On this episode of the RAISE podcast, we have the privilege of learning from Peter Hayashida, Vice Chancellor of Advancement at the University of California Riverside and President of the UC Riverside Foundation. Peter grew up in a military family that moved from base to base, so he learned early on how to be adaptable, resilient, and to accept change as a natural part of life. But, as a result of all that bouncing around, he has invested in setting down his own deep roots. Peter has served long tenures at both UCLA and UC Riverside, and he has lots to say about the value of sticking it out, cultivating happiness right where you are, and becoming a deeply ingrained member of a university community. On this episode, Peter talks about how universities’ value propositions need to adapt in response to social changes; how the first time alums hear from the school after graduation it should be a message of “How are you feeling about UCR?” or “How can we help you?”; and how our alums expect to have a donor experience that’s much closer to Amazon’s intimate, personalized customer experience (and we’ve got a long way to go to catch up to Amazon). Peter points out that we are really good at starting up new things in the advancement world, but we are really bad at letting things go. Thank you, Peter, for sharing some of the amazing new things your team is doing (virtual reality goggles to give campus tours at remote alumni events!), as well as some of the things you’re letting go (mass email appeals).