Fall Semester at a New Institution

By Mark J. Drozdowski

Changing weather and the sudden dearth of parking suggest that another academic year is upon us. For fund raisers, fall is a popular time to begin new jobs at new institutions. During your first semester on campus, what should you hope to accomplish?

Like entering freshmen, you'll want to learn your way around the college, find out who's who, become familiar with systems and processes, and discover your unique role in this new community. You should determine, in other words, how things work and where you fit. Above all, use this time to absorb as much as possible while you're free from the usual onus of spending time on the road making visits and closing gifts.

More specifically, consider the following tasks to be your semester's assignments:

Take a campus tour. You might be surprised how useful a tour can be. I recommend joining an admissions group with parents and prospective students. Assuming you have a competent guide, you'll learn important facts and figures about the institution (at least the ones that paint a rosy picture) and hear the party line about academic and extracurricular strengths. At a more basic level, you'll get a better feel for the campus layout and see where faculty and administrative offices are located.

Begin to retrace relationships with donors and prospects. If you have a clear sense of your prospect and donor portfolio early on, determine the status of those relationships. Dig through the files (or scan the electronic database) and read recent correspondence and reports. Where is each individual -- or foundation or corporation -- in the pipeline? Who among them needs further cultivation, is perhaps ready to be solicited, or requires stewardship? Are you inheriting any obvious problems that require mending?

Get to know the academic programs and the faculty. What are your institution's academic and program priorities? Who are the faculty stars, especially those who attract philanthropic support, and what kind of projects are they considering? If you're in a capital campaign, read the case statement. If you're not, the priorities might be less clear. Conversations with individual professors will prove beneficial, but ask deans or the provost about priorities. If you work in a central office and represent the entire campus, making the rounds will take considerable time. If you're a development officer at the school level (e.g. business, law, arts and sciences), then your universe is naturally narrower.

Study the nature of the development operation. The development office you've joined might be quite different from the one you've left. Is your new institution's development operation centralized or decentralized? Political turf battles can exist in either case, but decentralized operations are more complex, often creating independent fiefdoms. In that environment, central development officers need to understand the functions of their school-based counterparts, and vice versa. How, for example, are prospects assigned? Within centralized staffs, do major-gifts officers consider planned-giving folks allies or threats? Your organizational chart will indicate the formal hierarchy, but the informal relationships are just as important. Talk with colleagues about how things work and how to avoid stepping on toes.

Determine how development fits within the overall advancement effort. Here again, your previous institution might have had a radically different organizational structure. In some cases, development, communications, and alumni relations will each be led by a director or vice president reporting to the president. Frequently, though, each division will report to a vice president for advancement who, in turn, serves on the president's cabinet. Either way, you'll want to determine to what extent these units work together. Are people in communications sympathetic to the fund-raising cause? Do they routinely cover development stories in the alumni magazine? Do they produce the annual report? Perhaps, if you have a large shop, your development communications staff members handle this task. If so, do they work closely with the college or university communications office? When you have a donor story you need told, you'll want to know who's willing and able to tell it. With regard to alumni relations, are they, too, aligned with your efforts? Do they have some responsibility for the annual fund? A strong advancement vice president can be the glue holding these functions together, resulting in a more unified effort. If they're separate, you might need to solve potential problems through channels. Find allies early.

Get to know your president. At most institutions, the president is the de facto chief fund raiser. To what extent is this true at your college? Does the president enjoy meeting donors and closing gifts? Will she make several fund-raising trips throughout the year, including the obligatory February Florida excursion? Is he just a closer or does he pitch the middle innings as well, meeting with prospects not yet ready for solicitation? At what gift level (if one is established) will a prospect be considered president-worthy? How willing is the president to meet with fund raisers? Do you have to work up the administrative food chain, or can you get an audience directly with him or her? Will you travel with the president on fund-raising calls? This, of course, depends largely on your donor constituency. If you have high-level prospects -- be they individuals, corporations, or foundations -- you'll more likely deal directly with the president. In any case, gain a clear sense of the president's style and preferences.

Learn your numbers. Nothing is more embarrassing than having a donor ask a simple question like, "What's your annual operating budget?" and you have no clue. Your institution is awash in numbers. Know them. Read the annual report, the financial statements, and the college catalog. Remember your discount rate, yield, enrollment figures, U.S. News rankings. And, of course, be able to discuss development-specific data like unit goals, annual fund participation rate, fund-raising costs on the dollar, campaign progress, and so forth.

Immerse yourself in the college's history and traditions. Study the institution's history and become familiar with its traditions, especially if you're not an alum. When was the institution founded? Who are (or were) the legendary professors? Infamous dorms and campus hangouts? Notable alumni? Does the university have any particularly strong athletics teams? How did they do last year in bowl games or tournaments? Who are its chief rivals? Most donors will expect you to be conversant on these issues; you could jeopardize an initial opportunity to form a good relationship if you're not.

Get involved. You're a new member of a diverse community, a unique culture. Take every opportunity to become involved. Attend a few classes and lectures. Go to faculty and staff parties, theater productions, and athletics events. Be visible and make friends.

In short, be a sponge. Sop, soak, and store. Use this time to get to know your new institution thoroughly before you take to the road selling it.