With the fall semester underway, many institutions are starting the academic year with new leadership. Whether it is new university presidents, deans, or other institutional leaders, these transitions present both a challenge and an opportunity for advancement teams.
The traditional approach to introducing a new university leader often includes a multi-city roadshow featuring large-scale events with high production value. At my previous institutions, we looked back at the attendance data for signature regional, campaign, and presidential events and found that while well attended, they did not result in the fundraising and engagement ROI we were tasked with achieving.
I am not suggesting that we sacrifice engagement with our constituent community. More so, I want to challenge the traditional idea of a roadshow as the primary way to introduce new institutional leaders.
Here are a few practical ideas and examples that could be incorporated into a leadership introduction plan that still allows a new leader to build confidence among stakeholders, maximizes staff time, effort, and budget, and drives early fundraising success.
Community and Donor Engagement Events
Target key markets, not every market
Focus on a smaller number of key markets with bespoke events that will draw the most engaged volunteers, donors, and constituents. Reviewing event attendance and other engagement and donor reports can provide more insight than heatmaps of alumni or constituent populations.
Create intimate gatherings
Plan small, regional dinners, breakfasts, or lunches for current and engaged prospective donors hosted by board members or other volunteer leaders.
These intimate gatherings allow participants to better connect with the leader, develop personal relationships, showcase the leader’s vision, and encourages those volunteer hosts to become champions for the new leader.
Having volunteers take the lead in organizing and covering the cost of these events alleviates staffing and budgetary constraints too.
Take advantage of existing events
Build on existing events such as homecoming, family weekend, game days, alumni and advisory board meetings, and other opportunities when alumni, donors, and families are already on campus.
Binghamton University will host the inauguration of President Anne D’Alleva during an investiture ceremony over homecoming weekend, which also coincides with the University’s 80th anniversary later this month.
A Multimedia Approach
Developing a multimedia approach to introducing a new leader can be cost-effective and wide-reaching. By enlisting the support of the university communications team and president’s office, advancement can share the responsibility and budget while finding creative ways to introduce a new leader to a community that meets them where they are.
Create a digital presence
Create content and utilize social media channels that best match the leaders’ personality, humanizing the role, showing authenticity, and allowing them to directly address the community in a lower-key style. While TikTok might not be every leader’s style, finding the platform that showcases their voice can boost recognition and online engagement.
Clemson University’s 16th President, Benjamin C. Ayers (@clemsonprez), already has more than 9,000 followers in his first month on the job. As a side note, Clemson’s university social media presence is a masterclass in content and engagement.
Dartmouth College won a 2026 CASE Circle of Excellence award for President Sian Leah Beilock monthly LinkedIn newsletter that has more than 8,800 monthly subscribers.
Develop ongoing productions like podcasts, vlogs or online video series that move from introduction to long-term engagement. Features such as “a day in the life” or highlights of a leader participating in campus milestones like move-in day, convocation, or graduation show interactions with the community and inspire nostalgia better than a talking head video.
Montclair State University posted a fun YouTube short showing President Jonathan Koppell helping a first-year student move into her dorm and chatting about her ambitions for the year.
The University of Oklahoma President Joseph Harroz, Jr. hosts a regular podcast, Conversations with the President, featuring students, faculty, and staff at the university that showcase the institution.
Ball State University’s, Our Call to Beneficence, hosted by President Geoffrey S. Mearns, is a monthly show featuring conversations with alumni and friends who exemplify “doing good” in their profession or community.
Continue traditional media
Maintain traditional media as a way to formally introduce the leader and provide ongoing updates. Magazines (online and print) and email newsletters continue to be trusted sources of information for alumni and friends across generations.
Opening multimedia channels early in a leader’s tenure can build an attentive audience, so that if more urgent communications become necessary in a crisis, that audience is already engaged and primed to listen.
Blending these ideas into a strategy allows a new leader to build trust and personal relationships with current and prospective donors early in their tenure while broadcasting their voice and vision across multiple channels to the broader community. Done well, this can be extremely effective and cost-efficient.
For advancement teams who find themselves in the midst of an institutional leadership transition, I encourage you to challenge the idea of an expensive and time-consuming roadshow program.
Courtney Stombock’s career has spanned 25 years and two continents, working in many facets of advancement at public and private institutions in the US, UK, and France. In her most recent role at The American University of Paris, Courtney and her team were rethinking what it means to engage and secure philanthropic investment from culturally diverse and diasporic alumni, families, and friends.
She is now launching her consulting practice at Stombock Advisory Group, LLC and is enthusiastic about sharing her experience in campaign management, philanthropic advising, cross-border giving, data governance, alumni and family engagement, volunteer management, event development, Artificial Intelligence, and team leadership.
Courtney lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband Brad and two teenagers. She is an ardent rugby mom, a FIFA World Cup 2026 volunteer, and a world traveler, with more than 16 countries checked off her bucket list so far.
Faculty-in-Residence
Topic: Faculty-in-Residence Symposium with Mallory Erickson
Date: Wednesday, September 23 from 11:30 am - 12:30 pm ET
Speakers: Mallory Erickson, Ryan Catherwood, Andrea Devine, Scott Francis
We’ll conclude our first Faculty-in-Residence experience with Mallory Erickson by hosting a round table discussion on the themes from What The Fundraising. The Symposium will be hosted by Publisher, Ryan Catherwood, and led by SE Members, Andrea Devine from the University of Virginia and Scott Francis from Auburn University.
