University administrators are gearing up for what they hope will be one of the most exciting and festive days on College Hill in recent memory - a day that will engage students, faculty, staff, alums and community members alike. On Oct. 22, Brown will officially kick off its $1.3 billion, five-year fundraising drive.
The launch, which will coincide with an alumni leadership conference and the regular October meeting of the Brown Corporation, the University's top governing body, will include events designed to involve the faculty and student body in the capital campaign, said Vice President for Development and Campaign Director Neil Steinberg '75, though he declined to comment about the specific speakers or events being planned.
The launch will conclude the preparatory "quiet phase" of the campaign, which began in October 2003. During the quiet phase, campaign officials have built volunteer leadership committees, formulated campaign objectives and set financial targets.
Over the last two years, the University has also quietly solicited gifts from Corporation members and other major donors to build a "nucleus fund" designed to provide support and momentum for the drive, currently dubbed the Campaign for Academic Enrichment. About $500 million has been raised so far, Steinberg said.
Donations totaling about half that sum have been publicly announced, including three gifts totaling $20 million for the Jonathan M. Nelson Fitness Center, $120 million from liquor magnate Sidney Frank '42 for an academic building and financial aid, $20 million to support the Center for Computational Molecular Biology and $5 million for construction of the Friedman Study Center in the Sciences Library.
Officials won't reveal the final goal of the drive until its October launch, but Steinberg said a "working" goal of $1.3 billion has been used in the planning stage - more than twice the $530 million raised in the University's last campaign, which ended in 1996.
Administrators have created a "table of needs" that outlines areas targeted to receive funding in the campaign. The $1.3 billion proposal allocates $660 million for endowment, including financial aid and professorships, $200 million for building and renovations and $465 million for support of University programs.
Last spring, administrators sought input regarding the plan from a variety of constituencies, including the faculty and Undergraduate Council of Students and, ultimately, approval from the Corporation at its May meeting. Steinberg said the discussion shows that campaign leaders want to make the fundraising drive an open process.
That is also why Steinberg said administrators are working hard to ensure the Oct. 22 kickoff involves all members of the Brown community.
"This is all designed to be very inclusive," he said, adding that he and other leaders want everyone at Brown to feel that they are a part of the drive, instead of seeing it as the project of administrators distant from campus life.
Even alums thousands of miles from College Hill will be included, Steinberg said, with eight regional kickoff events planned in cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Steinberg said campaign leaders are also preparing brochures, case statements, videos and a Web site for release in October. The University has hired a communications consultant to help design the materials, he said.
The campaign's marketing will blend what is loved and cherished about Brown with the inevitable changes in the University's future, Steinberg said.
In what Steinberg described as a sign of momentum going into the public phase of the campaign, the Brown Annual Fund received record-setting contributions in the 2004-2005 academic year, he said, adding that he was especially pleased with gifts from the Class of 2004, both in terms of the amount of money raised and the number of contributors.
"We're up in dollars and donors," he said.
