UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT AND MARKETING

2005-06 PLANNING

Division:	University Advancement and Marketing
College/Unit:	Advancement
Department:	Advancement

Significant Areas of Success:

· Fund Raising Efforts

Ø FY04 cash gifts totaled $3,223,853 (excluding extraordinary cash gifts of $200,000.) This signifies a 26% increase from FY03 (excluding extraordinary cash gifts.).

Ø FY05 cash gifts, as of December 31, 2004, total $1,974,575. This represents a 2% increase over the first two quarters of FY2004. Overall goal for the fiscal year is $4,200,000. (excluding extraordinary and in-kind gifts.).

Ø Acquired 52 new donor society members and established $1,000,000 giving level club, The Woodbridge N. Ferris Society. The target for FY05 is 75 new donor society members with the current status at 66% of goal.

Ø Established 13 new scholarship/programmatic endowments.

Ø Created 9 new planned gifts.

Ø Assisted the Dean of Optometry and optometry faculty in campaign development to fund new optometry building. 100 % participation in giving from the dean and the optometry faculty with current gifts totaling $175,000. Faculty raised $200,000 in 5 day phonathon.

· Initiated a performance-based major gift program.

Ø Increased the number of face-to-face visits with a FY05 goal of 125 personal visits for full-time planned giving and development officers.

Ø Built the quality of the database by counting only visits documented with call reports entered in Millennium.

Ø Established protocol for prospect assignments. A central clearinghouse has been established in the Associate Vice President for Advancement office with monthly prospect management meetings.

• Realignment of staff, programs and resources has established a sharper focus on advancement priorities, more effective utilization of resources, and better accountability.

Ø Centralized fund raising efforts in the Associate Vice President for Advancement office.

Ø Focused the director of planned giving exclusively on the identification, cultivation, and solicitation of planned prospects (transition made 03/05.).

Ø Established manager of prospect research position to oversee donor research component. (transition made 02/05).

Ø Created a full-time development focus for assistant athletic director. (transition @ 5/1/05).

Ongoing or Proposed Significant Activities:

• Increase Fund Raising goal

Ø Increase annual cash gifts to $3,850,000 (excluding extraordinary cash and in-kind gifts.)

• Acquire 80 new Donor Society members

• Development Officers will host a minimum of 3 intimate gatherings per year at the President’s home with major gift prospects.

• Establish and monitor performance expectations

Ø Development officers will be required to document 175 face-to-face visits during FY05-06. The FY04-05 goal is 125. Strategies to move prospects close to solicitation and closure are necessary.

Ø Utilize Millennium to create monthly performance activity reports.

Ø Establish methodologies and reports for longitudinal tracking.

Ø Continue to provide development officers with training and professional development that enhance the quality of information.

• Practice prospect management more systematically

Ø Place more rigor in current major gift analysis and discussions.

Ø Focus strategies on moving prospects closer to Ferris and a major gift commitment.

Ø Continue to design mechanisms for engaging deans in process.

Ø Continue to encourage the use of current protocol for prospect assignments.

• On-going development of major and lead gift prospects continues with the President and Vice President of University Advancement and Marketing. Through this process development priorities, prospect assignments, and leadership engagement will extend and strengthen endeavors to announce the public phase of capital campaign in 2009.
• Expand S & E for full-time planned giving director activities $17,000.

Ø With a current base budget of $15,000, minimal contact with planned giving prospects will continue. This budget accommodated planned giving activities when director allocated 10% of her time to this effort. With exclusive focus on planned giving, a travel and marketing budget is critical to enable the director to communicate with prospects and to spend significant time out of the office making face-to-face visits. The planned giving director will also be extending Ferris’ reach related to planned giving by cross-training the development officers. Development of joint prospect management strategies with major gift officers will be implemented along with freshening up of planned gift marketing materials.

• Establish the general fund S & E for newly established office of prospect management $8,000.

Ø Research and prospect management at Ferris is undeveloped. With a full-time manager in place, on-going professional development is currently in place. While development officers are expected to document strategy for assigned prospects, no systematic tracking occurs to support follow-through and accountability. Plans include: to streamline the research request process; develop a flow chart outlining the research process from request to report delivery; incorporate the use of millennium prospect world/module by July 1, 2005; move to a more proactive approach with research component; expand prospect tools beyond the Prospect Information Network system.

Ø Campaign readiness requires a research function that can use internal and external data to identify prospects for discovery calls; find potential among alumni, parents, and corporations and foundations. The system should be able to feed suspects to major gift officers and support a systematic prospect management process.

• Create full-time position – Director of Corporate/Foundation relations.

Ø Ferris does not have a central corporation and foundation relations program that proactively identifies and engages corporate and foundation prospects. This function has stopped short of being executed in the colleges. As a result, no one in the central development operation is doing work with Michigan’s top 50 companies and looking closely at family foundations. No attention is focused on identifying opportunities for Foundation directors to become more involved in opening corporate doors.