bob Ramin, Senior Vice-President

Description:  Join GG+A consultants for an important conversation about innovative approaches to stewardship and how to implement strategies that will deepen donor relationships and inspire gift giving. This panel discussion is based on GG+A’s recently released Playbook: Why stewardship matters: creative solutions to engage donors now and into the future, a collection of thought leadership offering practical ideas and tactics for effective stewardship. The panelists are authors of the featured Playbook articles and will address the power of donors surveys, donor impact reports, and creative stewardship strategies that have resonated during the pandemic and will be effective going forward.

 

Wednesday, March 10 @ 12:00 p.m. CT / 1:00 p.m. ET

MANAGING LEADERSHIP AND STAFF TRANSITION REMOTELY: A COLGATE EXAMPLE

Participants:

• Karl Clauss, Vice President of Advancement, Colgate University
• Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, President, GG+A

Description: The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the traditional development work environment. That’s forced development leaders to develop innovative ways to build relationships with their team, organizational leaders, and volunteer leaders. Developing strategies to foster a strong work culture is important, particularly as institutions deal with leadership and staff transitions. In this webinar, Colgate University Vice President of Advancement Karl Clauss—who began his current role last August—will discuss the challenges of acclimating to a new position in the midst of the pandemic, as well as the strategies and tactics he’s used to build a collaborative work culture. Karl will also discuss how he is approaching recruiting and onboarding in this challenging environment.

Karl Clauss is the Vice President for Advancement at Colgate University. Karl returned to Colgate, his alma mater, in August 2020 after eight years as the Vice President of Advancement for Swarthmore College. During his tenure at Swarthmore, Karl worked closely with the college’s board of managers, administration, and campus partners to execute all phases of the college’s $450 million comprehensive campaign, “Changing Lives, Changing the World.” Prior to Swarthmore, Karl spent 12 years at Colgate, first as a Regional Advancement Officer, covering the Midwest and West Coast. He later became Director of Major Gifts and Director of Capital Giving before taking on the role of Associate Vice President for Advancement. His efforts helped Colgate meet its $400 million goal for the campaign, “Passion for the Climb,” 18 months ahead of schedule, and helped the campaign raise an additional $40 million for financial aid. Karl earned his bachelor of arts degree in political science from Colgate and captained the 1990 NCAA-finalist hockey team. Outside his official work for Colgate, he has volunteered for the admission office and served as a class agent, local alumni club board member, and a member of the Alumni Council.

 

Wednesday, February 24 @ 10 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. CST / 1:00 p.m. EST

Navigating Campaigns through a Crisis: The Story of Penn State and the University of Missouri

During an 8 to 10-year campaign, every institution will have some sort of crisis.  Join two seasoned professionals who were in the trenches during major crises for an informative and interactive webinar.

Facilitators:

• Vice President Tom Hiles, formerly of University of Missouri
• Vice President Rod Kirsch, formerly of Penn State

GG&A Vice Presidents Tom Hiles and Rod Kirsch will share their first-hand experiences in leading two high-profile institutions through public crises in conjunction with launching billion-dollar campaigns. As Vice President at Penn State, Rod helped navigate the university’s campaign in light of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Tom was Vice Chancellor at University of Missouri when, three weeks after the kickoff of their campaign, both the president and the chancellor were forced out from the aftermath from the Ferguson protests. These crises kept the universities in the national and international focus for months, presenting the advancement teams led by Rod and Tom with daily challenges.

Learn about their experiences and how they communicated with donors, collaborated with the communications team and governing board, and the critical role of data in understanding constituents and how to stay connected with them.

 

 

 

Friday, February 19 @ 11 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. CST / 2:00 p.m. EST

An advancement career built on challenges

Join Senior Vice President Pete Lasher in a conversation with Dexter Bailey, Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Relations at the California Institute of Technology. In this webinar, Dexter and Pete will discuss a number of themes from his career in higher education development from the career path of a person of color in the advancement field to the present challenges created by COVID 19 during his first year at Cal Tech to the Institute’s future plans following the successful completion of the $3B breakthrough campaign.

Dexter A. Bailey Jr. is a fundraising executive with over 25 years of experience. He is recipient of the 2019 CASE Commonfund Institutionally Related Foundation Award. His expertise includes reengineering comprehensive fundraising programs, complex principal gifts, grateful patients, alumni relations, staff development, and organizational optimization. Dexter often speaks on issues related to campaigns, institutional leadership and the role and experience of minorities in university advancement.

Prior to joining Caltech in July 2019, Dexter served for 8+ years as senior vice president for advancement at Stony Brook University and executive director of the Stony Brook Foundation where he spearheaded the most successful campaign in the history of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. He successfully managed development and alumni relations programs at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, University of California at Berkeley, University of Washington, and Ohio University.

 

 

Wednesday, February 10 @ 6 a.m. PT / 8 a.m. CST / 9:00 a.m. EST

How INSEAD, A Top International Business School, Built a Record-Breaking Campaign

Join GG+A President Suzanne Hilser-Wiles in conversation with Nida Januskis, Associate Dean for Advancement at INSEAD. In this webinar, Nida and Suzanne will discuss INSEAD’s phenomenal campaign success and how the institution planned for and managed the campaign process. With a global alumni community, Nida will share strategies and lessons learned for managing a remote team as well as engagement strategies for its widely dispersed alumni constituency.

Facilitators:

• Nida Januskis, Associate Dean for Advancement, INSEAD
• Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, President, GG+A

Nida Januskis is the Associate Dean of Advancement for INSEAD leading development fundraising and outreach efforts for INSEAD.

Nida joined INSEAD in January 2016 as the Executive Director of Development before being promoted to her current role in July 2017.

Prior to INSEAD, from 2003-2016, Nida served in increasingly senior roles in External Relations at Harvard Business School, working as an integral part of two distinct, record-breaking, capital campaigns during her tenure and was a key contributor to the success of their US$500 million and US$1 billion campaigns.

Prior to Harvard Business School, Nida worked as an Asset Manager for Berkeley Investments in Boston, Equity Office Properties Trust in Chicago, and for AON Consulting in Vilnius, Lithuania.

She currently sits on the board of Women in Leadership, a platform for professional women working in Europe.

Nida earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Illinois.

 

Wednesday, February 3 @ 12 p.m. CST / 1:00 p.m. EST

Adapting Alumni Engagement: 2021 and Beyond

Participants:

• Andy Shaindlin, Vice President for Alumni Relations, Brown University
• Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, President, GG+A

Description: Join GG+A President Suzanne Hilser-Wiles in conversation with Andy Shaindlin, Vice President for Alumni Relations at Brown University. In this webinar, Andy and Suzanne will discuss his strategies for keeping alumni engaged, re-engaging lost alumni, innovative responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as tips for keeping alumni engagement front and center for institutional leadership. Andy will share his experiences and lessons learned at both Brown and through his work with colleagues in alumni relations programs across the world.

Andy Shaindlin ’86 is Vice President for Alumni Relations at Brown University and is a 30-year veteran of the alumni relations profession. He rejoined Brown to take on his current role in December, 2018, but this is not his first time working for Brown. From 1989 to 1996 Andy worked in the Office of Alumni Relations before continuing his higher education career at other institutions.

After leaving Brown, Andy worked at the University of Michigan Alumni Association, first as Director of Alumni Education and Travel and subsequently as Senior Director for Alumni Programs. He then served for more than ten years as Executive Director of the Caltech Alumni Association at the California Institute of Technology, before joining Carnegie Mellon University to lead their combined alumni relations and annual giving programs.

Andy was Vice President with global philanthropy consultants Grenzebach Glier & Associates, where he advised alumni communities from more than 40 diverse institutions on strategy, programming and organizational design. Most recently, he served as Vice President with community software provider Switchboard. Throughout his career, he has been a frequent speaker and author on topics related to global nonprofit strategy and alumni engagement. In 2007, he launched Alumni Futures, a website devoted to the alumni relations profession, exploring new directions and innovative ideas for advancement professionals.

Andy is former Chair of the Commission on Alumni Relations for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and also served on the CASE Board of Trustees. He is a Trustee of the American Councils on International Education. Andy recently joined Curatace as an outside Advisor; the company opens doors to meaningful careers for students and alumni.

In addition to his bachelor’s degree from Brown, where he concentrated in international relations, Shaindlin earned a master of arts in education from Claremont Graduate University in California, where his research focused on the role of technology in alumni relations.

 

Wednesday, January 20 @ 8 a.m. CST /2:00 p.m. GMT / 3:00 p.m. CET

Building a Fundraising Programme: A Nordic Example

Participants:

• Teppo Heiskanen, Director for Advancement and Corporate Engagement, Aalto University
• Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, President, GG+A

Description: Join GG+A President Suzanne Hilser-Wiles in conversation with Teppo Heiskanen, Director for Advancement and Corporate Engagement at Aalto University in Finland. In this webinar, Teppo and Suzanne will discuss Aalto’s approach to the creation of its first fundraising programme through the lens of Finnish culture surrounding philanthropy and higher education, as well as key lessons learned, which can be applied by new and emerging programmes throughout the world. Teppo will also share the story of a recent gift to the University – one of the biggest single gifts to any university in the Nordic region in recent history – and how he fostered collaboration across the University throughout the solicitation process.

Teppo Heiskanen is Director for Advancement and Corporate Engagement at Aalto University in Finland. The integrated advancement unit at Aalto includes corporate relations, fundraising, alumni engagement, career design for students, as well as CRM development and analytics. Before joining Aalto in 2016, he was an independent consultant in fundraising and international cooperation for five years. From 2003 to 2011, he worked for the Nordic Council of Ministers in Lithuania and Denmark in governmental relations, as well as organizing international support for the European Humanities University, the Belarusian university-in-exile in Lithuania. He started his career in higher education management at the University of Helsinki in the 1990s in international relations. He also has experience in media and communications, and he has written six travel guidebooks. He has a master’s degree in theology from the University of Helsinki, and he has studied sociology and politics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

 

Wednesday, January 13 @ 10 a.m. PST /12:00 p.m. CST / 1:00 p.m. EST

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL FUNDRAISING DURING CHALLENGING TIMES: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

Participants:

• Elizabeth Kolb Farr, Senior Vice President
• Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, President
• Shelby LaMar, Consulting Vice President
• Jim McKey, Senior Vice President

Description:  What engagement and fundraising lessons have independent schools learned during COVID-19? What are the best strategies and tactics for continuing major gifts fundraising momentum as we emerge from the pandemic? How should school advancement teams involve Heads and trustees differently now? Join GG+A independent school experts Senior Vice President Elizabeth Kolb Farr, President Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, Consulting Vice President Shelby LaMar, and Senior Vice President Jim McKey, for in an in-depth webinar dedicated to the challenges schools have grappled with and the opportunities schools have seized during the pandemic. In addition to a review of recent survey results collected from schools across the nation and globe, Liz, Suzanne, Shelby, and Jim will share their expertise, firsthand accounts, and practical advice to help you emerge from the pandemic with a stronger and more high-performing advancement program.

On behalf of GG+A, each panelist counsels independent school clients, and they have more than 50 years of combined experience as independent school advancement professionals. With clients currently engaged in campaigns ranging in size from $7 million to $150+ million, from California to the Carolinas, the GG+A Independent School Practice Area has its collective finger on the pulse of school fundraising.

 

Tuesday, Dec 8, 12:30 p.m. GMT

University of St Andrews Imagining the Future Post-COVID

University of St Andrews Principal, Prof Sally Mapstone, and Robert Fleming, Director of Development, join Pete Lasher, GG+A Senior Vice President and Managing Director, to discuss how the institution has pivoted from addressing the immediate urgency of the pandemic to a longer-term vision for the University. In doing so, we will explore how they have engaged their top prospective donors in discussion of the role philanthropy can play in realising the institutional vision.

Robert has been Director of Development at the University of St Andrews since 2012, with responsibility for worldwide alumni and philanthropy programmes. In June 2018 the University completed the 600th Anniversary Campaign to raise £100m. Previously, he held similar positions at the University of Edinburgh and Trinity College of Music, was a consulting Vice President for GG+A, and served three years on the CASE Commission for Philanthropy.

 

 

 

Professor Sally Mapstone FRSE is Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews, the second woman in succession to hold this role there. She directs the University’s Strategy and is responsible for the University’s day-to-day running. She is Vice-Convener for Universities Scotland and also leads on its widening access work. She is a board member of Universities UK, a trustee of UCAS, the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, and of the Europaeum, and a member of the advisory board of the Higher Education Policy Institute. She is chair of the international advisory board for the University of Helsinki. In 2017 she received the Foreign Policy Association of America medal for services to higher education. In 2019 she was elected to the fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. As an academic Sally is a medievalist, with expertise in the area of medieval and Renaissance Scottish literature. She is President of the Saltire Society, which champions Scottish culture.

The University of St Andrews is Scotland’s first university, founded in 1413, and located on the East Coast of Scotland. Today, it is a vibrant academic town with a distinctively cosmopolitan feel where students and university staff account for more than half of the local population.

The University of St Andrews is a diverse and international community of almost 12,000 students and staff, typically of over 140 nationalities. Under the leadership of current Principal Professor Sally Mapstone, the University’s Strategy (2018-23) is to broaden its global influence, become more diverse, and consolidate its long-held position amongst the top five universities in the UK. St Andrews is consistently held to be one of the United Kingdom’s top universities in university league tables compiled by The Times and The Sunday Times, The Guardian and The Complete University Guide.

 

Monday, Dec 7, 11 a.m. CST

Discovery Work – A Trek into the Unknown

While many of us believe that a fundraiser’s most difficult task is asking for a gift, GG+A has learned through decades of experience that discovery work is, in fact, a fundraiser’s greatest source of anxiety. Join GG+A’s expert panel, President Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, Senior Vice President Pete Lasher, and Vice President Adrian Salmon, in an in-depth webinar dedicated to the prospect discovery process. Suzanne, Pete, and Adrian will share their expertise, perspectives, and practical advice to help you approach the discovery process differently – especially as this past year has prompted advancement professionals to reimagine the near- and long-term futures of their fundraising programs.

Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, President, partners with GG+A clients around the globe to help them elevate their fundraising by offering more than 25 years of experience in advancement, program building, and campaign planning and implementation. Throughout her career, she has helped design, rebuild, and reimagine programs by applying her experience with a wide range of advancement programs and institutions. She has worked closely with her clients through their individual challenges and opportunities, including ambitious campaigns, changes in leadership, crises, and restructuring. She has focused her work in the higher education, healthcare, independent schools, and artistic and cultural sectors.

Suzanne joined GG+A in 2011 and was appointed to the firm’s executive committee in 2013. In 2016, she became the firm’s first woman president in its nearly 60-year history. In addition to her other responsibilities, she leads the firm’s Europe and U.K. practice.

Her extensive previous professional experience includes fundraising, communications, and marketing development, specifically admissions marketing, alumni relations, and press office management. She has developed and implemented individual major giving programs and designed training and support programs to engage executives, deans, and trustees in fundraising.

Pete Lasher, Senior Vice President, brings to the firm more than 25 years of successful fundraising experience, including leadership of five separate billion-dollar capital campaigns at both private and public institutions in the US. As a consultant, he currently advises universities in North America and the UK that are in or have successfully completed campaigns ranging from $300 million to $2.5 billion.

Throughout his career, Pete has specialized in driving fundraising performance by utilizing philanthropic analytics and performance metrics to achieve campaign goals. He has particular expertise in board and volunteer management, campaign operations, major and principal gift program management, performance analytics, and fundraising training of development staff and academic and volunteer leadership.

Pete most recently served as the Associate Vice President for University Development for Michigan State University’s Advancement team, where he directed campaign operations and managed a fundraising staff. Previously, Pete was Associate Vice President for University Development at Georgetown University and served as Associate Senior Vice President of Development at the University of Southern California.

Adrian Salmon, Vice President, GG+A Europe, brings 20 years of direct-marketing fundraising experience in the higher education, arts and culture, and wider nonprofit spheres.

His particular expertise includes direct mail fundraising, annual giving program management, and management of contributions from integrated mail and online appeals.Before joining GG+A in 2015, Adrian was Footsteps Fund Manager at the University of Leeds, where he dramatically increased the University’s number of donors, annual giving income, and contributions from integrated mail and online appeals.

Adrian also implemented an automated propensity scoring system, the first to be used by a university in the United Kingdom, and designed and implemented the University’s first dedicated 20-seat fundraising call center. Prior to joining the University of Leeds, Adrian served for more than nine years with The Phone Room Ltd. as Director of Client Services and as Head of TPR Education. He headed numerous awardwinning telephone campaigns for nonprofit clients, including the National Galleries of Scotland, Symphony Hall Birmingham, and the Southbank Centre. He also established successful telephone fundraising campaigns for University of Salford and Birkbeck, University of London.

 

Thursday, Nov 19, 12 p.m. CST

All Aboard the Qualification Express: Using Surveys and Other Tools to Find Prospects

Identifying and qualifying new prospects can be a key challenge area for fundraising institutions, and one that can feel even more difficult in this time of virtual connection. In this webinar, GG+A SurveyLab reviews their recent partnership with three different institutions to help them better understand, qualify, and prioritize their prospect pools. From better understanding an unfamiliar prospect base, to helping prioritize outreach in service of an upcoming campaign, a prospect survey offers a roadmap in these uncertain times and provides an opportunity for constituents to “raise their hands” for further engagement.

 

Monday, Nov 9, 12 p.m. CST

Music Moves Us – Rallying Support During COVID for the Sarasota Orchestra – Webinar

Years of focus on the patron experience has allowed the Sarasota Orchestra to achieve record fundraising results during the COVID-19 pandemic. President and CEO Joe McKenna will discuss how the Sarasota Orchestra staff builds community with patrons, and how that community has supported their orchestra during difficult days.

An established leader and visionary non-profit administrator, Joseph McKenna, President and CEO, Sarasota Orchestra has lead organizations in the Northeast, Midwest and Southeast. During his tenure at the Orchestra, he has guided the organization through a period of unprecedented growth and change. During this period, there has been an artistic transformation of the Orchestra, an evolution of the organization’s governance structure, and an increase in the Orchestra’s endowment corpus by more than $10 million. Other successes include the Youth Orchestra’s debut at Carnegie Hall, the re-launch of the Orchestra’s brand and name change in 2008 and a reimagined development platform. In addition to successfully negotiating six labor contracts with the American Federation of Musicians, McKenna is recognized for his leadership in the governance field and his experience in public private partnerships. In 2013, he was a featured presenter at the Board Source National Conference in Los Angeles. Prior to coming to Sarasota, McKenna was Managing Director of the Cedarburg Performing Arts Center, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, where he supervised the final stages of construction and successfully opened greater Milwaukee’s newest multi-million dollar performing arts venue. Prior to heading up the Cedarburg Performing Arts Center, McKenna served as Executive Director of the Great Woods Educational Forum in Mansfield, Massachusetts, while concurrently serving as a member of the music faculty at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts from 1990 to 1998. While in the Boston area, McKenna served as a volunteer music instructor for the SPES Program, an inner city youth program serving the Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston.

 

Thursday, Nov 5, 12 p.m. CST

The Advancement Leader’s Role in Interdisciplinary Initiatives

Within higher education, the solutions to society’s greatest challenges are coming from research teams collaborating across academic disciplines. Advancement leaders have an increasingly important role to play in securing resources for these large-scale interdisciplinary initiatives typically requiring philanthropy in the tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. Join us to learn more about the essential skills which advancement leaders need in fostering these concepts, what the keys are to institutional success at this level of philanthropy, and how rethinking the role of the donor as an engaged partner is critical.

Since 2007, David Palmer has served as Vice President, Advancement for the University of Toronto, Canada’s largest research-intensive university.  The University of Toronto is consistently ranked among the top universities in the world.  In 2011, under David’s leadership, the University of Toronto launched it Boundless campaign, concluding in 2018 as the largest campaign in Canadian history with $2.64 billion raised.  In recent years, David and his colleagues at U of T have become exemplars across North America in securing several interdisciplinary, transformational gifts of $100 million or more.  David is a Trustee of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and is internationally recognized as a thought leader in advancement, particularly in the role that advancement leaders can play in securing resources for large-scale interdisciplinary initiatives.

 

Wednesday, Oct 29, 12 p.m. CST

Virtually Interactive Homecoming From Home

Join us to discuss Kutztown University’s 2020 Homecoming held in the KU Virtual World – hear how the University arranged week long virtual celebration culminating with a one-of-a-kind homecoming experience for their alumni, and their self-created avatars. See how guests experienced the weekend in virtual lecture halls, virtual affinity rooms, and even on the virtual beach with live music, dancing and more.

Mary Neuenschwander became Director of Alumni Relations at Kutztown University in February 2018. She has over eight years of experience in alumni relations ranging from overseeing a student ambassador organization to restructuring an alumni board. Prior to coming to Kutztown University, Mary was an elementary and middle school teacher in Ohio and Illinois.  She earned her undergraduate degree from Kent State University and Masters from New York University, with a residency at Oxford University.

 

Leah Cassellia is a student affairs professional with experience working in both public and private institutions.  She is a fierce advocate for student needs with experience in residence life, new student orientation, student activities, student union operations, and campus food pantry services.  Leah’s personal interests include listening to podcasts, sewing, working on Sudoku puzzles, and spending time with her family.

 

• Choose your own adventure: pivoting from traditional Gala to a reimagined Experience
• What 2020 Might Tell Us about the Future of Advancement
• A Conversation with Sasha Gerritson, Chair of DePaul University’s: “Now we Must” Campaign.
• A Predictive Analytics Journey: How NorthShore University HealthSystem Turned Their Hopes and Dreams into Reality
• Falling off the ladder: The way donors see recognition societies
• The implications of University reopenings through the lens of an advancement leader
• Leading a Growing Advancement Program and Campaign in the time of Covid-19
• Academic Medicine Advancement: Turning Passion into a Career
• Creative Approaches to Fundraising for Cultural Institutions
• Fundraising Campaigns in the time of COVID
• Using Donor Insight to Design Regular Giving Products
• How Carnegie Mellon University is Reimagining its Successful GivingCMUDay
• Digital Donor Engagement: Chart Your A-to-Z Course
• How a Top University with a Lean Advancement Team is Managing During the Pandemic: A Conversation with Kathi Dantley Warren, Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations at Rice University
• A Philanthropic Response to COVID-19 at Mexico’s Largest Private University
• Building a Post-COVID Strategy: A Conversation with James Husson of Boston College
• Very Small Shop Fundraising in a Pandemic
• Conducting Mini Campaign Planning Virtually: The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• How We Kept Fundraising Going in the Pandemic
• Yay! Quarantine is Over! Now What?
• Giving Appeals in the Time of Coronavirus: What We Can Learn From Examples.
• Engagement Activities for Major Gift Prospects: How Lyric Opera Responded
• GG+A SurveyLab’s DX: The Donor Experience Dashboard
• Moving Beyond Crisis Communications: Engaging Donors in a Changed World
• Stewardship During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond
• The Impact of COVID-19 on the Performing Arts
• Redefining engagement now and beyond COVID-19: Webinar with UVa’s Cindy Fredrick
• The Why of Data Governance webinar
• Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Ed webinar with Georgia State President
• Managing a campaign during the COVID-19 crisis: Made by McGill responds webinar
• Fundraising for NorthShore University HealthSystem’s COVID-19 response webinar
• Implementing your DonorScape Results/Prospect Management Basics
• Independent schools and COVID-19: How institutions can navigate the economic impact
• Giving Appeals in the Time of Coronavirus webinar
• Fundraising for the Nation’s Museums: Planning for an Uncertain Future webinar
• Making Relationships Matter: UCLA Advancement’s response to COVID-19 webinar
• Arts + culture: How institutions can navigate the economic impact of COVID-19 webinar
• Responding to the challenges of COVID-19 webinar

• It’s time to leverage leadership annual giving as a pipeline to major gifts
• How surveys can help institutions better leverage their volunteers
• The annual giving metrics you need to know to bolster donor retention
• 6 charitable giving opportunities to present to donors before the Biden administration’s tax changes take effect
• The benefits of adding a DEI officer to an advancement leadership team

• 4 fundraising lessons we learned in July
• The Olympics provide a simple solution to philanthropy’s employee turnover problem
• Expand the reach of feasibility studies with surveys
• One advantage that distinguished nonprofits during the pandemic: learning
• What I wish I knew about annual giving: A conversation with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Kim Mougenel and Kutztown University Foundation’s Jayanne Sevast
• Think creatively to deepen ties with your volunteers
• 5 fundraising lessons we learned in June
• Increasing donor satisfaction and retention starts with listening
• How to ensure your institution benefits from the online giving boom
• Giving reached a record high in 2020, according to Giving USA. Here are GG+A’s key takeaways.
• Calculating the cost of losing high-performing fundraisers
• The nano-campaign playbook: Strategies for swift, focused gifts projects
• 4 fundraising lessons we learned in May
• Parent perspectives on volunteering: An interview with two Kinkaid School trustees
• The strategy that many hospitals are missing when it comes to building a major gift pipeline
• Now is the time to equip your boards to thrive well into the future. Here’s where to start.
• 4 fundraising lessons we learned in April
• How volunteers can help nonprofit institutions thrive
• The importance of fundraising strategy
• What to think about as you start a planned giving program
• It’s time to start planning for the post-COVID campaign
• 4 fundraising lessons we learned in March
• Nearly every campaign will encounter unforeseen challenges. Here’s how to tackle them.
• Independent schools’ major gifts fundraising is not just for campaigns anymore
• What nonprofits can learn from the success of GoFundMe and other crowdfunding platforms
• Board best practices for independent school fundraising
• 5 fundraising lessons we learned in February
• The challenge and opportunity of navigating leadership changes in the middle of a campaign
• Gift-officer-in-chief: The head of school’s role in major gifts work
• How to turn around an underperforming board
• Are comprehensive fundraising campaigns still effective?
• How COVID-19 will continue to impact fundraising well after the pandemic passes
• 4 fundraising lessons we learned in January
• How to engage academic partners for win-win results
• 5 lessons from Mackenzie Scott’s modern approach to philanthropy
• Aligning development activities with institutional strategic plans
• Bringing gift opportunities to life for annual donors
• It’s time to develop a virtual stewardship model
• Take a fresh look at your stewardship program
• Campaign caught COVID-19? Adapting to the ‘new normal’
• Creating a virtual homecoming experience: Q-and-A with Kutztown’s director of alumni relations and director of student involvement
• Why it pays to ask donors how they feel about annual giving
• How annual and leadership annual giving can drive discovery in the new era
• How to earn your end-of-year gift in 2020
• It’s time to renew the purpose of your leadership annual giving program
• It’s time to rethink major gift officer metrics
• Want to know what your donors are thinking? Ask them!
• It’s time for small shops to start a planned giving program
• What we’ve learned about philanthropy since March—and what it means for the months to come
• Here’s how major gift officers can overcome pandemic fatigue
• Adapting the discovery process to the remote environment requires creative thinking
• Independent schools need to shift from pivoting to proactive planning
• This is community colleges’ mission moment
• It’s time for cultural institutions to rethink the role of their auxiliary groups
• The FY21 annual fund: Hope is not a strategy
• Back to school looks very different this year. What does that mean for how advancement shops engage parents?
• Leveraging fundraising volunteers during tumultuous times
• Do you have an issue management plan?
• The critical role of arts and culture boards, now and moving forward
• Survey: Advancement offices and fundraising continue remote models with unpredictable return to in-person events
• How small shops can steward new donors
• How to decide when to stop, go or pivot your fundraising events
• The basic rules of engagement haven’t changed, but the pandemic has created new opportunities and challenges
• The case for need-based scholarships is the case for our future
• Survey: Fundraisers are more concerned over the longer-term negative forecast
• 3 silver lining for advancement programs in the COVID-19 world
• It’s time to rethink the discovery process
• Why institutions need to understand what their donors are thinking
• Building a Post-COVID Strategy Webinar with James Husson of Boston College
• Short-term negative fundraising outlook jumps while 60- and 90-day remain stable, survey finds
• Very Small Shop Fundraising in a Pandemic Webinar with GG+A’s Al Novak
• The (virtual) arc of engagement: Moving donor conversations forward
• Survey: Overall fundraising outlook on upswing while crowdsourcing, giving days results remain promising
• Conducting a Mini Campaign Planning Study Virtually: Webinar with Harvard Chan’s Development Leader Kristen Rozansky
• How health care fundraisers can rethink prospect engagement
• Survey finds slight uptick in negative fundraising outlook over 90 days and positive outcomes from crowdsourcing, giving days
• ‘Yay! Quarantine is Over! Now What?’ webinar with development director of Victoria University in New Zealand
• ‘How We Kept Fundraising Going in a Pandemic’ webinar with John T. Rogers of Penn Charter
• Three-month outlook for fundraising holding steady, SurveyLab tracking survey finds
• GG+A statement on the deeply disturbing recent events in America and a call to action
• More Crisis Fundraising, or ‘Now what do I do?’
• Survey: Fundraising outlooks improve slightly this week, signaling hope in the turmoil
• Donor stewardship during the pandemic and beyond: Q-and-A with UToronto’s Gillian Morrison
• Survey finds 30-, 60-, and 90-day outlook for fundraising stabilizing
• Charting a path to fundraising success: Lessons from Penn State’s crisis
• In times of uncertainty, now more than ever—drop the clichés. (Here’s how to break the habit.)
• How advancement programs can demonstrate ROI during challenging budget times.
• Redefining donor and alumni engagement: A Q-and-A with UVa’s Cindy Fredrick
• It’s an ideal time for wealth and philanthropic screening
• How emerging major gifts programs can flourish during the COVID-19 crisis
• Cultural institutions need to rethink their financial models. Philanthropy can help.
• Here’s why gift officers should focus on planned giving
• Survey: 60- and 90-day fundraising outlook sunniest since tracking began
• Q-and-A with McGill University Advancement leader Marc Weinstein
• Q-and-A with Robert J. Spiller: Smithsonian Assistant Secretary for Advancement answers your questions
• Survey: Fundraising outlook shows downturn after a month of upswing
• How philanthropy might recover from a COVID-19 recession
• Keep calm and carry on fundraising during uncertain times
• 4 keys to managing fundraisers working remotely
• Survey: Sentiment continues to improve for 30- and 60-day outlook, 90-day remains steady
• Why philanthropic analytics are crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic
• UCLA Advancement leader responds to more of your questions: Q-and-A with Rhea Turteltaub
• Q-and-A with Rhea Turteltaub: UCLA Advancement leader answers your questions
• Talking to donors about the hard stuff
• Survey: Fewer fundraisers see major negative impact over next 2 months; budget and salary cuts increase
• Annual giving during the COVID-19 crisis: An update and resources
• Gift officer and physician engagement: How we can support and steward our health care teams
• Survey: Pace of remote donor meetings picks up, as do hiring freezes and budget cuts
• Spring gala is canceled. What now?
• How to innovate in midst of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Planned giving and pandemics: Strategies for smaller shops
• Survey: Fundraising outlook darkens while offices go fully remote
• Survey: Data confirms high levels of uncertainty on current fundraising operations
• COVID-19 and annual giving: 7 keys to continuity
• Nonprofit executives can help us make sense of this uncertain moment
• 4 ways to engage major donors during the COVID-19 crisis
• Donor communications in a time of coronavirus