Vice President for Resource Development
Resource Development encourages private philanthropy to support MIT's academic, research, and community activities. We work with four broad constituencies in this process: corporations; foundations; individuals capable of principal gifts, major gifts, and planned gifts; and non-alumni individual donors. Our efforts to attract private support from these constituencies rely heavily on the collaboration of our staff in research and information systems, communications and donor relations, finance and administration, and strategic program development. Resource Development's long-term strategic goal is to develop the overall philanthropic capacity of these constituencies to sustain a level of giving of at least $200 million annually in cash by 2004. The $1.5 billion Campaign for MIT supports this effort by focusing the Institute on the most important priorities for the future and engaging donors about their role in shaping this future.
With two years remaining, The Campaign for MIT has done this and more. As of FY2002, the campaign total stood at $1.46 billion, and even during a year of economic uncertainty, cash giving in FY2002 exceeded the $200 million mark. The Campaign for MIT has been felt across the Institute, bringing in needed support for programs, people and facilities in every school; and overall, creating 64 endowed faculty chairs, 171 endowed and expendable scholarships, and 223 endowed and expendable graduate fellowships. Fifty percent of the alumni body have participated in this effort and have given just over half the campaign total.
An important component of our organizational success is our ability to maintain a client orientation, collaborate across the Institute, emphasize sustainability in our work, and professionalism and accountability in our performance.
Resource Development cultivates philanthropic relationships targeted to key institutional priorities by carefully listening to and understanding the needs of our clients—be they corporations, foundations, alumni, prospective donors, volunteers, faculty, labs, departments, centers, MIT's senior officers, or administrative staff across the Institute. Not only is client feedback a standard part of all donor related educational programs, web-based and written communications, but it is integral to the fabric of how we conduct our business.
Collaboration is critical to effectively generate private support for needs across the Institute. Resource Development works closely with the development efforts in each school to identify, cultivate, and solicit prospects, market initiatives, and support the professional development of the school based development officers. We partner with the Alumni/ae Association to sustain and maintain the alumni database of record, ADONIS, and conduct alumni/ae surveys. Also, Resource Development has contributed to the Institute's efforts to develop key institutional messages through the Communications Operating Group, and develop and implement best practices in financial administration and human resources.
Resource Development works to sustain ongoing and increasing philanthropy from our constituencies through targeted stewardship programs and relevant, personal communication and engagement. Since the staff serves as facilitators and liaisons to cultivate these important institutional relationships, staff retention is a critical component to sustainability. We encourage long-term staff retention with careful attention to industry salary standards and an emphasis on professional development and growth on the job.
Accountability
The work of Resource Development directly effects the Institute's bottom line. Every month the Executive Committee of the Corporation reviews the monthly private support totals and overall progress of the campaign. Quarterly, the MIT Corporation and the Campaign Steering Committee do the same. Not only do we annually review and update job descriptions and measure employee accomplishments and progress toward goals in the annual departmental performance review process, but as a department our efforts are regularly reviewed and adjusted to guarantee success.
Private support for FY2002 totaled $222.9 million and included $214.7 million in gifts, grants, and bequests, and $8.2 million in support through membership in the Industrial Liaison Program. This compares with $200.8 million in 2001, $233.6 million in 2000, $209 million in 1999, and $143.9 million in 1998. Gifts-in-kind for the past year (principally gifts of equipment) were valued at $5.7 million. By source, gifts from alumni totaled $76.3 million; non-alumni friends, $14.3 million; corporations, corporate foundations, and trade associations, $48.8 million; foundations, charitable trusts, and other charitable organizations, $66.7 million; and others, $8.6 million.
Expendable and endowed funds were designated as follows: $31.1 million in unrestricted support; $104.5 million for research and education programs, $20.2 million for faculty salaries; $17.8 million for graduate student aid; $10.5 million for undergraduate student aid; $9.7 million in undergraduate education and student life; $19.3 million in building construction funds; and $1.6 million pending designation.
During the year, Resource Development promoted five women and six men. Twelve open staff positions were filled, eight positions by women and four by men, one of whom is Hispanic. Nine open support staff positions were filled, all are women, including one Hispanic, two Asians, and one African-American. Resource Development continued its effort to recruit qualified women and minority candidates by working closely with Human Resources and others to identify new venues for recruitment. We also continued our active participation in the CASE Minority Fellowship Program to encourage professional development in fundraising among diverse constituencies. Director of Individual Giving George Ramonat retired from MIT, concluding 15 years of service to MIT. After 16 years of service, John S. Wilson, left his position as director of Foundation Relations and School Development Services to become the senior assistant vice president at George Washington University. John E. Oldham returned to MIT after a 12-year absence to become the new director of Foundation Relations and School Development Services.
The Campaign for MIT
At the conclusion of the fifth year of The Campaign for MIT, the campaign reached $1.46 billion, achieving 97.4 percent of the goal with two years to go. Despite a philanthropic climate influenced by both national tragedy and a slowing economy, fundraising to the campaign continued at the same pace established early in this effort. With $261.9 million in new gifts and new pledges added to the campaign this year, this year stands in the top three of The Campaign for MIT.
When measured across key campaign priorities, this effort is well ahead of schedule in most areas—faculty chairs, $162.8 million achieved, exceeding the $150 million goal; scholarships and other undergraduate aid, $95.3 million raised towards a $100 million dollar goal; undergraduate education and student life, $53.4 million raised toward a $100 million goal; graduate fellowships, $129.8 million raised toward a $200 million goal; research and education programs, $565.7 million achieved, exceeding a $550 million goal; construction and renovations, $ 275.3 million raised toward a $300 million goal; unrestricted purposes, $138.2 million achieved, exceeding a $100 million goal; and $40 million still pending designation.
As The Campaign for MIT nears the $1.5 billion goal, we continue to work toward achieving the two other criteria important to the success of this effort—raising funds for targeted areas with the support of MIT alumni capable of gifts of all sizes. In all areas of our work with staff, volunteers, alumni/ae, and established and prospective donors, we continue to make every effort to acknowledge the positive effects of giving to MIT, highlight key under-funded campaign priorities while surfacing and involving potential prospects who can give at all levels to support the future of MIT.
Office of Campaign Giving
The Office of Campaign Giving (OCG) cultivates, solicits, and stewards alumni and friends capable of making gifts of $50,000 or more to The Campaign for MIT. OCG field staff work closely with the senior administration, the deans of the schools, the Office of Principal Gifts and other offices in Resource Development, the Alumni/ae Association and volunteers to contact and solicit 4,000 identified prospects and donors over the course of the campaign. Each OCG gift officer works with about 150 active prospects to collectively manage approximately 2,000 prospective donors from around the country during the fiscal year.
This year, OCG continued to build MIT's donor base by involving and soliciting donors and prospective donors in partnership with volunteers on the Corporation Development Committee and the Campaign Network, and in collaboration with development staff and senior officers across the Institute. Cultivation events were held throughout the country to expand MIT's outreach to prospects and educate alumni and donors about key campaign priorities. Program topics included: athletics, urban studies, cancer research, comparative media studies, the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives program, environment, and economics. Six technology breakfasts were organized in New England and Silicon Valley. On-campus breakfasts and luncheons with the deans of several schools were held to acquaint new prospects with school initiatives. Volunteer meetings were held in Boston, New York, and San Francisco. OCG staff worked with the Office of Gift Planning and the Alumni/ae Association to educate constituencies on planned giving vehicles, oversaw the Emma Rogers Society to involve widows of MIT alumni, and directly supported fundraising efforts for the arts at MIT.
In addition to continuing to reach out to MIT's major gift donors, this year OCG focused on building strong relationships with MIT faculty, senior officers, and administrators to develop and implement fundraising strategies for emerging campaign initiatives such as biological engineering, student life and learning, and neuroscience.
Office of Communications and Donor Relations
The Office of Communications and Donor Relations (COMDOR) supports MIT's fundraising efforts with editorial content, marketing initiatives, stewardship of donors, and event coordination. Led by Laure A. Morris, the staff continued to focus on two primary areas—the enhancement of stewardship and recognition efforts for campaign donors and the marketing of institutional priorities related to The Campaign for MIT.
COMDOR continued to build the stewardship program to continue to inform as many donors as possible about the effects of their philanthropy. With nearly 600 customized stewardship plans for MIT's most generous donors now in place, COMDOR expanded the stewardship effort to recognize donors to new fund-based initiatives. Personalized letters from the provost were sent to approximately 80 major donors of unrestricted funds and a comprehensive strategy for Institute-wide stewardship of fellowship funds was developed and initiated in cooperation with the Provost's Office and the Graduate Students Office. In collaboration with Student Financial Services, COMDOR produced annual reports to donors on 222 individual scholarship funds and 68 class scholarship funds. Nearly 1,000 personalized gift acknowledgement letters and other letters of appreciation to donors from the Institute's senior officers were produced. A new stewardship resource guide was made available to Resource Development staff and an internal training session on stewardship strategy and tactics was offered.
Membership in the Catalyst Society, the recognition society for campaign donors of $100,000 or more, increased by 89 to a total of 434. Of these, senior officers, faculty, volunteers or staff has presented 98 members with the Catalyst Society gift in personal visits. The first published list of Catalyst Society membership appeared in the July 2001 issue of (CR)2, the campaign newsletter.
COMDOR coordinated approximately 45 cultivation and stewardship events on campus and throughout the country, nearly doubling the number offered the previous year. These events included dedications, dean's breakfasts, campus visits, Tech Breakfasts in Cambridge and California, and dinner events in private homes. Another 22 stewardship events were organized for scholarship donors and recipients. The event planning process for Resource Development was documented and internal training sessions were held to expand the staff's capacity to coordinate the growing number of events.
Marketing efforts this year included the new Giving to MIT web site, a collaborative effort with the Alumni Fund, and the campaign publication Student Life and Learning at MIT. The campaign newsletter, (CR)2, issued three editions to 6,000 prospective donors promoting a total of six campaign priorities. Two editions of Spectrum were produced for about 40,000 readers with cover packages on the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives program and biological engineering. COMDOR also published MIT Facts 2002 and Fast Facts, a monthly electronic newsletter for key volunteers, and 10 versions of the Donor Profiles in Technology Review.
COMDOR initiated five focus group discussions this year to better understand the impact of campaign messages on individual donors and prospects. Message strategy for the final two years of the campaign is being shaped according to the themes identified in those discussions.
Office of Corporate Relations
Directed by Karl Koster, the Office of Corporate Relations (OCR), which includes the Industrial Liaison Program (ILP), creates and strengthens mutually beneficial relationships between MIT and corporations worldwide. In FY2002 total corporate cash gifts to the Institute reached $48.8 million. Revenues from the ILP totaled $8.2 million, the best result in the past 11 years. In addition, approximately half of ILP members financially supported MIT through additional gift, grant, and research engagements.
Corporate and institutional partnerships continued to experience ongoing success in FY2002, characterized by the early renewal of the MIT-Ford partnership at a level of $3 million per year for five years, and the establishment of a five-year, $50 million-plus collaboration between MIT, government, and industry with the MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies.
OCR's priorities over the year—the faculty liaison plan, retention and cultivation of ILP members, solicitation and stewardship of a range of corporate and institutional collaborations—enabled continued success in a year challenged by economic recession and a troubled geo-political environment.
More information about the Office of Corporate Relations and the Industrial Liaison Program can be found on the web at http://ilp.mit.edu/ilp/.
Office of Development Research and Systems
Under the direction of Shelley Brown, the Office of Development Research and Systems (ODRS) provides research, information management, technology and training support to Resource Development and its partners in The Campaign for MIT.
Research activities continued to identify new prospects and track new information about existing and potential donors. ODRS identified close to 400 alumni with the potential to make a campaign commitment of $50,000 or more in the next five years through commercial databases, clipping services, peer screening meetings with faculty and alumni, industry-focused studies to identify alumni founders and leaders of emerging and fast-growing companies, and ongoing assessment of geographic markets. Many hundreds more were identified with the potential to make a less substantial commitment either during or after the current campaign period. Building on data gathered through the 2001 Alumni Survey, the department kicked off the first phase of an inquiry to update the MIT-related Founders Study that will be rolled out during FY2003.
To facilitate solicitation and stewardship activities of the staff, senior officers, and volunteers, ODRS produced over 1,100 research reports, including 121 specialized back-ups for the senior officers.
The information systems staff continued to offer dynamic support of systems, information, and users to expedite fundraising activity. Key systems development projects included the incorporation of a new presidential acknowledgement module within ADONIS, enhanced stewardship tracking and reporting, and new reports and windows to incorporate Alumni Survey information.
The departmental fileserver, ADONIS (the alumni/development on-line information system), and most other software products used by the department were upgraded. New documentation was developed to support these upgrades and 250 users were retrained. Additionally, the staff made a focused effort to provide ADONIS training and documentation for users in the departments and outlying administrative areas.
ODRS coordinated a joint effort with the Alumni Association to provide timelier and more complete updates of alumni information by distributing data entry responsibilities to selected staff in Resource Development and accepting responsibility for several data integrity projects. Tracking changes in alumni business affiliations allowed the Office of the Chairman to send several hundred letters of congratulation.
Office of Donor Partnerships and Special Projects
Building on MIT's history of support from non-alumni, the Office of Donor Partnerships and Special Projects, led by Christine Rinaldi, focuses on the identification, long-term cultivation, and solicitation of non-alumni capable of making eight-figure gifts in support of MIT priorities.
Donor Partnerships carries out its mission in close collaboration with other areas of Resource Development, the senior officers and deans, select faculty and other MIT officials, as well as volunteers. This partnership model was well exemplified in the $50 million commitment from the Picower Foundation, secured in December 2001 and announced in May 2002 to name the Picower Center for Learning and Memory. The office worked with the president, treasurer, dean of the School of Science, building architects, and the donors themselves while enlisting and coordinating the efforts of multiple people, offices and academic units, including the School of Science faculty, Capital Projects, the MIT News Office, and the offices of Communications and Donor Relations, Principal Gifts, Leadership Gifts, and Foundation Relations. More than 100 members of the MIT community and 16 members of the press attended the announcement that received national attention. The office maintained a special focus on funding for the brain and cognitive science facility, among other top priorities.
During FY2002, the office continued work with select members of the MIT Corporation and the Campaign Steering Committee. These volunteers were responsible for initiating more than a dozen new non-alumni prospect relationships. More than 35 faculty were involved in screening lists for potential new prospects. The president, senior officers, and key faculty continued intensive interaction with a growing core of top non-alumni prospects and donors.
Office of Foundation Relations and School Development Services
Led by John Oldham, the Office of Foundation Relations and School Development Services develops and strengthens relationships with the foundation community while providing development services to the Institute's five schools. Gifts from private foundations and charitable trusts for this fiscal year totaled $64.2 million, up 48 percent from FY2001, and continued to provide significant support for The Campaign for MIT as well as MIT's educational and research programs.
Major grants or pledges included support of the MIT Center for International Studies, the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives program, the Museum Loan Network, undergraduate biological sciences education, fellowships in the environment and in the Research Laboratory of Electronics, and biomedical research.
The Office of School Development Services (OSDS) provided prospect research support and project management for the fundraising efforts of the five schools, the Libraries, and the Office of Academic Development, and various school-affiliated centers and labs. In addition to other types of prospect research and project-related work, an increase in development travel by the deans and faculty resulted in the preparation of 241 prospect profiles, an increase of 21 percent from FY2001.
OSDS staff assisted in moving forward MIT's capital campaign priorities; one such example is the annual FYI Series, featuring a number of deans and faculty presenting information on Institute and school-based programmatic initiatives to educate the Resource Development staff. Other work focused on guiding school-based efforts centered on creating and funding new fellowship and lectureship funds and prospecting for both the bioengineering and the brain and cognitive sciences initiatives.
Office of Gift Planning
Directed by Judith V. Sager, the mission of the Office of Gift Planning (OGP) is to allow donors to make life income gifts to MIT though MIT unitrusts, gift annuities, pooled income funds, and bequests. The OGP works with donors directly through its own marketing initiatives in addition to supporting the efforts of the front line development staff both in Resource Development and in the separate schools.
Gifts for FY2002 totaled $9.34 million. Two donors made gifts in the $1 million to $1.5 million range and three donors made gifts in the $500,000 to $1 million range, which accounted for 45 percent of all gifts received. Seventy-five donors made gifts ranging in size from $25,000 to $500,000.
This spring the OGP hosted informational estate planning seminars for prospective donors in San Francisco; New York City; Naples, FL; and Palm Beach, FL. OGP regularly provides its varied donor constituency with informative mailings highlighting the tax benefits of specific types of gift property and gift vehicles.
The Office of Gift Planning will continue to work closely with the Office of Campaign Giving, the Office of Principal Gifts, and the Alumni/ae Association to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward planned gifts to expand the base of capital campaign donors.
Office of Principal Gifts
The Office of Principal Gifts (OPG) engages the Institute's most generous individual donors in the life of MIT, thanks them for their generosity, and encourages them to make additional multi-million dollar gifts. Under the leadership of Lucy Miller, OPG coordinates the efforts of the senior officers of the Institute and the campaign chairman to deepen relationships between current and future benefactors whose gifts undergird and transform MIT.
This year key accomplishments for OPG included leading the effort to secure additional naming gifts for construction of the Stata Center; working with the Office of the Corporation to plan the Zesiger Center and Simmons Hall dedications; and collaborating with the Office of Strategic Program Development to plan and support an intensive two-day cultivational campus program for gift prospects assigned to the Campaign Steering Committee (CSC). In collaboration with the Offices of Campaign Giving, Donor Partnerships and Special Projects, Foundation Relations, Leadership Gifts, and the development offices of the five schools of MIT, we increased from 193 to 202 the number of donors whose lifetime giving to MIT exceeds $1 million. During the fiscal year, the Institute received 20 new gift commitments of $1 million or more from individuals.
The work of the CSC continued to be a primary area of emphasis for the office. This year CSC members accepted cultivation and solicitation responsibility for 40 additional prospects, bringing their active assignment total to 139 at fiscal year's end. Total campaign commitments from CSC prospects increased by $37 million during the fiscal year, keeping the committee ahead of schedule to meet its internal goal of raising $75 million by the campaign's end.