UVA's $3 billion fundraising campaign on track, despite economic downturn

Despite the awful economy and a sharp drop in donations, the University of Virginia's five-year campaign to raise $3 billion remains on track, according to documents and interviews with senior fundraising officials.

"We're on schedule, even with the worst economic situation in most of our lifetimes," said Robert D. Sweeney, UVa's senior vice president for development and public affairs. "Don't ever count us out on philanthropy."

Sweeney, UVa's top fundraising official, is scheduled today to update the university's Board of Visitors on the $3 billion campaign's progress.

With two-thirds of the campaign's time elapsed, UVa had collected roughly $1.934 billion - or 64.5 percent of its goal - according to an internal university report on the campaign's progress through April 30.

"Our goal has always been to hit the $2 billion mark by June 30, 2009," Sweeney said. "We're right on target."

While UVa's overall campaign is still in good shape, the university has seen its donations drop off as the economy has worsened and donors cut back on philanthropic giving.

As of March 31, UVa had received $193.2 million in contributions in fiscal 2009. That figure marked a 12.8 percent decline from the same period in fiscal 2008 and a 17.8 percent decrease from fiscal 2007.

UVa's fundraising challenges are being reflected at universities across the country.

A January survey of 1,052 colleges and universities conducted by the Council for Aid to Education found that development officers were expecting to see a decline in both the number and value of donations received during fiscal 2009 and 2010.

"Comparing year-to-year, we do think we'll see a decline because of the economy," said Rae Goldsmith, vice president of advancement resources for CASE.

Goldsmith said it is not surprising that UVa is on pace to meet its campaign goal, as such multi-year fundraising efforts have traditionally managed to weather the ups and downs of the economy.

Universities across the country, Goldsmith said, recognize that many donors cannot make contributions right now, so they are focusing on "stewardship," meaning that development officers are still reaching out to donors, whether they can give or not.

"They're still trying to make those connections, even if they can't make that gift right now," she said. "Because they might be able to make that gift when the economy improves."

At UVa, Sweeney and his staff studied trends in philanthropy during past economic recessions. They found, much like Goldsmith mentioned, that making connections with donors - whether they can afford to give right now or not - becomes even more important.

When the economy eventually snaps back, Sweeney said, potential donors will remember that UVa reached out and they might be more willing to contribute.

"We want you to know that our relationship with you goes beyond philanthropy," he said. "Even without the possibility of a gift, we continue to visit those who have been generous to us."

So far in fiscal 2009, Sweeney said, UVa development officers made 10,500 personal visits to potential donors, whether they could currently afford to donate or not.

UVa also is seeing an rise in bequests from donors, as they might not have the liquidity to write a check today, they can still manage to write the university into their will.

UVa's expanded outreach efforts, Sweeney said, aim to differentiate the university from every other organization that is soliciting contributions. "When times are tough, people don't totally stop giving," he said. "They just stop giving to charities that are less important to them."

Certain entities at UVa are exceeding fundraising goals, according to the most recent campaign progress report. The Medical School Foundation, the School of Nursing and the Alumni Association have already surpassed their final goal of the $3 billion campaign.

Yet other divisions are far behind their targets, as of April 30. The Women's Center had achieved of 7.97 percent its $11.25 million goal. The UVa Art Museum had collected only 37.29 percent of its $30 million goal.

Several of the lagging entities - such as the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the School of Engineering - are among the most visible divisions of UVa.

With 66.66 percent of the campaign's time elapsed, the College had collected 44 percent of its $500 million goal. The engineering school had brought in 40 percent of its $150 million target.

"The economy has had a bit of an effect on us, for sure, in terms of our momentum," said Glen Jack, associate dean for development in the College.

The College, he said, has seen a roughly 15 percent drop in annual giving this year. At the same time, he added, it has seen an increase in other significant gifts. As a result, the College is behind on its overall campaign goal, but is on par with its performance in the last fiscal year.

"It seems to be holding its own," Jack said. "But we're like to see more in unrestricted giving."

Sweeney pointed out that the College, the engineering school and other divisions set extremely ambitious goals in the campaign, as UVa seeks to become the nation's preeminent privately financed public university, he said.

If some divisions do not meet their targets, he added, UVa may hold a "bridge campaign" to make up the shortfall after the $3 billion campaign wraps up in December 2011.

According to documents, other divisions at UVa are performing swimmingly. The Virginia Athletics Foundation, for example, had raised 94.7 percent of its $300 million goal, as of April 30. The Curry School of Education Foundation had achieved 90.46 percent of its $55 million goal. And the UVa Health System had reached 90.88 percent of its overall $500 million target.

"If we'd wanted to play it safe, we could have set a goal of $2 billion or $2.5 billion," Sweeney said. "But we set an ambitious goal. We believed we needed to be competitive with the great private, elite universities."