Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Engagement Rebecca Kocher will chair and help present a three-day campaigns workshop in December for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). The CASE Campaigns Workshop will have attendees from four countries, representing more than 70 different institutions, and runs from Monday, Dec. 5, through Wednesday, Dec. 7, in Chicago, Illinois.
Kocher will be accompanied by Kristina Devine, assistant vice president for advancement and operations at Wittenberg University, who will also be presenting at the workshop. A global non-profit association dedicated to educational advancement and excellence in alumni relations, communications, development, marketing, and advancement services, CASE has a mission of serving as a catalyst for advancing education worldwide. The workshop provides a chance to gather with peers to discuss the latest developments in campaign planning and execution.
Offering hands-on learning and real-world problem solving. Monday’s session runs from noon to 6 p.m., followed by Tuesday’s workshop from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and then 9 a.m. to noon on the final day. Presenters will teach participants current best practices for planning and implementing successful campaigns, how to build a robust volunteer and campaign leadership team for an institution, and how to analyze data and research regarding current and emerging trends in campaign planning, along with understanding campaign communications and campaign implementation. It will also highlight perspectives from private and public, as well as large and small institutions, as well as illustrate how successful campaigns can advance an institution’s strategic initiatives.
In her role at Wittenberg, Kocher is responsible for leading alumni engagement and all fundraising efforts, most recently helping the University successfully launch its $100-million Having Light comprehensive campaign – an endeavor which surpassed its goal nine months ahead of schedule. Passionate about developing, implementing, and analyzing strategies to expand outreach with limited resources, Kocher brings extensive experience in relationship-building and cross-divisional collaboration. With more than 17 years of experience in higher education fundraising, Kocher understands and embraces the value of creating a metric-driven environment that includes calculated levels of accountability and a high-touch modeling method.
In her role at Wittenberg, Devine focuses on the creation and implementation of Wittenberg’s strategic vision for fundraising and donor cultivation, assisting Kocher and other institutional leaders, in enterprise-wide advancement strategy and initiatives.
As an experienced fundraiser, Devine is devoted to the advancement and expansion of higher education through the helping of others to find the joy in giving back. With nearly 15 years of fundraising experience, she has participated in campaigns of all sizes and methodologies, as part of both private and public entities and institutions. Her experience spans from small nonprofits to higher education, with demonstrated fundraising success in capital campaigns, targeted annual campaigns, special project campaigns, and comprehensive campaigns.
According to its website, CASE inspires, challenges, and equips communities of professionals to act effectively and with integrity to champion the success of each member. As a 501(c)(3) organization, CASE serves a broad array of educational institutions around the world with their CASE Global Reporting Standards setting the bar for common industry practices and counting standards, fundraising guidelines, and definitions for reporting the results of educational philanthropy activities at schools, colleges, and universities across the globe.
For more information on the workshop, click here.
