How One Small College Beat The Fund-Raising Formula

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Nov 24, 2000 by Dickinson, Casey J

AURORA - Wells College wrapped up a five-year fundraising effort with a $58 million final tally, more than twice the school's initial goal. More than 70 percent of the women's liberal-arts college alumnae donated to the effort, according to Lisa Marsh Ryerson, president of Wells.

The school chose to aim far beyond the initial goal projected by professional fund-raising consultants, says Ryerson, because she and others at Wells believed that the alumnae were more willing to contribute than projections would indicate.

Paula Sidle, senior associate with Ithaca-based Carol O'Brien Associates, the fund-raising consultants Wells College officials hired, first put forth a $25 million goal. O'Brien says the company arrived at their suggested figure base on standard formulas used to compute goals.

Located on die shore of Cayuga Lake, Wells College has a student body of 450. The school has about 6,700 alumnae, the size of some large schools' graduating classes.

The groundwork for the five-year campaign began in 1992, when Wells officials contacted O'Brien Associates for advice on raising money for the future of the school. As a single-sex institution, says Ryerson; the college faced an uncertain future in the early 1990s.

The first step in any campaign, says Sidle, is identifying how the school would use the money. Wells, she adds, already had developed a clear vision for securing the school's future through a program of facility improvements and the enhancement of its endowment.

After the school shared its plans with the firm, O'Brien Associates began conducting confidential interviews with carefully selected subjects who enjoy a close relationship with the school. The interviews help to determine how much money an institution can raise and provide information on perceptions about the school.

During the interviews, which are informational sessions rather than solicitations, the consultants probe the range of support the school enjoys from its closest alumnae. The subjects share their opinions with the interviewer, says Sidle, about the school, its future plans, and their own ideas about the school's fund-raising ability.

O'Brien Associates aggregates their findings from the series of 40 to 50 interviews combined with other data to determine a "safe" fund-raising goal, says Sidle. The interview findings can serve as a reality check for many institutions that may not have the close relationships with potential donors that they might believe.

After examining Wells's fund-raising potential, says Sidle, the firm presented a report that suggested a goal of $25 million. The goal, she says, was a realistic one, based on standardized formulas used in fund-raising However, Wells didn't believe it was a standard institution.

College officials felt they could raise much more than $25 million, says Ryerson, an optimistic attitude O'Brien Associates cautioned against.

"The goal has to be a credible stretch," says Sidle. "We were very uncomfortable with the higher goal."

Sidle says her firm was concerned that Wells, inexperienced at fund-raising, wouldn't be able to reach the lofty goal.

"It's very hard for an institution to overcome not reaching a goal," she says.

Faced with determination from Wells, O'Brien Associates laid down the conditions for announcing a $50 million goal. The school would have a series of milestones to meet in the "quiet period" that precedes public announcement that a campaign is under way.

The quiet period prepares the school for the job ahead, cementing relationships with solid alumnae and reaching out to others.

Individual relationship building is the next step before launching a fund-raising effort. The school must make contact with the potential "lead donors" whose large gifts will serve to motivate others, she adds. The lead donors are also the ones who will help the school to organize further a giving campaign.

The Wells campaign moved along in stealth mode for two years from 1993 to 1995 as alumnae laid the groundwork for a $50 million goal. As the quiet phase ended and the school prepared to go public, lead donors had already helped meet all of O'Brien's milestones. More than 200 lead donors had stepped forward to help meet the school's $25 million goal before it was ever announced to the public. O'Brien gave the green light for the higher goal.

A campus building, renovated with one of the first lead donations of $1 million, served as the backdrop for Wells' $50 million campaign kickoff in the fall of 1995.

Over the next five years, Wells held alumnae events and fundraisers across the nation, says Ryerson, raising a total of $58 million. The final figure, she says, is proof that even she had underestimated the depth of alumnae support.

Sidle says the experience has allowed her firm to explore the difference in giving between women and men. Wells, she says, has always enjoyed a high participation rate in annual campaigns, but had never concentrated on larger gifts. The usual fund-raising messages used in other campaigns are developed by men and aimed at male donors.