October 29, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
The goal: To find new ways to inspire wealthy people — particularly those in midlife — to give.
The approach: Turn on its head this fund-raising mantra: If you ask donors for money, you’ll get advice. The university is asking wealthy alumni, philanthropists, and people fascinated with subjects such as astronomy or physics to serve on committees that give advice to five academic divisions, in the hope that they will then give money. Providing donors the chance to network and mingle with one another — “that’s what energizes them,” says Peter Hero, vice president of development and alumni relations at the college. “They don’t look to old wealth for guidance. They talk to each other and to faculty on campus and get excited.”
The results: The first of the committees, started a year and a half ago, has contributed about $1.5-million. Other committees are just getting started, so it’s too soon to tell much about their fund-raising potential, says Mr. Hero. But he says a donor involved with one of the committees now in formation has already promised $20-million for a new institute on energy and sustainability. The committees set their own fund-raising goals and priorities.
An unexpected benefit: Mr. Hero says the effort has helped educate faculty members that the philanthropists aren’t “just a spigot that you turn on and money comes out.”
— Caroline Preston
