8/17/2019 Advancement Response Faculty Senate Resolution (3)

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TO: Faculty Senate

FROM: Janet Bingham, PhDPresident, GMU Foundation

Vice President, GMU Advancement and Alumni Relations

SUBJECT: Faculty Senate Resolution

I am writing this letter, at the request of President Cabrera, in response tothe questions raised in the third Faculty Senate resolution (dated May 4)submitted by Suzanne Slayden.

In response to the first question from the resolution, all details related tothe recent $20 million naming gift in support of the law school werereviewed and vetted by a majority of members of the Gift AcceptanceCommittee. This committee currently includes individuals from theGeorge Mason University Foundation, the University’s administration , aswell as an academic dean. The review of this agreement did include areview of University Policy 1123. The committee's role is simply to advisethe president of the university.

In response to the second and third questions from the resolution,University Policy 1123 does not pertain to the Gift Agreement between theanonymous donor and the Foundation. There is a specific requirement inthis policy that capital gifts —meaning those contributed in support of building facilities —are subject to specific restrictions regarding naming.Included in those restrictions is a requirement that 50 percent of thecommitted funding be paid prior to any naming rights being conferred.The law school gift is not a capital gift, as it is in support of tuitionscholarships rather than building facilities, and, therefore, is not subject tothis requirement.

In response to the fourth question from the resolution, there is always somerisk when accepting a gift of this size, because the money is generally paid

8/17/2019 Advancement Response Faculty Senate Resolution (3)

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out over several years. That is standard practice at most universities. If anunusual situation were to arise in which a donor could not fulfill theircommitment, the university would work with the donor to revise theoriginal agreement or exercise any number of options, both legal andadministrative, at its disposal.

In sum, like all gifts to Mason, the process for acceptance of the law schoolgift aligns with the university’s current gift acceptance policy and with bestindustry practices as set forth by the Association of FundraisingProfessionals (AFP), the Council for Advancement and Support ofEducation (CASE) and other philanthropic-minded bodies.

Recognizing our rapid and extensive philanthropic growth, combined withthe knowledge that the current gift acceptance policy had not beenmodified since 2010, the Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations began the process of reviewing and updating the current gift acceptancepolicy prior to any discussions related to the recent law school gift. We arecontinuing this work, and will be meeting with the chair of the FacultySenate to discuss faculty representation in this effort.

Mason is growing, and philanthropy has become more important to theuniversity’s mission, especially now that we are an R1 research institution.While we still have work to do to catch up with our peers, we are finishingour fourth consecutive record-breaking fundraising year, and we expectthat trend to continue.