The Quiet Driver Behind High-Performing Teams Over the past few months, I’ve had a number of conversations with advancement leaders who keep circling the same essential question: “What makes a MarComm team truly high-performing?” Not just competent. Not just creative. But consistently impactful. And while there are always important nuances—culture, chemistry, capacity, experience, resources—one attribute comes up every time: Clarity. Clarity of purpose.Clarity of expectations.Clarity of...
5 days ago • 3 min read
More Money, Fewer Donors A recent data drop from the AFP's Fundraising Effectiveness Project made me pause—and maybe it should make you pause, too. It confirms what many of us have sensed for a while: giving continues to trend up, but loyalty is shrinking. The dollars may look good in a fiscal year-end or president's report. But beneath them is a quieter story—an erosion of trust, connection, and commitment. This really clicked during a run on Monday while listening to a podcast about the...
15 days ago • 3 min read
The Campaign Is the Catalyst With public skepticism around the value of higher education—and a U.S. administration slashing research funding while targeting institutions with large endowments—it’s understandable why many universities are considering delaying or downplaying their fundraising campaigns. The timing doesn't feel right.The support isn't guaranteed.The board might hesitate.The optics are tricky. Over the past few months, I’ve spoken with many senior advancement leaders—people who...
28 days ago • 3 min read
The One Thing That Can Make or Break Your Campaign Why do some campaigns take off while others fall flat—even with similar resources? It's not the budget.It's not the creative.It's not even the strategy. It's internal trust. Before any campaign captures the public's attention, it needs buy-in from the people behind the scenes. Without internal alignment, even the best-laid strategies can unravel quickly. And given how high-profile campaigns are, a failed one can do serious damage—to...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Gentle Wisdom from a Good Dog This week’s insight comes from an unexpected place—and one of the hardest I’ve ever had to experience. My little companion Clark, a King Charles Cavalier who had been with me for 15 ½ years, passed two weeks ago. His decline wasn’t sudden—he faded slowly over several years until, as a final act of love and mercy, we made the impossibly difficult decision to put him to sleep. Fortunately, we were able to plan and fully celebrate his last few days with us. (And...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Inside the Series: Advancement Amplified - AI for IA Last November, I was invited to join Mallory Willsea for a quick podcast segment during the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education in Las Vegas. Our conversation was meant to be short and sweet—just a few thoughts on AI adoption in advancement. But what started as an impromptu recording turned into something much bigger. That one episode sparked an idea. What if we created a mini-series dedicated to the intersection of AI and...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
The Best Investment You'll Ever Make: Yourself A few people have recently reached out to me for professional advice—whether about navigating career transitions, refining their personal brand, or exploring new opportunities. And a common theme keeps coming up: career paths rarely go as planned. The destination will change. Probably a few times. Many of us build careers around institutions, believing that stability comes from tenure, loyalty, or reputation. But in higher education and the...
2 months ago • 4 min read
When the System is Broken, Everyone Loses Higher education is facing intense scrutiny and disruption—from political attacks to financial instability to public skepticism about its value. These external forces are real and putting immense pressure on institutions. While these challenges are very serious, I’ve been thinking a lot about how institutions can also be their own worst enemies: They operate in siloes. They chase prestige over people. They mistake motion for progress. (Because if the...
2 months ago • 5 min read
Alumni Engagement Trends: Are You Keeping Up? Traditional alumni engagement methods—large events, reunions, mass emails—used to connect. Now, they're broken. That’s the unsettling reality advancement leaders quietly acknowledge but hesitate to say out loud. Mass emails go unopened. Generic events have declining attendance. The "one-size-fits-all" outreach methods that worked in the past aren't cutting it anymore. You pour resources into alumni engagement, but participation rates keep falling,...
3 months ago • 3 min read