On-Demand Webinar
The Future of the Donor Pipeline in Higher Education Fundraising
The biggest word in fundraising today is "pipeline." Organizations need to meet immediate philanthropic revenue goals, but they're also focused on how they're accelerating the path to major, planned, and transformational mega-gifts to secure their strategic revenue future. Watch this webinar to hear a group of fundraising leaders who are tackling these challenges daily and how we can create a better donor experience and meet our short- and long-term goals.
Panel discussion topics include:
- Sustainable annual giving tactics: How has annual giving outreach changed, and how does it support the pipeline effort?
- Leadership giving: How do you start, or accelerate a leadership program, which can be crucial to revenue and pipeline efforts.
- Major gift officer support: How are institutions better identifying and engaging major and planned gift prospects and increasing their giving velocity to make fundraisers more successful.
- The future of giving days and special campaigns: How do these time-sensitive and excitement-generating events support our pipeline efforts, and how are they evolving to support our long-term goals?
- The changing role of giving: As donors embrace venture philanthropy and impact investing mentality, how are we adapting to better involve donors as partners?
Watch to gain new insights and new ideas to boost your pipeline efforts and build a more sustainable fundraising strategy.
About the panelists
Jon Gregory, Associate Director, Donor Participation & College and Unit Partnerships, Cornell University
Jon has served Cornell since 2021, leading the coordination of strategic partnerships throughout Alumni Affairs and Development to develop integrated marketing strategies to solicit 250,000+ alumni annually, grow alumni and student giving year over year, and raise broad base support for the annual funds. An expert on cause-driven engagement, Jon has grown Cornell’s crowdfunding engagement, particularly with student organizations, helping fuel a wide range of giving passions for Cornell’s energetic supporters. Before joining the Cornell team, Jon served in athletics, alumni and family engagement roles at Ithaca College and Johns Hopkins University. He brings a wide range of experience across giving constituencies and passion for engaging a diverse pipeline of givers.
Meg Ackerson, Associate Vice President for Strategic Engagement, Oklahoma State University Foundation
Meg joined the OSU advancement leadership team in 2022, and helps secure the University’s future by engaging a broad base of supporters with new innovative and strategy. Prior to joining the OSU giving team, Meg was a consultant working with engagement programs across the US and Canada. She served Colorado State University from 2011 – 2019. At CSU, she oversaw a centralized, integrated annual giving program targeting a diverse constituent base including alumni, parents, faculty and staff, and grateful clients as well as a renewed emphasis on students and young alumni. Under Ackerson's leadership, CSU implemented several innovative programs and shifted to a data-driven approach to planning and decision-making.
Debbie Zeger, Executive Director of Development Operations & Annual Giving at Pace University
Debbie has served Pace University for the past 8 years in key leadership positions within advancement operations, campaigns, and broad-based engagement. With experience in coordinating pipeline portfolios for senior advancement officers, stewarding board relationships and coordinating campaign reporting and workflow, Debbie brings advanced knowledge of how the entire advancement process can be optimized with careful use of resources to meet stretch goals. During Debbie’s time at Pace, the University has embarked on its most ambitious campaign to date, already reaching over $189M of the $300M goal.
Nick Herman, Vice President, RNL
Nick is an advancement professional with extensive experience in donor engagement across major gifts, annual giving, and broad-based outreach. He most recently served as Vice President for Development at the American Farmland Trust, where he was responsible for the management, growth, and success of the 25-person development program, including all organizational revenue channels and external opportunities. Before that, he served in leadership roles at George Mason University, UNC Charlotte. At the start of his advancement career, Nick helped lead engagement efforts at RNL, serving 13 institutions, including University of Oregon, University of Toronto, Loyola University - Maryland, Colorado State University, Emory University, Indiana State University, and University of Calgary.
Greta Daniels, CFRE, Senior Vice President, RNL
Greta Daniels has extensive expertise in donor engagement strategies, university advancement and development, and annual giving. In her current role, she works with colleges and universities to maximize donor giving through data-driven omnichannel campaigns that meet immediate fundraising goals while also increasing long-term donor pipeline. Previously, Greta served as director of development at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences - a groundbreaking, nationally recognized research facility. Her efforts helped the school cultivate more philanthropic engagement with alumni, families, friends, and organizations domestically and abroad.
Moderator: Brian Gawor, CFRE, Vice President, Research, RNL
Watch webinar now
