2025 Summer Series Deep Dive

Innovative Impact - Trends, Strategies & Tactics

July 22, July 29, and August 5

9:00 AM - 1:00 PM PT | 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET

Join us virtually over three weeks this summer to explore this year's theme, Innovative Impact—Trends, Strategies & Tactics.

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Daily Schedule

Read About Our Presenters

Day 1 | July 22

Our Evolving Industry: Trends*

Session One | Modernizing Advancement with New Practices: Examine actionable strategies and perspectives aimed at modernizing advancement operations, systems, and cultures. The goal is to empower professionals to address the evolving priorities of organizations, the expectations of donors/volunteers/etc, and the rapidly changing technology landscape more effectively.

Moderator:

• Mark Walcott, AVP of System and Reporting, University of Houston

Panelists:

• Wayne Combs, Associate Vice President of Operations and Administrative Services for CHOC Children's Foundation
• Anita Lawson, Director of Gift Administration, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
• Mike Fisher, Associate Vice President of Philanthropy Operations, Trust for Public Land

Session Two | Advancement Services Moneyball: Approximating Big Shop Tools On A Small Shop Budget: In today’s fundraising world where leveraging data-driven strategy and cutting-edge technology has become an industry norm, smaller advancement shops can find themselves outgunned by larger institutions that have access to premium tools, specialized teams, and seemingly bottomless budgets. But organizations that find themselves in this predicament can turn to an unlikely source for inspiration – baseball. Following in the spirit of the best-selling 2003 nonfiction book Moneyball (in which the Oakland As revolutionized baseball by implementing a data-driven approach despite a shoestring budget), small-shop advancement services professionals can achieve outsized results through the use of accessible technology, open-source tools, and process optimization.

This session explores practical, low-cost (or no-cost) solutions that emulate the capabilities of high-end systems—such as prospect scoring, reporting dashboards, and automated workflows. We'll showcase real-world examples, share open tools and templates, and provide guidance for building a smart, scalable infrastructure that supports fundraising success regardless of shop size.

Presenters:

• Andrew Gutierrez,  Data Scientist, Philanthropy, Cleveland Clinic
• Tory Calvert, Director of Development Information Systems, Archdiocese of Chicago

Session Three | How Can Advancement Services Leaders Effectively Respond to Emerging Technologies? This panel brings together diverse voices to explore how professionals manage change across roles and hierarchies while maintaining operational integrity and strategic alignment. Panelists will share insights on navigating cross-functional dynamics, evaluating tech trends, leading with influence, and positioning ourselves to lead not just manage change.

• How can we lead change, in lieu of reacting to demands for technology solutions.
• How can we manage the dilemma of leadership and staff chasing the next great innovation (i.e., the panacea of solutions seen at a conference, the technology trend shared by a colleague, the “must have, all in one” solution introduced by a salesperson).
• How can we stay on top of trends and make the case for new, effective technology solutions that are compatible with your organization’s future.
• How can we prepare leadership for costs associated with new technology solutions including technical debt (management and maintenance) and staffing. How can we calculate the ROI for leadership?
• How will new solutions impact the operations of enterprise and ancillary systems? How can we educate staff on the complexity of the technology ecosystem?
• What is the role of a Technology Governance Committee? How can this role or other measures be used to support a healthy and manageable technology environment?

Moderator:

• Terry Callaghan, Associate Vice President, Management Consulting, Zuri Group

Panelists:

• Pam Rollins, Director, Advancement Analytics, Temple University
• Jennifer Shimp-Bowerman, Director, Campaign and Prospect Development, Bucknell University
• Eric F. Valdescaro, Executive Director,  Advancement Services, Kennesaw State University

Day 2 | July 29

Supporting Philanthropy: Strategies*

Session One | Reports and Dashboards for Optimizing Self-Service: Are you constantly fielding one-off data requests? Do colleagues struggle to find the information they need, or rely too heavily on Advancement Services for basic reports? You're not alone. Many institutions face the same challenges: time-consuming manual reporting, unclear data ownership, and underutilized tools.

This session will explore how to move from reactive reporting to a strategic self-service model that empowers end users, reduces bottlenecks, and increases data confidence across departments. We'll cover best practices for designing intuitive reports and dashboards, aligning with business needs, and promoting a culture of data accessibility and accountability. Whether you're just getting started or refining an existing self-service strategy, you'll walk away with actionable insights and practical examples to optimize reporting in your advancement shop.

Learning Objectives

• Identify common barriers to effective self-service reporting in advancement and explore strategies to address user dependency and data silos.
• Understand the principles of user-centered dashboard design that enhance clarity, usability, and adoption among non-technical stakeholders.
• Learn how to structure reports and dashboards to align with common advancement workflows such as prospect management, gift tracking, and campaign reporting.
• Gain practical tips for implementing and maintaining a scalable self-service model, including tool selection, documentation, access controls, and support structures.

Presenter: 

• Zachary Spurlin,  Executive Director for Advancement Services, University of the Pacific

Session Two | Empowering Advancement: Leveraging Content Management Tools to Drive Operational and Philanthropic Success: In today’s fast-paced advancement landscape, scalable and efficient content management is essential for achieving both operational excellence and philanthropic impact. Join Caltech’s advancement team as they showcase how they’ve strategically implemented powerful tools such as Wikis (MediaWiki), Microsoft’s Power Platform (PowerApps/Power Automate), and Intranets (SharePoint)—to streamline processes, foster collaboration, and support fundraising initiatives.

Through real-world examples, this session will demonstrate how these tools have been used to align with institutional goals, enhance team productivity, and support lean operations. Whether you are part of a large advancement office or a small team, you'll gain practical insights into how content management solutions can be transformational and universally applicable across the fundraising industry.

Attendees will leave with:

• A clear understanding of how to apply content management tools in advanced settings
• Scalable strategies for improving operational efficiency
• Inspiration to innovate with technology regardless of team size or resources

Presenters:

• Mark Longo, Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives and Development, Administrative Management, Caltech
• Jose Valdez, AV/IT Specialist, Caltech
• Grace Brock, Gifts and Records Specialist, Caltech
• Corinna Ho, Gifts and Records Specialist, Caltech

Session Three | Educating Users to Utilize Self-Service Tools - Building Technology Resiliency and Data Literacy: Adoption of self-service tools is critical to increasing efficiency, reducing reliance on support teams, and building long-term organizational resiliency. This session explores a holistic approach to educating users on how to effectively use self-service technologies. We will share how well-crafted documentation, interactive quizzes, and engaging trainings play a role in helping users build confidence and deepen their data literacy. Attendees will learn practical techniques for developing training materials that resonate with diverse learning styles, including strategies for measuring comprehension and success. The session will also include real-world observations, lessons learned, and common challenges faced during the rollout and adoption of self-service platforms. Whether you're launching a new system or refreshing your current training approach, this session offers actionable insights to help users embrace self-service with confidence and clarity.

Learning Objectives:

• Design and implement clear, user-friendly documentation that supports independent learning.
• Develop and deploy quizzes to assess user understanding and identify knowledge gaps.
• Create effective video training content that engages users and improves retention.
• Recognize and address common challenges in self-service tool adoption.
• Apply insights from real-life observations to refine and improve training strategies. 

Presenter:

• Heather Kutzman, Manager of Strategic Operations and Learning, Georgia Tech Foundation

Day 3 | August 5

Managing Change: Tactics*

Session One | Project Management Implementation for Everyone: Think project management is just for big, complex projects? Think again. In this dynamic panel discussion, we’ll explore how project management principles can simplify your everyday workload—whether you’re coordinating a department-wide rollout or just trying to wrangle your to-do list into submission. From last-minute event planning to cross-team communication breakdowns, our panelists will share real moments when a little structure, accountability, and planning could’ve saved time, reduced frustration, or boosted outcomes. Whether you're in advancement, IT, academic leadership, or just the “accidental project manager” on your team, this webinar will give you tools and ideas you can start using tomorrow.

• Recognize everyday scenarios where project management strategies apply.
• Identify common pitfalls in team collaboration that can be solved with light-touch PM techniques.
• Gain ideas for lightweight tools or frameworks to stay on track without overwhelming your workflow.

Moderator:

• Lori Stirling, Associate Managing Vice President of Implementation Services, BWF

Panelists:

• Sandy Fisher,  Executive Director of Advisory Services, Chapman University
  
• Karen Hook,  Advancement Salesforce Administrator, Wesleyan University
• Jill Steward,  CRM Product Manager, Oregon Health Science University

Session Two | Determining Success Metrics for Sustainable Outcomes

Presenter:

• Sabre Leek, CEO, Sleek Consulting

Session Three | Change Management Adoption and Practices: We invite you to join us for an engaging moderated panel discussion on Change Management Adoption and Practices. We will explore innovative strategies and approaches, share success stories, and delve into the challenges and opportunities that come with implementing effective change management. This event will provide a platform to learn and hear from experienced professionals and gain valuable insights that can enhance your institution's success with change management and adoption.

Moderator:

• Necie Liggeons, Chief Development and Alumni Engagement Officer, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

Panelists:

• Dwight Dozier, Chief Information Officer, Georgia Tech Foundation
• Vicky Medlock, Sr. Associate Vice President, Operations and Advancement Strategy (Interim), Emory University
• Jessica LaBorde, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Advancement Services, University of California, Davis

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*At the end of each day, we will have breakouts to continue discussing the topics presented on that day.

Registration Rates

• aasp Members: $275
• aasp Non-Members: $375

Register Now

 This event is live only and will not be recorded.