From fundraising to resource raising: One foundation’s journey

Abstract

Many public university foundations have found that the way in which they support their university has grown and changed over the years. While the primary focus is still on fundraising and endowment management, many foundations have been asked to develop and manage a variety of new revenue-generating activities: real estate development, technology transfer, alumni associations, research, venture investment, etc. As operations have diversified, foundations are faced with more complex questions around risk, public and donor perception, governance, expertise and peer comparison, to name a few. Arizona State University Foundation for A New American University (foundation) is one such organisation. Its evolution has brought an array of revenue-producing activity far from traditional fundraising in support of Arizona State University (ASU). In response, the foundation’s board of directors redesigned the foundation’s operations and created a nonprofit parent company to hold and support the diversified activities, which included the traditional fundraising work of the foundation. This paper describes the unique creation and organisation of the ASU Foundation’s transformation into Enterprise Partners.