Well, I think I'm going to get going because I'm very punctual, I'm very into punctuality here. So, welcome to CASE's first monthly membership webinar. We are thrilled to have you with us this afternoon, or for some of you, it's still the morning, as we dive into all the ways CASE can support you in achieving your professional goals. My name is Candace Fitzsimmons, and I serve as Manager of Membership Engagement here at CASE. Over the past year, I've had the privilege of connecting with many of our members and seeing firsthand the impact of our resources and community. Joining me today is Edwina Wild, our Senior Membership Coordinator, and the go-to expert for all things related to your membership account. Edwina is also our database guru, and she'll be keeping an eye on the chat today, so feel free to drop your questions and comments there. After my presentation, where I'll be highlighting some of CASE's most popular membership benefits and resources, we'll dive into a Q&A session to address any questions you have that weren't addressed yet in the webinar or answered in the chat. Also joining us today is Shara Freeman-Hoffel. Shara is the Assistant Head of School for External Relations at Francis Parker School in San Diego. She is also a long-time CASE member and a very passionate and beloved volunteer, and I say that based on firsthand experience. Shara will be speaking about her CASE experience, both as a member and volunteer, and she can also answer any questions you have. If you'd like, it would be great if you could introduce yourself right now to everyone in the chat by mentioning what institutions you are with and what area of advancement you work on, such as marketing, communications, alumni relations, etc. You should have received an email with the link for today's webinar slide deck. Edwina will also be sharing the link in the chat, so you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the session without worrying about taking notes. A quick introduction to CASE. We are a global nonprofit membership association dedicated to advancing education and transforming lives in society. The only organization of its kind, CASE brings advancement practitioners together across the globe with members and volunteers at the heart of our organization. For the past 50 years, since our founding in 1974, we have been the professional home for advancement professionals, inspiring, challenging, and equipping them to act effectively and with integrity to champion the success of their institutions. Through our CASE global reporting standards, CASE defines the competencies and standards for the profession of advancement, leading and championing their dissemination and application. CASE is headquartered in Washington, D.C., just a stone's throw from the White House, and we also have offices in London, Mexico City, and Singapore. In the U.S. and Canada, we have eight districts, each with its own regional council and district cabinet, providing invaluable local insights and leadership. The districts hold at least one in-person meeting annually to foster community and collaboration. Our organization is led by President and CEO Sue Cunningham, who has been at the helm since 2015, alongside a 23-member board of trustees that guides our mission and strategic direction. CASE has nearly 3,000 global members and more than 100,000 individual members from 82 countries. Our members work across alumni relations, communications, development, marketing, and advancement services, representing a wide array of institutions, including two- and four-year colleges, universities, K-12 schools, non-profit organizations, and school system offices. CASE offers an extensive array of benefits and resources, many that are exclusive to CASE members. I will soon be discussing several of them. Our website, case.org, in addition to our newsletters, membership magazine Currents, and social media sites, such as LinkedIn and YouTube, provide up-to-date information on our latest offerings. We also send emails to members on events and resources of specific interest to them. Now, before we jump into the membership benefits, I'm excited to kick off our first monthly membership webinar contest. Since most of you work in education, you must all get excited over the idea of pop quizzes, right? Well, I'm going to be chatting about several different CASE benefits today. After speaking about some of the benefits, I am then going to have a pop-up quiz. The first person to answer the question correctly by putting the answer in the chat will receive a $10 Starbucks gift card. There will be a total of five pop-up quizzes, so you will have several chances to win. So pay close attention so you can be one of our winners today. All right, let's get started. We are now going to dive into some of CASE's most popular benefits and resources. One of the standout benefits that our members absolutely love is the CASE Library. This members-only online resource is a treasure trove of knowledge, featuring thousands of item records and resources, whether you're looking for fresh ideas, answers to your questions, or samples to guide your own projects, the CASE Library has you covered. Let me walk through some of the invaluable resources that you'll find in the CASE Library. First, there is the Advancement Resource Catalog. This is an extensive online database with over 15,000 item records, all specifically focused on advancement in education. It's a go-to resource for in-depth research and inspiration. Next, there are the CASE Subject Guides. These are curated collections that address common advancement questions, linking you to CASE publications, survey results, books, and more. Each guide provides a comprehensive reading list on the topic, making it easier to deepen your expertise. The guides cover a wide range of topics, including offering insight into areas such as athletics fundraising, online giving days, fundraising during economic downturns, and even managing controversial gifts. Then we have the CASE Files. These files track critical topics in advancement, such as the largest gifts to education. And finally, there are the CASE Samples. The Library has a large collection of samples that it has obtained over the years. Our members find them extremely helpful in getting ideas for their projects. These samples include alumni surveys, gift agreements, gift officer metrics, social media policies, strategic plans, stewardship, videos, alumni magazines, annual reports, branding materials, and much more. In addition to the wealth of information available through our online library, one of our most beloved services is our Ask the Library feature. CASE has a team of dedicated, full-time librarians ready to assist you with personalized research. Whether you're seeking guidance, specific samples, or answers to complex questions, all you need to do is send an email to library at case.org or submit your request via our website. The librarians will conduct the research on your behalf and provide you with tailored resources to meet your needs. This service is available only to CASE members, and it's a global resource for advancement topics ranging from fundraising to alumni relations and communications. The CASE library responds to over 1,000 information requests annually, making it an indispensable tool for our members worldwide. As one member once put it to me, it's like having an extra staff member. Okay, now it's time for our first pop-up quiz. The question is, how many resources are there in the online CASE advancement catalog? So, the first person to post the correct answer in the chat wins a $10 Starbucks gift card. Let's see if we have a winner. I'll be asking Edwina in a moment to let me know if there's a winner. It is a tough question, so, you know, I'm a tough teacher. All right, Edwina, do we have a winner? Oh, sorry, I was on mute. Yes, we have a winner, Amanda Wilson. Okay, congratulations, that's wonderful. Thank you. I will be in touch soon with your Starbucks gift card, but there are four more quizzes, so four more chances to win, so pay close attention. Okay, now I'm going to talk about CASE events, which are often the first point of connection for our new members. Our organization hosts a wide array of educational in-person meetings and events that address the key areas and challenges our members face, whether in advancement, alumni relations, marketing and communications, or fundraising. We also tailor our events to meet the needs of various types of institutions, including four-year educational institutions, community colleges, and more. CASE organizes over 50 meetings annually across the U.S. and Canada, along with numerous international events. These gatherings attract thousands of professionals and offer great opportunities for learning and networking, and I should mention that the majority of them actually sell out. We also collaborate with other organizations, such as our annual joint conference with the National Association of Independent Schools. Additionally, our districts hold numerous events each year, from annual district meetings to informal drive-ins and online gatherings. CASE members always receive 40% off the registration fees for CASE conferences. In addition to in-person meetings, we also host numerous webinars and online events and gatherings each year. Many of these webinars and online events are offered free to our members. We're constantly adding new webinars, so I encourage you to check our website regularly to see our latest offerings. Our districts also host numerous online events and gatherings each year, so there really are so many opportunities to learn, engage, and network through CASE. What's really nice is these opportunities exist at a national, international, and local level. And as you can see on this slide, our webinar topics are incredibly diverse, ranging from hot topics in gift processing to quick studies for community colleges. And CASE members receive 40% off all CASE webinars, too. And like I said, as you can see, many of these webinars are free for our members. As a volunteer-driven organization, CASE relies on the contributions of its members to make these events a success. We encourage you to volunteer for meeting committees or even to serve as a speaker at one of our events. If you're interested in volunteering, you can sign up for our website at case.org slash volunteer, and a full listing of events can be found online at case.org slash volunteer. And a full listing of events can be found online at case.org slash events. Now I'm going to discuss the CASE Awards and Scholarships Program. Our members have done amazing work in advancement, and CASE is honored to recognize them through our CASE Annual Awards Program. Our Circle of Excellence Awards spotlight creative and inspiring projects that make an impact on institutions in their communities. In fiscal year 24, CASE received over 4,000 entries and awarded Circle of Excellence Awards to 522 institutions. It is an institution-based award. CASE also recognizes individual achievements through our CASE Leadership Awards and CASE Distinguished Service Awards. In addition, each of the eight CASE districts in the U.S.-Canada region also offer their own awards program. And I should mention that the CASE Awards Programs are only for CASE members. You can find out more about the CASE Awards Program and check out our past winners by going to case.org slash awards. So it really is a great opportunity to get the deserved recognition for your institution and yourself. In addition to our awards, CASE also offers an Annual Scholarship Program to help members attend CASE meetings. Scholarship recipients can attend one CASE conference at no cost, covering the meeting registration fee. Travel-related expenses are not included. This year, in honor of our 50th anniversary, we awarded 50 scholarships out of 77 applications, doubling the usual number of recipients. Many scholarship recipients are early in their advancement careers or come from smaller institutions, making this opportunity an invaluable chance for learning and networking that they might not otherwise have. The scholarship application process opens up in January and the winners are announced in April. Winners have one year to use their scholarship. You can go on our website to find out more and to see a list of past winners. Okay, now it's time for a second pop-up quiz. How many CASE members received the Circle of Excellence Award this year? Once again, it's tough, but, you know, we got a winner last time, so let's see what happens. All right, I'll give you a moment. And then I'm going to, and Edwina, if you see a winner, please let me know. Sorry, the answer popped up very quickly. We have a winner, Yolanda Jackson. Congratulations. Congratulations. I love Starbucks. Awesome. Well, I'm very happy to hear that and I will be in touch very soon with your Starbucks gift card. That's great. Congratulations, but there are three more chances, so continue to pay close attention. Okay, we are now going to talk about CASE Global Reporting Standards. All professions have standards, and advancement is no different. CASE is proud to be the leader for advancement standards, focusing on fundraising, alumni relations, and marketing and communications. We first published our reporting standards in 1982, and in 2021, we published our first CASE Global Reporting Standards. Which expanded our standards to organizations around the world. This past July, we updated our standards with guidance on new funds committed and campaign counting. The CASE Global Reporting Standards provide guidelines and definitions for reporting the results of educational philanthropy at schools, colleges, and universities around the world. The standards are intended to help educational leaders understand and mitigate risk and enable effective leadership in the area of philanthropic support. They provide worldwide standards for institutional fundraising, with definitions for educational philanthropy, and important guidance around gift counting, funds received, new funds committed, and donor control and influence. All CASE members receive a complimentary one-year digital subscription to the electronic version of the CASE Global Reporting Standards. And if you need help with signing up for your digital subscription, please contact the membership team, and we can help you with this. Additional electronic subscriptions can be purchased and also print versions, and some of our members associated with the CASE Global Reporting Standards will be able to receive And some of our members especially like the printed book because it allows you to highlight and mark pages and annotate where needed, and it also can be shared among a team and added to your office library. And the book is spiral-bound and includes tabbed sections. Now we're going to talk about CASE Insights. CASE is a global leader in empowering advancement professionals at colleges, universities, and schools to make data-informed decisions. Institutions of all sizes, types, and locations around the world find that CASE Insights, our comprehensive suite of data, standards, and research, is an invaluable tool for driving success. Our members leverage strategic benchmarking reports, data access toolkits, specialized trainings, and more to adopt a data-informed strategy that enhances their work. There are additional feed-based services offered through Case Insights that are only available for members. Members can also participate in Case Insights surveys online. In doing so, your institution gains easy access to personalized summary benchmarking reports, including peer comparisons, detailed data, and other valuable insights. Case Insights provides specialized data, standards, and research that enable advancement professionals to make informed decisions, demonstrate strategic impact, highlight success stories, and define ethical practices at their institutions. As the world leader in helping institutions achieve their goals, Case offers many of these resources as part of your membership benefits. Further, participants in our surveys receive access to detailed survey results and a customized benchmarking report specific to their institution. All right, already it's time for our third pop-up quiz. All right, name two ways you can use Case global reporting standards to be more successful at your institution. So once again, the first person to post the correct answer in the chat wins a $10 Starbucks gift card. So we'll give you all a moment to think about this. And I will ask it when I assume if we have our winner. So name two ways you can use Case global standards. A little bit of a longer answer. All right, Edwina, how's it going? Hey, we have a winner. Yay! Linda, and I will probably butcher the last name. Congratulations, Linda. Yes, so congratulations, Linda. Regi-rello. Oh, thank you. Well, great job, congratulations. And I will be in touch soon with your Starbucks gift card. And so you're welcome. And we have two more chances for everyone else to win. Okay, so now we're gonna talk about Case volunteers. Volunteers are at the core of everything Case does. One of our guiding principles is that Case runs on volunteer power. Volunteering is a great way for you to become more engaged with the Case community and make an invaluable contribution to the field of advancement. And we offer a wide range of opportunities for those who are interested. Each year, more than 350 volunteer leaders serve on Case boards and advisory groups, while another 3,200 advancement professionals volunteer their time as speakers, authors, conference planners, judges for our awards programs, and more. Case volunteers are at all stages of their advancement careers, from newcomers to senior level practitioners, and work across all advancement disciplines, such as alumni relations, communications, development, and marketing. Volunteers can serve in a short-term basis, such as by contributing to a conference, or more long-term by serving a multi-year term on the Case Board of Trustees. And there are many different volunteer opportunities at Case. These include serving as a volunteer leader on the Board of Trustees, serving as an awards judge, writing a piece of occurrence, our membership magazine, or volunteering to be on a conference committee, which is the most common way that our members get involved with and volunteer for Case. Our conferences offer many volunteer opportunities, including serving as a speaker, leading a roundtable discussion, serving on a panel, working the welcome desk, seeking sponsorships, or even working on an online program. There are also opportunities to volunteer at the district level. For example, I have the privilege of working with an incredible group of volunteers who focus on member outreach at the district level. In fact, Shara, who will be joining us shortly, is one of the wonderful volunteers who I work with. And if you're interested in volunteering, I highly encourage you to go to case.org slash volunteer and fill out the online form to get started. I'm now going to highlight one more membership benefit before we move on to our special speaker today, and that is Case Communities. One of the best ways to connect with your peers and expand your professional network is through our Case Communities. The communities are vibrant, secure, members-only online spaces where our members come together to exchange questions, stories, insights, and resources. Case Communities is a great platform for seeking and sharing advice, support, and ideas. And while many of our members first experience a members-related Case Community, there are so many more Case Communities to experience. Within Case Communities, you can engage with colleagues on a wide range of topics, including advancement services, alumni relations, communications, marketing, fundraising, DEIB, and much more. Our communities cater to diverse interests, such as college and university editors, foundations, community college grants, and independent and international schools. And here's a screenshot of the Case Community page that lists the communities by topic. And as you can see, as of now, there are 11 different communities here, and we are always open to adding new communities. So if you have a great idea for one, please let us know. So you can explore all the possibilities and start connecting today by visiting case.org slash connect. All right, now it's time for our fourth pop-up quiz. The question is, name two topics that have Case Communities. Once again, the first person to post a correct answer in the chat will be the recipient of a $10 Starbucks gift card, which is definitely enough to get a pumpkin latte. So name two topics that are the focus of Case Communities. And I'll give you all a moment. And I hope we have a winner. And I'm dreaming about those pumpkin lattes right now. Okay, Edwina, do we have a winner? Yes, we have a winner, Erin. Congratulations, Erin, that's wonderful. Thank you. All right, you can get a pumpkin latte or you can get whatever you want. So congratulations, I'll be there. Congratulations, I'll be in touch soon. And we still have one more pop-up quiz. So pay close attention. All right, now it's time for our guest speaker. I am so excited to introduce Shara Freeman Hoffel. Shara is a longtime case member and volunteer. A little background information on Shara. She's the Assistant Head of School for External Relations at Francis Parker School in San Diego. She oversees fundraising, parent and alumni relations, communications, marketing, and admissions. Shara joined Francis Parker School as their Head of Advancement in 2013. Shara's career and development started in 2004. She's worked in Boston and New York City for Cornell University, Fordham Law School, and the Chapman School. Shara's been a case member since 2004 and has spoken at case regional and national conferences. She's the Case School Advancement Institute Chair and a Case US Canada Council member. Shara is also the District 7 Membership Liaison. And it's in this position that I have the honor of working with her. And I will mention that she is absolutely wonderful to work with and just an amazing volunteer. Shara received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Cornell University and a master's degree in sports psychology from Ithaca College. And if you have any questions for Shara, please post them in the chat and we'll get to them after she's finished speaking. So Shara, I'm handing off the microphone to you. Thank you so much. That was a fabulous introduction. And all I want is to win a $10 gift card. I'm so competitive, but I'm holding back here because I'm the guest. But just everybody, hi, so great to see you. I see some friends on here. So hello, friends and colleagues. So I just have two things to share. One, as a member, I mean, clearly I am exhausted because I try to do everything with CASE and I've loved it. So my suggestion to you is I'm gonna give you three action items. You don't need to do them. I know you're all multitaskers, so you could do them while you're on this call with us to get involved with CASE. And they're really simple and they don't take a lot of time. And I'll tell you the benefit for me is because I came from the East Coast to the West Coast, I did not know what all of our community colleges, our state colleges and our public universities were going through here. And I've learned so much through my involvement with CASE of what it means to be a first-gen community college student what it means to be within the state system and fundraise when your budgets are getting cut. And these are realities that I'm not facing in a private independent school in Southern California. And so CASE has just kept me relevant in the fundraising world. And I'm so grateful to CASE for that. But I have three action items because they're really important today. In addition to what Candice has told you, I would love for you to know what district you're in. And many of you might not know that. So I'm gonna put it in the chat. That's a link. And you can go to the CASE website and it lists the districts. And if you click on those districts that are listed, District 1, 2, 3, 4, you're gonna see what states are included. I'm in District 7. I'm in California. And that includes Utah, Washington. Actually, you know, that's so funny. Sometimes I know everything and sometimes I don't. Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah, and California. Those are my districts. So know what district you're in. That's important because you will be asked that when you're asked to sign up to volunteer. So that is my first action. Know your district. Number two, she mentioned the awards, which are amazing. I love to go to the Circle of Excellence page and see what best in class schools and universities are doing, especially when it comes for giving days. One of the other benefits to seeing the awards is actually seeing them before they win. And by being an awards judge. That was one of the ways I got open to the district was by volunteering as a CASE judge. And I will tell you, you get to see all the amazing things that are submitted and you get to help select the winners. So I'm gonna put that in the chat too. That is the online form. It's very simple. Just saying you are interested in judging and honestly, it will take you a certain amount of time depending what category in. I encourage you to do a category that you're not an expert in. Look at magazines, look at advancement services, start to open your eyes to all the things out there that you might not be dealing when you're daily practice, but that you can be a nice open judge for and objective judge for. The third action item I'm going to tell you to do is when you know what district you're in, when your district conference comes, I really encourage you to either pitch to speak or be on your conference committee to help organize the event. Again, you'll start to get involved with the people on the ground and start to make connections. I know what it's like to move districts and to show up to a CASE conference and not know a single person in the room. And it's just hard to make a first connection. Through volunteering, I was able to have a go-to group and through that expand. So again, if you're new to this business, if you're new to your university, if you're new to your district, lean in on CASE in these three ways. Again, knowing your district, doing the awards and helping at a conference event in whatever way, whether you're in the front or you're in the back or you're behind the scenes, I recommend you do that. So I am so grateful you're on this call and learning more. I'm a big advocate of the libraries. So if I want to get an article from, you can even, it goes back to like decades. If I want to get something about giving in underserved communities, I will go search that library and I'll have 10 articles to me. So really just start to use that because it will help you in your practice. No $10 gift cards for the end of this conversation, but you get big points with me if you sign up. And that's like a pumpkin spice latte worthy. So thank you so much for including me today. And I'm gonna just look to see that last winner. I'm so excited. Well, that's great. Thank you so much, Sarah. That was wonderful. And I absolutely love the three-action plan. That's perfect. Thank you. Edwina, are there any questions for Sarah? No questions that I can see, but I will stay and monitor the chat. All right. Well, thank you so much. That was wonderful. Let me tell you, we are so grateful for you here at CASE. So thank you so much. Okay. Well, thank you so much again, Sarah, for sharing your CASE experiences with everyone. And now that we've covered many of CASE's most popular benefits and resources and had a chance to hear from one of our longtime members and volunteers, it's time for our Q&A session. So if anyone has any questions, please post them in the chat. And now's the time we can also answer any questions who were posted earlier in the webinar. So Edwina, are there any questions you'd like to share now? No questions? Does anyone have any questions? I should have offered a Starbucks gift card for the questions. Maybe that would have got them going. I'm remembering that for the October one. All right. Well, if there are, you know, if you don't have any questions now, but you think of them later, my contact information is here and you are welcome to send them to me. All right. Well, then it looks like we're going to go on to our fifth and final pop-up quiz. And hopefully- Sorry, Candice, we have one question. Will the recording be sent out? Yes. You should have received a link before, but you will definitely receive a link afterwards too. So yes, you will definitely receive the recording. And now you've had some extra time to look at the questions. So that was very good. So, but here's the final question and I hope this is an easy one for everyone. Name two case benefits you learned about during this webinar that you didn't know about before today and there can be lots of different correct answers. So once again, the first person to post a correct answer will win the final $10 Starbucks gift card. So I'll give you all a moment. We have a winner, Donna Kleinman. Congratulations, Donna. Congratulations, that is wonderful. I will be in touch very soon with your case Starbucks card. But congratulations to all our winners, but I really would like to think that everyone who came today is a winner because you are learning about how to take full advantage of your case membership and use it to be more successful in your position in your career. So really congratulations to everyone. So as we wrap up today's session, I'm going to quickly review what we've covered. We explored some of the most popular benefits and resources available to you as a case member, including the case library, our extensive offering of in-person and online events, our awards and scholarship programs, the case global reporting standards, case insights, volunteer opportunities and case communities. For more information on any of these topics, I encourage you to visit our website at case.org. There you'll find detailed resources and ways to connect with our team if you have additional questions. I am also listing here the web addresses for the resources I discussed today. As I mentioned, the slide deck for today's webinar will be sent to you and it's also available to download from our meeting website. In addition, available on our meeting website I'm including a detailed list of all case benefits and resources, including some that due to time restrictions, I wasn't able to cover in today's webinar, such as our DEI resources, internship program, employment resources, LinkedIn groups and more. At this time, we would greatly appreciate it if you could post in the chat any topics or case benefits and resources that you would love to learn more about. That would be so incredibly helpful for us in planning future membership webinars and other outreach activities. And of course, you are welcome to send me an email with this information too. So I'll give you guys a moment. Hopefully we'll get some response, but like I said, you can always reach out to me if there's something you wanna learn about. So once again, a big thank you for joining us today for our first monthly membership webinar. We're excited to continue these sessions on the third Wednesday of every month. So our next one will be on October 16th and we'd love for you to join us again. And it'll be another chance to win a Starbucks gift card. And please feel free to invite your colleagues as well. And thank you so much for Edwina for all your help today. And again, to Shara for sharing her insights and experience with case. So thank you again, everyone and have a wonderful afternoon. Bye.

CASE membership

professional development

CASE Library

educational events

global reporting standards

CASE Insights

networking