Fundraiser Training and Collaboration Pay Off at U. of Michigan

Shortly after the University of Michigan announced the institution’s largest-ever gift last month—$200-million from the real-estate mogul Stephen Ross—hundreds of Michigan employees who work in development were treated to an inside look at how the donation came to be.

Four officials involved with the gift led a panel discussion at the Development Council, a monthly all-staff gathering described by participants as a high-energy cross between an informative seminar and an inspirational pep rally.

“Fundraising is about influence, and we want everyone—whether you answer the phones or are a front-line gift officer—to understand the mechanics and culture of philanthropy so that we all can be influential on campus, at the beauty parlor, wherever we are talking about Michigan,” says Tom Szczepanski, a senior development official.

Among the more than 350 people who attended the presentation on the Ross gift, says Mr. Szczepanski, “there were likely hundreds of lessons learned and countless more ways they will be applied.”

Professional Development

The Development Council is part of Michigan’s comprehensive effort to engage and support fundraisers throughout their careers—a goal championed by Jerry May, the university’s vice president for development. Michigan offers summer internships to train and interest undergraduate students in fundraising careers and a nine-month course that helps advanced fundraisers get more training and meet one another.

Such efforts seek to deal with troubling problems in fundraising that are affecting nonprofits across the country: the scarcity of qualified people, high turnover rates, and discontent on the job.

A third of the roughly 160 students who have completed Michigan’s summer internship program, which consists of paid project work, an academic course, and professional-development experience, are working full time as fundraisers, including 14 in development roles at Michigan.

The 60 or so fundraisers at Michigan who have completed the major-gift officer curriculum—the nine-month course that has been offered annually for the last three years—tend to stay at the university at greater rates than those who don’t participate. And university officials credit the Development Council with regularly giving development staff members an immeasurable boost to morale.

A New Campaign

None of that can be captured directly in dollars and cents, officials say, but they believe the efforts continue to pay off in fundraising success.

Michigan is scheduled next month to announce a new capital campaign with a goal expected to top the $3.2-billion raised by a four-year drive that ended in 2008. Mary Sue Coleman, the university’s president, has already signaled her strong support for the campaign with a kickoff gift of her own: This month, she and her husband pledged $1-million to support study-abroad scholarships for Michigan students.

Michigan has raised well over $200-million every year since the start of its last capital campaign, including $333-million in 2008, when the campaign exceeded its $2.5-billion goal. In 2012, the institution raised $291-million, placing it at No. 59 on this year’s Chronicle ranking of the 400 organizations that raise the most private money.

Preliminary data for the 2013 year that ended in June show donations totaling nearly $356-million, and gifts in the first quarter of the 2014 year rose 36 percent from last year’s first quarter.

Heather Leszczynski, the annual giving and alumni relations officer in Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment, is focusing on new approaches with her fundraising this year, inspired in part by learning about the Ross gift.

While she says her job doesn’t include anything like reeling in such big donations, hearing from her fellow fundraisers at last month’s Development Council reminded her of the importance of relationship building at every level.

“The way they were always so connected with the donor, being in touch and knowing what his interests were, that is what we should all be doing no matter what kind of gifts we are talking about,” she says.

Staying in the Loop

Building relationships with her own colleagues is important, too, Ms. Leszczynski says. And meeting fundraisers from Michigan’s other schools at the monthly staff meetings, she says, gives her a leg up in approaching them about working together to solicit alumni with dual degrees, which are fairly common for students from her school.

Indeed, collaboration is a key theme running through the heart of Michigan’s Development Council and other training and information-sharing efforts. With as many as 500 staff members working in separate development offices at the institution’s 38 schools, colleges, and units, it’s easy to lose track, or never be aware of, what fundraising efforts are afoot throughout the institution.

Updates at the monthly meetings on finances, events, and the forthcoming campaign help keep everyone in the loop, Michigan officials say. But invaluable for many staff members, too, is simply the chance to get to know their colleagues face-to-face.

The curriculum for big-gift fundraisers offers a similar opportunity for “reaching across the aisle to other parts of the university,” says Larry Jonas, director of development at Michigan Radio, who completed the course in the spring.

He and other fundraisers who took the course are starting to jointly prospect some overlapping donors; donors who, he says, probably already expect that the different parts of the university are working together behind the scenes.

In one case, while both he and a colleague from the engineering school were taking the course this year, a donor added the university to her will, with $731,000 set to go to engineering and $100,000 to the radio station. Already in close touch—though not about this particular donor—the two fundraisers were able to quickly thank and acknowledge the donor together, including by inviting her to an exclusive brunch with Diane Rehm, host of a talk show that airs on NPR.

Mr. May, Michigan’s chief fundraiser, says he wants to provide as many opportunities as possible for the institution’s staff to create such “cross-campus teams.”

“When they have good relationships and friendships within the university,” he wrote in an e-mail, “it makes their work more meaningful and satisfying, and makes them more likely to stay.”

It also might make them more successful in soliciting donors.

Scot Weiner, a fundraiser in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, brought in a $100,000 donation this year by homing in on a donor couple’s interest in Judaic studies and Jewish culture, then connecting the dots among different parts of the university—the Parents and Families Program and the Rackham Graduate School—to identify a fellowship program the couple might want to support.

For his efforts in what Michigan officials call collaborative fundraising, Mr. Weiner was recognized at a Development Council with the “Perfect Combination Award.” His prize: a box of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

“It’s a fun way to celebrate people doing great work,” Mr. May wrote of the award in an e-mail, “and it emphasizes a strategic priority to the community.”