Many work 'with one accord' to raise funds for Princeton
Yvonne Chiu Hays
No one is taking credit for the success of Princeton's Anniversary Campaign. That's because the honors go to a legion of people who have worked together to raise the record $1.14 billion.
"Our alumni, faculty, staff, parents and friends really came through and exemplified all that's great about Princeton," said Van Zandt Williams, vice president for development. "We chose 'With One Accord' as the theme for our campaign. The way everybody pulled together brought those words home."
At its most basic level, Williams said, successful fund raising is quite simple: having the right person ask for the right amount for the right purpose at the right time. But implementing a campaign like this takes years of planning, a multitude of enthusiastic volunteers and careful cultivation of relationships.
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A committee of senior development officers began by assessing those priorities and estimating how much the University could reasonably raise to address them. Working with trustees and key alumni, the group developed a thorough master plan that detailed the campaign's operation, such as what the money was for, how long it would take to raise it, how the volunteers would be recruited and organized, how the University would communicate with volunteers and what raw materials the volunteers would need to be prepared to go out and seek donations.
Once the plan was in place, the work shifted to the volunteers. "Our work is primarily presented by volunteers and not full-time staff," said Janet Morrison Clarke, a 1975 graduate who co-chaired the Anniversary Campaign.
It is this feature as much as anything else that makes Princeton's fund-raisers different from those at many other institutions and, evidently, more effective. U.S. News & World Report ranked Princeton first in alumni giving among the top 40 universities in the country this year.
About 7,000 volunteers participated in the Anniversary Campaign. Most were alumni, calling their classmates or people in their geographic area. Sometimes they were asked to call upon potential donors working in their same industry. The volunteers were trained, but Clarke described it as very much a give-and-take process. "You have to rely on chemistry to get it right," she said.
One training option, called "Ask-o-phobia," was available for those who were a little more nervous about fund raising. Brian J. McDonald, a 1983 graduate who is the incoming national Annual Giving chair, said a typical session was conducted in a home. An experienced volunteer guided participants through exercises that helped them better understand their own attitudes on asking for money.
Alumni, however, were not the only volunteers. Historically, the president of the University has played an important part in fund raising. President Shapiro was no exception. "He was, in some ways, our number one volunteer," said Daniel H. Jamieson, head of principal gifts. "He was indispensable."
According to Jamieson, Shapiro made hundreds of calls and visits to alumni and spoke to countless groups about Princeton and the needs of the campaign. His activities ranged from leading small seminars with venture capitalists in the Silicon Valley to having breakfast meetings with volunteers across the country.
Senior administrators and faculty also contributed their time and energy, explaining the needs of their programs and departments to interested donors and making speeches at alumni functions.
Williams said that most donors were poised to give by the time they were asked because Princeton keeps its constituencies so well informed. The University places a high priority on fostering relationships with graduates and other friends over the years, providing updates on what is happening on campus and inviting alumni to campus for such activities as Reunions.
There is a small group of alumni--about 7 percent--who were approached for large-ticket capital gifts. To avoid competition with Annual Giving class drives, fund-raisers instead requested one large gift to be split between Annual Giving and a capital need in the campaign.
John J.F. Sherrerd, a 1952 graduate who co-chaired the Anniversary Campaign and also worked on cultivating leadership gifts during the last campaign in the 1980s, said much of the volunteers' success came from doing their homework before approaching a prospective donor.
"The development staff usually had excellent information, which helped immensely," he said.
He recalled talking with an alumnus who had come into a large amount of money fairly recently, but who probably was not used to giving large gifts. When Sherrerd first asked him to consider a sizable donation, "he thought that it was way too much, so I asked him to think about it and we would talk again in a week or so."
To help him along, Sherrerd had looked into the donor's broad interests in the arts and arranged a meeting with the provost, who explained the University's needs. Eventually, they agreed on an endowed professorship in an arts-related area.
"You can't generate interest in the cause unless the person already has it," he said. "But you can help people see how they can make a difference by providing good information."
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September 10, 2000 Contents • They've
arrived! • New
look debuts for Bulletin • Many
work 'with one accord' to raise funds for
Princeton • Briefs • Rowers
go for the orange in Sydney • Berry
keynotes two-day event
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