Fundraising campaign passes $400 million mark

by ZACH VEILLEUX

After a record-setting year ending in June 2006, new gifts recorded in the past few months have pushed Rockefeller’s seven-year Campaign for Collaborative Science closer to its goal of bringing in $500 million to pay for initiatives outlined in the strategic plan. At present, $418 million has been contributed to the campaign, which was officially launched July 1, 2003.
More than $124 million of this total has been raised since the 2007 fiscal year began last July 1. New major gifts include a $50 million grant from The Starr Foundation, a $15 million gift from trustee Henry Kravis and his wife, Marie-Josée Kravis, and an endowment gift of more than $10 million from the estate of James P. Martin, a benefactor whose acquaintance with the university dates back to its days as The Rockefeller Institute.
     Rapid progress in campaign fundraising puts Rockefeller in a strong position to undertake a major building project, faculty recruitment efforts and other expenditures required to modernize and meet the demands of doing science in the 21st century. Additionally, there has been strong progress toward several targets within the overall goal, designed to ensure that money raised under the campaign can be used to fund specific types of projects.
One key objective of the campaign, to raise $100 million in new endowment funds to strengthen the university’s overall financial capitalization, has already been surpassed. Gifts pledged in late 2006 brought the total amount raised for the endowment to $101 million. Endowment gifts are particularly important, as proceeds from the endowment provide stable, ongoing income to the university which is used to support laboratories, operate the university’s hospital and pay other ongoing costs not covered by government grants or one-time gifts. “An additional $100 million in the endowment means there will be at least $5 million more available for the operating budget each year,” says President Paul Nurse.
In addition, there is solid progress toward another objective, to raise $200 million in “flexible” gifts that will be used to help pay for the building of the Collaborative Research Center and Welch Hall renovation projects. To date, the university has raised $125 million toward the goal. “Board members who have made their campaign commitments have not only been generous in the size of their gifts, but also in the trust they have placed in us to use their commitments where the need is greatest,” says Marnie Imhoff, vice president for development. “To fully implement the strategic plan, we need to create and equip the Collaborative Research Center and bring the library up to the standards of 21st-century research support.”
Finally, fundraising for ongoing research programs — money which is directed to the university’s operating budget each year — has been highly successful in each of the past three years. The university is on track to again raise approximately $24 million in this category in the current fiscal year.
“It is deeply gratifying to see this campaign proceeding so successfully,” says Russ Carson, chair of the Board of Trustees. “The fact that so many people are giving so generously reflects an understanding of just how critical Rockefeller’s unique approach to science will be to furthering our understanding of disease.”
The Campaign for Collaborative Science, announced in 2004, is the most ambitious fundraising effort in the university’s history. Its goal — to raise $500 million in seven years — is nearly double the goal of the university’s Centennial Campaign, a five-year effort begun in 1998. In addition to providing much of the money needed to construct the new Collaborative Research Center, proceeds from the Campaign for Collaborative Science will fund new faculty recruitment, a presidential fellows program, expansion of the graduate and postdoctoral education programs, renovations to the library and the construction of a new “Scientific Information Commons,” and new interdisciplinary centers to promote scientific interaction among researchers.
To reach its goal, the university’s development program is relying on an extensive network of donors — individuals, foundations and corporations — who make gifts ranging from a few hundred dollars to tens of millions of dollars. So far in the campaign, nearly 6,000 gifts have been recorded; the average gift has been $75,000, while the median gift is $1,000. “At one end of the spectrum we have donors who are very wealthy individuals and make extraordinarily generous gifts to the university,” Ms. Imhoff says. “At the other end is a larger cadre of individuals who maintain close relationships with the university and make small, regular gifts every year. Those small gifts are also critical, because it is vitally important that we build a large community of people who care about the university. Every gift, and every relationship, is important to us.”
The university’s development program, which was formally launched in 1971, lacks the large alumni and “grateful patient” populations that fuel fundraising at many other institutions. In 1973, the Board of Trustees created The Rockefeller University Council, a group originally drawn from the Board’s circle of friends and business associates, to serve as ambassadors for the university. The Committee on Trust and Estate Gift Plans, comprised of leading attorneys, bankers and financial advisers who work to make the university more widely known among their clients and peers, followed in 1974.
With the guidance of these two groups along with the Board of Trustees, the development program has over the past decade worked to build “affinity groups” that appeal to donors with specific scientific interests and/or health concerns. For instance, donors interested in increasing opportunities for women in the sciences often attend the university’s Women & Science programs, which address scientific challenges related to women’s health and showcase Rockefeller’s women scientists. Likewise, the university’s DirectEffect program hosts events and raises money specifically to fund research on AIDS and HIV. (See “A community of donors,” below.)
All told, the Development Office organizes more than a dozen events each year at which donors and potential donors can learn about the university and network with scientists and with each other. Over the years, the affinity-group approach to fundraising has proved enormously successful, and it is now being emulated at other institutions.
“The groups serve not only to raise money for their specific goals, but as a way for us to build relationships,” says Ms. Imhoff. “By attending our events, people come to understand Rockefeller’s approach to science and take an active role in supporting us. Key to the success of our efforts is a remarkable group of faculty who are committed to making their science accessible to the lay public. Ultimately, people become donors to Rockefeller because they see the enormous potential in the work that our faculty members are doing, and they respond to it.”