Strategic Innovation

Join us for a new installment of the University of Illinois Foundation’s Resident Expert Speaker Series, a professional learning series designed to bring fresh insights, practical strategies, and emerging trends directly to the advancement community across the University of Illinois System.

Each session highlights leaders and innovators across advancement, philanthropy, stewardship, donor relations, prospect development, corporate and foundation relations, and engagement, offering colleagues an opportunity to expand their knowledge and strengthen their practice.

In this session, we welcome Karen Aarestad PhD., whose expertise in Characteristics of Alumni Donors in Academic Medicine will help illuminate new approaches and actionable ideas that advancement professionals can bring back to their units. Whether you work in development, communications, stewardship, alumni engagement, annual giving, or a related function, this session is designed to equip you with insights that support your continued growth.

Friday February 27, 2026
1:00 - 2:30pm
University of Illinois Foundation
The Philanthropy Center
303 Saint Mary's Road, Champaign, IL 61820
102 Richard and Charlene Osborne Conference Room

What to Expect

Resident Experts Speaker Series are intentionally casual, conversational, and engaging. This 60 ‑ 90 minute session will include:

• A guided conversation or presentation by the Resident Expert
• Real‑world applications for advancement
• Reflections on industry trends and lessons learned
• Audience Q&A
• A practical “call to action” to help you apply key takeaways
• Optional networking following the session

Light refreshments are available; this is a brown‑bag‑friendly gathering.

Who Should Attend

This session is open to:

• Advancement professionals across UIUC, UIC, UIS, and UIF
• Colleagues in stewardship, donor relations, marketing/communications, CFR, prospect development, alumni engagement, gift administration, and other related areas
• Faculty or campus partners who wish to learn more about advancement practices
• Community partners

All are welcome, and participation from any unit is encouraged.

Why Attend

Resident Expert Series give you the opportunity to:

• Learn from practitioners doing cutting‑edge work in advancement
• Hear real strategies you can implement right away
• Explore trends influencing philanthropy and donor behavior
• Engage with colleagues across the system
• Grow your professional toolkit—together

Register Today

Reserve your spot to join us in person or via Zoom.

We look forward to learning alongside you!

Optional pre-read: 

Academic Medicine: Characteristics of Alumni Donors

Karen Aarestad; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Russell James; Texas Tech University

Medical school fundraising from alumni offers some unique challenges in higher education. Studies have shown that the student experience of undergraduate alumni tends to influence their philanthropic behavior as alumni. However, the experiences of graduate level professional training in medical school can be very different from the undergraduate alumni experience. This study begins to identify the specific characteristics of individual alumni donors to a public medical school within a large, research-intensive university. Using regression analysis, this research suggests potential predictors of philanthropy from alumni to academic medicine. In practice, this research suggests that giving to graduate schools may not follow the same patterns that exist among alumni donors to undergraduate education. The demographic data that informs decisions about alumni outreach and engagement should reference past philanthropic outcomes in order to maximize giving among similar constituent groups. This case study outlines the key variables to consider.

Keywords: charitable giving, medical alumni, philanthropy, higher education fundraising

Aarestad, K. & James, R., (2024). Academic Medicine: Characteristics of Alumni Donors. Philanthropy & Education, 8(1), 1–23. DOI 10.2979/phe.00009 • Copyright © Teachers College, Columbia University