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The Cadre + Glaring inequities emerge as

7 March 1998

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universities bite the fundraising hook

BY ANDREW SUNSTRUM TORONTO (CUP) — Smaller Canadian universities say they are getting the short end of the stick as the compe- tition for private funds pro- ceeds ata frenzied pace across the country and big schools continue to make a killing.

The current $400-mil- lion University of Toronto fundraising campaign, boasted to be the most ambitious for a post-secondary institution in Canadian history, has already secured three-quarters of its goal just seven months into its public phase. The campaign will wind down in the year 2000.

This mammoth donor- wooing drive is justone exam- ple of the new energy colleges and universities are putting to- wards raising private dona- tions. U of T’s closest compe- tition to date includes two big- time rivals hailing from Mon- treal and Vancouver.

In 1996, McGill Univer- sity put a cap on its ‘Twenty- firstcentury fund,’ which raised $205-million. They were beat out three years earlier, how- ever, by the University of Brit- ish Columbia, which success- fully completed a campaign that raised $262-million.

Smaller schools were not so lucky. St. Mary’s Uni- versity in Halifax, Lakehead University in Northern Ontario, and the University of Winni- peg have wrapped up fundraising bonanzas over the last five years pulling ina whop- ping combined total of $52.9- million.

Other universities are just breaking into the fray with ongoing campaigns designed to lure a few private dollars their way. Dalhousie, Carleton, York, Laurentian and Concordia have all jumped aboard with self-styled cam- paigns. ;

Not everyone is enthu- siastic about the trendy uni-

versity marketing frenzy, how- ever. Amidst what may ap- pear good-spirited cash-court- ing competition lies a formula for disaster, warns Jennifer Story, national deputy chair- person for the Canadian Fed- eration of Students.

“Those institutions who can recruit corporate funding will have a better level of edu- cation than the smaller and newer schools,” she said. “Re- liance on private funds leads to a system of have- and have- not schools.”

In the world of slick campaigns, however, it ap- pears a Darwinian approach appeals best to some univer- sity fundraising gurus. A McGill spokesperson says Canadian schools should welcome U of T’s$400-million initiative.

“It sets new standards in philanthropic society,” Derek Drummond, vice-prin- cipal of development and alumnirelations at McGill, said.

And there is no need to fret about smaller schools which aren’ texactly in the big leagues from the outset, Drummond adds. “Theirneeds are not as great as ours, pro- portionately. It’s all relative.”

But a quick glance at justhow much universities are raking in relative to their needs speaks volumes. At the larger schools, private proceeds are sometimes more than half the size of the university’s entire annual operating budget. U of T’s $400-million equates to about 65 per cent of its budget, while McGill’s $205-million fundraising return is the equiva- lent to 48 per cent.

Their smaller counter- parts rarely hope to reach the half-way mark. The Univer- sity of Winnipeg has targeted the equivalent of only 20 per cent of its annual budget. And with a $7.7-million goal, the University of Prince Edward Island can only hope to raise 15 per cent of its budget.

However, a UBC rep- resentative says smaller uni- versities can make serious headway in the fundraising game by using the school’s personal advantages to set up a playing ground for them- selves.

“Experience shows that smaller universities create niches,” Paula Martin, direc- tor of public affairs at UBC, said. “It’s not an apples and oranges comparison.

Atleast one small school rep can vouch for the niche strategy as intelligent market- ing, but says that *tmean the power players can’t im- pede on small school turf. “Lakehead can be successful if it continues to direct re- sources to fundraising, create a niche and market it

__ appropriately, although it will be tough to compete with large schools,” Rob Zubeck, manager of alumni services at ne Dutthead

ut ertising glitz and glamour available to the big wigs makes gaining even modest ground difficult for smaller schools, Catherine Gillan, a spokesperson for UPEI, said.

“Everyone is going to be out there looking for the same limited dollars, so com- petition will become a bi issue,” she said, explaining attracting donations from na- tional corporations is difficult when competing against schools with cross-country ex- posure, such as U of T or UBC.

“I think inequity will be- come an issue over the years,” Gillan said.

Certainly, the people power behind these fundraising drives differs wildly. Jon Dellandrea, U of T’s chief development officer and the school’s highest paid netting a quarter of a million bucks for his services, esti- mates the university will spend

$2-million on its colossal cam- paign nearly three times the actual fundraising goal at UPEI.

U of T rpm em- ploys a cast of 62 employees working out of their develop- ment office. McGill had 60 working on their huge cam- paign. But out in Halifax, St. Mary’s only had five working on donor-wooing, while Lakehead had four and UPEI boasted two full-time

isers.

In fact, at one small cash- school, students are to pitch in for the sake of the university.

Concordia students are re- uiredtopay$150 over a year-period toward the school’s fundraising campaign. Rebecca Alldworth, president of Concordia stu- dents’ union, says her school is too focused on the fine arts to attract the rich business-type donors which is why they are forced to pick student pockets in the effort.

According to Story, the solution to these fundraising inequities is clear. “We would

like to see institutions

ps icly-funded,” she said,

ing until that day the brutal battle will wage on.

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