Fundraising milestones are a cause for celebration and sometimes self-congratulation at many institutions, but after reaching their $125 m goal, Griffith’s advancement team say they are just getting started.
“Sometimes the headline figure doesn’t do justice to the amazing impact that funded projects have had and we are really focused on what we have learned now that philanthropy has been built up to a new level at Griffith,” Vice President (Advancement) Marcus Ward said yesterday.
The A Brighter Future For All campaign was launched seven years ago and while the donations are critical, the deeper connections with donors, huge rate of giving by staff (16.5% gave to scholarships last year) and equal prioritisation given to non-financial contributions from alumni and community had created a strong platform to move forward, Mr Ward said.
“Every university says they are values-led, but Griffith has walked that talk for longer than most. We thought we had hit the ceiling with the number of staff giving in 2024 when 15% donated, but it just kept growing. We have great staff lunches and the stories of the people who are helped by these scholarships are just incredible,” he said.
“The Logan campus is in the Federal Treasurer’s electorate and he is a proud alumnus of Griffith. We think there are a lot of strengths there in a low socio economic community to do something nationally-significant, and with the lessons we have learned from the campaign so far, we are in a much better position to leverage that.
“We don’t need a new campaign name, or even a strict target. We have demonstrated that philanthropy can be a significant new income stream here and because we have brought in 50% more each year for the last three years, there is a level of trust that we know what we are all working towards.”
One of the keys to success was explaining in detail where the money went, and the impact it had, from biomedical research to a program to reduce recidivism and increase wellbeing for mothers in prison. Mr Ward is able to quickly outline the key features of half a dozen high impact projects in a couple of minutes, without getting tripped up by excessive detail – a clear sign of someone who understands how to connect, rather than just sell.
“I spend a lot of time explaining what advancement is, external partnerships. Everybody thinks its about relationship management, but its actually about value creation,” he said.
“You sit down with academic researchers and talk about what they might be able to do, and you have funders come along and sometimes when you talk to them, the level of investment can be way more significant because of the connection. We understand enough to provide a range of partnership options and can keep it relevant to the donor and the researcher.
“It’s not just about money. At least half the job is building community, getting people to understand the benefit of contributing and letting them tell the story. We have 150,000 alumni here in southern Queensland alone. I certainly don’t have to do all the talking.”