Top Takeaways from CASE-NAIS 2017: The National Conference for Independent Schools

Mike Nagel
02/03/2017

This was my fourth CASE-NAIS conference, but my first as an EverTrue team member. It’s always been one of my favorite conferences because there are so many opportunities to connect with great people from independent schools. We face the same challenges and when we get together, we’re always willing to share creative solutions to our common problems.

Fun with our Snapchat filter at CASE-NAIS

After coming home from Austin, I reached out to a few folks who’d been in the sessions and came away fired up to get back to work. Here are the top takeaways from the 2017 CASE-NAIS conference.

“I so enjoyed all three CASE-NAIS keynote speakers. They reminded me that it’s important to be powerfully present in all circumstances and that every conversation—personal and professional—counts and can change your life.”

— Katie Hatfield Gunzelman, Assistant Director of Development and Communication, Wichita Collegiate School

“It’s never too early to start educating students. Our almost-alumni programs start with seniors, but now I would like to begin with freshman (i.e. thanking and calling them and using them as volunteers).”

— Katie Blaha, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations, McDonogh School

“Rethink your annual fund. It’s actually two funds: participation and high dollar.”

— Stacy Jagodowski, Director of Strategic Marketing & Communications, Cheshire Academy

“As major gift officers, we listen to understand. Also, the best decision-makers make a decision without having all the answers. This is strategic ability.”

— Christina Jarke, Director of the St. Mark’s Fund, St. Mark’s School of Texas

“It’s important to partner with Admissions. As wealth shifts over the generations, millennials are looking closely at the cost of our schools and the value associated with that cost. [We need to consider] what that looks like long-term for philanthropy at schools.”

— Jenn Flanagan Bradley, Director of the Annual Fund, Mercersburg Academy

“Consider repurposing already-created material to engage grandparents. I loved the idea of sending grandparents a calendar of their grandchild’s athletic schedule or including grandparents in the annual gala invitation list. I learned about the rising number of grandparents who are paying tuition for their grandchildren now.

— Katie Young, Director of Alumni Relations, Greenhill School

We’re just at the start of conference season, which is a great time to take advantage of all the learning opportunities CASE and other organizations put together. EverTrue will be at many of the upcoming divisional conferences, looking to connect and learn alongside you, so swing by the booth or stop in one of our sessions to say hi.

And save the date for Raise 2017, our own conference that brings the best of the for-profit world with innovators from schools and nonprofits, this July 27-28 in Boston.

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4. Continue to Steward Donors

Your relationship with the donors who give to your endowment doesn’t end when you secure their gifts. Because your endowment exists to make a difference in the long term, your supporters will want you to keep in touch about its progress. Ongoing stewardship means keeping donors updated about your endowment’s performance and impact. A report that strengthens your relationship with donors should cover:

The fund’s balance at the start and end of the year
Spending amounts and allocations
How the fund’s returns compare to your investment targets
A short narrative detailing the specific impacts the endowment achieved

Create a report for each endowment rather than sending an identical document to everyone. A donor who endowed a scholarship wants to hear about the students it supported, while a donor who endowed a building fund wants updates on construction projects.

5. Upgrade Your Endowment Management Tools

Your endowment management tools should make applying your spending policy across every fund easy. Investing in dedicated software is especially useful as your endowment grows. Handling unitization in spreadsheets might work for a few funds, but as you begin to manage dozens or hundreds of gifts, dedicated software can save your team time spent manually calculating gains and losses for each one.

Why Nonprofits Need Dedicated Endowment Management Software

Dedicated endowment software brings accuracy and consistency to every part of the management process, from tracking individual funds to improving security. See how these solutions compare to a spreadsheet-based approach:

nfographic table outlining the information below.

How These Methods Compare:

In managing your endowment with traditional spreadsheets, you may see:

High administrative burden: Manual entry across disconnected systems
Limited security and audit footprints: Reduced version control and audit trail visibility
Difficulty with donor transparency: Spreadsheets provide only static data that is difficult to turn into custom results.

By using dedicated software, you are likely to find the following improvements:

Lower administrative burden: Automated fund tracking and calculated allocations
Enhanced security and audit footprint: Audit-ready reconciliation with clear tracking
Greater donor transparency: Connects with reporting platforms

Dedicated endowment management software keeps your organization compliant while freeing up the time your team once spent manually managing spreadsheets.

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Effective endowment management begins with excellent accounting. Balance by EverTrue handles unitization, applies spending rules, and produces audit-ready reports, so your team can spend more time on the donor relationships that built the fund in the first place.

Turn your data into a clear picture of long-term impact. Combine accurate fund accounting with donor reporting that showcases impact.
Connect with the tools you already use. Pair Balance with Impact by EverTrue and ODDER by EverTrue to create and deliver compelling digital endowment reports that you can send to donors with ease.
Know where every fund stands in real time. Check market values, gift history, and available spending for any fund. Then, share view-only versions with your team, so everyone stays informed.

With Balance, your team can stop spending all your time on manual management and instead add balance to your endowment workflow.

Additional Resources

To learn more about managing your endowment and other ways that technology can help your organization, check out these additional resources:

Webinar: Building a Seamless Relationship Between Endowment Finance and Advancement. In this webinar, we cover the keys to un-complicating your institution’s financial endowment reporting process. Explore how building a connection between your finance and advancement teams can lead to happier donors and happier staff.
The Best Alumni Management Software Solutions in 2026. Alumni management software allows your university to maintain an active community that supports your school in a number of ways. Review top software solutions.
Donor Segmentation: How Organizing Donors Boosts Retention. What is donor segmentation, and how can you use it to boost retention? Learn the need-to-know information in this guide from EverTrue’s fundraising experts.

Less stress, higher endowment funds. Discover how Balance provides the organization, security, and accuracy your endowment needs. Request a demo.

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