At Thursday's UNC Board of Trustees meeting, Chancellor James Moeser and Trustee Paul Fulton said the progress of the ongoing Carolina First Campaign is shifting largely to the hands of professional schools and their deans rather than the University as a whole.
Organizers hope the campaign, launched in 1999, will garner $1.5 billion in private donations over a seven-year time frame -- three times the $499 million UNC received from the state higher education bond referendum voters passed in November 2000. The campaign is in its "quiet phase," and officials have said they hope to announce the public stage in April.
Fulton said Thursday that the campaign has raised about $706 million so far. Moeser added that the campaign's continued success calls for a narrowed fund-raising focus. "As we move deeper and deeper into the campaign, leadership from the deans becomes more and more important," he said.
Speed Hallman, director of development communication, said specialized fund raising benefits the entire University. "(Professional schools) are out there seeking resources for their top priorities, such as graduate student support, faculty support," Hallman said. "It all helps the University -- each donation to an individual school moves the whole campaign."
Some professional school deans said Moeser's ideas reinforce the fund-raising strategies they have espoused for some time. "We are trying to bear down on some areas, publicizing to potential donors, ones (we) think are interested," said Richard Cole, dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. "People like to give to specific things -- alumni are interested in the field they (graduated from)."
But Hallman said some alumni are unbiased in their giving. "It's a mix -- some donors are really attached to the school where they received their degrees, others are interested in Universitywide priorities and interests," Hallman said.
Linda Cronenwett, dean of the School of Nursing, said potential donors are categorized prior to being approached for donations. "We have our alumni strategy, a regional gift campaign, and we write proposals to pharmaceutical companies and medical corporations," Cronenwett said. "Our goal is $15 million, four of which will augment state funding for Carrington Hall renovations, and the other 11 are for scholarships, student life initiatives, faculty support and community outreach initiatives."
Jeffrey Houpt, dean of the School of Medicine, said deans are not alone in their efforts to strategize each school's fund-raising plan.
Most professional schools have at least one employee devoted to fund raising, while others have entire development staffs. "We have a development staff of 12 people, and we've being doing quite well," Houpt said. "We've raised $170 million in the last two or three years, with growth in the double digits for the past three or four."
