The Chowan University Advancement Office was well represented at the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) Development and Public Information Officers Virtual Conference on January 11 and 12.  NCICU represents the 36 private nonprofit colleges with advocacy and support especially on the matters of federal and public policy. The conference was designed to provide a platform for networking and sharing best practices among the NCICU schools.

Assistant to the President and Executive Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving, John M. Tayloe, served as a member of this year’s planning committee.  Along with assisting with conference planning, Tayloe led a breakout session titled, “What I wish I had known as a new Vice President for Development.” In this session, Tayloe hosted a group of new and veteran senior leaders.  In this session, he shared his ‘top ten’ list of the lessons he has learned in his twenty-six years of university experience. Tayloe had previously led this discussion at Roundtable sessions at the CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) All Districts Virtual Conference in February 2021. “I was grateful for the opportunity to lead this session again for my peers here in North Carolina.  On each occasion we had productive conversations for university development leaders,” shared Tayloe.

Andy Wilson, Vice President for Advancement was a panel leader for “Crowdfunding your way to a Better Donor Experience.”  In this session, Wilson along with colleagues from Emory University and the University of Mississippi discussed how crowdfunding has transformed donor engagement. For his role, Wilson shared how the crowdfunding platform from Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL) has been a helpful tool for fundraising for different segments of the university.

Thanks to the flexibility of the virtual format, the entire Chowan Advancement Team participated in the conference.  The team enjoyed the variety of breakout sessions, as well as hearing from NCICU president, Dr. Hope A. Williams. Williams gave updates on her advocacy work around pandemic issues as well as promoting the #DoublePell initiative with Congress to benefit students. “NCICU put on a quality event,” shared Andy Wilson, “I’m so delighted that our team was able to attend, as well as lead in sessions. We look forward to returning next year.”