In 1978, Yale University completed the largest telephone and direct-mail fundraising campaign ever attempted by any university. It raised $500 million, setting the standard for campaigns that would soon be implemented by dozens of other academic institutions. In the 1990s, Yale is about to finish the "Šand for Yale" campaign that has already earned $1.2 billion in cash and pledges from alumni and promises to raise $300 million more.
The success of the two campaigns points to the increased use of "telefund" fundraising techniques. This also indicates the changes in alumni fundraising that have occurred in the past 40 years-changes that may become more pronounced.
A group of alumni proposed the creation of an alumni fund in 1890. Until the 1940s, the University had no staff paid for fundraising. And until the late '60s, only two people were employed for that purpose, according to Charlie Pagman, development director of the Yale Alumni Fund.
Between the late '60s and '70s, however, the costs of the University began to rise quickly. Traditional fundraising did not fill the gap. Pagman himself couldn't explain why University costs began to spiral upward, but Yale needed more money, and fast. The result was the "Campaign for Yale" that ended in 1978. Since then, the professional fundraising staff has increased to its current size of 140 people.
According to Pagnam, of about $199 million raised last year, between $43-45 million came from various philanthropic foundations and corporations. Individual donations to the Alumni Fund made up the rest. Two types of telefund campaigns, the Annual Fund and the Capital Campaign, form the bulk of this type of fundraising. There are smaller programs as well, such as the Quarter Century Fund, but the Annual Fund and the Capital Campaign make up the core programs of individual fundraising.
The Annual Fund is money that alumni give in any one year. A full 40 percent of current Yale alumni participate, according to Martha Schall, managing director of the Yale Alumni Fund. Last year this amount totaled more than $11 million. This apparently small amount becomes more vital since it is for "unrestricted use," and therefore the University can count it in its General Appropriations budget.
The Capital Campaign is the most dramatic example of the changes in alumni fundraising. The "Campaign for Yale" spawned a wholly private company, Philanthropy Management Inc. (PMI), that was re-hired last year to run the "Šand for Yale" campaign. A defining feature of current fundraising efforts is subcontracting to private sector companies. Unlike traditionally more volunteer-based fundraising efforts, the employment of PMI reflects a "professionalization" of University fundraising.
This "professionalization" has caused more widespread giving among alumni. According to Campaign literature, about one in five alumni contacted over the phone will make a pledge to the campaign. Since July 15 of last year, the Campaign has raised $1.5 million over the phone, and over $4.3 million since its beginning in November 1994.
Yet this is far from the $1.2 billion that Yale has raised in cash and pledges. This is because alumni giving is "top heavy;" a small number of wealthy donors give the majority of funds. About 5,000 alumni give between $10,000 and $50,000 and are included in the "leadership" category of donors. They are contacted personally by Yale administrators soliciting gifts. At the top are the "principal donors," a small group of about 100 people. Members of this group often receive personal visits from President Levin and are carefully cultivated by the University. Principal donors include Sid Bass, TD '65, who gave $20 million to renovate William L. Harkness Hall. This small group has given $430 million of the $1.2 billion raised in the Capital Campaign. Seen another way, 0.1 percent of Yale alumni have contributed about a third of the raised Capital funds.
The reason for the professional side of fundraising, according to Pagman, is the University's need to raise money more efficiently and urgently than ever before. Although Yale's endowment it is now close to $4.5 billion, it only recently matched the equivalent dollar value of the 1960 endowment. Yale has been playing catch-up for quite some time. Yet Pagman cannot see the possibility that volunteers will ever become obsolete. "I think we have a very good mix between staff and volunteers," he said.
Copyright 1996, The Yale Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
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