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Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime?Sarah Thomas Cornell University is in the silent phase of a multi-year campaign to raise over 3 billion dollars. During this period before the formal announcement, the university is asking its closest friends to contribute to a nucleus fund that should grow to approximately half of the desired goal. Long before anyone asks an alumnus to donate to his alma mater, however, preparations are made for the fund-raising marathon. First, many people at Cornell worked to establish trust and confidence among alumni and possible donors. College deans and other senior administrators have involved them in their programs and advisory councils. They’ve reached out to individuals and developed relationships based on mutual respect. Next, Alumni Affairs and Development (AAD), working with the senior leadership of the university, canvassed colleges and units for their campaign priorities. The priorities for fund-raising don’t map exactly to the units’ funding priorities because not all needs can be met through the campaign, but campaign priorities and academic priorities are expected to mesh. That is, the campaign priorities are expected to support academic priorities. The combined lists of the colleges and units total in the billions, more than Alumni Affairs considers feasible to raise, so the vice president for alumni affairs, the provost, and others have worked with senior administrators to eliminate unrealistic goals. Staff from Alumni Affairs developed a case statement setting the tone and agenda for the campaign. Although the case statement is still in draft form, it currently lists four goals:
The Library fits best in the third category. Alumni Affairs is creating a Web site that will offer a catalog of funding opportunities at various levels of donations. Naming the Rare and Manuscript Collection, for example, would require a gift of $25 million, while establishing a named endowment to purchase library materials would require $10,000. Development staff will use this database to match the interests and the means of individuals who are prosperous donors and to create customized proposals for prospective donors. Simultaneously, AAD is creating a list of individuals and families who can be asked to support a particular priority. This list is derived from information about previous donor history and their Cornell involvement. One of the mandates of the current campaign is to expand the pool of people who would want to give to support Cornell’s excellence. Classes from the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s have already given generously. Classes from the 1970s, ’80s, and even ’90s may now be in a position to pick up the torch financially, but their philanthropic habits may need encouragement. In a campaign, a few donors contribute the lion’s share of the total amount raised. For example, the university has calculated that it will need three gifts of $100,000,000 or more, six gifts of $50,000,000 to $100,000,000, and twenty-five gifts of $10,000,000 to $50,000,000 to meet its goal of $3 billion. Once the nucleus fund reaches the midway mark, the university will seek broad participation from all its alumni, many of whom will make smaller donations. Both large gifts and broad participation are critical for the success of a campaign. At this point, however, the university is asking those capable of making leadership gifts to pledge their support. In the Library we are developing proposals for some of our friends and advocates. We have asked staff for their ideas or for background to support requests. Our Library priorities are building and preserving collections; renovation of Olin, Uris, Mann, and Fine Arts libraries; and service innovations. To raise money for these purposes, we seek either direct or indirect support. For example, if a donor gives us $25 million to name Rare and Manuscripts Collections in her father’s honor, we might allocate those funds to support renovation of Olin or to create an endowment for cataloging electronic resources. We might have to negotiate with the provost to retain the entire gift, since the university often wants a share of funds raised. Because large donations are often spread out over five years or are partially in the form of a bequest, they are sometimes not immediately spendable. To apply them toward a renovation, we might need to bargain with the university for a low-interest loan that is an advance on a pledge. As a practical matter, the campaign means increased travel for all senior administrators. Significant donors usually have trusted relationships with deans and other top administrators, and they prefer to discuss their prospective gifts with university leaders. The experience of working closely with donors can be immensely rewarding. The alumni are increasing the capacity of an institution they love and supporting the advancement of a special interest. We are gaining the means to take on a new initiative, improve the functionality and beauty of a building, or enrich our information resources. In the Library, there is a team working to support the campaign. All members of LMT have contributed suggestions of what we would like to have funded. For example, we would like to endow the arXiv for $5 million or fund a bioinformatics librarian. We are proposing that a number of positions be endowed—a curator of rare books or curator for photography, for example. These are positions we think our donors would be interested in supporting, and, if they were funded, we would be able to enjoy budget relief (that is, a salary now paid out of university or college funds would be replaced by gift funds, freeing up that salary money for another purpose). The list of positions and funding opportunities we have is limited but is intended more as an example, rather than a definitive set of positions. If a donor were interested in a particular subject domain, we might propose that he or she endow the staff working in that area. Actually, our primary goal is to raise unrestricted money, that is, funds that can be allocated to our highest priority. Gifts of unrestricted funds allow us to replace HVAC systems or install sprinkler heads, things that rarely appeal to donors. Marisue Taube and her staff are directly involved in the campaign through development of priorities, proposals, and lists of prospective donors. They work closely with library staff to gather the content needed for proposals and with staff in Library Communications to draft proposals. In parallel with the university’s initiative to request lead gifts from its strongest supporters, we are asking twenty of our most significant past donors to respond to proposals that we will send them this academic year. The groundwork for the solicitations involves multiple personal visits and correspondence. I have been increasing my travel substantially to spend more time with our closest library friends. In addition to making trips to New York City, Boston, and Providence, I have journeyed to New Jersey and Seattle this fall and paid visits to Florida; Las Vegas; Portland, Oregon; and Orange County, California are scheduled this spring. Trips usually include a general presentation on a topic such as our Native American Collection or the Google era to the local Cornell Club along with private meetings (breakfast, lunch, and dinner—often wonderful, but harmful to my diet!) in which Cornell alumni, parents, and I seek a marriage between their philanthropic interests and our library priorities. In addition to individuals, we also plan to seek the support of foundations and granting agencies. During the coming six months, we expect to raise several million dollars to advance the initiatives of the Library, and, concurrently, to support the teaching, research, and land-grant mission of the university. If the gifts in December are any indication of the positive regard in which our alumni hold the Library, we should enjoy success for 2005/2006. In the past few days we have received many substantial donations to acquire collections, to support student workers, and to fund outreach efforts. These gifts are a direct result of the outstanding job our Library staff does in connecting faculty, students, and others to the information resources they need and in providing an environment that fosters intellectual community and learning. Next: Report on the 1st International Conference on Universal Digital Library |
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