2025 Advancement Roundtable

Please join us for our signature in-person roundtable for advancement leaders. You’ll have the opportunity to engage in highly interactive, executive-level conversations about the most pressing challenges facing advancement leaders today. 2024 attendees noted that:

• “[This was a] great opportunity to reflect on our work in advancement with colleagues, gain new perspectives, and benefit from EAB’s signature data-informed insights.”
• “Always one of the most informative and thought-provoking meetings of the year.”

Check out the agenda from our 2024 Advancement Roundtable.

Agenda Highlights

During our time together, we’ll discuss the following topics. As this research is ongoing, some topics may be subject to change.

Strategizing for an Unstable Decade in Higher Ed Advancement: EAB’s State of the Sector

• Advancement leaders must rethink long-standing assumptions to position their institutions for success in a rapidly changing sector. EAB research will examine the financial, political, and demographic forces reshaping higher education and highlight advancement-specific opportunities and risks to build resilient strategies.

Campaign Differentiation: Adapting to the Modern Era

• Leaders across institutions must reimagine comprehensive campaigns—not only as fundraising vehicles, but as powerful drivers of institutional identity, visibility, and long-term momentum. EAB research will share how to differentiate an institution in an oversaturated market, analyze campaign data, and evaluate the durability of the traditional campaign model.

Aligning Resources and Talent to Unlock Principal Gift Potential

• Many advancement shops still treat principal gifts as one-off wins rather than a repeatable growth strategy. EAB research explores innovations in team design, donor engagement, and proposal strategy that transform principal gifts into a sustainable engine for long-term success.

Reshaping Pipeline Development: Making Critical Trade-Offs

• Gift pipelines are under pressure as donors expect more, teams are stretched thin, and traditional cultivation strategies fall short. EAB research has surfaced emerging trends in pipeline strategy that advancement leaders are testing, adapting, and stopping.

Event Details

Audience: Sessions are limited to chief advancement officers. Registration for each session is limited to one attendee per institution. The February 10–11 session is open to advancement leadership team members, up to two attendees per institution. The October 29–30 session has moved to a waitlist; please consider registering for one of our other available dates.

For travel planning: The meeting will commence at 12:00 p.m. on the first day and adjourn at 12:00 p.m. on the second day.

Expand each session below for information about meeting location, hotel accommodations, and reservations.