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Endowment reporting: Reducing time, staff and budget while enhancing quality, quantity and donor satisfaction
Journal of Education Advancement & Marketing,
6
(3),
210-220
(2021)
Abstract
In 2017 the University of Florida (UF) launched an ambitious US$3bn fundraising campaign with US$1bn allocated to growing UF’s endowment. Anticipating an influx of new endowment funds, the UF Donor Relations team needed to develop a more sustainable and efficient annual endowment reporting process that would maintain the quality of the reports without increasing time and staffing resources devoted to this effort. To meet this challenge, UF Donor Relations implemented infrastructure changes and built a customised reporting portal that cut the required personnel for report compilation from 24 individuals to 3, implemented a tiered system for donors that resulted in a higher report completion rate from campus partners, and invested time in educating fund administrators on the importance of stewardship and storytelling. Through this case study, readers will learn what steps UF Donor Relations took in order to complete this vision and how to apply these practices to their own reporting processes.
Keywords: donor relations; endowment; technology trends; reporting; advancement services; donor database; stewardship
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Micah Hyle is the Assistant Director of Stewardship and Data at the University of Florida Foundation. Micah began her career working for nonprofits in Miami, Florida, fostering an admiration for donor databases, donor relations and donor stewardship. For the past six years, she has managed university-wide endowment reporting at two public universities. At both institutions she streamlined the endowment reporting process for lifelong sustainability and enhanced report quality. Micah enjoys marrying data and stewardship to bring about strategic, data-driven donor relations.
Rachel Smith is a Donor Relations Coordinator at the University of Florida, where she provides communications and project management support to the central Donor Relations team. She collaborates with the team leads to develop and edit content for donor communications pieces, including vice presidential acknowledgments, annual endowment reports, impact reports and other special projects. She also assists with the planning and execution of special initiatives and events. Rachel holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida.
