The Work Is Getting Clearer

Since going solo a year and a half ago, I’ve been unrelentingly pursuing one big idea: Advancement marketing and communications can’t keep being treated as just a downstream service provider. ​
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It’s capable of so much more.

And as another fiscal year comes to a close soon for many institutions, it becomes harder to ignore how much they need Advancement MarCom to influence bigger outcomes: reputation, campaign progress, donor confidence, alumni engagement, and philanthropic support.

For a while, though, I have to admit — this felt like a pretty lonely point of view.

People inside institutions are often too deep in their own structures, politics, and daily demands to step back and name the issue clearly. I struggled with this myself when in-house at Drexel. And external partners may understand parts of it, but not the full complexity of how it all fits together.

As a result, many teams haven’t had much in the way of resources or guidance for trying to do this work differently. Which is why I’ve spent a great deal of time and effort publicly putting language around something many teams feel but often don’t have the space, distance, or permission to discuss it openly.

But that seems to be changing.

The questions I’ve been writing about, speaking about, advising clients on, and building my work around are showing up in more spaces.

And that... feels like progress.

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Where I'm seeing it in the work

A lot of my time continues to be focused on campaign readiness work with UCLA, helping External Affairs leadership think through the people, partners, structure, and systems needed to support their next comprehensive fundraising campaign.

Right now, that includes finalizing the first two senior-level hires for the new marketing and communications function I've helped architect, spearheading the campaign branding agency RFP process, shaping the broader campaign support model, and continuing to serve as the interim leader for Central Development marketing and communications work.

It's entailed a number of complex moving pieces, which is exactly the kind of work I love. And it's reinforced a core belief: campaign communications readiness is about far more than having a strong “story.”

It’s about making sure the organization has the capacity to find, shape, approve, produce, and use that content to help drive meaningful philanthropic engagement.

That is a much bigger charge than communications alone.

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Where I'm hearing it

Back in March, I had the chance to speak at the annual CUPRAP conference in Pennsylvania, where I delivered my presentation: "MarCom + Advancement: Stronger Together."

My main point was simple. These two groups can’t afford to act like distant relatives who only talk when a project requires it. Their collaboration is one of the essential ingredients for making stronger institutional storytelling possible.

When they are disconnected, people feel it: stories get fragmented, priorities compete, donors and alumni hear mixed signals, and opportunities are leveraged less than they could be. Internal teams spend too much time trying to coordinate work that should have been aligned earlier.

But when Central MarCom and Advancement are working from a shared view of the institution’s story, the work gets better. Not perfect or effortless, but better.

And I’m hearing that idea more frequently now. I’ve seen it through client work, conference conversations, podcast discussions, virtual coffee chats, and LinkedIn exchanges. It feels like the field is more ready for this conversation than it was 18 months ago.

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A few days with like-minded people

In early May, I was fortunate to spend several days at the inaugural Let’s Go Upstate retreat in Saratoga Springs at the invitation of Mallory Willsea and Ashley Budd, both of whom I’ve been fortunate to get to know over the past two years.

The word “retreat” is intentional. So much professional development in higher ed is built around the traditional conference model, with a lot of rushing from one thing to the next. Let’s Go Upstate was different.

It brought together an intimate mix of about 30 higher ed MarCom and Advancement thought leaders — in-house professionals, consultants, external partners — all living under the same roof for three and a half days with a loose agenda. The size and setting mattered. It created room for people to relax, lower the professional armor a bit, build personal connections, and hear different angles of thinking. (Here’s a piece my friend Shane Baglini at William & Mary just published for VOLT about our LGU experience.)

The questions that came up had a lot in common: How do we help institutions make better decisions? How do we get buy-in for the work that matters? How do we move beyond short-term needs and help stakeholders think more strategically?

I’ve found independent work to be energizing, but it can also be isolating. So being surrounded by people who care deeply about higher ed, understand the complexity of the work, and are willing to talk candidly about what needs to change felt rare and highly valuable.

The conversation is not sitting in one lane anymore. It’s showing up across Central MarCom, Advancement, consultants, agencies, partners, and institutional leaders who know the old way of working is not enough for where higher ed is headed.

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CASE is getting behind it too

I recently served as a judge for the CASE Circle of Excellence Awards, which gave me a chance to see some of the strongest advancement, communications, and engagement work happening across the field.

More importantly though, I’m excited to be speaking at the CASE Summit for Leaders in Advancement in Seattle this July, a gathering of many of the senior advancement leaders shaping strategy and direction across the field. My session will focus on Elevating Advancement Marketing and Communications as a Revenue Imperative.

That title gets right to the point. The work has to be closer to strategy. It has to have the right access. It has to be part of earlier conversations. And it has to be structured in a way that reflects the importance of what institutions need it to influence.

I’m also in the process of putting the finishing touches on an article for the fall issue of CASE Currents magazine focused on elevating the role and impact of Advancement MarCom functions.

So, yes, there’s a theme here... this conversation is starting to move!

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The summer window is a good time to reset

All of this is why the summer planning window feels especially useful right now. Here's the LinkedIn carousel I published on this last week.

Fiscal year-end will soon be behind you, with the fall ramp-up here before you know it. There’s a short window ahead to step back and ask those better questions:

• Are we using Advancement MarCom strategically?
• Are we as aligned with Central MarCom colleagues as we could be?
• Are we ready for the next campaign, not just creatively, but operationally?
• Are we getting enough value from our agency and external partners?

These types of questions shape how well institutions build trust, engage donors and alumni, and make the most of their limited time and resources.

That's why I’m setting aside a very limited number of summer planning sessions for Advancement, Development, and MarCom teams. These can be virtual or in person, and tailored around topics like: team structure, campaign readiness, partner strategy, FY27 planning, Central MarCom and Advancement collaboration, or other strategic priorities.

The goal is to help your team make clear, high-impact choices before the year gets busy again.

If that would be useful, write back and let’s set up time to talk through what you’re envisioning. Or just write me anyway. I'd love to hear from you and reply to all messages.

Thanks for following along,

Dan