Entrepreneurial
College of the Future

The Community Pilot will culminate in the launch of a Foundation of the Future Toolkit that includes reflective learning opportunities, presents best practices and learnings from the pilot phase.

During the NACCE 2022 Annual conference, before and after results will be presented during the Community College College of the Future Summit.

Following NACCE’s 2022 Annual Conference, College of the Future will continue via NACCE Institute with an interest in reaching a broader national audience as based on 2021-2022 learnings. Working in tandem with the newly released toolkit.

These resources will support the creation of forward-thinking, action-oriented, entrepreneurial college foundations designed to build capacity by cultivating and leveraging partnerships between colleges, college foundations, alumni and the community that will transform future workforce capacity and increase student success. This new initiative will:

• Help college presidents, foundation executive directors, and foundation board members to increase capacity to raise funds well beyond scholarships.
• Assist college presidents to plan for the end of CARES Act funding and the likely continuing revenue declines due to enrollment decreases.
• Fill the gap of professional development and conferencing that exists with the demise of the Council for Resource Development (CRD) several years ago.
• Equip colleges and foundations to plan for new streams of income, requiring new skills and expertise.
• Support NACCE’s expansion of members through programming and support of foundation staff who can benefit from development applications of entrepreneurial mindset.

College of the Future programming will embed entrepreneurial mindset practice into the following action items/meeting modules: 

• How to develop and deepen relationships amongst key stakeholders, formed around common transformational goals;
• The importance of strategic alliances between colleges, college foundations, and communities;
• Practical solutions that build college capacity via nontraditional funding sources, transitioning funders out of transactional and into transformational giving; and
• Best practices/examples of community college foundations facilitating community solutions through sustainable college programming.

During the Community Pilot the working group will develop a focus group / cohort of community college foundations that include NACCE member colleges / college representatives meeting one or more of the following characteristics:

• College President with less than 18 months of service
• Community Colleges or HBCUs serving diverse student populations
• Formerly engaged members of CRD
• Reputation for or experience in Workforce readiness programming, with established community partnerships or relationships

NACCE will ensure that urban, rural, and suburban communities are equally represented. Preference may be given to colleges with foundations currently engaging in strategic transformation. Key stakeholders include college leadership and foundation heads and/or trustees that interface with local community foundations and/or local, state and regional special interest groups. 

NACCE members in good standing and/or colleges interested in joining NACCE are eligible to apply. Nonmembers are welcome to apply, but must commit to joining NACCE before March 31, 2022. 

The 2022 College of the Future Community/Cohort will serve the pilot phase of this program. Pilot programs typically follow an annual calendar and consider a comprehensive suite of opportunity. It is in this stage that we embrace all angles and determine the most impactful path forward. In addition to pro bono strategic guidance to help you identify and maximize assets in your community, the opportunity to innovate, co-create, and network with our national community, and visibility as a national thought leader in this space, NACCE will offer the following funding to successful applicants: 

• $3,000 in Stipend Funding in towards program Resource Creation
• $5,700 in Scholarship Funds to Attend #NACCE2022, October 2-5 in Boston, Massachusetts
• An opportunity to participate in NACCE's Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund Program

Community/Cohort members are also eligible to pitch in the inaugural Pitch for the Foundation, sponsored by the Philip E. & Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation, for their share of a $150,000 prize fund. NACCE Membership Scholarships may also be made available.