🔒Massive fundraising campaigns offer CT colleges a key financial lifeline

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Fundraising — especially in today’s competitive higher education market — is the financial lifeblood of any university.

Money raised goes toward scholarships, financial aid, faculty, infrastructure, athletics, endowments and even operating expenses, contributing to the overall financial health of a college.

Several Connecticut universities are in the middle of, or about to launch, massive fundraising campaigns that aim to raise hundreds of millions of dollars, or more — money that can be used to increase enrollment, erect new facilities and offer greater opportunities for students and faculty.

Colleges are also cognizant that there are consequences if fundraising goals fall short of expectations.

Trinity College is in the middle of a massive $500 million fundraising effort, its largest ever. UConn is in the planning stages of announcing its next major fundraising initiative having raised more than $600 million from its last campaign a decade ago. The University of St. Joseph recently launched a new fund in honor of Hall of Fame men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun that has already raised $1 million.

Last fall, Yale launched a massive $7.5 billion fundraising campaign through 2026, to bolster its endowment, with $3.5 billion already committed.

College fundraising is big business and schools over the years have become increasingly reliant on donors as their expenses rise and they face pressure to restrain tuition costs.

Giving to U.S. higher education institutions rose 6.9% in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2021, according to the Council for Advancement & Support of Education, with total fundraising reaching $52.9 billion.

“Fundraising for a university is critical,” said Donna Brooks, a partner in Hartford law firm Shipman & Goodwin’s independent schools, colleges and universities practice group. “Fundraising is one source of cash for universities and is extraordinarily important as tuition alone is not sufficient to cover all of your expenses, to expand and add faculty and for infrastructure.”

Lots at stake

Meeting money-raising targets will usually depend on the generosity of friends, parents, supporters, corporations and – most importantly – alumni, including successful business leaders willing to share their wealth. Getting that support requires a commitment on the part of the institution to maintain relationships with possible donors year-round, college fundraising experts said.

Trinity College Vice President for Advancement Michael Casey said his college has raised $253 million as of mid-June, and is on pace to meet its $500 million goal by 2025. Its largest previous campaign was $369 million, which closed in 2009.

Casey, who has been in his role since June 2017, said the college undertakes a coordinated effort to keep in touch with friends, supporters and alumni and will, on occasion, get a big boost from generous donors. For instance, recently the Borges family — led by private equity executive and former state Treasurer Francisco Borges, a 1974 Trinity graduate — contributed a $10 million gift earmarked for financial aid needs.

In exchange, the school renamed its admissions center in honor of Francisco Borges’ parents, Manuel and Maria Luisa Lopes Borges.

Additionally, Trinity College board member, alum and investment executive Henry Mallari-D’Auria recently donated $5 million to the school.

About 20%, or $100 million, of Trinity’s current fundraising campaign will go toward financial aid, Casey said. An additional $100 million will go toward the college’s core academic needs, while $80 million will support its annual $137.9 million operating budget, $65 million will go toward athletics, and $10 million will help renovate the college’s landmark campus chapel.

“We have increased our financial aid programs by more than 50%,” Casey said. “These campaigns allow us to open doors wider to students to come here irrespective of finance needs. We can accept an even broader array of students and give them the best possible learning experience and launch them in the best way possible.”

Trinity has about 10,000 donors who give for different reasons, Casey said. While there are corporate partners and foundations that support the school financially, about 75% of giving is from alumni and parents, he said.

“Most give to give back and pay it forward,” he said. “These are people who understand and value the mission of the college. Next year, we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the college and in those 200 years, Trinity has produced alums who have received Pulitzer Prizes, and others who have transformed industry and made a huge impact here and across the world.”

Trinity College has about 2,200 undergraduate students. Its annual tuition and fees are about $80,590.

Brooks, the Shipman & Goodwin lawyer, said robust fundraising campaigns can improve a college’s fortunes, but efforts that come up short can create significant financial headwinds.

Brooks said not meeting fundraising goals can mean colleges “will have to find ways to cut costs,” which can include faculty and employee compensation reductions and layoffs, reducing educational programs and extracurriculars, or delaying campus maintenance and improvements.

“All of those measures can exacerbate pressures on declining enrollments if a college or university becomes less attractive to students due to cutbacks,” she said.

Precious funding sources

Jake Lemon, president and CEO of the UConn Foundation, said the state’s flagship university is preparing to launch a major fundraising initiative, although he wasn’t ready to share details. Regardless, the foundation raises money on an annual basis. In fact, Lemon said, UConn has set fundraising milestones for three consecutive years and raised $93.3 million in 2021 with the hopes of surpassing the $100-million mark this year.

Lemon said UConn — with about 18,700 undergraduate students — has 50 full-time, front-line giving officers tasked with keeping the money rolling into the university.

“Funding sources are precious,” Lemon said. “Philanthropy can be the margin of excellence at a university, and here at UConn we have done a good job in this area.”

Lemon said UConn has roughly 21,000 donors, including several businesses and corporations like The Hartford, Eversource, Pratt & Whitney and Travelers.

Those businesses, Lemon said, give for several reasons including to enhance the future talent pipeline and partner with the school on research initiatives.

While corporate giving is important, UConn’s bread and butter comes from individuals and alumni, Lemon said.

Over the past three years, the university has had more than 4,000 personal meetings — both virtually and in person — with donors, he said.

“We consistently engage donors throughout the year in ways that would be meaningful to them,” Lemon said. “That could mean inviting them to UConn events, having them meet students, and it could be us taking the alum to dinner or our sporting events.”

Smaller-scale efforts

The University of St. Joseph, a much smaller private school with less than 900 enrolled undergraduate students, concluded its last comprehensive fundraising campaign in 2020. The six-year campaign raised $43.7 million, $5 million above its goal.

The university has 6,300 unique donors and does not need to raise hundreds of millions to maintain its core academic programs, according to Maggie Pinney, vice president for institutional advancement.

In an effort to raise money and the university’s profile, USJ launched the Calhoun Legacy Fund in April. Calhoun spent most of his college basketball coaching career at UConn, and then helped launch USJ’s Division III men’s basketball program. He has since retired, but remains an advisor to the university.

The legacy fund has raised about $1 million as of June. It will help fund things like tutoring and scholarships for students who might otherwise not be able to afford higher education, Pinney said. Tuition and fees at USJ are about $43,000 a semester, the school said.

“We are tuition dependent,” Pinney said. “Of course, we care a lot about raising money but we are also very attentive and careful on how we spend that money. We are always trying to make sure the investments are going into the student experience.”