1. Multiple Approaches to
Stewarding Faculty
Endowments
Susan deMuth | Director, Institutional Donor Relations
Johns Hopkins University | sdemuth@jhu.edu | 410.516.4551
Nancy Lubich McKinney | Director, Stewardship
University of California, Berkeley | nlmckinney@berkeley.edu | 510.643.7664
Kirsten Rasmussen | Director, Stewardship and Donor Communications
Georgetown University | kr258@georgetown.edu | 202.687.4369

2. Agenda
 Facts and Figures
 Key Moments and Stewardship Activities
 Gift or pledge creating the endowment
 Approval of chair by governing body
 Appointment of chairholder
 Ongoing reporting
 Discussion and Q & A
 Best Practices
 Johns Hopkins University | Engaging the Hopkins Family
 University of California, Berkeley | Hewlett Challenge Launch
 Georgetown University | Chair Inaugurations
 Discussion and Q & A
 Close
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 2

3. Facts and Figures
Number of Faculty
Faculty Endowment
Endowments Minima
≈ 400 named $3.5 Department Chair
Johns Hopkins professorships $2.5 Professor
University
≈ 350 endowed chairs $2MM chair
University of and distinguished $3MM distinguished chair
California, Berkeley professorships
~ 140 endowed chairs $5MM University Chair
Georgetown and professorships $3MM Named Chair
University $2MM Named Distinguished
Professorship
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 3

4. Key Moments and Stewardship Activities:
Gift or Pledge Creating the Endowment
 Gift agreement
 Ensuring that the donor’s interests and the institution’s needs
and capabilities are in alignment
 Acknowledgement of gift or pledge
 Communicating expectations to donor regarding approval and
appointment
 Creation of endowed fund
 Understanding of funding requirements
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 4

5. Key Moments and Stewardship Activities:
Approval of Chair by Governing Body
 Johns Hopkins University
 When 75% of funding is in-hand and it is determined that remaining funding will
be received within a reasonable period
 A formal request to establish an endowed fund is forwarded to the Treasurer’s
Office
 Individuals are nominated and a formal letter sent to the President for review by
the Board of Trustees.
 University of California, Berkeley
 When 2/3 of funding is in-hand
 Chancellor sends Endowed Chairs book with chair profile
 Georgetown University
 Must be fully funded in order to be awarded
 University Chair: Bestowed only by the President; approved by the Board of
Directors
 Named chair : Bestowed by dean from the respective school as a result of a
search committee
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 5

6. Key Moments and Stewardship Activities:
Appointment of Chairholder
 Johns Hopkins University
 Formal dedication/installation ceremony where the endowed
chair is formally accepted by the President or member of the
Board of Trustees
 Reception followed by smaller, formal dinner
 University of California, Berkeley
 Process is different for each school/college
 Dean communicates with donor and arranges for introduction
 Georgetown University
 Formal chair inauguration
 Medal presented to donor by President during inauguration
 Reception followed by a formal lunch or dinner
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 6

7. Key Moments and Stewardship Activities:
Ongoing Reporting
 Faculty-generated versus “third-party”
 When faculty write the reports, they are more engaging and
genuine
 When third-parties are responsible for writing the reports they
are sure to get done
 Stanford University is centralizing reporting as part of its
“Top Donor Stewardship Program”
 To address the fact that decentralized responsibility has lead to
a wide range of outcomes for donors
 Reports will be written by a dedicated writer
 Communication from faculty will be a “bonus”
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 7

8. Discussion and Q&A
How do your stewardship activities differ from the ones
we’ve presented?
How do you track stewardship activities to ensure
completion and compliance?
What recent changes have you made to your stewardship
activities, and what has the response been?
How do you engage faculty in the process?
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 8

9. Best Practices | Johns Hopkins University:
Engaging the Hopkins Family
 8 years into the project and still no professorship!
 …the problems, the drawbacks
 Identification of the family members
 ...Is this even a possibility
 Identification of the family leaders
 …visible and shadow
 Funding the professorship
 …and its recognition
 Ongoing communication
 keeping the family engaged four years later…
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 9

10. Best Practices | University of California, Berkeley:
Hewlett Challenge Launch
 The Hewlett Challenge
 $110MM challenge match from the William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation that will fund 100 endowed chairs
 80 $1MM + $1MM = $2MM departmental chairs
 20 $1.5MM + $1.5MM = $3MM multi-disciplinary chairs
 The largest gift/pledge in the campus’s history
 A partnership to benefit public higher education
 Leveraging the launch…the stewardship strategy
 Treat donors and lead volunteers as “insiders”
 Value donors of pre-existing chairs as “early investors”
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 10

11. Best Practices | University of California, Berkeley:
Hewlett Challenge Launch
 Integrated marketing communications
 Personalized, advance notice of “confidential” information and
invitation to attend announcement
 Donors, lead volunteers, chairholders and other chair-eligible faculty
 Campus communications
 Day-of email to faculty and staff inviting them to announcement
 Campus’s faculty/staff newspaper
 Media strategy
 Media alert regarding announcement and press release
 Paid advertising in targeted print and online publications
 http://hewlettchallenge.berkeley.edu
 hewlettchallenge@berkeley.edu
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 11

12. Best Practices | University of California, Berkeley:
Hewlett Challenge Launch
 Mailing to 2,331 addressees in 11 segments
 Messaging
 Importance of endowment support for faculty
 What the Chancellor told the Hewlett Foundation board
 Impact on pre-existing chairs
 Recently implemented minima for funding faculty endowments
 Identification of funds to which addressees are connected
 Formal versus informal salutations and Chancellorial signatures
 Special handling of “distinguished professorships,” which will be
elevated to “distinguished chairs”
 Hewlett Challenge facts and Q&A
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 12

13. Best Practices | University of California, Berkeley:
Hewlett Challenge Launch
 Stewarding the Hewlett Foundation
 Luncheon following the announcement
 Photobook and video of announcement
 Comprehensive packet of media coverage and paid advertising
 Ongoing reporting of progress toward subscribing the 100 chairs
 Stewarding Hewlett Challenge participants
 Campuswide standards for stewarding these donors
 Toolkit to use to engage faculty in these stewardship activities
 Setting expectations for faculty involvement
 Outcomes
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 13

14. Best Practices | Georgetown University:
Chair Inaugurations | Goals
 Maximizing engagement opportunities
 Principal goals
 Donor Stewardship
 Academic Recognition
 Prospect Cultivation
 Major gift donors/prospects
 Students (new)
 Public Relations (Reinforcing Market Position)
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 14

15. Best Practices | Georgetown University:
Chair Inaugurations | Planning
 Strategic Briefing
 Goal identification
 Target audience(s)
 Donor
 Prospects
 Press/Media
 Community
 Decision-makers
 Academics
 Messaging
 Public celebration
 Private celebration
 Tactics
 Timeline
 Budget
 Partners
 Assessing need for PR consultants
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 15

16. Best Practices | Georgetown University:
Chair Inaugurations | Process
 Program development
 Press release
 Local/national distribution
 Distribution in donor’s home community (local press, other donor
affiliations)
 Story pitch to local and national media outlets
 What is the story we want to tell?
 Engaging local, national, international officials
 Protocol
 Identifying other cultivation opportunities
 Packaging the event for additional stewardship uses
(website, publications, etc.)
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 16

17. Best Practices | Georgetown University:
Chair Inaugurations | Marketing
Example:
Georgetown markets itself as the only university
ranked in the top 25 that is uniquely positioned
in the heart of nation’s capitol.
 Through chair inaugurations, how can we reinforce this
messaging by:
 Cultivating (educating) other donor prospects
 Strengthening community relationships (a large percentage of
Georgetown’s donor and alumni base resides in the DC Metro
area)
 Engaging media coverage
 Influencing decision makers (local, national, international)
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 17

18. Best Practices | Georgetown University:
Chair Inaugurations | Examples
 2006: Eleni and Markos Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Chair in Hellenic Studies
 National, international dignitary participation (Greek Foreign Minister, Nancy Pelosi, John Negroponte,
Anthony Kennedy, Clinton letter)
 PR consultant provided by donor
 Involvement of Greek Embassy (also donors)
 Engagement of DC and international Hellenic community
 Press Coverage
 Prospect cultivation
 2007: Clovis and Hala Salaam Maksoud Chair in Arab Studies
 Multiple donors
 Timely message delivered by chair—impact of women’s education in Arab society
 International dignitaries present
 Engagement of DC Arab community
 Prospect cultivation
 Event open to chair holder’s students
 2008: Edwin H. Richard and Elisabeth Richard von Matsch Professorship in Neurological
Disease
 Donor deceased
 Chair inauguration to promote the work of the chair holder in discovering new therapeutics to treat and cure
disease
 Other national public events/press opportunities planned, leading up to chair inauguration
 Prospect cultivation
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 18

19. Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis at Hellenic Chair Inauguration
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 19

20. deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 20

21. Best Practices | Georgetown University:
Chair Inaugurations | Summary
 Strategic Brief
 Goal identification
 Audience segments
 Donor
 Press/Media
 Prospects
 Community
 Decision-makers
 Academics
 Messaging
 Partners
 Maximize Engagement Opportunities!
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 21

22. Discussion and Q&A
What is your best practice?
What are you going to do differently in the future as a result
of what you’ve heard today?
What questions to you have for the talented minds
assembled in this room?
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 22

23. Close
Thank You!
deMuth | McKinney | Rasmussen 23