MIAMI — Universities that launch successful fundraising campaigns do more than just pick a financial goal; they mobilize their alumni and supporters in a crusade for their institutions, a University of Miami executive said Monday at a conference for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund’s member universities.
An effective fundraising campaign is “about more than that big number” because board members, administrators, faculty and staff first must reach broad consensus on the university’s overall direction and how additional funds would be spent, said Sergio Gonzalez, senior vice president for university advancement and external affairs at the University of Miami.
A fund-raising campaign ideally “becomes a rallying point” that elevates a university’s overall performance in accord with the campaign’s visionary written purpose, or “case statement,” Gonzalez said.
“Almost every campaign has a case statement,” he said, noting that the paperwork doesn’t stop there. In addition, he said, almost every sophisticated donor now requires a gift agreement in writing: “We spend a lot of time with the general counsel on gift agreements.”
Gonzalez was one of the public speakers Monday at the annual Member-Universities Professional Institute (MUPI) for the 47-member universities of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The event, which began Sunday and ends Wednesday, is being held at the Hilton Miami Downtown. The 13th annual MUPI attracted about 190 registered attendees, including students as well as vice presidents and presidents of member universities.
“The conference is geared toward presidents, financial aid individuals and also persons who are CFOs,” or chief financial officers, who wish to become “more creative as far as saving money in our institutions and at the same time providing service to students,” said Albert Walker, president of Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, Missouri. “That also translates to helping faculty and staff to add stability.”
Joyce Payne, founder of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, said the audience response was “very enthusiastic” during a discussion of financial literacy and empowerment, the topic of one of four concurrent sessions Monday at the MUPI event.
