Spring Break
URI 'Making a Difference' campaign one step closer to $100 million goal for 2010
John Holmes
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: Campus
09/04/08 - The University of Rhode Island Foundation's "Making a Difference" campaign, which began its public phase in October 2007, has raised about $73.5 million of their $1 million goal according to Foundation president, Glen Kerkian.
Of particular importance to URI students, Kerkian said, is the designation of $25 million to undergraduate scholarships. Currently, the state is able to provide funding for less and less of the university's operating costs each year, and that difference is recouped in part by tuition hikes.
Kerkian said he hopes the campaign will reach its $100 million goal by Dec. 31, 2010. In order to meet the goal, the foundation has employed different tactics to solicit donors.
Often the foundation will look to companies and corporations with close ties to the University, such as Hasbro, Inc.
Hasbro's chairman, Al Verecchia and wife Gerrie, recently pledged $250,000 to the foundation. Their donation will be used to help establish a scholarship for the university's college of Business, where Verecchia was once a major.
Soliciting URI alumni is another way to bring revenue to the foundation. Working for the foundation are, who Kerkian called, deans of development - employees that are strategically placed in university colleges or departments to lead specialized fundraisers and engage potential donors.
"For example, if an individual is a graduate of the College of Business, and they have shown some loyalty and inclination to support the College of Business, and if research we conduct demonstrates that they have the ability to be a generous donor, then we will assign an assistant dean for development in the College of Business to go and engage that potential donor in hopes to cultivate them and move them toward some interest making a generous donation," Kerkian said.
Another tactic the university relies on is hosting special events. For example, in August 150 potential donors attended a reception with Robert Ballard at the Dunes Club in Narragansett. Ballard described the event as "mainly a fundraising event…getting people inspired about something that we're doing, and then coming back to them and saying 'if you believe in this, you can help us.'"
The fundraising events organized by the foundation are usually small, said Kerkian, adding that many of the events are "ten-couple receptions" and that guests are handpicked based on their potential to be generous donors.
These events are not normally announced to the public and are organized by the deans of development. The foundation also organizes events for past donors. On Oct. 4, the Foundation will be holding its Donor Recognition Brunch at the Ryan Center. The event is open by invitation only to those who have donated at least $1,000
Of particular importance to URI students, Kerkian said, is the designation of $25 million to undergraduate scholarships. Currently, the state is able to provide funding for less and less of the university's operating costs each year, and that difference is recouped in part by tuition hikes.
Kerkian said he hopes the campaign will reach its $100 million goal by Dec. 31, 2010. In order to meet the goal, the foundation has employed different tactics to solicit donors.
Often the foundation will look to companies and corporations with close ties to the University, such as Hasbro, Inc.
Hasbro's chairman, Al Verecchia and wife Gerrie, recently pledged $250,000 to the foundation. Their donation will be used to help establish a scholarship for the university's college of Business, where Verecchia was once a major.
Soliciting URI alumni is another way to bring revenue to the foundation. Working for the foundation are, who Kerkian called, deans of development - employees that are strategically placed in university colleges or departments to lead specialized fundraisers and engage potential donors.
"For example, if an individual is a graduate of the College of Business, and they have shown some loyalty and inclination to support the College of Business, and if research we conduct demonstrates that they have the ability to be a generous donor, then we will assign an assistant dean for development in the College of Business to go and engage that potential donor in hopes to cultivate them and move them toward some interest making a generous donation," Kerkian said.
Another tactic the university relies on is hosting special events. For example, in August 150 potential donors attended a reception with Robert Ballard at the Dunes Club in Narragansett. Ballard described the event as "mainly a fundraising event…getting people inspired about something that we're doing, and then coming back to them and saying 'if you believe in this, you can help us.'"
The fundraising events organized by the foundation are usually small, said Kerkian, adding that many of the events are "ten-couple receptions" and that guests are handpicked based on their potential to be generous donors.
These events are not normally announced to the public and are organized by the deans of development. The foundation also organizes events for past donors. On Oct. 4, the Foundation will be holding its Donor Recognition Brunch at the Ryan Center. The event is open by invitation only to those who have donated at least $1,000
