Events

Events

Stewardship and donor relations events celebrate donors and demonstrate the impact of their gift. This can include a variety of events including investitures, scholarship award dinners and regional off-campus events. These events can vary widely from unit to unit and should be part of a larger donor impact strategy, taking into consideration audience, venue, geographic location, budget, and strategic goal.

Events are a valuable tool for both donor relations and engagement, and units should plan to use all available resources to accurately record both events and attendance in TED to maintain a comprehensive picture of our constituents’ relationships with the university. Consider what resources best fit your team when planning events, such as CVENT or WebTools for registration and recording invitation lists and attendance in TED. Training links are provided in the Resources section of this document.

While not comprehensive or prescriptive, the following section should help guide your unit’s stewardship event strategy to complement overall advancement strategy.

Types of Events

Investitures

Investitures are ceremonies to honor a faculty member receiving a named professorship. They are typically planned by the unit or college that holds the professorship and generally follow a very formalized program. If the professorship is funded by a donor fund, the donor or their family should be invited to attend the ceremony as a part of ongoing stewardship strategy. While investitures may not always be planned by advancement staff, you should work with the organizers to create a memorable experience for the donor if they return to campus. Investiture planning should also include a follow-up plan for continued impact and awardee communication moving forward.

Scholarship/Award Events

These student-focused on-campus events are planned to honor students who have received scholarships or other monetary awards. Planned by the awarding unit, these events provide an opportunity for students to be recognized for their accomplishments. If donor attendance at this type of event is a priority in a unit’s stewardship strategy, this can be an opportunity for scholarship donors to meet the recipients of their scholarship, as well as for MGOs to engage with donors in preparation for a future solicitation.

Regional Donor Events

Regional events target specific populations of donors based on geographic location (as opposed to alumni engagement events where all alumni are invited, regardless of donor status.) As of FY25, OVCIA’s regional events strategy focuses on donors with $250,000 or more in lifetime giving. Units can similarly plan regional donor events more focused to their giving priorities and engagement strategy.

Resources

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