Capital Campaigns
As competition grows for philanthropic dollars, and federal and state funding decreases, colleges and universities are launching record-breaking capital campaigns. But do HBCUs face different fund-
raising challenges than their White counterparts?
By Eleanor Lee Yates
Hampton University recently set a record among historically Black colleges and universities by raising $200 million in a capital campaign that was completed three years early. Now Hampton's president, Dr. William R. Harvey, has raised the bar, expanding the goal to $250 million by 2003. The university is well on its way to meeting that goal — to date more than $220 million has been raised. And Harvey won't guarantee that the campaign will stop at $250 million.
"We've picked the low-hanging fruit. But there's still fruit available higher up in the tree," says Harvey.
Hampton is more the exception than the rule when it comes to raising money among HBCUs. Many have had successful campaigns, but HBCU leaders say they often face hardships that traditionally White schools don't have.
"In some cases, our colleges are not well known. They may not have the prestige. Part of our lot is to make our case every day," says Dr. Thomas Cole, president of Clark Atlanta University. "Public opinion on Black colleges seems to change. You think you've convinced people of the value of Black colleges, then you find you have to reconvince them."
Clark Atlanta University is in the planning stages of a major campaign. Much of the money will go for a multipurpose classroom, as well as the endowment of scholarships and faculty support. The latter are areas Cole finds to be the biggest challenges. Donors usually prefer to donate money for a building, something tangible they can point to.
It is difficult enough for private HBCUs to raise money, but Dwayne Ashley, president of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, says it is especially difficult for public HBCUs.
"People hear the word ‘public' and think the state is funding them 100 percent," says Ashley. "They think, ‘I pay taxes, and that should cover the resources.' But state funding is never more than 30 (percent) to 40 percent, leaving public HBCUs to raise the rest."
Of Black students who attend HBCUs, approximately 70 percent attend public schools. Furthermore, enrollment at public HBCUs is often triple that of private HBCUs. Because these schools traditionally were not strong in fund raising, these schools have years of catching up to do, says Ashley.
The Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund has offered training to public HBCU presidents, vice presidents of development and new development officers.
"They learn new techniques, and technology training helps them do a better job at soliciting and running campaigns," he says.
Gains are being made, however, says Ashley. Of the 45 members of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, 14 of the members have an endowment of $1 million to $10 million. The United Negro College Fund also raises operating funds for its member institutions, which include private HBCUs.
Loyal alumni
Alumni are the No. 1 source of financial support for private colleges and a major one for all schools. According to the Council for Aid to Education, in 1999 approximately 32 percent of alumni at private liberal arts schools gave to their alma mater, compared to 18.8 percent at public colleges and universities.
During the capital campaign at Smith College, a women's college in Northampton, Mass., the message to alumni and friends of the school was that every gift is significant, says Karin George, vice president for advancement at Smith.
With an endowment of more than $900 million, almost 90 percent of Smith's budget comes from alumni donations, though corporate support is on the rise.
Yale University is in its final year of a five-year $1.5 billion capital campaign. The university has raised $1.72 billion, according to Charles Pagnam, Yale's vice president of development. About $424 million will go to renovate the historic residence halls, build new science buildings and support student scholarships. Yale has raised more than $636 million for its endowment.
According to Pagnam, the school has never received many corporate gifts but about 14 percent of campaign dollars — about $238 million — comes from foundations. It is the alumni that have been Yale's core support.
The New Haven, Conn., Ivy League institution has traditionally had one of the highest alumni giving records among the nation's colleges and universities. Last year approximately 90 percent contributed.
HBCU leaders acknowledge that alumni giving continues to be an area they must improve upon.
Clark Atlanta University, which is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, receives approximately $1 million from the church, as well as donations from alumni and friends, but its biggest contributors are corporate. Corporations are eager to identify talented African Americans and hire the best students, says President Cole of Clark Atlanta. But Cole, like many HBCU presidents, wants to lessen reliance on corporate support.
"We have got to increase our base of alumni support, but we have not had a core of alumni used to giving," he says. Alumni giving is increasing — it is now 12 percent — but Cole says he thinks it may take another generation before alumni contributions rise to a significant level.
Getchel Caldwell, assistant vice president for institutional advancement and university relations, says the university is preparing to unveil an aggressive challenge grant. A corporation is issuing a 1-to-1 match. Clark Atlanta also has recently reorganized its alumni office to better track alumni. The university now has an alumni house, which it hopes will be a gathering place and draw former students.
Billie Sue Schulze, a former vice president at Spelman College, now works for the Southern Education Foundation, which helped coordinate The Kresge Foundation's HBCU Initiative, which last year awarded a total of $18 million to five historically Black colleges to help them build more diverse portfolios for financial resources.
The five HBCUs, selected out of 73 applicants, are Bethune Cookman College in Florida, Dillard University in Louisiana, Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina, Meharry Medical College in Tennessee and Xavier University of Louisiana. The colleges and universities will hire a total of 60 additional development staff employees, buy computers and receive ongoing technical assistance.
"The paradigm has shifted among historically Black schools. More alumni have the resources to give major gifts, and they are very excited when they are shown how to do it," says Schulze, who worked on Spelman's $113.8 million capital campaign. In the year since the grants were awarded, one school has already received a $1 million gift.
"Like any institution, HBCUs have lived in their historical perimeters," says Trish Jackson, vice president for education at the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Most HBCUs were founded after the Civil War by philanthropists and often were affiliated with a church. They received some support from churches as well as altruistic individuals.
Jackson emphasizes that the African American culture has been extremely philanthropic, but these efforts were traditionally to churches.
"Black colleges did not have the culture of alumni giving back, and relied on (existing) support and on government support. Many of these colleges have had very strong grant-writing staffs," she says. "But they are now at the point that they need to expand their external funding."
"Alumni are more likely to stick with you," says James Kunetka, executive director of communications in the Office of Vice President for Resource Development at the University of Texas at Austin. The university began a seven-year $1 billion campaign in 1997. University of Texas alumni have given $488 million to the campaign.
This spring marked the halfway mark, with $847 million in gifts and pledges. Of the $1 billion the university plans to raise, $117.3 million is earmarked for student support, $72.5 million for faculty support, $212.9 million for buildings, laboratories and infrastructure and $442.2 million for programs and research.
Corporations can be generous, but their gifts may largely be an investment in access to knowledge, research and new personnel, says Kunetka, stressing that development officers must understand exactly who their donors are.
"Older alumni seem to give more unrestrictedly. The younger generation asks for more accountability; they want to know where their money will go," Kunetka says.
