An ambitious academic agenda, with a growing queue of much-needed facilities. Faltering state funding and an emotionally disconnected public.

The case couldn't be clearer for a stepped-up cross-campus advancement effort to inform and engage potential supporters and ultimately win their investment of time, effort and dollars.

That was the conclusion of 150 faculty, students, staff, alumni and university partners participating in the Sept. 19-21 chancellor's "Staying Connected and Generating Support" fall conference.

"We need the verbal support and financial resources of our external community if we're to accomplish our academic mission," said Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw. "The first thing we need to do - individually and collectively - is tell the UC Davis story in a clear and interesting manner. Then we make the case for why we need support. Then we have to develop the relationships that create the environment for giving."

Hinshaw challenged conference-goers to seize the opportunity to create a more secure future for the campus.

"Don't wait for your ship to come in," she said. "Swim out to it. We're going to be doing a lot of swimming together….If you have a great product, you ought to be proud and pleased to give people the opportunity to invest."

Vice Chancellor for University Relations Celeste Rose, who heads the campus's advancement program, noted that advancement "is not spin, magic or alchemy. It's not schmoozing, and it's not just fund raising.

"Advancement is grounded in professional and institutional integrity, with credibility our only currency," she continued. "It is a blend of art and science and, when skillfully done, it yields dividends we hope and expect."

Lessons from UCLA

Keynote speaker Charles Young, president of the University of Florida and former chancellor of UCLA, said that without a major increase in private-sector resources "UC Davis can't achieve the place it should in the hierarchy of American universities."

He advised the formulation of a fund-raising strategy based on an academic plan, executed by a professional staff and supported by a large group of committed alumni and friends.

"University leaders with institutional vision, operating within a development strategy based on that vision, assisted and advised by high-quality internal and external professionals, with a corps of connected, committed, contributing volunteers can make the seemingly impossible possible."

Connection leads to commitment and then to contribution, Young said. But the progression isn't automatic.

"Nurturing the growth process from one stage to another can be guided and assisted by professional development staff, but the hard lifting must be accomplished by the chancellor or president, the deans and faculty. While hard work, this can be a very rewarding personal experience for those who do it well."

Young noted that, with the proper groundwork, launching a successful accelerated development program is "not only possible but is an important element in the maturation of a great public university."

He pointed to UCLA's 1985 campaign that moved that campus "into the major league of development." The five-year campaign started with a $200 million goal, considered by most then to be a stretch, and ended with more than $350 million raised, with annual giving jumping from about $30 million to $100 million.

UCLA's second campaign began with a goal of $1.2 billion that was reached before the end of the fourth year. The goal was raised to $1.6 billion, then again to $2.2 billion and now stands at $2.6 billion with an eight-year timeframe.

"When that goal is reached, it will represent an average of more than $300 million per year, and the annual receipts at the end of the campaign will be well more than double that of the initial year," Young said. "This is a major achievement for any university, let alone a state-supported one."

UC Davis, by comparison, raised $110 million last year, up from $77.3 million the year before. Ten years ago, annual private giving totaled $38.4 million.

"I urge you to be bold," Young told conference-goers. "If, as I hope will be the case, you launch a campaign to obtain for UC Davis a front-rank position in the parade of American research universities, it will be a challenge, but it will be an interesting and rewarding one for it and for you."

Getting ready

Drawing on statewide voter opinion polling commissioned by the UC Office of the President, UC Assistant Vice President for Strategic Communications Michael Reese told conference participants that those polled had a high regard for the university's quality but little understanding of the benefits it provides and little or no emotional connection. That finding was equally true of alumni, Reese said.

"They're detached and largely uninformed about UC," Reese said. "Without information, they won't feel connected; without connection, they won't be engaged; and without engagement, they won't provide the support we need."

Reese also noted "a huge disconnect between what we're expected to do and how well we're doing it. The university's benefits are seen as stopping and starting at campus boundaries." Reese said it isn't just a matter of improving communications. "We can't change people's perceptions unless we change the way we do business."

John Cash, Marts & Lundy senior consultant and former director of UC Berkeley's $1.4 billion "New Century Campaign," said alumni giving is "the key to the future. Improving the student experience will lead to greater alumni involvement and giving."

Alumni support has declined over time as a percentage of UC Davis' total giving, Cash noted, with most of the philanthropic dollars coming from "friends" and from "the growing use of grants and contracts in gift totals."

That's not a good trend, he said.

While foundation and corporate gifts will continue to be important, he said, they don't support the academic infrastructure.

"Alumni are more likely to give to infrastructure and endowment than corporations and foundations," Cash said. "That money gives flexibility to the chancellor, provost and deans to do things you really ought to do."

Cash said the job of raising funds is a growing part of academic administrators' portfolio.

"There's no set of responsibilities in higher education administration that has changed more dramatically in the past 10 years than that of public college and university deans and faculty to raise private dollars."

Perceptions and advice

Conference-goers also heard from former U.S. Congressman Vic Fazio, Yolo County Supervisor Lois Wolk and Sacramento Bee marketing and public affairs director Steve Weiss about their perceptions of UC Davis.

Fazio advocated "using every avenue at your disposal to give credit and exposure to people working at the university," adding that he "sit(s) up proud when I hear a UC Davis prof on NPR." He suggested as well that occasional athletic competitions be scheduled on the East Coast. "Athletics is a way to crack into the consciousness of some important constituencies."

Wolk indicated that the campus is "held in very high regard" in the city, county and surrounding region despite the "noise of a few that masks the respect that is underlying and continuing." But getting the campus to engage is difficult, she said, because "ongoing public service is not rewarded internally" and because "sometimes it's not pleasant. The body politic is rough these days, but you really have no choice (but to engage)."

Weiss applauded the campus's opening of the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, which "will help close the causeway gap and change the landscape of the region forever."

He advocated forthcoming handling of negative news, engagement of regional alums and active leadership in the region. "There's an opportunity to be a driver in this region. Your leadership would be appreciated."

Next steps

Hinshaw closed the conference by distributing a draft strategic vision document and inviting comment by the end of fall quarter.

The document, which draws upon the campus's academic plan, aims to integrate academic, administrative and financial priorities and to provide the foundation for the advancement agenda and a comprehensive fund-raising campaign.

"I feel it's critical to have a strategic vision document for all of us to use," Hinshaw said. "It's also a helpful guide in decision-making. It helps us figure out where we're going, how we're going to get there and how we'll know when we get there."

The draft strategic plan document can be found at http://strategicplan.ucdavis.edu. Comments should be sent to strategicplan@ucdavis.edu by Dec. 6. More information about the fall conference can be found at: http://chancellor.ucdavis.edu.