Recently I attended a professional development opportunity that wasn’t hosted by CAISAP, and although the information, instruction and ideas were excellent, it just wasn’t the same as a CAISAP event!  The opportunity to chat with others who face similar challenges is unique, informative and energizing!  The CAISAP executive is certainly meeting our goal of offering professional development and networking opportunities between our national conferences.  I am extremely grateful to the many CAISAP volunteers who are dedicating extra time out of their heavy workloads to put on regional professional development days.   Since our January 2007 conference there have been 3 events; Tracy Rutledge, formerly of TCS, hosted Ontario PD in June 2007, Sharon Cozens of Trafalgar School hosted a Quebec PD in February, and most recently in April, Laura Edwards and her team, hosted Western PD at Shawnigan Lake. 

Under the direction of CAISAP volunteer Catherine Raaflaub we have an upcoming Ontario event planned for June 25, 2008 at Appleby College.   Regional events usually have no registration fees and are certainly easy on the budget!  These opportunities are a tremendous benefit to all advancement colleagues and I encourage you to make the time to attend an event near you or plan your donor visits to coincide with an event in another part of the country!  Check the CAISAP web-site www.caisap.ca for upcoming professional development events and details.

Cheers,
Jeanette Hepburn
Albert College 

Ontario Regional PD
June 25, 2008, Appleby College

Appleby College is hosting the next Ontario Regional PD Day on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 with a great line up of speakers and workshops. Your whole office is welcome to attend. It will be a great day for team bonding with something to interest everyone. Also, consider inviting your school's development committee and/or your parents' or alumni association. For a complete agenda, click here. For more information, or to register, email RSVP@appleby.on.ca by June 18th. Please include your name, title and school.

CIS Professional Development
July 15, 2008, St. Michael's College School

St. Michael's College School in Toronto is hosting a free PD day on July 15th. For more information, click here.

Louis went on to become the Executive Vice-President, Corporate Social Responsibility / Resource Development and the Chief Executive Officer for the Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign at the United Way of Ottawa.  He finds relationship building to be the most noticeable difference between working at the United Way and Ashbury College.  At Ashbury he works directly with the donors whereas at the United Way the focus was on the relationship with each employee campaigner.

When asked what trends in fundraising/advancement in the past five years have surprised him, Louis noted the emphasis on donor designations and specificity of the gifts with less resources for unrestricted gifts.  “I do often wonder who is responsible for creating the trend: the donor or the fundraiser?  Fundraisers have a huge responsibility in inspiring donors about the organization's mission and core values. ” Looking into the crystal ball of the future he sees advancement growing in importance for independent schools and that promoting and growing endowment will become the main differentiator between the good schools and the great ones.

His advice for newcomers to the business? Never stop learning, about advancement, your school, the world in general.  Much of your conversations with donors and stakeholders will include a variety of topics in addition to philanthropy.

The 2009 CAISAP National Conference is moving forward with a slight change in direction. Our Admission's colleagues have voiced their concerns over our planned "Coming Together" theme due to the conference timing. We all know that January is soft for Advancement and pretty busy for Admissions. We could not accommodate their request to move the conference to May as that is our busy season. Some things never change!
 
We have confirmed 2 of our plenary speakers: Charlie Collier, Senior Philanthropic Advisor for Harvard University whose research in working with families of wealth has progressed considerably since our last update in 2002. Charlie will share his techniques and approaches to major gifts and working with families of wealth.
 
Andrea McManus CFRE, Principal of the Development Group in Calgary is also Vice Chair of Professional Development for AFP International. Andrea will conduct an ethics workshop for us which is critically important in building trust within both our organizations as well as our sector.
 
We received a great response from those within our schools to offer their assistance with our Hot Topic sessions and those will be organized over the next few months and confirmed. Thank you to all of our colleagues who stepped forward.

The Banff Centre (www.banffcentre.com) is in the midst of a multi-year renovation and we will have the good fortune to enjoy the new facilities during our conference. The Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Team visited the Banff Centre in early June to begin the operational preparations. Thank you to our colleagues who have offered to assist in January during the conference, we will confirm those assignments later in the year.

Registrations will be open in early fall with an early bird offer of a free conference fee for those registering early. More details will be forthcoming as they are confirmed.

See you in Banff!

Derek D. Fraser CFRE
2009 Conference Chair 

This portion of the EQuarterly is devoted to reporting the comings and goings of Advancement team members at member schools. We would like to encourage you to email changes on your team to info@caisap.on.ca and include the following details: school name, departing/arriving person's full name and position/location. Please help us to keep our members database current by updating your school’s record when transitions occur.

A warm welcome to new CAISAP members:
Scott Hayter, Executive Director of Advancement, St. Andrew's College
Phil Jarvis, Director of Advancement, Brentwood College
Derek McLean, Director of Advancement, St. John's Ravenscourt
Doug Mann, Executive Director of Advancement at Trinity College School

Congratulations to those who have made career changes:
Lori Adams has been named Director of Annual Fund at St. Michael's University School.
Brian Iggulden has been named Deputy Head at Ridley College School.

Farewell to members who have left CAISAP positions.
Sarah Dame has joined KCI as a Search Consultant, leaving St. Andrew's College March 31, 2008.
Jane Guest has left her position as Director of Advancement, at Miss Edgar's and Miss Cramp's School.
Congratulations to Jim Herder as he retires as Director of Advancement, St. Andrew's College, effective June 30, 2008. 
Congratulations also to Cathy Reeves who retires this year from her position as Director of Advancement at Sterling Hall.
Best wishes to Rudy Massimo as he leaves Lakefield College School.

We also send out congratulations and best wishes to Mireille Millette, Sterling Hall School, on the birth of her son Thomas Andrew Millette Glass on March 12, 2008.

On Friday April 18th, more than 40 Advancement Professionals from Winnipeg west, met at the gorgeous Shawnigan Lake School campus for the 5th bi-annual CAISAP Western Regional conference.  Every School in the west was represented, providing a terrific learning and networking opportunity.

The full day session was kicked off Thursday evening with a wine and cheese reception at the lake side home of Steve Housser, Director of Advancement S L S.

In addition to 4 round tables, there were 3 key note speakers, including John Davies, Gavin Dew from UBC  who spoke on the hot topic of social networking, rounded out by the brilliant Maria Goncalves of St Michaels University School, from whom we can always learn more about data mining.

Many thanks to the team at Shawnigan Lake for a fantastic day, as always there is no charge for the Western Regional Conference.  See you in Banff!

Above Photo: John Davies, mentor to many, and recipient of the CAISAP Sam Heaman Award, is pictured here giving an inspiring talk on the importance and value of our work as Advancement Professionals.

Trafalgar School for Girls in Montreal hosted a CAISAP Regional PD Day on February 8, 2008 for Quebec and Ottawa area schools. The event was well-attended with 7 schools represented by 29 participants, including CAISAP President Jeanette Hepburn.

The day started off with a fast-paced presentation from Dr. Jim Christopher, Executive Director of CAIS, speaking about demographics and Fundraising in a Shrinking Market. Participants benefited from excellent presentations including Becoming a Better Negotiator from Shaun Lynch, SGL Philanthropic Services and the Nuts and Bolts of Planned Giving by Heather Powers, a consultant with Mather Leigh. In the afternoon, participants could choose from one of two sessions: The Art of the Ask, presented by Karen Flam, Executive Director, Maimonides Geriatric Centre Foundation and Traf alum, or Communicating with the Media by Richard Andrews, Communication Coordinator at LCC.

The results of the survey reinforced the importance of CAISAP colleagues taking the time to get out of their office to meet with their colleagues and discuss issues and ideas.

Thank you to Sharon Cozens and the team at Trafalgar School for hosting a terrific event.

Above Photos: CAISAP Quebec Region welcomes guest speakers at Recent PD Day. Left: Heather Powers (Mather Leigh),  Right: Shaun Lynch (SGL Philanthropic Services) Photos by Richard Wills, Selwyn House.