Agenda 

 8:30 am Registration | Continental Breakfast | Networking
Upon arrival, you will select your comfort level with interpersonal interactions. We will all be masked. A red ribbon will indicate you want a six-foot perimeter, yellow means folks can enter your bubble, and green means you welcome handshakes and consenting hugs. After more than two years of virtual connections, quarantining, and pivoting, let’s safely mingle with colleagues from around the state!

9:00 am Welcome and Opening Thoughts | Stephanie Keaney, NCAIS

9:15 am Keynote: Advancement Teams as Imagineers | Carrie Grimes, Director of the Independent School Leadership Master's program, Vanderbilt University
Walt Disney famously coined the term "Imagineer" to describe "the creative forces behind the memorable Disney experiences that connect and inspire across generations and borders." As advancement professionals, we have the opportunity to creatively design experiences for our stakeholders that forge connections across constituencies and inspire stakeholders to engage in behaviors that have the capacity to transform our organizations over time. Together we will explore what the framework for advancement Imagineering looks like, and how we can animate it on our teams to drive extraordinary outcomes for our schools. 

10:30 am Break

10:45 am Breakout Sessions | Select 1

What Every Advancement Professional Should Know about Enrollment Management | Dave Taibl, Enrollment Management Association
The challenge of achieving sustainable enrollment in the current climate of private schools places a tremendous expectation on enrollment leaders to understand key elements of school finance, marketing, and leadership while influencing the factors related to differentiating their schools from the competition in the landscape and appealing to the motivations of changed consumer habits.  The Enrollment Management Association works to provide timely research into these motivations and factors for enrollment success.  Drawing from this body of research, Dave frames the conversation around these elements and provides insights into the nature of the work at hand.

Digital Engagement Trends -Redefining the Advancement Experience | Lorrie Jackson, FinalSite
Times are changing at a whirlwind pace. The way we engage with prospective donors, alumni and families is rapidly shifting. Never before has the bar been set higher. How can your school adapt to outperform the competition and respond to the changing times? In this session, we’ll share principles that will help your teams better meet the needs of future generations of alumni using digital marketing tools like your website and mobile app.

In this session you will learn:

• Proven strategies for successfully engaging alumni at every stage of the giving funnel
• Micro strategies and tactics in digital engagement that 1000's of schools have implemented to drive advancement
• Best practices for marketing hybrid and online fundraising events that increase donations and participation

The Three S's in a Successful Annual Fund Plan: Sequencing, Solicitation, and Segmentation | Jennifer Sullivan, Cape Fear Academy, and Phil Higgenson, Ravenscroft School
This session will be interactive and geared towards those early in their Advancement careers, so grab your printed collateral and join the conversation! Longtime professionals, Phil and Jennifer will each share their annual plans, including how they sequence asks, who makes the asks, and how to segment asks as you move through the annual fund year. Everyone does it a bit differently, so this session will explore that there is more than one way to execute a plan. Attendees will have time to gather in small groups to share how they run their annual fund programs and the successes that they have had thus far. The groups will then present their own ideas and findings. The goal will be for each person to walk away with an idea or two that they can implement in their own organization. Examples will be shared digitally in a shared folder after the session.

TAKE 5 – Tips and Tactics to enhance your Admission Office operation | Bill Diskin, Cannon School 
Imagine attending an enrollment management workshop, then heading back home with five (or more!) tactics that you can add to your school’s enrollment management operation the next day!  In this session, Cannon School’s Director of Admission and Financial Aid, Bill Diskin, will share 15 of the tips and tactics that he and his team use to attract, engage, and enroll prospective students.  From thank you notes to virtual open house – there’s bound to be something here for everyone to borrow!

12:00 pm Lunch

1:00 pm Whole Group Session | 5 Ways to Advance Your Leadership in 2022 | Patton McDowell, 
Unfortunately, advancement professionals don't always receive the kind of professional development they need to accomplish their leadership goals.  Are you ready to build your plan with actionable ideas this year?  Patton McDowell will bring specific plans and motivation to help you do just that, featuring concepts from his book Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, as well as insight from over 150 leaders that have appeared on his podcast.  He’ll share the 10 Essential Skills & Experiences for leadership success, show you how to integrate a personal SWOT analysis, build your board of directors, and plan your personal retreat to jump-start your next five years of leadership development.

2:15 pm Breakout Sessions | Select 1

Hot Topics for Enrollment in 2022 | Dave Taibl, Enrollment Management Association
Utilizing recent data from seasonal flash surveys among its members, and applicant activity via the Standard Application Online during this current admission cycle, Dave Taibl from the Enrollment Management Association will lead an interactive session, exploring the latest trends in private school enrollment with participants.

Voice and Choice: Transitioning from Traditional Annual Funds | Andy Clifton, Forsyth Country Day School
Explore the changing landscape of annual giving and learn strategies for increasing donor support . This session will include case studies demonstrating significant increases in donor gifts when giving opportunities align with their passions. This session will include Q and A and an opportunity for open discussion.

3:30 pm Adjourn