NZ Summit – That’s a Wrap

Summit Success!

Four insightful Pre-Summit Workshops … two engaging Keynote Presentations and 14 inspiring Sessions! Such an invaluable couple of days of Professional Development and Networking! Thank you to all who shared their skills, knowledge, expertise and experience with Delegates at the recent NEXUS Summit in Christchurch.

We’ve loved receiving your feedback and are grateful that the learnings that you gleaned will undoubtedly have a positive impact on your careers, your institutions and the Advancement industry as a whole. We look forward to more personal development and growth taking place at the International Conference in Perth, 2024 … and can’t wait to welcome you there!

Session Feedback

Session 1D – I found the presenter to be very enthusiastic and one thing I took away from the session was “communication”. Keep in touch as much as possible and own every event as if it is your own.
Session 2C – I always like the legal sessions, as they are always very relevant and informative.
Workshop 1 – Great workshop on Data! It was good that our facilitator asked us what we wanted to focus on, rather than sticking to his prepared workshop. It was fantastic to have that level of flexibility in our learning.
Session 4B – the session with Thea from the University of Canterbury about creating a culture of giving was very worthwhile!
Session 2D – The CRM systems session with John Bird was fantastic – great topic and speaker!
Session 3C – The Power of Engaging Leadership was great – so good to hear support for Advancement and alignment in this space.
Keynote 1 – Matt Chisholm – wow! Honest and heartbreaking and heartwarming!
Session 2A – AI. Good to learn and see how we as a school can develop and use this further.
Workshop 3 – Absolutely loved being taken through the journey of rebranding in a school setting. Lindisfarne was very generous sharing all this information with us. Hoping to now do some work with Lucy Dobbs ourselves.
Session 4A – I loved the Weaving Your Way through Turbulence session – gained a lot of insights and ideas on how to move forward.
Session 3A – The Social Media session was great – loads of content and delivered with energy.
Session 3B – Susie was amazing, she’s funny and totally gets the Admissions Office and how crazy busy we are!
Session 2B – The St Cuthbert’s College presenters gave a great explanation of their Gifting project and how they got buy in from their whole school community.
Workshop 4 – The Major Gifts workshop with Nicole Bassett was so informative. It was fantastic talking around the table with experts.
Workshop 2 – I think the most important part of the Summit was getting to meet people in your role. The workshop was a fantastic start to the experience and Susie Gill was amazing.
Keynote 2 – A big thank you to Garth Wynne who showed us the value of tying the Leadership and Advancement roles together.
Session 3A – Ashlea Fergusson was very knowledgeable on making the most of Social Media and had great advice on what to, and what not to do in Social Media – most helpful!
Session 1A – Clive from Giving Architects is great and so generous with his knowledge and time.
Session 4C – The Session on Oral Histories with Roger Dawson was very useful.

Some Key Take-Aways

Review Brand strategy
Don’t be shy talking about philanthropy
Be involved and share knowledge
Be proud to work in Advancement
Record keeping
Nothing beats getting people together face to face
Brilliant opportunity to meet like-minded people
Must get Gifts in Wills up and running; like St Kentigern College
Organise more alumni events
Datam (Partner) can do address clean up for free!
Honesty and integrity lead the way
The feeling of being re-invigorated
People are willing to pay for and make time for face-to-face learning opportunities
Educate Plus has a great membership network
Reassured we were on the right track
Know your audience
Archives to be actively looked after