UNC-CH delays capital campaign

CHAPEL HILL -- A year ago, UNC-Chapel Hill officials were basking in the glow of a recently completed fundraising drive that brought in $2.38 billion -- and already talking up the next campaign.

The new target: $4 billion, which, if reached, would have placed UNC-CH in the company of only a handful of institutions that have set such a goal.

But then the bottom fell out of the economy, taking with it the university's ambitious plans.

"The strong headwinds have taken that conversation away for a while. The psyche of donors is still pretty fragile," said Matt Kupec, UNC-CH's vice chancellor for university advancement. "A lot of our donors have been stunned. Their portfolios have declined. But things will turn around again."

So the UNC-CH fundraising machine will chug along without the fanfare that comes with capital campaigns. These formal fundraising drives, which can last five years or more, lay out a university's needs and priorities and invite alums to get involved, all the better to rekindle the love for the old alma mater and loosen the purse strings. It's a huge effort, which is why universities don't kick off campaigns without an indication that they'll be successful.

But don't shed a tear for UNC-CH; the university continues to bring in heaps of private cash. In 2008-09, donors gave $271 million, the second-highest single-year total. The only better year was 2007-08, the final year of the Carolina First campaign, when the university raked in just more than $300 million.

Down the road in Durham, there's a similar situation. Duke University completed its most recent capital campaign, a $2.4 billion effort, in 2003. Since then, officials have been laying the groundwork for the next one and would be deep in planning now if not for the recession, said Michael Schoenfeld, a Duke spokesman. Now, the university is delaying its timeline for at least a year, he said.

"If people are feeling less secure about assets and less secure about their employment, they may be more reluctant to give," he said, adding that Duke's overall fundraising strategies won't change. "During a period of uncertainty, you want to refocus people on Duke's priorities."

Across U.S. public higher education, fundraising is becoming increasingly important as state support has lessened. Even in North Carolina, where public universities receive a larger share of support than their counterparts in most states, universities say private fundraising is vital.

At N.C. State University, Chancellor James Woodward shielded the development office from the budget cuts that led to the elimination of more than 200 staff jobs, saying the university needed a stronger fundraising operation.

Across the country, some universities are forging ahead with planned drives. Others are not, wary of sending the wrong message to donors whose financial situations have changed.

"There are any number of good reasons why a university might take a step back," said Rae Goldsmith, vice president for advancement resources with the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, a national fundraisers' group. "And some are still going into campaigns with a sense of optimism but maybe changing their goals."

Routing cash to aid

One common adjustment: A lot of universities are shifting their priorities from bricks and mortar -- a new library or science building, for example -- to financial aid, a reflection of how the recession is hurting students, Goldsmith said.

At UNC-CH, fundraisers are looking for more gifts now, rather than donations to the endowment. A gift could be spent immediately; an endowment is invested, with interest drawn off little by little.

"What you want to do is put more into endowment because that gives it longer life," Goldsmith said. "But that doesn't always speak to an immediate need. It goes to this concept of having to give students financial aid now."

At UNC-CH, students need that money. This fall, 23 percent more students qualified for student aid than did a year ago, according to university officials.