1. Building fundraising programs
Tim Weidmann
Throughout my career, I have been building fundraising programs:
1. Yale’s corporate fundraising from $4.5 million to $17.5 million/year,
2. Northwestern’s medical fund-raising from $8 million to $60 million/year,
3. Northwestern University’s fundraising from $37 million to $200+ million/year, and
4. Loyola Medicine’s fundraising from $8 million to $46 million/ year.
This presentation tells how.

2. Corporate gifts for Yale
• Researched best practices for corporate
giving, then implemented those practices
– Doubled corporate giving
• But came to believe Yale could raise more
• Researched state-of-the-art corporate giving
nationwide
– Discovered creative techniques at MIT, Wash
U, Stanford, and Harvard

3. State-of-the-art Techniques
• To utilize the MIT/Wash U/Stanford/Harvard
techniques, worked closely with Yale’s Office of
Grants and Contracts (sponsored programs)
• Developed a corporate agreement that provided
general research dollars to departments for “first
right of refusal” on any patents they developed
– Using this technique, again doubled corporate giving
– So overall quadrupled corporate fundraising at Yale

4. Northwestern’s medical fund-raising:
$8M to $60M/year
• Med School stuck at raising $8M/year
• Converted Med School fundraising to wealthy
grateful patients
– Worked initially with Department chairs to identify
wealthy grateful patients
• After raising 3 mega-gifts, top physicians at Med
School began telling Development Office of their
wealthy grateful patients
– After five years, medical school was raising $60M/year

5. Quintupling Northwestern Fundraising
• Story has many aspects
• Arrived at Northwestern in 1987, when University
had raised $37M
– Left Northwestern in 2001 raising $200M
• Believed Northwestern had the potential to raise
at least as much as University of Chicago
– To build the fundraising program took:
a. Internal organization
b. Internal team building
b. External expectations of alumni and friends

6. a. Internal team building (1)
• Initially built strong fundraising teams for Medical
and Law Schools
– Both Schools had strong potential for fundraising
– Both could be used as models for other schools to
emulate
• Built medical program on grateful patient gifts
• Built law program in three parts:
– Tripled the annual fund
– Recruited key volunteers
– Solicited named chairs from wealthy alumni and local
firms

7. b. Internal Organization (1)
• In 1987, Northwestern could not be char-
acterized as “best practices” fundraising shop
• Re-engineered Prospect Research department
– Used top researcher from Harvard as counsel
– Transformed department to best practices
– Hired new Director, recruited mostly new staff

8. b. Internal Organization (2)
• Brought PCs onto desks of all fundraisers
– Automated Development Office using Ethernet
networking
• For the first time shared files, shared printers, used
email, used templates, and trimmed clerical staff
• Automated prospect management
– Incorporated Prospect Research analysis, defined
prospect “ownership,” determined prospect
lists, defined stages of interaction

9. b. Internal Organization (3)
• Defined stewardship process and require-
ments
– No gift >$25,000 goes unstewarded
– The larger the gift, the more elaborate the
stewardship
• Wrote RFP for new Development database
– University purchased BSR Advance for $billion
campaign

10. a. Internal Team Building (2)
• Continual recruitment of fundraisers at all
levels, and restructuring as needed
• Constant mentoring of staff
– Goal = find and keep top performers
• Organizational limits to making that happen
• The more we raised, the more we attracted
good fundraisers

11. c. External Expectations of Alumni and
Friends
• Built good communication with alumni and friends
– The alumni magazine, school newsletters, campaign
newsletters, letters from the President, university annual
reports
• Articles about large gifts were key
– So alumni and friends who were capable of doing the
same were “shown the way”
• Constant message = importance of private philanth-
ropy to maintain and enhance university excellence
– Alumni and friends came to expect philanthropy in a big
way

12. Conclusion with Northwestern
• Created a Culture of Philanthropy
– Throughout the university over 14 years
• Undertook 12 specific and sweeping actions to
bring Northwestern’s fundraising from $37M
to $200+M/year
– Actions were all team efforts
– Would have failed, if I weren’t a team player

13. Built Loyola Medical Fundraising
• Was hired to create independent medical
fundraising arm
• 7 staff members when I arrived, and Medical
Development Office raising $8M/year
– 31 professionals, when I left, raising $46M/year
• Variables to create results with: CFR and
individual fundraising, wealthy grateful
patients, Med School, hospital, coming
campaign

14. Loyola Medical Center
• Introduced best practices
– Created hospital annual fund
– Increased and stabilized Med School annual fund
– Quadrupled CFR fundraising for Med School
– Built patient database
• Did wealth-screening to identify wealthy patients
– Worked with Department chairs to identify wealthy
grateful patients
– Wealth-screened Med alumni for wealthy alums
– Defined prospects and met with them regularly

15. Loyola Medical Center
• Communicated effectively with external
constituencies
– Publicized large gifts and importance of private
philanthropy to excellence of medical center
• Created internal Culture of Philanthropy
– Appeared before faculty regularly to expound the
value of philanthropy
• Drove campaign planning for $300M medical
research campaign

16. Conclusion
• Why so successful at building fundraising
programs?
– Had excellent liberal arts education
• Believe in value of American philanthropy
– Got strong business education at IBM
• Robust technology training at IBM
– Extensive sales experience throughout college and
grad school – AND with IBM
• HAD to succeed
– Worked for institutions I believed in
– Extensive fundraising experience
• “Success breeds success”