More than a year after beginning the quiet phase of the capital campaign, University administrators are gearing up to publicly launch the estimated $1.3 billion fundraising drive in Fall 2005.
The Corporation approved the quiet phase of the campaign, currently dubbed the Campaign for Academic Enrichment, at its October 2003 meeting. University officials expect to publicly launch the campaign next fall with public announcements, on-campus events and kick-off functions around the country, said Ronald Vanden Dorpel A.M. '71, senior vice president for University advancement.
A quiet phase usually lasts about two years, Vanden Dorpel said, adding that the subsequent public phase can last five years or longer.
The University "aggressively but quietly" solicits gifts during the quiet phase, especially from Corporation members and other important donors, Vanden Dorpel said. He cited the recent donations by Sidney Frank and the three gifts totaling $20 million for the Jonathan M. Nelson Fitness Center as progress of the campaign's quiet phase.
The University will likely announce other recent donations after the Corporation meets in February, Vanden Dorpel said, adding that Brown has raised more than $400 million thus far in the quiet phase, though he declined to specify the exact amount. Donations totaling less than $200 million have been announced.
Public announcements of some gifts during the quiet phase are used to spur on the campaign, he said.
"Institutions need momentum for campaigns, so it is a good thing to periodically announce some gifts in the quiet phase to build momentum," he added.
More important, University administrators and Corporation members leading the campaign use the quiet phase to build volunteer committees and assess the objectives and financial targets of the campaign, he said.
Vanden Dorpel said Brown's campaign, like similar programs at other universities, is more than a traditional capital campaign.
"Strictly speaking, a capital campaign means raising only capital dollars for buildings," he said. "But this is a campaign that will count all gifts. It will be comprehensive - it will raise money for buildings, it will raise money for endowment, it will raise money for increasing the annual fund and it will raise money for other restricted purposes. It is very comprehensive."
The current "working goal" of the campaign is $1.3 billion, which a University-commissioned feasibility study found was "a stretch, but realistic," Vanden Dorpel said. He added that the exact target will not be announced until the campaign is publicly launched.
Brown's campaign will focus on four areas, all part of the University's Plan for Academic Enrichment.
The University hopes to add $300 million or more to its endowment for financial aid, some $250 million for between 75 and 100 new endowed professorships, approximately $200 million in new buildings and about $185 million for the Brown Annual Fund, Vanden Dorpel said.
The Annual Fund is especially important to the campaign and the Plan for Academic Enrichment, Vanden Dorpel said, because it is unrestricted money that is injected directly into the University's operating budget. Most other donations are restricted by the donor to a specific use, he added.
"We are trying to ratchet (the Annual Fund) up every year by double-digit increases. The reason is to help fund right away the Plan for Academic Enrichment and the academic enrichment initiatives. The success of the Annual Fund over the last three years has been one of the principle mechanisms for supporting the Plan for Academic Enrichment," Vanden Dorpel said.
The entire campaign is derived from the Plan for Academic Enrichment, first approved by the corporation in Spring 2002.
"What makes this campaign particularly important is how closely the success of the campaign is tied to the success of the Plan for Academic Enrichment. This is truly a campaign that is funding a plan. The priorities are set forth there, and we are just trying to fund the priorities of the plan," he said.
Brown's last campaign, which raised $530 million, ended in 1996, Vanden Dorpel said, adding that the University's seven-year hiatus between drives is standard.
"Brown did it the right way. A new president came in, thought about a new plan, engaged everyone in the plan, published the plan and then said we're going to need a big campaign to make this happen," he said.
