Oxford and Cambridge streamline their fundraising message
Howard Lake | 25 July 2005 | News
Writing in the International Herald Tribune, Thomas Crampton points to a shift in fundraising focus by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
Until now, Cambridge and Oxford Universities have not utilised their brands for fundraising as effectively as they could. So argues John Birnsteel, a London-based consulting director at brand consultancy Enterprise IG, in the International Herald Tribune (IHT). “While they are both among the most prestigious educational establishments in the world, their amateur communications efforts give totally mixed messages to alumni,” he said.
He receives fundraising appeals from his college, the university and from individual faculties. He recommends that the institutions develop a ‘masterbrand’.
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This complicated fundraising approach is due in large part to the federal, collegiate administrative setup at the two universities. Colleges have considerable autonomy in many areas including the ability to fundraise directly from their alumni. Birnsteel says: “there is no streamlined message or economy of scale in this setup.”
Cambridge, which launches its largest fundraising campaign to date later this year for its 800th anniversary in 2009, appears to be addressing this situation. Aniela Shuckburgh, fundraising campaign manager at the University, told the IHT that the University and colleges have co-operated to simplify their messages down to four key areas – money for investing in students, investing in staff, investing in discovering creativity and investing in the University’s great collections.
Meanwhile Oxford University has given fundraising a higher priority and status by transferring responsibility for it to a pro vice chancellor who reports directly to the University’s vice chancellor. Jon Dellandrea will take up this new post in October 2005, having occupied a similar position at the University of Toronto.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.