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Raising the donor ambition: From major to mega gifts
Journal of Education Advancement & Marketing,
8
(2),
141-153
(2023)
Abstract
In 2018, Monash University publicly launched its inaugural philanthropic campaign with a goal of raising AU$500m from a community of 50,000 donors and doubling the number of bequests. In order to achieve these ambitious goals, the fundraising team focused not only on cultivating and securing new philanthropic gifts, but also on deepening relationships with existing philanthropic donors to raise the donor ambition and to encourage renewal and uplift of philanthropic gifts and grants to the university. Through exploring two philanthropic donor case studies, this paper will provide an overview of the cultivation strategies used to engage donors. Strategies that took philanthropic partnerships from relational to transformational, that raised the donor ambition and so contributed to the university's philanthropic campaign goals. This paper will also explore the importance of embedding a culture of philanthropy across all levels of an organisation, as well as provide some insights into how to collaborate with key stakeholders for enduring philanthropic success.
Keywords: fundraising; philanthropy; culture of philanthropy; donors; major gifts; storytelling; impact; relationships; campaign; communication
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Heather Little began her fundraising career at The Vegetarian Society in the UK and has held roles at The Woodland Trust, the RNLI and Blue Cross. After relocating to Australia in 2018, Heather joined the development team at Monash University and is currently Deputy Director — University Fundraising with responsibility for high level philanthropic partnerships across the humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) portfolios. A values-driven, professional relationship-based fundraiser and philanthropy expert, Heather has a proven track record of delivering transformational philanthropic income (major, principal and mega gifts) to support the university's philanthropic fundraising campaign — Change It. For Future Generations. In 2021, Heather completed an MA in philanthropic studies through the UK Centre for Philanthropy. She is a mentor for the Fundraising Institute of Australia, Board Director of the global charity SOFII (Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration), Non-Executive Director at Take 3 for the Sea and a founding advisory board member of Fundraise for Australia.
Lisa Mitchell has undertaken a range of challenging, yet rewarding, marketing, communications and fundraising roles within the arts, not-for-profit and higher education sectors. Lisa is passionate about creating sustainable and long-term impact through philanthropy and partnerships. During her decade tenure at Monash University, Lisa has undertaken a number of senior fundraising roles and, most recently, has taken on an expanded role as Director — University Fundraising with responsibility for all major and principal gift fundraising across the humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) portfolios.
