Session attendees will hear the happy tale of the Executive who met with the Board Chair wanting a campaign goal twice what was feasible. The happy Executive in this happy tale leveraged his Prospect Research Department to create two sanity checks in campaign goal planning. The Presenter, Advancement Research Analyst Dr. Stephen Lambert, will demonstrate how solicitor-generated revenues and Gift Officer characteristics can reveal the future possibilities of a campaign. Attendees will learn an historical averages method and a regression method for campaign goal and campaign staffing planning. The Presenter will demonstrate the two models and describe their inputs. Attendees will learn that Gift Officer counts, gift closure amounts, Gift Officer tenure, and gift closure counts feed two powerful forecasts any one can do today.

Learn how George Washington University's Research and Relationship Management team developed a unique campaign structure featuring a specialized presidential cohort. While ensuring that the president's office receives high-quality research deliverables, these prospect development professionals also continue to manage their strategically-selected central liaison relationships, maintaining ownership over their research product, prospect strategy sessions, campaign-focused portfolio management, and professional development and projects. Presenters will share how this set up enabled Research and Relationship Management to have direct impact on campaign outcomes.

Hear from a world-ranked World of Warcraft player on how her experience competing with some of the top guilds in the world provided deep insights that allowed her to build and operationalize a $1B+ campaign in a way that has led to transparency, collaboration and donor-centric fundraising opportunities. This is a deep dive into the process that got them there and the lessons they learned along the way.

If someone can't see the forest for the trees, they get so caught up in small details that they fail to understand the bigger picture. When preparing for a campaign, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the internal readiness of an organization. Researchers must look at the campaign goals and the affiliated gift tables, volunteer campaign cabinets and peer review opportunities, the donor pipeline, and prospect ratings among many other areas. But, fundraisers and researchers need also to look at what factors outside of their organization may have a positive or negative impact on their pending campaign. The political or economic climate in your region, other major campaigns and senior volunteer activities are just a few of the many external factors which may impact the success of your campaign. Join Tracey and Izabela as they look at the top internal and external factors researchers should consider for their organization to help prepare for campaign. Some case study examples will be included.

Members of the Board of Trustees lead organizations in strategic planning, through principal gifts, and as representatives of the mission and vision. As organizations move forward, the search for volunteer leadership should include individuals that are not only champions and advisors of the college, but also those that reflect the changing student body and their communities. In addition to filling gaps in a board's demographic and industry diversity, board membership is a significant opportunity to further an organization's relationship with its most engaged and invested donors. Presenters will discuss the process of identifying best prospective board nominees based on their engagement, capacity for leadership gifts, and their contribution to board diversity.