Find our upcoming and past virtual events

Giving for Impact

Through her leadership and her incredible generosity, philanthropist and business leader Adrienne Arsht has had an enormous impact on not only those institutions with which she works but also on how others have approached their giving. In this conversation with GG+A President Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, Adrienne Arsht will share more about the goals for her philanthropy and her reflections on impact.

Adrienne Arsht

Business Leader and Impact Philanthropist

Adrienne Arsht is a business leader and impact philanthropist. She has taken a leading role promoting artistic, business, and civic growth in the three cities she calls home: Washington, D.C., Miami and New York. Her $30 million contribution to Miami’s Performing Arts Center in 2008 secured its financial footing. In her honor, the Center was renamed the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. In 2012, her contribution of $10 million to Lincoln Center was recognized with the dedication of the Adrienne Arsht Stage in Alice Tully Hall. Recently, Ms. Arsht donated $ 10 million to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in support of the METLIVEARTS performance series. This is the single largest gift to the Department of Live Arts and will fund Department activities that uplift and highlight themes of resilience through art. In October 2022, Ms. Arsht donated $10 million to the Smithsonian Institution to launch the Adrienne Arsht Community-Based Resilience Solutions Initiative, a multi-year program to research tropical resilience and educate the public about the role resilience plays in shaping the world around us.

Suzanne Hilser-Wiles

President, GG+A

Grenzebach Glier and Associates

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.

Creating a Culture for Campaign Success

Embarking on a major campaign requires thoughtful preparation, attention to detail, and strong internal alignment—especially when it’s your first! Ensuring you have the right processes, people, and priorities in place is just the beginning. Find out how the Filoli Historic House and Garden is embracing significant internal cultural shifts and experiencing rapid growth as it readies for a comprehensive campaign. And learn key takeaways for managing change and preparing for fundraising success.

Kara Newport

President & CEO

Filoli Historic House and Garden

Kara Newport came to Filoli as the President & CEO in 2016. Since that time, she has worked with exceptionally talented staff to ensure that Filoli is a place of beauty and refuge for the broadest community. With a shared passion for plants and history, she seeks to create resonant programming that connects people to this incredible place. Kara has been a professional fundraiser at diverse organizations including a science museum, zoo, and historic properties, and is committed to elevating the experience for all Filoli visitors through contributions from the community. As a director of a garden for more than a decade, she is most connected to the public gardens community and serves on the national public gardens board.

Lisa Brown

Vice President

GG+A

Lisa Brown brings two decades of experience in development and strategic management to GG+A. Having served in key advancement roles at prestigious cultural institutions, such as the Guggenheim Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Lisa drives positive institutional transformation by building meaningful relationships with donors, volunteers, and other high-level stakeholders. Her expertise includes annual giving, Board relations, corporate sponsorship, stewardship, strategic planning, and more. (Read her full bio.)

In June 2023, CASE issued its inaugural Insights on Philanthropy in Independent Schools report. In partnership with NAIS, CASE collected and analyzed data specific to independent school fundraising and philanthropy. In this webinar, we’ll be interviewing Ann Snyder, the CASE expert on independent school fundraising, and asking her to share and interpret key findings from the Insights on Philanthropy in Independent Schools report. How do day vs. boarding schools and coed vs. single-sex schools differ in their fundraising outcomes – and why? Where do the largest gifts come from? Which constituencies give the most support? How does investment in advancement correlate to fundraising outcomes? Join us for the answers to these and other questions – and ask some of your own!

Insights on Independent School Philanthropy

Ann Snyder – Senior Director for Communities Engagement, CASE

An independent school alumna, Ann Snyder became CASE’s first-ever director of independent and international schools and now serves as its Senior Director for Communities Engagement. Prior to joining CASE, Ann was Director of External Affairs and Enrollment at Stuart Hall School. In addition, she worked in communications and alumni relations positions at several organizations serving independent and international schools.

Elizabeth Kolb Farr – Senior Vice President and Independent Schools Practice Leader, GG+A

Elizabeth Kolb Farr leads GG+A’s Independent Schools Practice. An alumna of Friends’ Central School, Liz spent 27 years working in independent schools before joining GG+A. Her article “The Importance of Fundraising Strategy” was featured in the Spring 2021 issue of Independent School, the magazine of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), and she was a featured contributor to the NAIS book, “The Trustee’s Role in Fundraising.” Liz is also a frequent speaker at the CASE-NAIS Annual Conference for Independent Schools.

Lindsey Mann Field – Vice President, GG+A

Lindsey Mann Field serves as Vice President in the Independent Schools Practice at GG+A. She is an alumna of Darlington School and has spent her career leading and building development teams at independent schools. Her expertise in annual and major gift programs, campaign strategy and execution, constituent engagement, and advancement services comes from her 20 years of experience in educational fundraising, most recently serving as Director of Development at Gaston Day School.

Advancement Services: Empowering Stakeholders to Drive Change

As fundraising initiatives in higher education become more expansive, institutions need the leadership and support of strong Advancement Services teams. In this webinar, GG+A Vice President Mary Carole Starke and Suzy La Croix, Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Occidental College, will discuss the vital role Advancement Services plays in coordinating staff and technological resources and shaping data-driven engagement strategies across an institution. Learn how to reframe challenges and uncover opportunities for sustainable fundraising growth. 

Suzy LaCroix, Vice President for Institutional Advancement

Suzy LaCroix is the Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Occidental College. For more than 20 years, Suzy has worked in all facets of advancement and brings a strategic focus to the implementation of critical operational and system changes. Her experience includes campaign management, individual donor and annual giving fundraising, advancement services, alumni engagement, and donor relations. In her 10 years at Occidental, she led the development and execution of the College’s first comprehensive campaign in more than 20 years – exceeding the campaign’s goal with more than $250 million raised. 

 

Mary Carole Starke,  Vice President

Mary Carole Starke is a Vice President in the Advancement Services practice area at GG+A, where she consults with clients on a number of technology, data, and operations-related projects including advancement technology; prospect management; gift and records processing; organizational analytics; and more. She brings nearly 30 years of experience to the firm, including more than 20 years in development and Advancement Services senior leadership roles at Vassar College. Her expertise includes CRM systems, data management, prospect development, analytics, systems and technology, and stewardship…(read more)

From Major Events to Major Gifts: How Brevard Zoo Shifted Its Culture of Philanthropy

Join GG+A Senior Vice President Bob Ramin and Dr. Ellen Winter, Chief Philanthropy Officer at Brevard Zoo, for an insightful conversation on how the Zoo has successfully pivoted from events-based fundraising to engage even higher levels of philanthropic support. With a restructured development operation and the strategic use of volunteers, Ellen and her team have raised more than $64 million to date toward the building of a new $100–million aquarium project at Port Canaveral, Florida. Learn about the challenges and opportunities Ellen encountered in shifting the giving culture among Brevard Zoo’s supporters, and how she achieved remarkable results. 

 

Dr. Ellen Winter, Chief Philanthropy Officer, Brevard Zoo

Robert Ramin, Senior Vice President, GG+A

Bob Ramin, Senior Vice President, has spent his career directing and developing institutions on behalf of animal welfare, combining his breadth of fundraising and philanthropic knowledge with his passion for wildlife conservation efforts. Bob’s more than 30 years in the voluntary sector have been focused on building organizational capacity and transforming members into major donors. Before joining GG+A, Bob was the President and CEO of Washington Animal Rescue League, where he oversaw a comprehensive medical center, state-of-the-art shelter, and food bank. He also implemented programs in humane education, behavior, and training. With Bob’s guidance, the organization achieved and increased its fundraising goals, engaged and enhanced key major donor relationships, and saw an increased emphasis on planned giving. (Read more…)

 

Current Issues in Advancement

Join GG+A President Suzanne Hilser-Wiles and Brian Hastings, President and CEO at the University of Nebraska Foundation, as they discuss an array of topics facing today’s institutional leaders. From the impact of adopting CASE’s updated Global Reporting Standards, to perspectives on developing an institution’s future philanthropists, Brian will offer an industry-wide view that draws on his decades of experience in fundraising and nonprofit leadership, including his service as a CASE board member. With the great success of Nebraska’s current campaign, “Only in Nebraska,” Brian will share not only what he is seeing in the field of philanthropy, but also how his team is adapting to and growing with these changes.

Brian Hastings

President and Chief Executive Officer

The University of Nebraska Foundation

Brian Hastings serves as president and chief executive officer of the University of Nebraska Foundation, an organization that grows relationships and resources that enable the University of Nebraska to change lives and save lives. He has served in this role since 2012.

Hastings has broad experience, ranging from annual giving to principal gifts, including various senior leadership roles. Prior to joining the University of Nebraska Foundation, he served The Ohio State University as senior associate vice president and campaign executive director, assistant vice president for principal gifts, and assistant vice president for development. In his last role there, he worked with university and volunteer leadership to plan and implement Ohio State’s $3 billion comprehensive campaign. Additionally, Hastings previously led the annual giving program at the University of Dayton, Ohio’s largest private university, where he helped double the alumni participation rate in four years. He is proud of having started his university advancement career as a student caller at Ohio State.

Hastings is a longtime volunteer and leader with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). He is a member of the CASE Board of Trustees and chairs the CASE Commission on Philanthropy. Previously, he was a member of the U.S./Canada Regional Council, the District VI Cabinet, and the Committee on College and University Foundations. He has been a faculty member for various CASE conferences and institutes, and co-chaired the group that updated the global reporting standards for the profession, which were published in 2021.

Hastings is a first-generation college graduate and lifelong Midwesterner. He and his wife, Sharon, have two children and reside in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Suzanne Hilser-Wiles

President, GG+A

Grenzebach Glier and Associates

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.

What’s the Big Idea?: Building Principal Gift Propositions

As our institutions become more reliant on big gifts from a smaller group of high-level donors, the pressure to articulate compelling, transformational funding opportunities linked to strategic objectives mounts. Thinking beyond immediate and operational needs to formulate the kind of ideas that inspire donors to make big investments isn’t an easy task — but it’s a critical one. Join us for a conversation with Jeremy Galvin, Vice President and Chief Development Officer of the Iowa State University Foundation, for insights on how he and his team engage key stakeholders and leadership in the collaborative process of generating big ideas for maximum impact.

 

Lisa Aaronson, Senior Vice President, is a strategic communications leader with an expertise in philanthropic analytics, advancement services, strategic planning, stewardship, and brand strategy. Throughout her career, Lisa has built award-winning, high-performing teams and has driven bottom-line results in the healthcare and higher education sectors.

 

 

Jeremy Galvin serves as the Vice President and Chief Development officer, a position he has held at the Iowa State University Foundation since 2015. Prior to that, he served at the Iowa State University Foundation as the assistant vice president, senior director of development for the Ivy College of Business, and as a development officer on the annual and special gifts team. Jeremy has been with the foundation since 2003. 

 

Giving USA Report 2022

Every year, Giving USA releases the nation’s most comprehensive report on philanthropy, identifying the issues and trends that matter to nonprofit leaders across the sector. This three-part webinar series will highlight findings from the recent 2022 report, and will examine current data as well as broader trends our team of consultants have observed over the years. Join us for these brief but in-depth conversations on the state of charitable giving in the U.S.

Role of Major Gifts

Suzanne Hilser-Wiles

President

June 20 | 2p |

 

The Generational Wealth Transfer

Michael Degenhart

Vice President

June 21 | 2p |

 

Donor Counts and Analytics

Pete Lasher

Senior Vice President

June 22 | 2p |

 

 

Creighton Lang

Senior Vice President

June 22 | 2p |

 

Session II:  Building Successful Propositions to Inspire Women’s Philanthropy 

When: Tuesday, June 13th, 11:00 a.m. EST

Focuses on the three initiatives that Dartmouth alumnae developed to mobilize women in support of the campaign and the university. Panelists will discuss the women’s initiatives, sharing what they learned about what women want from a philanthropic experience, how Dartmouth responded with compelling propositions, the relationship between volunteers and staff throughout the course of the initiative, what they hope will be long-standing dividends for Dartmouth, and how might their experience help us understand the role women leaders can play in elevating and supporting so many other diverse philanthropic initiatives across the globe.

Panel participants will include:

1. Susie Huang, Vice Chairman, Global Head of Investment Banking, Morgan Stanley and current Dartmouth Trustee
2. Beth Cogan Fascitelli, Goldman Sachs Partner and retired COO of Merchant Banking and current Dartmouth Trustee
3. Caroline Hribar, Managing Director, Accenture Song and member of the Campaign Executive Committee 

Equipping Fundraisers for Philanthropy’s Future

When: Tuesday, May 30th, 1:00pm CST

Join GG+A President Suzanne Hilser-Wiles as she speaks with Kevin Foyle, Senior Vice President of Development and Public Affairs for UTHealth and outgoing Board Chair for AFP-Global. They will be discussing the evolution of philanthropy and the fundraising profession as seen through the broad lens of AFP and experienced by Kevin and his team at UTHealth.

 

Kevin J. Foyle

Senior Vice President for Development and Public Affairs and Chief Development Officer

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston)

Kevin J. Foyle is the senior vice president for development and public affairs and chief development officer for the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston). He leads the fundraising program for the most comprehensive academic health center in the UT System and the US Gulf Coast region. Foyle directly supports the institution’s president and six academic schools, serves on the university’s executive council and manages the 150-member development board. He oversees all aspects of UTHealth Houston’s development program including management of a $10M annual operating budget and a staff team of 65 members. Additionally, he oversees the strategic direction for the university’s 20-member public affairs department including oversight of the institution’s comprehensive marketing and branding campaign. During his ten-year tenure with the institution, he has increased their annual new gift commitments from an average of $25 million to more than $60 million. As a result, the university launched its first comprehensive fundraising campaign, Many Faces. One Mission., with a $500 million goal which was surpassed by raising $534 million. He serves as a member of the advisory board of the Hermann Park Conservancy and as a senior fellow in the American Leadership Forum. In 2017, Foyle received the Outstanding Fundraising Executive of the Year award at the National Philanthropy Day ceremonies in Houston.

Suzanne Hilser-Wiles

President, GG+A

Grenzebach Glier and Associates

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.

Session I:  Campaign Design and Leadership 

When: Thursday, May 11th, 11:00 a.m. EST

Explores how to build inclusive campaign volunteer structures and their composition, assumptions around gift capacity, expectations around solicitation and stewardship, and implications for the future, including representation in governance, strategy development, and building a sustainable culture of giving. 

Speakers:

• Laurel Richie, Campaign Co-chair and Chair Emerita of the Dartmouth Board of Trustees
• Peggy Tanner, Campaign Co-chair and Dartmouth Trustee Emerit
• Ellie Loughlin, Campaign Co-chair and current Dartmouth Truste
• Bob Lasher, Dartmouth’s Senior Vice President for Advancement
• John Glier, GG+A’s Chief Executive Officer

Preparing Your University to Receive Its Largest Gifts Ever

When: April 24, 2023 | 2:30p EST / 1:30p CST

During Make Possible: the Campaign for Carnegie Mellon, CMU received three of the four $100-million+ gifts it has received in its history. Join Suzanne Hilser-Wiles and Scott Mory, CMU’s Vice President for University Advancement, as they talk about the circumstances that led to these gifts, the projects and colleagues that inspired them, and the donors who made them. 

Speakers:

• Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, GG+A President
• Scott Mory, Vice President for University Advancement at Carnegie Mellon University

Scott Mory is responsible for overseeing the university’s overall advancement efforts and for building partnerships with all of CMU’s philanthropic and volunteer communities, including university alumni, parents and friends; charitable foundations; and corporate donors.  

Appointed in 2015, Mory works closely with administrative and academic leadership to develop advancement plans and resources to fulfill the university’s potential and support its continued ascent. Under his leadership, in October 2019 the university launched its most ambitious philanthropic campaign to date — Make Possible: The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon University. Thus far, more than 56,000 supporters have supported the campaign, committing $1.9 billion of its $2 billion goal. Among the impacts these supporters have had include the creation of 50 new endowed faculty chairs, including 4 endowed deanships; more than 300 new endowed scholarships and fellowships; and new world-class facilities like the Tepper Quad and ANSYS Hall, as well as new planned facilities for science and for health, wellness and athletics. 

Mory was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) in July 2022. In the Pittsburgh community, Mory is a member of the Andy Warhol Museum Advisory Board and the AHN Cancer Institute Advisory Council.  

Prior to joining CMU, Mory served as associate senior vice president and campaign director at the University of Southern California, managing the day-to-day activities of the Campaign for USC, a historic effort to raise $6 billion. He joined USC in 2007 as associate senior vice president for Alumni Relations, a position he held until his promotion to campaign director in 2012. Prior to USC, Mory served as assistant vice president for Alumni Relations and Annual Giving at George Washington University. He also was an adjunct professor in the university’s law school, teaching a first-year course on legal research, writing and oral advocacy.  

Scott holds a bachelor’s degree from the George Washington University and a juris doctor from the George Washington University Law School. Following law school, he clerked for the Hon. John Garrett Penn of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and practiced as a litigation associate at the New York office of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP.  

 

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.

So, You Are a New Vice President – Now What? Lessons Learned from Rutgers and Arizona State

When: Wednesday, March 8,
9:00 a.m. PT, 10 a.m. MT, 11:00 a.m. CT, 12:00 p.m. ET

Speakers:

• Kimberly Hopely, President, Rutgers University Foundation
• Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, President, GG+A

Whether you are appointed Vice President for Advancement for the first time or just new to the role at this institution, launching successfully takes a thoughtful plan and some clear-eyed expectations for yourself and others. Join us for a conversation with Kimberly Hopely, who will share her lessons learned, including what to expect from those first few years, how to best prepare for this exciting new challenge and how to make sure you and your team are aligned. Whether you are new in your role, wondering how to reset in your current role, or considering whether a vice presidency is right for you, this conversation is for you!

In October of 2021, Kimberly Hopely became executive vice president for development and alumni engagement at Rutgers University and president of Rutgers University Foundation, the nonprofit organization that secures private philanthropic support for Rutgers. She leads the organization’s mission to create meaningful engagement and giving opportunities that help Rutgers better the world, while building bridges between alumni and donors to the university.

Prior to joining the Rutgers community, Kimberly was senior vice president and chief development officer at the ASU Foundation at Arizona State University, her alma mater, where they completed a comprehensive fundraising campaign that totaled $2.35 billion. In her six years at ASU, she helped to triple annual fundraising, create professional development and promotional opportunities, and instituted a leadership caucus to encourage and invest in diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Before beginning her work at ASU, Kimberly was senior director of operations and development at Banner Health Foundation in Phoenix, where she led the fundraising strategy for Banner MD Anderson, Banner Children’s, and Banner University Medicine. Prior to that, she was senior director of development and then assistant vice president for university advancement at A.T. Still University of Health Sciences. In that position, she became the first non-physician chosen for the American Osteopathic Association health policy fellowship.

Kimberly also served as executive director of the United Way of Grays Harbor and director of a program to reduce substance abuse, both in Aberdeen, Washington. She oversaw health services for 11 centers with Head Start and Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program contracts in Whatcom County, Washington.

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.

 

Campaigning in Challenging Times: A Blueprint for Success

When: Monday, January 23,
10:00 a.m. PT, 11 a.m. MT, 12:00 p.m. CT, 1:00 p.m. ET

Speakers:

• Jonathan E. Eades, Head of School, The Kinkaid School
• Elizabeth Kolb Farr, Senior Vice President and Independent Schools Practice Leader, GG+A
• Tom Moore, Director of Advancement, The Kinkaid School

Fundraising success is familiar to The Kinkaid School, but the School faced significant hurdles in 2020 as it aspired to launch its next major fundraising effort. A new head of school, a global pandemic, societal unrest, a charged political climate, and a community that had been clamoring for a new upper school facility for nearly a decade. In this panel discussion, Kinkaid’s head of school and chief advancement officer will share the steps they took to launch the School’s largest-ever campaign just 15 months after the new head took office. Less than 14 months after launch, the School’s community has committed more than $100 million toward the $125 million goal.

Jonathan E. Eades became Head of School at The Kinkaid School in Houston, TX in July 2020. Amidst a global pandemic and a racial reckoning, he was asked to launch an historic nine-figure campaign for the School within his first 18 months. He did. An independent school educator and administrator for nearly three decades, Jonathan spent 13 years as Head of School at Saint Mary’s Hall in San Antonio, Texas, prior to joining Kinkaid. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Williams College and a Master’s in Education from Columbia University.

 

Elizabeth Kolb Farr, Senior Vice President, leads GG+A’s Independent Schools practice area. She has expertise in instituting and orchestrating high-performance major gift programs as well as preparing for and executing capital campaigns. She has advised and partnered with The Kinkaid School since 2019. An independent school alumna, Liz spent 27 years serving schools before joining GG+A in 2017. She earned her Bachelor of Science from Vassar College.

 

 

With a 30-year career in fundraising, Tom Moore has spent the past the past 21 years as Director of Advancement at The Kinkaid School, where he has overseen four previous campaigns and has partnered successfully with four different heads of school during his tenure. Tom leads a staff of 12 who are responsible for all facets of engagement and fundraising activities at Kinkaid, a school of more than 1,450 students. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Hamilton College and a Master’s degree from Syracuse University.

 

 

Nurturing Your Network: Using Survey Data to Deepen Engagement and Tailor Programming

When: Tuesday, November 29,
10:00 a.m. PT, 11 a.m. MT, 12:00 p.m. CT, 1:00 p.m. ET

Speakers:

• Andrew Allred, Senior Vice President, GG+A
• Royal Rarick, Associate Director, SurveyLab, GG+A
• Kristen B. Rozansky, Associate Dean Alumni Engagement, and Development, Yale Law School

What do alumni and constituents really think about your institution? What makes them feel connected? How do they want to be engaged… and are they likely to give? Surveys can provide answers to these questions and more. Learn how Yale Law School is using survey data to deepen connections with its alumni and make informed outreach decisions for marketing and fundraising. If you work with donors – and you’ve asked yourself these questions – you won’t want to miss this webinar.

Kristen B. Rozansky, Associate Dean of Alumni Engagement and Development at Yale Law School, has more than 25 years of leadership experience in institutional advancement. Her professional background includes roles in higher education, academic medicine, biomedical research, and public health. In addition to developing high-performing alumni engagement and fundraising teams, Kristen has led numerous successful funding campaigns and capital initiatives. Previously, she held executive positions in development and communications at Harvard University, Columbia University, Jackson Laboratory, Penn State, and the University of Pennsylvania.  

Andrew Allred is a Senior Vice President at GG+A with more than 25 years of experience in development, fundraising, and management. He works with higher education, academic medicine, and cultural institutions around the world to evaluate their fundraising programs, identify opportunities and strategies, and organize fundraising priorities. Andrew also guides institutions in the planning and execution of major campaigns. His expertise spans all facets of a development program, including planned, principal, major, and annual giving; stewardship; advancement services; and donor relations. 

 Royal Rarick is the Associate Director for GG+A’s SurveyLab, where he specializes in delivering custom business development projects to institutional clients. His expertise includes survey development, data collection and analysis, and communications. Royal previously served as a senior associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Washington, D.C., where he developed and led client-focused strategic organizational planning projects. He also spent more than a decade working at Chicago-based firms in organizational development and operational roles, applying his knowledge in survey development and administration. 

 

 

Advancement Benchmarking in Independent Schools: What should we measure, and why? 

When: Monday, October 3,
10:00 a.m. PT, 11 a.m. MT, 12:00 p.m. CT, 1:00 p.m. ET

Speakers:

• Mary K. Carrasco, Senior Vice President, GG+A
• Elizabeth Kolb Farr, Senior Vice President and Independent Schools Practice Leader, GG+A
• Ann Snyder, Senior Director for Communities Engagement, CASE

Join three thought leaders in independent school fundraising for a discussion on collecting, analyzing, and benchmarking fundraising data in independent schools. With ever more pressure to increase philanthropic revenue in school advancement programs, combined with limited staff resources to perform analytics and benchmarking, how should advancement staff be measuring success and informing strategy and tactics for fundraising? What matters? Cost per dollar raised? Board giving? Alumni participation? If none of these common benchmarks, then what? Hear from these leaders about the key data points any independent school program should be measuring and benchmarking against its peers. Ann Snyder will also discuss CASE and NAIS’s recently-launched partnership in collecting independent school fundraising data and some of the benefits of the partnership.  

About the Speakers

Mary Carrasco, GG+A Senior Vice President served Sidwell Friends School for nine years as the Assistant Head of School for Advancement before joining GG+A in 2021. She also spent time as Assistant Head of School at Mercersburg Academy, where she managed a 21-person staff and designed Mercersburg’s $148 million Mightily Onward campaign, for which she was a primary solicitor. Mary co-founded the CASE Independent School Leadership Group and chaired the 2012 CASE-NAIS Conference as well as the 2016-2020 CASE Independent School Fundraising Awards Committees. She is an independent school alumna and served her alma mater as a trustee.  

Elizabeth Kolb Farr, Senior Vice President, joined GG+A in 2017 and, in 2021, assumed leadership of the firm’s Independent Schools Practice Area. She holds particular expertise in instituting and orchestrating high-performance major gift programs, preparing for and executing capital campaigns, sustaining and accelerating annual giving, coaching frontline fundraisers, and training boards in fundraising and campaign best practices. Liz’s article “The Importance of Fundraising Strategy” was featured in the Spring 2021 issue of Independent School, the magazine of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). She was also a featured contributor to the NAIS book, “The Trustee’s Role in Fundraising.” An independent school alumna, Liz spent 27 years serving schools before joining GG+A. 

An independent school alumna, Ann Snyder became CASE’s first-ever director of independent and international schools in March 2020. She previously served for seven years as director of external affairs and enrollment at Stuart Hall School, a PreK to grade 12, coed, day/boarding school in Staunton, Virginia. In addition, she worked in communications and alumni relations positions at several organizations serving independent and international schools. In her role at CASE, Ann works with member schools, volunteers, and CASE colleagues to deepen engagement between CASE and its school membership as well as to offer more professional development opportunities for advancement professionals in independent and international schools. Ann holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Writing from The College of William and Mary. 

 

The Impact of Names Image and Likeness on Collegiate Athletic Fundraising through the Lens of LSU Athletics

When: Thursday, June 23, @ 9:00 a.m. PDT, 11:00 a.m. CDT, 12:00 p.m. EDT

Speakers:

• Matt Borman is the CEO of the Tiger Athletic Foundation at LSU
• Stephanie Rempe is the Executive Deputy Atheltic Director and COO of the LSU Athletic Program.
• Pete Lasher, Senior Vice President, GG+A

Name, image and likeness (NIL) are three elements that make up a legal concept known as right of publicity and has to do with the ability of college athletes to earn money from sponsorship, to be paid for social media posts and other advertising dollars. The introduction of NIL policies has created severe disruption within athletic departments and their fundraising organizations. Pete Lasher, a GG+A Senior Vice President, talks with Matt Borman, the CEO of Tiger Athletic Foundation at LSU and Stephanie Rempe, Executive Deputy Athletic Director and COO of the LSU Athletic Program to understand the impact of NIL on collegiate athletic Fundraising. 

Matthew Borman, who has overseen record-setting efforts over a 17+ year career in collegiate athletics fundraising, was named President and Chief Executive Office for Tiger Athletic Foundation (TAF) in April of 2021.

Borman joined TAF after serving as the Deputy Athletic Director at Georgia since 2017. During his four years at Georgia, Borman oversaw the most successful fundraising period in the history of Bulldog Athletics. He led the department to unprecedented success with over $140M in a 4-year span including surpassing 1,200 donors to their major giving initiatives.

Prior to his time at Georgia, Borman served as West Virginia’s lead fundraiser and the executive director of the Mountaineer Club. Under his leadership, fundraising at West Virginia reached record levels with his efforts leading to a new basketball practice facility, weight room and team room for the football program and a women’s soccer practice facility. Borman also served as a member of the senior leadership team for the WVU Foundation, the university’s fundraising arm.

Prior to West Virginia, Borman had fundraising stints at Old Dominion University (2007-2008), Army (2005-07) and James Madison University (2003-05). While at Old Dominion he was the Director of Major Gifts and helped raise more than $2 million annually through premium seat sales, annual contributions, endowments and naming rights opportunities. At West Point, he was Assistant Athletic Director for Development and oversaw an annual fund that increased donations by 52 percent to an all-time high of $2.78 million. At JMU, he helped increase the annual fund by 45 percent in 2005.

Taylor Jacobs currently serves as the main point of contact for all NIL related issues at LSU.  She spent the last nine years serving as a compliance administrator (the last seven at LSU) before shifting into an NIL focused role. As a former student-athlete, Jacobs believes in the value of providing education and opportunity to the student-athletes at LSU as they navigate the ever-changing landscape of college athletes. In addition to creating the educational programming surrounding NIL, she also works closely with many departments within athletics, as well as campus, to ensure LSU is staying out front in the NIL space.

Prior to her time at LSU, she served as the Recruiting Coordinator for Olympic Sports at Auburn University where she was a member of the women’s tennis team.  She earned her bachelor’s degree in Communications from Auburn in 2012, then her master’s degree in Higher Education and Sports Administration in December of 2013.

 

Insights Into Current Philanthropy in America: Giving USA’s Annual Report

When: Tuesday, June 21, @ 9:00 a.m. PDT, 11:00 a.m. CDT, 12:00 p.m. EDT

Speakers:

• John Glier, CEO, Grenzebach Glier and Associates
• Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, President Grenzebach Glier and Associates

Join John Glier, Grenzebach Glier and Associates CEO, and Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, Grenzebach Glier and Associates President, for a candid conversation on current philanthropic trends. Taking the most comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date data in Philanthropy from Giving USA’s Annual Report, released June 21, 2022, John and Suzanne will provide context around the data, share insights, and offer key take aways in order to help you plan for the future.

John Glier is the Chief Executive Officer of GG+A, a global consulting firm in philanthropic management headquartered in Chicago and London.

Mr. Glier joined GG+A in 1981, and has served as its Chief Executive for more than 30 years. Mr. Glier is recognized internationally for providing strategic direction and philanthropic counsel to many leading universities, academic healthcare institutions, cultural and human service organizations, and as an advisor to some of the largest fundraising campaigns in higher education. He has worked with the staff of well over 200 nonprofits and with a wide range of voluntary leaders, noted philanthropists, and Board leaders of distinguished institutions in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

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.

 

Closing Out; Setting Up:
What Independent School Fundraisers Need To Do Now

When: Thursday, June 16, @ 9:00 a.m. PDT, 11:00 a.m. CDT, 12:00 p.m. EDT

Key Learnings:

• Utilizing key metrics and data to inform decision making
• Ensuring you’re successfully set up to meet next year’s goals
• External factors that may impact fundraising practices and outcomes in Schools

Speakers:

• Mary K. Carrasco, Senior Vice President
• Elizabeth Kolb Farr, Senior Vice President
• Jim McKey, Senior Vice President
• Christen Wilson, Vice President

Are you on track to achieve FY22 goals? What are you doing now to ensure meeting FY23 goals? Where did philanthropic revenue come from in the past year, and where will it come from in the year ahead? How are you using and analyzing data from this year to inform behavior next year? What are the external factors that may affect FY23 fundraising practices and outcomes in schools? Join GG+A independent school experts Mary Carrasco, Elizabeth Kolb Farr, Jim McKey, and Christen Wilson for in a webinar dedicated to the challenges and opportunities in closing out FY22 and setting up your school successfully for FY23. Mary, Liz, Jim, and Christen will share their expertise, firsthand accounts from work with clients, and practical advice to help you finish a successful FY22 and prepare for a record-breaking FY23.

On behalf of GG+A, each panelist counsels independent school clients, and they have more than 75 years of combined experience as independent school advancement professionals. With clients from California and Washington to Texas, Georgia, and Massachusetts, the GG+A Independent Schools Practice has its collective finger on the pulse of school fundraising.

Mary K. Carrasco, Senior Vice President, brings more than four decades of experience to GG+A and is a key member of the firm’s Independent Schools Practice Area. A respected leader in the independent school advancement community, Mary co-founded the CASE Independent School Leadership Group and chaired the 2012 CASE-NAIS Conference as well as the 2016-2020 CASE Independent School Fundraising Awards Committees.

Mary is a former trustee of her alma mater, Ursuline Academy in Wilmington, DE, and has served on several other boards, including the Maret School and CASE. In 2019, CASE recognized Mary with the Robert Bell Crow Memorial Award, which honors an independent school professional for his or her dedication to an institution, the advancement profession, and CASE.

Elizabeth Kolb Farr, Senior Vice President and Independent Schools Practice Leader, joined GG+A in 2017 and, in 2021, was named Practice Area Leader of the firm’s Independent Schools Practice Area. Liz serves the firm’s independent school and higher education clients, supporting them in identifying and seizing opportunities for fundraising growth.

She holds particular expertise in instituting and orchestrating high-performance major gift programs, preparing for and executing capital campaigns, sustaining and accelerating annual giving, coaching frontline fundraisers, and training boards in fundraising and campaign best practices. Liz’s article “The Importance of Fundraising Strategy” was featured in the Spring 2021 issue of Independent School, the magazine of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). She was also a featured contributor to the NAIS book, “The Trustee’s Role in Fundraising.”

Jim McKey, Senior Vice President, brings more than 30 years of experience in fundraising and administration for independent schools and higher education institutions. Jim has extensive experience planning and managing fundraising campaigns, evaluating current programs, defining successful donor strategies, working with governing boards, and identifying opportunities and solutions for growth.

Jim joined GG+A in 2015 and began serving a diverse set of clients, mostly in independent schools and higher education. His work is primarily focused on helping organizations at all stages of campaigns—from early planning through execution and on to celebration and stewardship. His clients benefit from his expertise and insights into strategies for top donors and key volunteers.

Christen Wilson, Vice President, serves in GG+A’s Independent Schools and Higher Education practice areas. She has strengthened the fundraising programs of educational institutions of all types and sizes for nearly 20 years. Throughout her career, Christen has helped institutions attract millions of dollars of support for capital building projects, new and existing program and faculty endowments, scholarship campaigns, and annual operating support.

Christen guides her partner institutions to success by working to refine their vision for support, identify high-probability donors, and take a disciplined approach to engage and solicit each individual donor. She utilizes data and analytics to ensure that the philanthropic capacity and potential of each institution is fully understood and shares recommendations and realistic projections with Presidents, Heads of School, and Boards to help set expectations for fundraising campaigns.

 

Effective Partnerships Across Fundraising and Constituent Engagement

When: Thursday, June 9, @ 9:00 a.m. PDT, 11:00 a.m. CDT, 12:00 p.m. EDT

Key learnings:

• Effective collaboration between advancement and alumni relations
• Lessons learned as a first-time foundation president

Speakers:

• J Thomas Forbes, President & Chief Executive Officer, Indiana University Foundation
• Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, President, Grenzebach Glier and Associates

J Thomas Forbes was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the Indiana University Foundation in December of 2021 after a very successful tenure as CEO of the Indiana University Alumni Association. J T. will share his perspective on effective collaboration between development and alumni relations as well as lessons learned as a first-time foundation president.

J Thomas Forbes, BA’90, MPA’96, was appointed president and chief executive officer of the Indiana University Foundation on January 1, 2022. He served as interim president and chief executive officer from January 1 to December 31, 2021. He was also the 11th chief executive officer of the Indiana University Alumni Association from June 2010 through December 2021.

J T. returned to IU in 2010 after a stint in the private sector, where he served as director of state government relations for Cummins Inc. and as a principal private sector staff leader for the United States–Brazil CEO Forum.

An experienced higher education leader, J T. has served in communications, marketing, public affairs, and government relations roles at Indiana University and Michigan State University and provided consulting on these issues for other major public research and land grant colleges. His service to the advancement field includes work as a consulting vice president for Grenzebach Glier and Associates and active service with the Council of Alumni Association Executives (CAAE) and Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). A CASE Laureate, he currently serves as a CASE Trustee and Commission Chair.

While attending Indiana University, J T. was president of the student body on the Bloomington campus, founded the All University Student Assembly to unify students from all IU campuses, and served as a university trustee. One of the first three “young people” to work for IU Center on Philanthropy Executive Director Robert Payton, J T. holds a B.A. in Political Science from IU Bloomington and a Master of Public Affairs with concentration in Nonprofit Management from the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI.

A life member of the IU Alumni Association, J T. is married to Martha Shedd and has three adult children.

 

Paving the Way for Planned Giving

When: Wednesday, May 4, @ 9:00 a.m. PDT, 11:00 a.m. CDT, 12:00 p.m. EDT

Key Learnings:

• How institutions can keep momentum going for planned giving
• Bringing comfort and ease to conversations with donors
• Using planned giving to advance DEI efforts

Speakers:

• Michael Degenhart, Assistant Vice President, Gift Planning, Penn State
• Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, President, GG+A

GG+A President Suzanne Hilser-Wiles will talk with Michael Degenhart, Assistant Vice President, Gift Planning at Penn State, about planned giving – what institutions can do to keep momentum going, bring comfort and ease to conversations with donors, and how planned giving can advance your organization’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Whether you’ve been cultivating planned gifts for years or are just getting started, you just might hear the piece of advice you need to move your program forward.

Michael J. Degenhart brings more than 20 years of professional experience in development and fundraising with higher education institutions.

In addition to serving as the Vice President for Gift Planning at GG+A, Michael is currently the Assistant Vice President of the Office of Gift Planning at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), where he is responsible for the development and implementation of university-wide planned giving efforts for Penn State’s 24 campuses. Widely considered a leader in the field of higher education gift planning and principal gift work, Michael has the unique ability to articulate very technical gift planning techniques in simple, understandable terms for donors. At Penn State, Michael and his office are tasked with an overall combined gift planning goal of $100 million annually. He is a key member of the senior management team that directed Penn State’s $2 billion For the Future campaign that concluded in 2016 and the current $2.1 billion A Greater Penn State campaign.

Aligning Fundraising Philanthropic Priorities with Strategic Vision: The Partnership Between American University’s President and Vice President

When: Tuesday, April 19, @ 9:00 a.m. PDT, 11:00 a.m. CDT, 12:00 p.m. EDT

Key Learnings:

• Bringing a University’s vision to life
• Building a case for philanthropic support in the University’s financial model

Speakers:

• Sylvia M. Burwell, President, American University
• Courtney Surls, Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations, American University
• Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, President, GG+A

Sylvia M. Burwell, President of American University and Courtney Surls, the University’s Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations, will speak with Suzanne Hilser-Wiles about developing the funding priorities to bring a University’s vision to life. President Burwell, who has held two US Cabinet positions as well as senior leadership positions at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walmart Foundation, will share her perspective as a first-time university President on building the case for philanthropic support in the University’s financial model.

Sylvia M. Burwell is the 15th president of American University in Washington, D.C., and the first woman to serve in the role.

Under her leadership, AU became the first carbon neutral university in the United States and established the first anti-racist research and policy center in the nation. During her tenure, AU entered the nation’s most innovative universities list and accelerated its standing as a place where scholars and students come to impact the world.

President Burwell previously served as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where she led a department which included the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and all of Medicare.

Prior to her service in the Obama Administration, President Burwell was the president of the Walmart Foundation, where she focused on its global women’s economic empowerment initiatives. Before joining the Walmart Foundation, she was president and creator of the Global Development Program and the first Chief Operating Officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Under her leadership, she created the foundation’s advocacy work and during her tenure, the foundation’s grantmaking grew by 40 percent to $1.5 billion per year.

Courtney Surls, Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations, leads American University’s efforts to support strategic priorities, attract new sources of funding, and deepen lifelong relationships between AU and its more than 135,000 alumni.

Prior to this role, she was responsible for providing strategic direction and leadership for all fundraising, membership, and stewardship activities at the Newseum in downtown Washington, DC. She additionally served as vice president for development at the University of Southern California, where she played a leadership role in developing the fundraising programs and infrastructure to support the university’s $6 billion capital campaign.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Iowa State University and a master’s degree in educational administration from Loyola Marymount University.

 

The Maestros of Major Gifts: A discussion with advancement services leaders

 

When: Tuesday, April 12, @ 10:00 a.m. PDT, 12:00 p.m. CDT, 1:00 p.m. EDT
Duration: 30 min

Key Learnings:

• Notable differences between advancement services and database management
• Major gift officer metrics
• Best systems for supporting strong moves management work

Speakers:

• Colleen Hanson, Director of Advancement Services, The Bryn Mawr School
• Alexa Leach, Advancement Services Manager, The Kinkaid School
• Christie Moag, Director of Advancement Services, The St. Paul’s Schools (MD)
• Hosted by: Elizabeth Kolb Farr, Senior Vice President and Practice Area Leader, GG+A

Great gift officers are essential to any institution’s work with top donors, but the most successful fundraising programs have strong advancement services at the core of their major gifts programs. In this panel discussion with three advancement services directors at independent schools, we will explore the keys to successful advancement services work – and therefore successful fundraising.

Colleen Hanson is the Director of Advancement Services at The Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore, MD, which she has served for more than 17 years. In her current role, which she has held since October 2020, she oversees prospect development, database management, and processing and recording of all contributions. In addition, she provides stewardship and financial reporting support and provides oversight on Advancement operations. Colleen also serves as a Staff Liaison to the schoolwide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Colleen holds a BS from Morgan State University.

Alexa Leach is the Advancement Services Manager at The Kinkaid School in Houston, TX. A member of the advancement team for the past six years, Alexa has been leading advancement services at the School since May 2020. Kinkaid is currently in the leadership gifts phase of a campaign, and Alexa works closely with frontline fundraisers, the Head of School, and campaign volunteers to prepare for and orchestrate cultivation and solicitation activities. Alexa is a Kinkaid alumna and earned her BBA in marketing from The McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.

 

Christie Moag is the Director of Advancement Services at The St. Paul’s Schools in Brooklandville, MD, where she has served since 2018. Christie devises and oversees moves management and prospect research to prepare the President, Heads of School, and Advancement colleagues for solicitation and stewardship visits while overseeing database and reporting operations, including the merging of two separate databases. Christie holds a BS from the University of Arizona.

 

 

Boldly building a high performing advancement organization: How the University at Buffalo manages talent during its $1 billion Boldly Buffalo campaign

 

When: Tuesday, April 5, @ 9:00 a.m. PDT, 11:00 p.m. CDT, 12:00 p.m. EDT
Duration: 30 min

Key Learnings:

• Key steps that led to the success of the Boldly Buffalo campaign
• The implications of becoming a flagship institution
• Philosophy for managing talent

Speakers:

• Rodney M. Grabowski, Vice President, Division of University Advancement, University at Buffalo
• Pete Lasher, Senior Vice President and Practice Area Leader, GG+A

Rodney M. Grabowski, Vice President of the Division of University Advancement at the University at Buffalo, will speak with GG+A Senior Vice President Pete Lasher about the success of the Boldly Buffalo campaign, the implications of becoming a flagship institution, and his philosophy for managing talent.

Rodney Grabowski, MBA, CFRE University at Buffalo Vice President for University Advancement has been serving in this role since 2017 and is a skilled executive offering more than 30 years of fundraising, leadership and management experience. Since joining UB he is responsible for assessing, organizing and energizing the internal and external constituencies with the launch of the $650 Million Boldly Buffalo Campaign in April 2018.

Prior to UB, Rod was the president of the University of Cincinnati Foundation and was responsible for concluding the Proudly Cincinnati Campaign surpassing its goal and reaching $1.09 Billion, reorganized the senior leadership team including the recruitment of seven vice presidents, surpassed fundraising goals each year, developed a new funding model for the organization, completed a review and alignment of Foundation governance, improved relations with internal and external stakeholders, integrated the UC Health Foundation and UC Alumni Association, and was in the quiet phase for launch of the next comprehensive campaign ($1.5 Billion goal) and oversaw an implementation to Blackbaud’s CRM, Internet Solutions and Financial Edge Systems.

Before UC, Rod was at the University of South Florida (USF) where he served as senior associate vice president for university advancement and campaign director. Among his accomplishments, Rod was responsible for the branding and successful completion of the USF Unstoppable Campaign ($600 million goal), the largest fundraising and outreach effort in the University’s history, as well as an annual giving program in excess of $85 million.

Prior to his tenure at USF, Rod held key development positions at the University of North Florida, Jacksonville University and Alfred University in New York. In addition to his more than 28 years of fundraising leadership and management experience, Rod brings a strong understanding of higher education’s unique development, alumni engagement, communications and campaign management landscape.

Rod holds a Master of Business Administration in International Business from the University of North Florida and Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Syracuse University. He is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and holds memberships from the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

 

Lifelong Alumnae Leadership: A Conversation with Laura Wood Cantopher

 

When: Friday, March 18, @ 9:00 a.m. PDT, 11:00 a.m. CDT, 12:00 p.m. EDT

Key Learnings:

• The keys to a successful partnership with Alumnae Associations, Presidents, and Chairs of the Board
• How to define success in volunteer leadership
• Advice for young women in advancement as part of Women’s History Month

Speakers:

• Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, President, GG+A
• Laura Wood Cantopher, President of the Wellesley College Alumnae Association

Laura Wood Cantopher, President of the Wellesley College Alumnae Association, will speak with GG+A President Suzanne Hilser-Wiles about her lifelong relationship with Wellesley College, keys to successful partnerships with leaders in higher education, and defining success in volunteer leadership. In celebration of Women’s History Month, Laura will also share her favorite advice for young women.

Laura Wood Cantopher graduated from Wellesley College in 1984 and has been an avid volunteer ever since. She also earned an MBA at Harvard. Laura is currently in her first year of a three-year term as president of the Wellesley College Alumnae Association, having served for a year as president-elect before beginning her term as president.

Laura retired in 2019 after careers in educational publishing, marketing, project management, higher education administration, and philanthropic consulting. In 2003, her career in publishing shifted to one focused on alumni relations and development, when she moved to the UK and decided to engage professionally in the area that had always been a focus of her volunteer work. She served as interim Executive Director of the WCAA, traveling back and forth across the Atlantic from the UK and working remotely long before it was commonplace due to COVID. Laura also held positions in the UK as Interim Head of Alumni Relations & Development at Royal Holloway, University of London, and as Head of Campaign at King’s College London when they launched their campaign for £500 million, which eventually exceeded £650 million, and was the largest UK campaign outside of Oxbridge at the time.

Laura was VP and Consulting VP at GG+A, where her clients included Durham University, University of Southampton, University of Cambridge, and Hood College. She also worked for several years to onboard new consultants at the firm and serve as coach and mentor during their adjustments to the world of consulting.

In addition to her current Wellesley role, Laura is also on the boards of the Charleston Library Society where she serves as chair of the Development Committee, and the Gibbes Museum of Art, where she is co-chair of the Education & Programs Committee.

 

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