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Hill Top Preparatory School
Our classroom does not always have four walls

Approved Fall 2009 Venture Capital Grant Applications

1. $1,000
Principal Contact: Ben Seewald
Contact Title: Alumni Officer, Students
Institution: Queen’s University
Address: Queen's University
Office of Advancement
Summerhill, 55 Stuart St.
Kingston, ON  K7L 3N6  CANADA
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 613-533-2060 ext. 78701

Purpose: This past August, Queen’s University hosted a Student Alumni Congress for Canadian colleges and universities interested in networking and engaging in discussion surrounding student-alumni programming, marketing and communications, volunteer management, creating partnerships and outreach across campus, student giving and the benefits and limitations of staff and student driven programming.

With seven institutions attending the event, including Laurentian University, Nipissing University, Ontario University of Information and Technology, Centennial College, George Brown College, McMaster University, and the host institution Queen’s University, the event was deemed a success.

It was noted by attendees in post-event feedback that the Congress filled a unique void that other professional development opportunities currently miss. Canadian-specific student-alumni focused programming is becoming more prevalent and the people in the industry need opportunities to network and learn from each other. Additionally, the low registration cost ($50) allowed the Congress to be accessible to schools with limited professional development budgets.

As a result, all of the schools that attended are very eager to see this event become an annual Congress, and would like to see the number of participants increased. However, this year Queen’s University incurred a number of costs to keep fees low for attendees. In order to grow the Congress while maintaining the price point that ensured access for a range of schools, external funding must be found to keep the hosting duties economically feasible. For example, this year we were able to provide notebooks, pens and transportation to off-site activities etc. for all 24 participants, an expected increase in attendance would make the Congress a financial impossibility. We would really appreciate the support of the CASE Venture Capital Fund in our attempts to institutionalize and grow our Canadian, student-focused gathering of post-secondary institutions.

In addition, we also wish to increase and diversify the quality of programming offered. A majority of the session facilitators this year were students and staff members from Queen’s. While there were many ideas shared, the model will not sustain the audience. It would be ideal to invite at least one keynote speaker external to any of our institutions to offer unique, expert perspectives which are ultimately foreign to all participants. Suggested topics have included marketing and branding related issues such as utilizing social media effectively.

2. $1,500
Principal Contact: Anita Miller, CFRE
Contact Title: Director, Research & Foundation Relations
Institution: Gannon University
Address: 109 University Square
Erie, PA 16541
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 814-871-5847

Purpose: Workshops/training sessions for prospect researchers in NW PA.
Prospect researchers are charged with finding the best prospects, new prospects, and managing prospects, yet training opportunities locally are non-existent.
There are no local chapters of APRA (Assn. Prospect Researchers for Advancement) or even any informal networks to advance the profession.

Although there are several CASE member institutions nearby, budget freezes and/or cuts preclude any of them hosting any workshops or training sessions.

In addition, travel budgets are tight, so travel to national conferences (such as from CASE or APRA) are impossible.  The nearest prospect research sessions are hosted by local chapters of APRA and are several hours drive away.
This lack of training affects not only prospect researchers, but advancement officers who would like to obtain their CFREs.  A large portion of the CFRE exam consists of questions about prospect research.
A grant from CASE would allow local researchers to gather and to learn and discuss best practices in an ever-evolving field.

Funds would be used to cover expenses such as informational materials, printing, postage, and refreshments.  A local college/university could serve as host and provide the meeting place and audio-visual requirements.  The first mailing would access the interests of local prospect researchers and would help set the agenda for a subsequent workshop and/or roundtable.  This workshop could be followed six months later by another session.  This effort would then help to develop a local network of professionals that could learn and grow together.

Gannon would take the lead in organizing the effort, working with other institutions that might be interested, such as Allegheny College and Grove City College, among others.

Amount: $1500
Impact: 3
Others Involved: There are 11 within approx. 50 miles.
Number of Others: 25+
Start: January 2010
End: November 2011


3. $1,000
Principal Contact: Marianne Horrigan
Contact Title: Asst. Vice Chancellor
Institution: University System of Maryland
Address: 3300 Metzerott Road
Adelphi, MD 20783
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 301-445-2708

Purpose: The University System of Maryland (USM) Office of Advancement (OA) supports the fundraising activities of the System’s eleven degree-granting institutions, one research center, and two regional education centers by providing direct assistance in major gifts fundraising, offering strategic advice regarding campaign planning and prospect development, and planning and implementing professional development programs on subjects ranging from annual giving to stewardship and major gifts fundraising.  The office also offers prospect research services, event planning services, and prospect database management for many of the USM’s advancement offices.

The USM OA plans and implements approximately 10 professional development programs annually. At a recent day-long annual giving conference that attracted over 70 development officers from every USM campus, social networking inspired tremendous interest. The USM OA is planning a follow-up conference on social networking at the University of Baltimore (UB) campus in December 2009.  The program will feature a UB specialist in social networking, Ronald Desi, who is also the director of the Towson University/UB MBA program.  The morning session, “Social Networking 101,” will provide an overview of social networking in the context of higher education alumni relations and philanthropy and let participants “test-drive” different tools so they can begin to feel comfortable with the technology.

Following a lunch break, Dr. Desi and colleagues from the UB advancement office will lead an interactive session to help development officers analyze when to most effectively use social networking tools to engage alumni and friends.  Participants will be invited in advance to submit  “real-life” scenarios of events, campaigns, or alumni relations outreach plans to Dr. Desi to serve as the framework  for  the session.

The conference will be held in December (December 4 and 11 are the tentative dates, pending room availability on the UB campus) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  We expect at least 50 participants representing every USM campus to attend.  Many of these campuses have very few resources available to learn about integrating social networking into their development programs.  This conference provides a valuable service to these campuses.

The USM Office of Advancement respectfully requests a $1,000 grant from the CASE District II Venture Capital Fund to offset the cost of this conference.  The USM OA generally charges participants a small fee ($10-$60) to offset some costs (facility, AV, food, materials, speaking fees) of its programs.  This grant will enable USM OA to offer this program free of charge—a significant benefit to those at campuses where professional development budgets have been cut or eliminated.

Amount: $1,000
Impact: 4    Others Involved: 12
Number of Others: 50-75
Start: December 2009    End: December 2009

4. $2,500
Principal Contact: Kathleen Graham
Contact Title: Director of Gift Planning
Institution: Bucknell University
Address: Office of Gift Planning
Bucknell University
Lewisburg, PA  17837
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 570-577-3607

Purpose: Funds will be used to engage a national speaker/trainer around the topic of planning for unmarried couples.  The goal is for development officers to become more attuned to the special needs of our gay and lesbian prospects, although this topic also has relevance to heterosexual couples who have chosen not to marry.  This group of constituents has received less attention at many of our institutions, and there are few resources to address their needs in our fairly rural area of Pennsylvania.  It is envisioned that the speaker will present two sessions.  The first session will be a training for development officers.  The second session will be a presentation for local constituents of the higher education institutions closest to Lewisburg, PA (Bucknell University, Bloomsburg University, Susquehanna University, Lycoming College, Pennsylvania College of Technology).

Amount: $2,500
Impact: 27 development officers and 5 members of the research office Others Involved: We will invite development officers from Bloomsburg U, Susquehanna University,  Lycoming College, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Penn State, Lock Haven, King's College, Wilkes University (Institutions that have participated in out local planned giving council) Number of Others: 43-50
Start: 1-2 days either in Spring 2010 or Fall 2010
End: October 31, 2010

5. $2,500
Principal Contact: Katrina Foelsche
Contact Title: Director, Class Programs
Institution: Georgetown University
Address: Georgetown University, Office of Advancement
University Box 571253
Washington, DC 20057
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 202-687-0473

Purpose: Georgetown University proposes to convene and create a day-long summit of dialogue and reflection for Alumni Relations and Development professionals to discuss generational programming, volunteer engagement, and giving strategies.

Specifically, we will focus on areas that we have recently conducted research—young alumni and family-friendly programming—as well as discuss other topics driven by the participants such as off-Reunion year class engagement, young alumni participation in giving, how to develop a culture of philanthropy amongst students, parent-programming and fundraising, harnessing the energy of a retiring baby boomer population, etc.
 
Collaborating closely with mid to large-sized peer institutions who have an established class-based program system on the East Coast will give each school the best ROI for their professional development funds since they will have the opportunity to meet with colleagues who are facing similar challenges and constituencies.  Mini-workshops led by researchers and practitioners will set-up dynamic round-table discussion opportunities for peers to compare experiences with these audiences, share dynamic programming ideas, and strategically consider trends in organizing alumni involvement and participation. Through interactive group sessions, special emphasis will be given to exchanging successful strategies among participants.
 
Additionally, a keynote address from one of our senior advancement staff members will share the impact of fully engaging alumni within the 50-year life-cycle with conference participants. 

We are requesting $2,500 to help pay for meeting space, materials, and for breakfast/lunch/break food for approximately 50-75 participants.

Amount: $2,500
Impact: About 20 members of Georgetown University Alumni Relations, Annual Fund and Development teams whose work is intimately tied to life-cycle programming will be invited to participate.  Indirectly, the rest of the Advancement staff (200+) will be impacted by our continued effort to meet Georgetown University Office of Advancement’s strategic goal to strengthen initiatives within the 50-year life-cycle.

Others Involved: Invited peer institutions would include: University of Virginia, University of Pennsylvania, Wake Forest University, Tufts University, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Duke University, Dartmouth University, Cornell University, Columbia University, Brown University, Boston College, Princeton University, and MIT.
Number of Others: We hope to recruit at least 2-3 staff members from each of the peer institution list we have provided, for a total of 30-60 participants.