Dartmouth has received four regional awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education honoring a trio of projects that have strengthened bonds within the university community.
CASE’s annual Best of District I Awards honor a single educational institution in each category of advancement activities, such as events, publications, and video production. Dartmouth’s 2023 awards recognize a special series of interviews and profiles marking three 50th anniversary milestones; The Call to Lead campaign enewsletter; and a training program that enhanced fundraisers’ ability to discuss issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Two of these initiatives—the campaign enewsletter and DEI program—also received international CASE Circle of Excellence Awards earlier in the year.
“The Dartmouth community is unusually close-knit and distinctive for multiple reasons, and we in the Advancement Division are honored to play a role in helping expand the many ways our alumni, families, and friends connect with one another throughout their lives...We’re delighted to be recognized by our peers for the innovative work that we so enjoy.”
—Ann Root Keith, Interim Chief Advancement Officer
CASE is the leading global membership organization for educational advancement professionals, supporting more than 97,000 individuals at 3,100 member institutions in 80 countries. The organization’s peer-selected awards honor universities, colleges, and schools that have creatively advanced their institutions. CASE District I encompasses New England, Quebec, and Canada’s Atlantic provinces.
The four Best of District I Awards celebrate these projects:
Diverse Voices: The 50 for 50 Storytelling Project
Diverse Voices: The 50 for 50 Storytelling Project marked three 50-year milestone anniversaries in 2022: the opening of undergraduate admissions to women through coeducation; the founding of the Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association; and establishment of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Department (originally known as the Native American Studies Program).
Dartmouth’s Office of Alumni Relations launched the 50 for 50 Storytelling Project to bring attention to the university’s diverse communities by sharing stories from 50 alums, spanning 50 classes over the past half century. Stories were disseminated through multiple forms of media, including podcasts, videos, and written articles.
The Call to Lead Campaign Email Newsletter
The Call to Lead Campaign Email Newsletter kept the Dartmouth community informed and engaged with the campaign, which closed on June 30 with $3.77 billion in commitments. The enewsletter was the primary source of campaign news for most Dartmouth alumni. Each issue featured stories of significant campaign achievements, news about giving opportunities, and alumni profiles.
The CASE award cites the Advancement Division’s efforts to segment the enewsletter, providing more bespoke material to different audiences within the Dartmouth community. This change fueled greater reader engagement, increased online giving, and reduced the number of individuals unsubscribing from the university’s email communications.
From Awareness to Action: Antiracist Training for Frontline Fundraisers
From Awareness to Action: Antiracist Training for Frontline Fundraisers garnered two Best of CASE District I Awards—for leadership in talent management and advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. The three-part training series provided fundraising staff with a fuller understanding of Dartmouth’s history of race relations, including its treatment of Indigenous people and enslaved Black people, and explored initiatives to make Dartmouth a more inclusive and welcoming institution.
All program participants said the training had enhanced their ability to discuss DEI campaign initiatives with donors.
