Strategy: Aggressively pursue the financial resources necessary to achieve national and international preeminence in learning, discovery and engagement.
Point People: Bennie Osburn, Jessie Ann Owens, Beverly “Babs” Sandeen
Narrative Summary of Fourth Year Implementation Efforts:
In 2006-07, key objectives to advance fundraising planning and readiness through infrastructure improvements and efficiencies include:
- Created a systematic and uniform set of performance plans/goals and evaluation methodologies to effectively serve current and potential donors and, given the structural constraints of UC Davis decentralization, made great strides in campuswide adoption of these methodologies.
- Initiated a campus marketing program and implemented strategies to raise visibility of UC Davis, launching a marketing research effort that will serve as the basis for the development of our UC Davis brand.
- Continued to generate state and federal support and resources for the university’s core revenues and for priority academic and research initiatives.
- Received approvals from Chancellor and UCOP to move into the Quiet Leadership Phase (non-public, continued planning phase) of a comprehensive campaign. Campaign dollar goal and exact timeframe have yet to be determined, and draft materials are being prepared and various types of relevant analysis are underway.
Advances and Ongoing Programs Consistent with Strategy:
- Raised nearly $101.2 million in gifts, pledges and private grants during the 2006-07 fiscal year. This represents a nearly 25 percent increase from the $81.5 million raised the year before and is the fifth consecutive year that philanthropic support has grown.
- Provided staff support to the UC Foundation trustees and its executive board; and welcomed 9 new trustees to the board.
- Designed and implemented a strategic program expansion of services to provide broad-based solicitation services to all undergraduate colleges for the Annual & Special Gifts (A&SG) program.
- Prepared a full roll-out of reports on all (400+) Foundation endowment funds; engaging UC Davis Foundation trustees and volunteers of the Finance and Investment and the Audit committees and improving board relations with those committees.
- Developed enhanced procedures for identifying, tracking and booking appropriate gifts and philanthropic grants.
- Increased security and efficiency for processing credit cards.
- Launched two new pilot efforts. The first student caller solicitation effort for the College of Letters and Sciences resulted in over 1,000 new gifts and pledges from alumni and nearly $111,000 in Deans’ discretionary support – an amazing $70,000 more than projected. The pilot effort for the new College of Biological Sciences resulted in over 600 new gifts and pledges for a first year total of $49,000 for the College Annual Fund– a 56% increase over projections.
- Provided communications expertise, spanning a variety of audiences and vehicles, to promote key messages about the value and worthiness of private support for UC.
- Increased Alumni Scholarship fundraising by 52 percent.
- Celebrated the Endowed Chair and Professorships Program. Twelve new Chair holders and four new endowed Chairs and Professorships were recognized at this year’s annual program. The program was redesigned to be more effective.
- Recognized Professor Zuhair Munir at the Teaching Prize Gala with the UC Davis Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly Achievement award.
- Provided financial support to the Californians for Higher Education Proposition 1D bond measure campaign via the UC Davis Foundation; helping to secure an estimated $890 million for the University of California.
- $30.1 million to benefit UC Davis’s construction endeavors of King Hall (School of Law) — Expansion (18,800 square feet) and renovation (14,300 square feet), consolidating instruction and research space, office and student-faculty support space, and the law library.
- Veterinary Medicine 3B — A new building, comprising 99,000 square feet, to replace obsolete and inadequate space in Haring Hall.
- Electrical improvements — Phase 4 of a program to meet projected electrical demand, including appropriate system redundancy to ensure reliable service.
- Developed and led the first ever training sessions for administrators and staff with regard to spending gift funds in collaboration with Extramural Accounting.
- Designed and delivered development-related workshops for various groups, including CODVC, UC Davis Foundation Trustees, members of volunteer advisory boards and committees in support of colleges, schools and units, and for professional development staff.
- Provided professional expertise to all Development Officers, including 16 training sessions in areas of research and prospect tracking. Efforts by this CASE award-winning Research and Prospect Tracking system have helped identify prospective donors (“prospects”) and major donors with a total of $1.3 billion in giving capacity. More than 10,000 prospect assignment requests have been processed by this Program, helping development officers to be as efficient as possible with the focus of their efforts to raise private support for their programs.
- Achieved record participation and involvement in the UC Davis Communications Council, with over 120 voluntary members who have joined to form a professional community. Provided leadership to separate interest groups for campus employees who specialize in marketing and Web communication. Provided training and instruction to more than 150 campus employees who enrolled in the staff professional development Communications Certificate Series classes. Provided media training to more than 300 campus faculty, staff and students through regular workshops and specialized seminars.
- Identified and trained contacts for the Alumni Chapter Program increasing membership by 250%.
Priorities for 2007-08
- Increase philanthropic support of UC Davis and engagement of our alumni.
- Leverage campus resources to promote awareness and investment by showcasing academic and campus programs to increase visibility.
- Obtain a clear understanding of the current top campus priorities and refocus existing resources to help achieve those priorities.
- Further identify, qualify and cultivate donors to UC Davis.
- Manage and provide leadership to development officers through evaluations, training and strategy coaching.
- Enhance advancement systems and related infrastructure, i.e., maximize use of the database system to support the prospect research, stewardship, gift acceptance and processing, government relations, alumni relations and communications needs of the campus.
- Provide leadership for campus communication and education efforts to inform alumni, donor, campus, and external constituents about the impact of the K-12/Higher Education Bond Act.
- Create specific outreach meetings in local communities for “meet and greet” sessions to promote greater identification with and knowledge of the campus.
- Focus on creating local community programs of support for campus.