|
Katrina Bowers is Director of Development
at the College of Family and
Consumer Services at the University
of Georgia. Inspired by the success of
the university’s campaign, Ms. Bowers
initiated a specialized campaign
with an ambitious goal—to obtain
100 new planned gift commitments
benefiting her college in just two
years. Here she shares with Give
& Take how, working with only one
part-time assistant, she not only met
but exceeded her goal.
Give & Take: What led you to a
career in development?
Bowers: After graduating from the
University of Georgia’s College of
Family and Consumer Services, I
earned a graduate degree in interior
design. Later, while doing design
work for a former professor of the
college, I learned that the college
was looking for a new Director of
Development. I was encouraged to
apply for the job, and thirteen years
later I’m still here.
Fund raising here has unique
challenges. The University of Georgia
was primarily state funded much
longer than most state universities,
so private giving to public institutions
is a newer concept in our state
than in many others. It’s really been
only in the last 15 years that we
have put a large amount of effort
into communicating to our alumni
that private giving is essential to a
public institution.
As a result, I am only the second
development director in the history
of our college. My predecessor was
hired three years before me and laid the groundwork that I’ve since
built upon.
G&T: Tell us about the College of
Family and Consumer Services.
Bowers: FACS is one of 16 schools
and colleges within the University of
Georgia and offers programs ranging
from early childhood education
to nutrition science to furnishings
and interiors. Our students and
alumni are predominately female,
particularly those who are in the
typical planned giving age range.
Our alumni have traditionally
given to the college with their time
rather than their funds. In speaking
with them, I found that many were
not comfortable with the idea of giving
major outright gifts. That’s when
I decided to focus on planned giving.
The same women who did not think
they could make a cash gift today
did not find it threatening to discuss
a planned gift. They were happy to
learn they could thoughtfully plan
for heirs while supporting an institution
they love.
G&T: I see your need to come up
with ways for your alumni to feel
comfortable making a gift that does
not impact their lifestyle. Is that
what inspired your “100 Legacies in
the Making” initiative?
Bowers: It is. About eight years
before I started the campaign, I
was familiar with a similar effort at
another university. That campaign
reached its goal of $10 million. I
thought if it was possible for that
university, it was possible for FACS
too.
When the University of Georgia
entered into its Archway to
Excellence Campaign, our college
very quickly surpassed its goal for
current gifts and pledges thanks
to our very organized and enthusiastic
committee. In fact, we almost
tripled our college’s goal by the end
of the campaign.
That’s when I decided to launch
“100 Legacies in the Making.” The
basic idea is simple—to acquire 100
new planned gift commitments in
two years. All of the necessary components
were there to get started.
We had some discretionary dollars
to work with as a result of the
university-wide campaign, we had
a very involved committee, and we
were able to take advantage of the
momentum developed during the
larger campaign. We were fortunate
that the time was right.
G&T: How did you get started?
Bowers: I recruited a chair who was a member of the larger committee from the university campaign. She and her husband decided
to co-chair this effort. They, along with the Dean and I, appointed a committee. We were very specific about the committee’s duties over
the two-year period, including meetings, conference calls, identifying prospective donors, and perhaps engaging in personal contact in some
cases. We also asked them to be one of our “100 Legacies” by personally making a planned gift to the college.
I am the only full-time staff person in the development office. But I have a half-time assistant, and she devoted about 10 to12 hours a
week to the campaign. Her job was to handle program materials and other support issues, and my job was to work with the donors. I could
not have led a successful campaign without the help of this development professional.
G&T: How did you publicize “100
Legacies”?
Bowers: We got the word out
through a combination of mailings
and announcements at alumni
events. When our alumni director
held events, I made plans to attend
and speak for a few moments about
our “100 Legacies” campaign. It
was important to communicate to
our alumni that making a planned
gift doesn’t require a lot of time or
money—it’s something anyone can do.
Also, our campaign logo helped
to communicate our progress. The
words “100 Legacies in the Making”
were surrounded by a group of 100
paisleys, which we colored red as
news of new commitments arrived.
Our donors really seemed to respond
to that visual showing the progress
of the campaign.
G&T: How did you structure your
communications?
Bowers: We sent out four mailings
a year over the two-year period. We
planned them all out at the beginning
so we knew from the start
exactly what message we wanted
to send out with each mailing. Our
goal was to try to feature familiar
faces—for instance, not just any faculty
member but a popular faculty
member who had taught many of the
college’s alumni.
Each mailing included a reply
card to request more information or
to ask to be removed from the mailing
list.
G&T: How did your alumni respond
to the campaign?
Bowers: Traditionally many bequest
donors choose to remain private
about gifts they have planned for
the college, so I was pleased to learn
that a number of donors to our
“100 Legacies” effort liked receiving
recognition—but only if framed appropriately. Too much or too
little recognition would be seen as
distasteful. One of the most popular—as well as simplest and most
inexpensive—forms of recognition
that we used were red ribbons that
hung from nametags and read, “I’m
a 100 FACS Legacy.” Every time
we had alumni functions, those ribbons
were added to the nametags
of those who had contributed to the
campaign.
It was eye opening to see that
something like a little red ribbon
that costs ¼ of a penny could have
that much power! But it was important
to those donors that they “stand
up” with their peers and be seen as
leaders in the campaign.
G&T: Did any donors to your campaign
wish to remain anonymous?
Bowers: Some did at first, but most
changed their minds after I was able
to convince them that I needed their
name to influence others. In the end,
I had only one anonymous donor.
This campaign was very successful
in finding those who were
interested in being recognized
for their future gifts. There are
undoubtedly others who chose not to
participate in the campaign because
they prefer to keep their intentions
private.
G&T: Did you reach your goal of
100?
Bowers: We had 106 by the end
of the two-year campaign. When I
wrote thank-you notes to our donors
during the campaign, I included a
line like, “You are number 61 in the
‘100 Legacies’ campaign.” People
enjoyed knowing which number
they were. I did nothing with the
numbers other than put them in
the letter, but by the end I had
people who would have been number
98 postponing their gift so they
could be number 100! If I did the
campaign again, I probably would
play up the numbers a bit more.
The number became catchy without
my even trying.
G&T: Did your campaign generate
any outright gifts?
Bowers: This campaign got people
thinking about what they would
like to do for the college. There
were more than 10 cases in which
people made a planned gift and
then, when they really thought
about the impact of their gift,
ended up making it happen in
today’s dollars.
G&T: What is your favorite part of
your job?
Bowers: The relationships with the
donors. They are very meaningful.
I found out just this morning that
one of our “100 Legacies” has passed
away. While I’m glad the legacy
campaign prompted her to take
action that she otherwise may not
have, I’m sad to have lost a friend.
But I smile at the fact that she did
what we asked everyone to do—to
get her estate in order—and that we
were one of the philanthropic priorities
at the end of her life.
I feel confident that this is the
beginning of solidifying the future
of a college like ours.
|
