Legacy drop hits Queens income
Howard Lake | 7 October 2019 | News
Queens University Belfast Foundation raised £4.2 million last year, down from £6.3 million the year before, according to the Foundation’s accounts.
The main reason for the drop in income was a sharp decline in legacies, which fell from £3.4 million to £270,000. Corporate support also fell slightly, from £809,000 to £734,000.
The Foundation’s other two main sources of income grew in 2018. Foundations brought in £1.6 million, from £1.2 million the year before while individual income jumped from £845,000 to £1.5 million.
Individual donors supported fellowships in medicine, health and life sciences to the tune of £1.25 million. Direct mail, which the Foundation called a ‘new focus,’ raised £25,000.
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A grant of $500,000 was received from the Agilent Technologies Foundation for research into food security. Queen’s relationship with Santander grew last year with a three year £115,000 agreement.
A total of 1,453 alumni made donations in response to regular giving appeals by telephone and direct mail. The main communication method, the annual Graduate magazine was mailed to 135,000 alumni and supporters while the Foundation’s e-news was reduced in circulation from 65,000 to 40,000 following the implementation of GDPR.
Queen’s corporate plan, Vision 2020, which has the strategic priorities of education and students, research and innovation and impact, ends in 2021.
Queens University Belfast Foundation recently appointed Nathalie Trott as Director of Development and Alumni Relations, replacing Norma Sinte who served in the role since 2007. An experienced higher education fundraising leader with more than 15 years’ experience in higher education management, Nathalie joined Queens from Dublin City University Educational Trust where she was Chief Executive Officer.
Commenting on her appointment, Nathalie said:
“I look forward to leading the strategic direction of the University’s Development and Alumni Relations Office and deepening its relationship with its worldwide community of more than 160,000 alumni and supporters, capitalizing on their passion and expertise, to help the University realise its ambitions.”
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.