Implementing an Advancement Strategy in the African Context: What

Works and What Doesn’t

Victor S. Dugga

date of presentation Copyright Advancement Academy 1

In this Presentation…

• Get to know the principles of advancement• Consider strategies in implementing them• Provide practical examples from the field• Gain confidence from relevant experience

to apply the knowledge in your own context

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Advancement in Africa

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One Man, One Beast – Fundraising for University of Botswana

Setting up the Advancement Office

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• Advancement is about thinking ‘institutionally’• Determine structures to have within the office• Link these with the rest of the university, taking a

university-wide approach and harnessing the resources available in other units such as the PRO, alumni, etc to support advancement: easier said than done!

• You may have to expand the role of Advancement to meet up roles that are currently not being taken – Annual Reports, Strategic Plan, etc.

Planning? Common get on with it!

Clarity and consistency of Purpose and Process • Well defined priorities that reflect the strategic

plan – What doesn’t? Too many needs!• Define the process of securing goals, the time required, the person

responsible and the process of reporting success• Written goals and a clear plan– Communicates what you value and what key success factors are– Frame expectations both internally and externally• Metrics that reflect those goals and that plan– Guide the activities and effort of staff– Enable supervisors to control and evaluate performance– Identify gaps between performance and expectations

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Ok, so why Plan?

• If you can’t state what you want to achieve you cannot possibly achieve it, except by chance

• If you don’t plan out what needs to be done in order to achieve your goals, it is down to chance whether you do the right things at the right time

• If you can’t say what success looks like, you won’t know when you achieve it

• What doesn’t work: we assume to know what success is – this negates planning.

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Setting up the Office: Resources

• Financing: setting up the budget• Consider what will be funded by the

office: what doesn’t work: Advancement should be self-funded!

• Leverage on other funding opportunities to aid Office activities – sponsored lunch, etc.

• Note that it costs money to raise money!

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What fits into the Budget

Set-up costs Ongoing costs

RecruitmentDatabaseComputersInternet AccessPhonesOffice furnitureTrainingConsultancy

• Staff• Travel• Communications• Events / ‘Others’• Internet Access• Office expenses• Software licenses• Training• Consultancy

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Staffing

The Office is only as effective as the people working in it

Making key first appointments What roles are essential? Hiring the right people Start small and build up What skills to look out for?

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Personal Qualities of Staff

• Professionalism• Strong ethical character• Initiative• Responsibility• Accountability• Understand and simplify complex ideas• Exercise good judgment• Write clearly and speak confidently• Competitive• Sense of humor

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Where do you start?

• Cultivate the active support of the leadership• Prioritise the projects for the office to raise

money for; what doesn’t work: Advancement to prioritize projects for themselves.

• Get some quick wins• Not everyone will be enthusiastic at first – work

with champions• Ensure that you follow professional fundraising

guides – they work!date of presentation Copyright Advancement Academy 11

Where do you find Prospects?

• The importance of alumni relations• A key and natural role for the academic

community• Catch-up stewardship with prior donors (both as

a way of identifying prospects but also to building external credibility for the office)

• Communicate successes to illustrate what is do-able! What doesn’t work: It is too small and we are modest, missing out on interesting stories and connections

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Donor Fund Management

Donor fund is different from other sources of funds available to the institution

Each donor may come with a set of requirements – learn them!

Set structures for managing grants and releasing funds - re-define or realign

What doesn’t work: Business as usualdate of presentation Copyright Advancement Academy 13

The Real Advancement

Managing relations with the donor Overseeing the image of donor in the University

e.g. 2010 Convocation and non recognition of major donors

Keeping an eye on project implementation Monitoring the expenditure component Maintaining communication with the donor Taking the blame when things go wrong, e.g.

signing contract on behalf of the University

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Measuring Performance

Don’t wait until year three to assess performance

It’s about more than the money!Areas for metric tracking– Financial: cash income, new gifts, ROI– Major Gifts: prospect tracking, donor meetings, asks, moves

management, etc– Advancement Services – reporting, no. of database records,

prospects identified, research profiles– Alumni relations – communications, events held and

attendance, follow-up contacts, alumni volunteering

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Marrying the Theories to Practice

• Advancement is about changing the HE environment – the way things have been done

• Work on the changing role of the Vice Chancellor – facilitate the transformation

• Ensure speedy execution of projects• Push recipients and other parties for timely

reporting• What doesn’t work: Business as usual

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Lessons from our Experience

It is possible to access donor funds in just any field However, it requires work – outside the routine of

teaching and research Put best human resources in place – involve other

staff across the university Be ready to write good proposals / go on the road Pay attention to detail and deadlines Use the skills in the Advancement Office

Proposal writing expertise, Budget and financial advise, project implementation and execution.

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For more information look at

• Final report of the 2009-2010 Ross-CASE survey – see http://www.rosscasesurvey.org.uk/

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Summary of key points

• Long-term relationships, not short-term transactions

• How much will it cost?• Return on investment: time scale - how long

will it take before you can expect to see a financial return?

• Return on investment: magnitude - how much money can you realistically expect to raise?,

• Measuring success: KPIs

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Exercise (5 minutes)

• Write down what you think is or would be the challenge for implementing Advancement in your institution.

• Any ideas about how to solve them?Now you are thinking on your feet!

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Thank you!

Professor Victor S. DuggaDeanFaculty of ArtsFederal University LafiaNigeriasvdugga@gmail.com

Academy contact details

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