It is very common for a Board of Trustees, or any Director, advisor, program officer, etc. to ask the question: how is our annual giving program doing? The question can be answered on many different levels, including comparing goals to actual results, feeding leads to other areas of development, the quality of data that is being captured and how it is being used, the efficiency of the program in terms of the costs it requires to raise each dollar donated, etc. Obviously then, some follow up questions are in order to make sure you're answering the question that's actually being posed.
But in addressing a large audience of development professionals working in many different types of institutions, another vital distinction that must be made before you can give a reliable answer is, "which type of institution is the annual fund supporting?" As you may well know, the difference between the measures for success at a large, state university and a small, community based social service agency are like measuring the differences in measuring a fisherman's success in one of the Great Lakes versus the pond in your neighborhood. Just as there would be differences in the size, number and type of fish caught in these disparate venues, the differences in how you can gauge success in an annual fund is dependent upon using the appropriate standards for your type of institution.
In this multi-part offering, we will first distinguish between the types of institutions who benefit from our services helping annual funds meet their goals, then we'll go back and look at the components for success within each type of institution. Today, we're addressing the unique qualities that make major university annual fund programs so distinct and special.
First, let's note some similarities that exist with certain other types of institutions. For example, the difference between university campaigns and those of liberal arts and other colleges, exist primarily because of the combinations of multiple colleges within one institution. Where a college of arts and sciences is connected to colleges of business, education, music, engineering, medicine, law, etc., a whole array of issues spring up that don't exist within a campus environment built around one college, even with its multiple degree programs.
To begin with the obvious, at any state or private university, much of the annual fundraising will track the one thing that tends to unite the alumni of all of the university's colleges and programs - the fortunes of its athletic teams! While it's true that gifts may increase to the smaller liberal arts or engineering college in a year when its football team wins national championships as well, the overall swings in giving from alumni are far less connected to athletic accomplishments as they are at Big State U.
The university then has the challenge of creating a message that is shared by all of its units/colleges, and disseminated to their own alumni. The hiring of a new President, the drop in state funding, a university wide grant for scholarships, etc., all overlap all of the colleges within the system. To be comparable, a smaller college would have to have a consortium of colleges, all of which shared property, news, resources and/or staff, in order to be similarly affected. And if this is the case, why not just create an institutional, university system with a mutual support system?
The support system is, in fact, one of the other distinguishing characteristics of the major university program. When it comes to donor research, planned giving, data accumulation and sharing, etc. - each of the university's colleges can tap into the pool of information and talent that is available at the university level to help extend their own capacity for fundraising. Smaller institutions just don't often have these resources available. Similarly, there is the potential for sharing best practices and other information between the colleges and much camaraderie is often developed between the teams at different colleges within the same system.
Large hospital systems often have many of the characteristics of a major university, but they have one clear distinction. While hospitals can and do rely on grateful patients to support their projects, they are not "alumni" who have spent four years of their lives, building networks of friends, future business colleagues and other loyalties to their alma mater. Of course, the hospitals don't have football teams either. This means that the university can rely on networks of alumni groups to spread the word and build support, in ways other institutions can only imagine. It is an enormous advantage and accounts for much of the certainty of success that can be anticipated for annual giving in higher education.
In the next installment, we'll review how annual fund programs typically in other sizable organizations that have some inherent "success' traits: hospitals, private colleges, national cause organizations, etc. The focus will be on how their unique "brands" help them stay on the radar screen of donors from year to year.
For help in large universities or annual giving in any other nonprofit organization, visit BrianLacy.com then contact him to discuss your needs. If your needs fall outside the traditional annual giving areas and involve broader development issues, go to Elusen.com to learn about other ways you can improve the fundraising system you have in place.