Blog
October 3, 2024
Advancement 101: Positioning Higher Education Institutions for Success
Advancement is progressively evolving in the higher education and nonprofit landscapes. But what exactly is Advancement? “It’s simply ‘advancing the work,’ of higher education institutions and their constituents,” said Christopher Campbell a leader in the Advancement field with twenty years of experience. He serves as the Advancement Advisory Lead within Attain Partners’ Attain Digital practice.
Advancement is about creating an impact. At Attain Partners, we serve as trusted partners for higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations seeking to strategically transform and modernize their Advancement technologies and processes to create built-to-last, sustainable change.
Meet Christopher Campbell, Advancement Expert, Attain Partners
As a leading expert in the Advancement field, Christopher Campbell joined Attain Partners in 2024 as the Advancement Advisory Lead.
Campbell brings a deep understanding of Advancement as a subject matter expert and has firsthand experience and knowledge working in higher education Advancement. His first Advancement experience came from his time at Oklahoma State University (OSU), where he held many positions, including serving as a frontline fundraiser, building out and overseeing the Prospect Development Team, and ultimately serving as the Senior Associate Vice President for the Information Strategy Business Unit.
In every role, Campbell strived to strengthen OSU’s Advancement focus. He led a team to implement Advancement tools and Salesforce CRM solutions, which have streamlined and improved OSU’s funding and engagement tracking. Now, at Attain Partners, Campbell actively shares his expertise to help other higher education institutions optimize their Advancement operations and strategy.
As the Association of Advancement Services Professionals (aasp) Summit 2024 approaches, we sat down with Christopher Campbell, a long-time aasp member, to discuss what higher education institutions need to consider before embarking on an Advancement improvement journey. Read on to learn the four key considerations when undertaking an Advancement initiative.
Four Key Considerations When Undertaking an Advancement Initiative
1. Embrace Change to Achieve Advancement Success
Powerful new technology is rapidly being deployed in Advancement, and our institutions must embrace and maximize those new tools. At Attain Partners, we support Advancement transformation initiatives by helping institutions bring their systems and processes into the 21st century.
Technology ages like dog years. So, if your organization is operating on a 20-year-old system, it’s actually much older given the rapid growth of technology especially within Advancement. Our work at Attain Partners helps higher education navigate this dynamic and ever-changing landscape. A big part of that is partnering with institutions to help them implement these solutions within Salesforce.
Chris Campbell
Principal and Advancement Advisory Lead, Attain Partners
Higher education must adapt and streamline operations to efficiently track constituent engagement and donations. Attain Partners addresses this need by guiding organizations through these changes with the help of Salesforce and other previously for-profit tools. Our team has the functional and technical knowledge to come alongside and help you embrace the change your institution desires to achieve success.
2. Tailor Advancement Strategy to Your Specific Mission and Unique Institutional Makeup
Constituent engagement and donor tracking serve as the central tenants of Advancement departments’ operations. Attain Partners guides organizations to target and engage segments of their constituents that will strengthen investment to ensure clients’ vision, mission, and goals are achieved.
Advancement continues to evolve, and it’s not only about ‘alumni’ engagement. It’s critical to engage parents, athletic season ticket holders, the community, and everyone invested in the institution’s success. Higher education institutions’ Advancement initiatives are truly all different in size, shape, scope, structure, and more. This is where our experts come in, adapting to the unique Advancement needs of each organization.
Chris Campbell
Principal and Advancement Advisory Lead, Attain Partners
At Attain Partners, we help institutions navigate technology, both from a Salesforce and a holistic perspective. As a focal point of our Advancement transformation initiatives, we customize the process to each organization’s unique mission and goals as we value the distinctive dynamics of higher education institutions.
3. Prioritize Updated Technology
Among the most common roadblocks institutions face when modernizing their Advancement operations are outdated technology infrastructure and the financial resources available to modernize that infrastructure.
In the last five years, the education and nonprofit worlds have been thrust into a technology ecosystem overflowing with for-profit tools and incredibly advanced technology platforms like Salesforce.
Chris Campbell
Principal and Advancement Advisory Lead, Attain Partners
At Attain Partners, we offer tailored support to help organizations update their outdated constituent relationship management (CRM) systems, marketing automation platforms, enterprise analytic platforms, and everything in between.
For organizations that have the technology already in place, determining how to finance the necessary tools or personnel to continually update the technology often remains a challenge, even after go-live. We bring a consultative approach to empower institutions to become the experts of Salesforce and help to build a results-oriented approach to obtain higher funding levels needed.
As consultants, we have the opportunity to provide post-implementation and outside-of-implementation support to those who do not quite have the expertise or finances needed to maintain the systems that they are now implementing.
Chris Campbell
Principal and Advancement Advisory Lead, Attain Partners
4. Optimize Strategies to Expedite Results
Attain Partners creates opportunities for clients to maximize fundraising efforts, automate systems, and drive data-driven decision-making. Additionally, we use digital optimization and digital transformation strategies to deliver enhanced solutions. With these opportunities in mind, our Advancement experts develop long-lasting processes for institutions.
First and foremost, the highest-level goal should be to maximize the ability of our Advancement shops to engage our constituents and ultimately raise funds for our organizations. We want to maximize the effort and work of our fundraisers so they can focus on getting in front of the right prospects at the right time, to make the right ask.
Chris Campbell
Principal and Advancement Advisory Lead, Attain Partners
Connect with Us at aasp Summit 2024
Speak with our experts directly—visit us at Booth #305 during aasp Summit 2024 to learn how Attain Partners can help your organization streamline operations and move its Advancement mission forward.
Not attending? Contact us today to speak with one of our experts directly.
Attain Partners – Your Partners in Change
From developing strategic roadmaps for change to harnessing the power of your data to inform strategic decision-making, we can help provide the connection between you and the people you care about. Whether it’s a new implementation, review of an existing configuration, or enhancements to your current state—Attain Partners is here to guide you and your team throughout each step in your Advancement transformation journey.
