Reorganizing to Create a Campus-Wide Culture of Philanthropy

A Presentation to all Administrators involved in Development by President John M. Lilley May 10, 2006

Reorganizing to Create a Campus-Wide Culture of Philanthropy at Baylor University

I’ve asked us here today so that I may interpret for you my vision for developing a campus-wide culture of philanthropy at Baylor, and I welcome your questions and comments at the end of my remarks.

The people in this room are those who will make a campus-wide culture of philanthropy happen.

There is scarcely a place on this campus where one cannot see something interesting and dramatic that needs to be accomplished.

In most cases, what prevents these worthy ideas and projects from going forward is the lack of funding.

It has been made clear to me by the regents that I am responsible for greatly increasing the amount of funding the university receives, and I do not take that charge lightly.

My analysis of the situation is:

1. we need to increase the number and variety of identified and approved projects; and

2. we need greatly to increase the number of donor prospects who have the capacity to give, people in whom we can create the interest for a project and the inclination to help.

This will require a greater research capacity and a broader network of campus leaders who take part in the business of acquiring resources to fuel our great Baylor mission.

The current staff in University Development has made a noteworthy effort in the past few years to achieve financial support, particularly in the area of endowing scholarships.

Some of our deans and department chairs have contributed directly in efforts to raise support for projects coming from their respective disciplines.

While always thankful for what has been done, all of us together must do better, and that will be done only with the help of everyone in this room.

How a New Approach to Development at Baylor will Aid in the Achievement of Several Desired Outcomes.

1 I ask you today to consider with me how we may achieve the following outcomes, outcomes that I believe we will all agree have the potential for moving us forward toward our common goals.

These are conditions all of us need to see consistently and soon.

First Condition: A growing number of constituents feeling strong loyalty to the university and choosing to express their belief in the institution in financial terms.

Returns on Investment: Many studies have shown that a loyal and well-served body of friends who are engaged in supporting projects consistent with their interests is critical to the furtherance of institutional goals.

Second Condition: A renewed spirit of collaboration among all administrative leaders of the university involved in development activity.

Presidential Mandate: I am conveying my full support of campus-wide collaboration in the development effort, and I am clearly indicating that such collaboration and full participation is required as a new understanding of your many important responsibilities.

I have been encouraged by the spirit and character of ongoing talks with the alumni association as we have attempted to collaborate in ways deemed to be productive to the university and the association.

Access and Use of the University’s Central Database: All of you are asked to contribute to the BANNER database information and impressions pertaining to a constituent while the thoughts are fresh.

It is imperative that the central university database is accurate and current.

Training in the formatting and uniform entry of input will be provided for all administrative colleagues who enter the information.

Shadow databases, with their inherent opportunity for error in misspellings, titles and address, will be eliminated.

Third Condition: The direct involvement of all administrators, including deans, chairs and leaders of non-academic units, in purposeful development activity.

Emphasis by the Executive Vice President and Provost: It will become a high priority, as stressed by the Provost, for each dean and chair to be aware of opportunities for resource acquisition and to be actively involved in the acquisition of those resources.

2 Assignment of Development Officers to Campus Units: Professional development officers will have assignments that include an attachment to particular campus units.

Among their responsibilities will be the facilitation of the development efforts of deans, chairs and faculty of the assigned unit.

This officer will be paid and supervised by central Development with a dotted line relationship to the dean or unit head.

Assignment and evaluation of these officers will take into account the wishes of the unit leader and the suitability of the officer to the discipline or area.

While the development priorities of the assigned unit will be uppermost for the development officer, he or she may be physically located in one of several metropolitan areas, communicating daily with the dean or head of the unit.

Clerical and logistical support will be provided from within the central development operation.

Development Officer as Facilitator: The role of the development officer in the unit will be to facilitate face to face meetings and other meaningful encounters between the qualified donor prospect and the dean, chair or faculty member, depending on who has the most first-hand knowledge and passion about a project.

By acting in this role, the officer becomes the “back office” agent for the dean or unit leader so that time demands are kept to a minimum.

Note: A qualified donor prospect is one who has been identified as having: the capacity to make a significant gift; an interest in the project area; and an inclination to help.

Fourth Condition: Careful assigning and managing of donors and donor prospects to minimize undue tensions that might accrue for donors and to eliminate counterproductive duplication of solicitation efforts.

Prospect Assignment: All development officers and their unit heads will carry assignments of approximately 75 to 100 prospects.

Initially, development officers and their dean or unit heads will be asked to list those prospects who, based on their giving history and their stated interests, appear to be a prime prospect for gifts to their respective school or unit.

Where there is overlap in those lists, a careful analysis will determine the initial assignment by the vice president for development.

3 All campus units will be represented weekly at a meeting of development officers where there will be a discussion of donor prospects and the various reasons for developing strategies with those donors in specific areas of affinity.

This meeting becomes a time of adjusting assignments, and the permanence of assignments will depend upon the success, or lack thereof, and will indicate when a donor prospect needs to be re-assigned.

The president and chancellor will also have a set of major gift assignments.

It is important for me to say that any and all fundraising opportunities for Baylor are to be identified through strategic planning and coordinated and approved through the central vetting of that process.

I want you to know that the recent naming of Randall O’Brien as Executive Vice President and Provost was done in great part to allow me to spend 60% of my time in fund raising activity.

As president, many see me as the chief development officer of the university, and I intend to spend a great deal of energy helping to bring greater levels of funding.

Fifth Condition: A greatly enriched central database on individuals of interest, due to the consistent input of every contact made with individuals by anyone having access to those prospects.

Reporting Contacts: Any time a Baylor employee or volunteer makes a significant contact with a donor or donor prospect, that contact must be entered into the BANNER database.

There will be a training program instituted to equip identified employees to enter contacts according to acceptable parameters.

The confidentiality of these reports is of the highest importance.

Sixth Condition: The acquisition of donor prospects, including those for whom Baylor may not be currently a consideration as a beneficiary of their philanthropic investments.

Greater Research Capacity: The new organization anticipates hiring more research and data analysis personnel in central development.

Qualifying Prospects: Development officers will be charged with moving research suspects to qualified prospects after making appropriate contact to determine interest and inclination.

4 At the point affinity is determined, the qualified prospect will be assigned to the development officer responsible for the most closely related affinity unit.

New Networks: A new national development organization will be created, consisting of major Baylor alumni and friends, people who are able to make major gifts and to influence others to make major gifts, people who may have no current Baylor connection but believe in Baylor’s values, once they know of them.

Developing a Strong Prospecting Operation: Due to the anticipated assignment of known major donors to the offices of the President, the Chancellor, the President Emeritus, and the VP for Development, the deans, and the Athletics Director, there will be increased capacity in the portfolios of gift officers for prospecting and qualifying activity.

Discovery will become a prominent activity for all.

Seventh Condition: Greater efficiency and effectiveness of event planning and marketing/communications, due to the concentration of support functions and greater intentionality with regard to employing development strategies in all planning and implementation.

New Events Unit: The combining of current units producing development events and network events will create the Office of Events Management Services.

When you are in need of a development event, these pros will produce it for you.

This new unit will take advantage of the E.P.I.C. processing system developed by the Baylor Network to manage as many as 500 events nationwide per year.

A dotted line relationship with the office of the University Host will provide a coordinated effort for campus events.

Marketing and Communications Services: The Vice President for Marketing and Communications will lead a new component geared to write and design development materials and will provide a centralized service center for all campus units, including admissions.

Strategic Planning: Within development there will be a strategic planning unit that will design comprehensive strategies for events, publications, recognitions and prospect moves so that a greater sense of coordination is experienced.

Eighth Condition: The Baylor Network and the Baylor Magazine (format to be changed) will be more intentionally geared toward development strategies.

The Baylor Network will become more intentionally a development arm of the university.

5 Network officers will have multiple opportunities for gift cultivation activity.

Significant contacts and information about prospects will be entered into the central database by the Network officers.

A Development Magazine: The Baylor Magazine will be a periodical which advances the development agenda of the university.

It will feature cases for support for a wide variety of funding opportunities.

It will also tell the stories of those who have found it meaningful to invest in the university, giving recognition to donors and providing inspiration to those who want to make a philanthropic investment.

KWBU-Radio & TV: Our public radio and television will be used to tell our stories locally and nationally.

Ninth Condition: A heightened campus-wide awareness that every impression received by a constituent has implications for the achievement of our institutional goals, and that there are no unimportant exchanges with constituents.

Philanthropy Education: University Development will conduct a program of philanthropy orientation throughout the campus during the school year.

Administration, faculty, staff and students will be encouraged to participate in the program to underscore the importance of the way we interact with external constituents on and off campus.

This training will be offered to volunteers as well.

In conclusion, may I thank all those from development and marketing communications as well as the alumni association, athletics and others who have worked so diligently to bring us to this point.

I believe we are on the launch pad of a great new day for Baylor University.

The combined efforts of those in this room and others will assure success in our venture to develop a campus-wide culture of philanthropy, one that will provide the energy and resources needed to achieve our mission and the vision of Baylor 2012.